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Trump's Florida Rally, New FDA Vaccine Guidelines, and Covid-19 in Detention Centers
In this email:
* Trump Returns to the Stage
* Trump Officials Consult Scientists Who Support Herd Immunity
* Detainee Transfers Caused Covid-19 Spread


American Oversight’s Covid-19 Oversight Hub ([link removed]) provides news and policy resources to help you keep track of the investigations into the government’s pandemic response. The project brings together a public documents database, an oversight tracker of important ongoing investigations and litigation, regular news updates, and deeper dives into key issues.

News Update

Trump Returns to the Stage
On Monday night, less than two weeks after announcing he had tested positive for Covid-19, President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail ([link removed]) in Florida. The packed rally was filled with individuals who were not wearing masks, and the president appeared ([link removed]) on stage without one. The president’s “return” comes after he refused ([link removed]) to take part in a virtual debate with Joe Biden last week, calling it a “waste of time.”

Meanwhile, the number of cases linked to the White House continues to rise, and a USA Today investigation ([link removed]) shows that thousands across the country might have been exposed by Trump and his staffers in recent days. But the White House has remained cagey about key information surrounding the president’s diagnosis and has refused to disclose ([link removed]) the date and time of Trump’s last negative test. Hiding the president’s medical information has been an ongoing concern: NBC News ([link removed]) reported that Trump had required Walter Reed personnel to sign non-disclosure agreements in 2019 and that two doctors who refused to sign were not allowed to be
involved in his treatment.

White House Continues to Interfere with CDC
The New York Times reported last week ([link removed]) on Vice President Mike Pence’s leadership of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, finding that White House officials’ sidelining of CDC scientists in March led to confusion when the CDC and the task force issued different recommended limits on the size of social gatherings. In April, Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short directed CDC scientists to soften the language in a report to Smithfield Foods ([link removed]) on guidelines to ensure worker safety during the pandemic. Olivia Troye, a former member of the task force, said that CDC Director Robert Redfield had told her, “My scientists are telling me what I need to do,” but “I want to make sure the vice president is happy.”

The interference with scientific guidance has continued: Just last month ([link removed]) , the CDC drafted an order requiring all passengers and employees on public and commercial transportation to wear masks. The order was supported by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, but the task force refused to even discuss it, effectively blocking it, since the administration requires the task force to sign off on all coronavirus-related policies.

FDA Releases New Vaccine Guidelines
The Food and Drug Administration released its emergency use authorization ([link removed]) standards for prospective coronavirus vaccines last Tuesday. In September, the New York Times ([link removed]) reported that the FDA had been planning to release the standards, but the president then indicated that the White House ([link removed]) might not approve them, saying ([link removed]) they sounded “like a political move.” After weeks of hold-up, FDA officials circumvented the White House ([link removed]) and published the criteria online as part of a briefing package.

The new requirements make it unlikely that a vaccine will receive authorization before the Nov. 3 election. The FDA is now advising vaccine developers to monitor trial participants for at least two months following their final dose of a vaccine or placebo before developers apply for emergency authorization. The new standards ([link removed]) were released after American Oversight filed Freedom of Information Act requests for them.

Trump Officials Consult Scientists Who Support Herd Immunity
Last week, Secretary Azar met with three scientists ([link removed]) whose views align with a “herd immunity” strategy that calls for reopening the economy and limiting broad testing, but that experts say would lead to significantly more deaths among vulnerable populations. Among the three scientists was Oxford epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta, who recently said on Fox News, “Three months, maybe six is sufficient time for enough immunity to accumulate … that the vulnerable could resume normal lives.” The meeting was reportedly set up by Trump adviser and herd-immunity promoter Scott Atlas ([link removed]) . Atlas has been criticized ([link removed]) by Redfield and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who have both said
([link removed]) that the U.S. population’s coronavirus susceptibility remains very high.

As Pandemic Picked Up, Vulnerable Individuals Remained Trapped in Prison
NBC News and the Marshall Project reported ([link removed]) that of the 10,940 people in prison who applied for compassionate release from March through May, wardens approved only 156. Some wardens denied all requests, while others ignored them entirely. Many requests came from medically vulnerable persons. According to the Marshall Project ([link removed]) , more than 140,000 people in prison have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Detainee Transfers Caused Covid-19 Spread
In a draft Department of Homeland Security report ([link removed]) , officials acknowledged that transfers of immigrants between different Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities had “contributed to outbreaks” of Covid-19. Previously, government officials said in court that transfers have not resulted in an increase of cases at detention facilities. But investigations by NBC News ([link removed]) and the Washington Post ([link removed]) showed that transfers in recent months led to outbreaks that infected hundreds of people. The report also recognized that poor information-sharing and lack of social distancing within ICE facilities contributed to
the spread of the disease.

Aviation Companies Fired Thousands of Workers
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a staff report ([link removed]) on the Payroll Support Program (PSP), which Congress created to preserve aviation jobs by providing payroll assistance to companies in exchange for keeping workers employed. The report revealed that the Department of the Treasury delayed disbursing PSP funds and permitted layoffs up to the execution date of a PSP agreement, which allowed aviation companies to fire thousands of workers before receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds intended to protect those workers’ jobs.

SBA Allowed Millions in PPP Fraud
The Project on Government Oversight reviewed ([link removed]) the first six months of Paycheck Protection Program fraud cases, finding that in 56 cases brought by the Department of Justice, a quarter of a billion dollars in PPP loans were fraudulently sought. The Small Business Administration failed to prevent about $113 million from being successfully obtained by those accused of fraud.

Congressional Investigations

HHS’s Vaccine Distribution Strategy
The House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal requested ([link removed]) that the Trump administration develop an inclusive strategy for distributing coronavirus vaccines to all Americans. Neal raised concerns that more than 61 million adults with disabilities and more than 25 million individuals with limited English proficiency could be excluded from HHS’s plans to distribute a vaccine.
The White House Covid-19 Outbreak
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone requested ([link removed]) that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows allow contact tracers to investigate the Covid-19 outbreak among White House staff. The White House has previously refused CDC offers to contact trace.

White House Officials Exerting Control Over the CDC and FDA
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, requested that CDC Director Redfield ([link removed]) and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn ([link removed]) provide information about the control that non-experts in the White House are exerting over information and messaging surrounding the Covid-19 response.
To find out more about our work, you can follow us on Twitter at @WeAreOversight ([link removed]) and @ojocorrupcion ([link removed]) , or like us on Facebook ([link removed]) . If you are able, please consider supporting our work with a contribution here ([link removed]) .

Donate to American Oversight ([link removed])
Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold the administration accountable.

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