Lawyers accuse Trump officials of ‘demonstrably false statements’ against ousted vaccine expert

Attorneys for ousted federal vaccine chief Rick Bright on Thursday accused the Trump administration of making “demonstrably false” statements about him.

Lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks asserted in a statement that the administration is trying “to deflect attention from its retaliatory removal of him as the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).” 

Bright on Wednesday cast himself as a victim of a Trump administration war on science. He alleged he was pushed out because he stood up for the scientific process, and would not invest in the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — two drugs being pushed by President Trump and other administration officials and allies despite a lack of evidence about their effectiveness.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a controversial emergency use authorization, which allowed the administration to accept donations of both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine from the drug makers Novartis and Bayer.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said it was Bright’s open support for chloroquine that directly led to the agency’s acquisition of the drug for the Strategic National Stockpile. 

Bright’s attorneys pushed back, saying they will soon be filing a whistleblower complaint that will make clear he was sidelined solely because he resisted efforts to provide “unfettered access to potentially dangerous drugs, including chloroquine.”

Bright’s attorneys said they hope he will be reinstated to his role as BARDA director so “he will be able to focus his efforts on stopping the pandemic without further political pressure or distractions.”