Members of Donald Trump’s team have blocked health officials from providing certain information about COVID-19, in line with the former US president’s optimistic view when he was in the White House, a parliamentary report released on Monday and cited by AFP on Tuesday said. and Agerpress.

Leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main federal health agency of the United States, told investigators that members of the Trump administration intimidated staff and tried to rewrite reports to match the president’s claims that he minimized the epidemic crisis.

Investigators have questioned about 10 former and current CDC officials, as well as senior government officials, about the 91-page report released by a congressional committee studying the COVID-19 crisis.

A legislative committee describes how Health Department officials appointed by Donald Trump tried to take control of the CDC’s weekly scientific report, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, by redacting or censoring articles they deemed unfavorable to the Republican president.

Those officials tried to “change, contradict or delay the publication” of 18 of those weekly reports, as well as health warnings, and did so successfully five times, according to the parliamentary report.

Conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry into the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

The commission’s investigation “showed that the previous administration engaged in an unprecedented campaign of political interference in the federal government’s response to the pandemic, undermining public health in favor of the former president’s political goals,” said Democratic chairman Jim Clyburn. in the statement..

Previous reports have already highlighted attempts by the Trump administration to censure senior health officials or pressure the US Food and Drug Administration to reissue emergency approval for hydroxychloroquine.

This malaria drug has been promoted by Donald Trump as a cure for COVID-19, despite evidence that it is ineffective.

Republicans dismissed Monday’s report as biased and vowed to launch their own investigation if they win back a majority in either house of Congress in the November elections.