Overview
- HHS confirmed to The Hill that Steven J. Hatfill was terminated for cause over the weekend after roughly six months as a senior adviser at ASPR.
- A senior department official told The New York Times that Hatfill falsely presented himself as ASPR’s chief medical officer and failed to coordinate policy-making with leadership.
- Hatfill denies the rationale, alleges a “coup” against Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. led by chief of staff Matt Buckham, and says he was asked to resign but refused.
- He says HHS printed business cards listing him as a senior adviser and chief medical officer and that he was later locked out of agency systems after declining to resign.
- Hatfill publicly supported canceling $500 million in mRNA vaccine research and promoted hydroxychloroquine during the pandemic; he previously received a $4.6 million DOJ settlement after being scrutinized in the 2001 anthrax probe, and Bloomberg first reported his firing.