Trump HHS official to take 'leave of absence' amid uproar
By Nathaniel Weixel - 09/16/20 01:23 PM EDT
The top communications official at the Department of Health and Human Services will be taking a medical "leave of absence," the agency announced Wednesday.
Michael Caputo will be focusing on "his health and the well-being of his family" for the next 60 days, HHS said.
A longtime Trump associate, Caputo was installed to manage communications at HHS in April after a series of critical reports about Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
Caputo has been under fire for comments he made attacking career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for being anti-Trump.
In a Facebook Live video recorded last weekend, Caputo, who has been in charge of the administration's coronavirus communications strategy, made a series of false and incendiary accusations about the CDC, which is a part of HHS.
He claimed without evidence that the CDC was harboring a “resistance unit†opposing President Trump and accused government scientists of “sedition.â€
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https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/516700-trump-hhs-official-to-take-leave-of-absence-amid-uproar
