The Trump administration over the weekend fired Steven Hatfill, a senior adviser to the administration who opposed the COVID-19 vaccines and promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine during the pandemic.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed to The Hill that Hatfill had been fired for cause, not providing any further details.
Hatfill’s firing was first reported by Bloomberg.
A senior department official for HHS told The New York Times that Hatfill was fired for misrepresenting himself as “chief medical officer for the assistant secretary for preparedness and response.”
Hatfill told the Times, however, that he was ousted as part of “a coup to overthrow” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., being carried out by Kennedy’s chief of staff Matt Buckham. He claimed he was fired after refusing to resign.
Hatfill first came to public prominence in 2002 when his apartment was searched as part of the FBI’s investigation into deadly anthrax attacks. Hatfill maintained he was wrongly accused and later received a settlement from the Justice Department.
During the first Trump administration, Hatfill served as an adviser and advocated for the use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, for treating COVID infections. He has previously claimed that mRNA vaccines cause “biochemical havoc” in the body, and was supportive of HHS terminating millions in funding for mRNA research.
In 2022, the Democrat-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis alleged in a report that Hatfill and other officials in the administration led a pressure campaign on the Food and Drug Administration for allegedly impeding access to hydroxychloroquine.
