Everyone knew the U.S. government hasn’t been working for the best interest of Americans. But this goes beyond a dereliction of duty.
Because the Trump admin stumbled across a massive cover-up that is sending shockwaves nationwide.
A Republican senator has leveled serious accusations against the CDC physician tasked with overseeing reports of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines, alleging mismanagement and potential destruction of critical documents.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has been pressing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to hand over vaccine safety data as part of a subpoena, but officials have hit a wall in locating records tied to Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, head of the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office.
In a fiery letter penned Wednesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and acting HHS watchdog Juliet Hodgkins, Johnson revealed, “HHS officials recently informed me that Dr. Shimabukuro’s records remain lost and, potentially, removed from HHS’s email system altogether.” He didn’t mince words, adding, “Dr. Shimabukuro’s potential mishandling of his official records is highly concerning.”
While the exact nature of the missing records remains murky, an aide told the New York Post that Johnson’s team learned HHS was scrambling to find materials Shimabukuro was responsible for—documents that should still exist.
This saga traces back to last November when Johnson demanded that HHS, the CDC, and the FDA “preserve all records referring or relating to the development, safety, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.”
Fast forward to January, when, as the new chair of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, he fired off a subpoena for internal vaccine safety correspondence. That’s when HHS stumbled upon potential gaps in Shimabukuro’s email trail.
Johnson didn’t hold back in his latest letter, warning, “Any attempt to obstruct or interfere with my investigatory efforts would be grounds for contempt of Congress”—a charge that could slap offenders with a hefty six-figure fine and up to a year behind bars.
Under the Federal Records Act, federal officials are legally bound to safeguard materials “made or received by a Federal agency under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business.”
Now, Johnson is urging the FBI, DOJ, and HHS Inspector General’s Office to dig into whether Shimabukuro and other health officials “deleted or destroyed official agency records.”
The New York Post reached out to Shimabukuro, HHS, and the CDC for their side of the story.
This isn’t Johnson’s first rodeo with federal recordkeeping woes. The Wisconsin senator’s scrutiny of Shimabukuro comes hot on the heels of revelations about Dr. David Morens, a senior NIH adviser who “retained very few emails or documents” tied to the government’s COVID-19 response.
Last November, Johnson uncovered evidence that Morens told colleagues in 2021 to reach him via his Gmail account. Later, Morens conveniently couldn’t recall if he’d trashed any emails.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic also caught Morens seeking tips from the NIH’s FOIA office on dodging records requests.
“I had always suspected that Dr. Morens was not the sole evader of federal recordkeeping requirements at HHS,” Johnson noted, adding, “The extent to which HHS officials systemically mishandled, deleted, or destroyed their communications, data, and other information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines must be thoroughly investigated.”
For months, Johnson and fellow GOP lawmakers have been locked in a tug-of-war with the HHS watchdog, pushing for a deeper probe into Morens.
“If the allegations regarding Dr. Shimabukuro’s mishandling of agency records are true,” Johnson cautioned, “then it will certainly raise questions about the effectiveness of the HHS OIG’s oversight and cast doubt on whether the HHS OIG actually did what I asked it to do nineteen months ago.”
