Senator Ron Johnson referred to as for an investigation after a prime CDC Covid vaccine security officer’s data went ‘lacking.’
Johnson stated Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, the director of the CDC’s Immunization Security Workplace, might have deleted data associated to the Covid vaccine’s hostile reactions.
Division of Well being and Human Providers officers advised Ron Johnson that they might not discover requested paperwork underneath subpoena and believed they could have been deleted from the HHS’s e mail system.
Senator Johnson referred to as on the Division of Justice, FBI, HHS and OIG to research the ‘mishandling’ of data.
“Dr. Shimabukuro’s potential mishandling of his official data is very regarding. His actions, if true, would have immediately obstructed my multi-year oversight efforts of the COVID-19 vaccines and could be in clear violation of my November 19, 2024 demand to HHS, CDC, and the Meals and Drug Administration to ‘protect all data referring or referring to the event, security, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.’ Moreover, given Dr. Shimabukuro’s position at CDC, which incorporates monitoring hostile occasions referring to the COVID-19 vaccines, his communications are immediately aware of my January 28, 2025, subpoena to HHS for data referring to the event and security of the COVID-19 vaccines. Any try and hinder or intrude with my investigatory efforts could be grounds for contempt of Congress,” Chairman Johnson wrote.
Chairman Johnson referred to as on these companies to provoke an investigation to find out:
The extent to which officers with HHS and its sub-agencies, together with Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deleted or destroyed official company data; and
The extent to which officers with HHS and its sub-agencies, together with Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deleted or destroyed official company data to keep away from or subvert Congressional oversight or the Freedom of Info Act.
The New York Publish reported:
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention physician in command of monitoring stories of hostile COVID-19 vaccine reactions has been accused by a Republican senator of mishandling and presumably deleting key data.
Officers on the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) struggled to search out data belonging to Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, the director of the CDC’s Immunization Security Workplace, whereas making an attempt to adjust to a subpoena from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) for vaccine security information.
“HHS officers just lately knowledgeable me that Dr. Shimabukuro’s data stay misplaced and, probably, faraway from HHS’s e mail system altogether,” Johnson wrote in a Wednesday letter to Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and performing HHS watchdog Juliet Hodgkins.
“Dr. Shimabukuro’s potential mishandling of his official data is very regarding.”
It isn’t clear what particular data are lacking, however Johnson’s workforce was advised HHS was struggling to find info for which Shimabukuro had accountability and that ought to exist, an aide defined to The Publish.
