Considering the Jupiter-sized clusterfuck that’s hitting the United States around the president’s taxes and insane response to a global pandemic, you’d be forgiven for missing a major corruption story that’s taking a backseat to, well, other stories about corruption.
However, this story needs to be told. Rick Bright, the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, resigned his government post after blowing the whistle on wholesale attempts to lie to the American people about the pandemic.
Major credit to the Intercept for not letting it go, and now the The New York Times for covering his resignation.
- April 22nd, 2020 – Rick Bright is fired by the Trump Administration for whistleblowing on their attempts to force him to approve hydroxychloroquine, a drug not scientifically vetted for treating COVID-19.
- May 7th, 2020 – In one of the most damaging but underreported leaks of the administration’s pandemic response, Rick Bright confirms that his boss at the time – Rob Kadlec – ignored repeated warnings by Bright and others to secure the PPE needed for emergency workers and first responders. This exchange began on January 18th. The most disturbing part is a confirmation of what you already suspect: At least 45 days went by without funding due to Kadlec’s purposeful negligence.
- June 29th, 2020 – The Intercept reports on a lobbying victory in the late 90’s for the airline industry that compromised America’s security during the pandemic. Following Bright’s disclosure on his boss willfully ignoring the PPE shortage, American airline companies concealed the shipment of N95 masks out of the country.
- October 6, 2020 – The New York Times reported that Bright resigned his new position at the NIH after being fired from his previous position under Kudlic. He cites the appointment of an unqualified COVID response lead, Dr. Scott Atlas, a professional with no epidemiology experience to handle the pandemic.
With seven news cycles a day taking story after story off of the front pages, we should be paying more attention to the government’s responsibility in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, when a need for life-saving PPE was raised as early as January 18th.