Steven Hatfill, a high-ranking advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services, was dismissed over the weekend, with health officials informing reporters that he was let go for falsely inflating his title and for failing to cooperate with management.
In response, Hatfill told The New York Times that his removal was part of “a coup to remove M. Kennedy,” alluding to the anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Furthermore, Hatfill accused Matt Buckham, Kennedy’s chief of staff, of orchestrating the coup, although he did not clarify how his termination constituted evidence of it. An HHS spokesperson addressed the claim, indicating to the Times that “terminating a staff member for valid reasons does not equate to a coup.”
Bloomberg was the first to unveil Hatfill’s firing.
Context
While Hatfill was not a particularly significant figure in the Trump administration, his position—and subsequent removal—is noteworthy for various reasons. Most recently, he was perceived as a key player in Kennedy’s choice to cancel $500 million in federal funding for developing mRNA vaccines aimed at future pandemic challenges. The medical and scientific communities heavily criticized the cancellations, arguing they leave the nation unprepared for future pandemics and create an opportunity for China or other nations to lead in scientific progress. Nevertheless, Hatfill is particularly antagonistic towards mRNA vaccine technology. In a guest appearance on Steve Bannon’s show in August, Hatfill erroneously asserted that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines induce “biochemical havoc” in cells.
Instead of endorsing life-saving vaccines, Hatfill promotes ineffective COVID-19 treatments, such as the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the de-worming medication ivermectin. He advocated for these ineffective treatments during the peak of the pandemic while serving as a White House advisor during Trump’s initial term.
However, Hatfill may be best remembered for being wrongfully implicated in the 2001 anthrax attacks that claimed five lives and infected 17 others. The attacks utilized a strain of anthrax linked to the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), where Hatfill held a fellowship from 1997 to 1999—though he focused on viruses there, not bacterial infections like anthrax. In 2002, the FBI publicly named Hatfill as a person of interest in the investigation. Hatfill subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice for privacy infringements, which resulted in a settlement in 2008, with the department compensating Hatfill $5.8 million. The FBI later alleged that Bruce Ivins, another USAMRIID researcher, was responsible for the attacks. However, Ivins died by suicide in 2008 prior to being charged, and questions persist regarding the case against him.
