# Important Context > Independent investigative journalism. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### Discourse Decoded URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/about/ Last updated: 2026-09-24T19:11:51.000Z *Important Context* is a project of the Accountability Journalism Institute (formerly the OptOut Media Foundation), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to investigative and independent reporting co-founded in 2020 by investigative journalist Walker Bragman and award-winning money-in-politics reporter Alex Kotch. This newsletter, which mainly (but not exclusively) covers stories related to money-in-politics, mis/disinformation, and public health, is dedicated to exposing injustice and bad actors. 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Doctors soon put her on a ventilator, snaking a thick tube down the child’s throat so a machine could breathe for her; they placed IVs to rehydrate her tiny body, and they prescribed antibiotics for any bacterial infections that may have taken hold in the weeks she’d spent at home battling measles. But it was too late. Within a day of being ventilated, the child went into shock, her blood pressure crashed, and she went into cardiac arrest. She could not be resuscitated. Her family, and the nation, mourned: she was the first child to die of measles in the U.S. in a decade. Yet some anti-vaccine activists soon began claiming that the girl died from medical malpractice, not measles, revealing a playbook that they’re now running in Pennsylvania amid a still-growing outbreak – a message taken up by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a longtime anti-vaccine activist, as he publicly disputes the rising death toll. The deaths in the US from measles – now numbering eight in less than two years – are a political minefield for Kennedy, centering him in a public backlash after years of his false claims about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The deflection campaign is already having real-world consequences beyond the rising body count. Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group previously led by Kennedy, claims to have sparked malpractice investigations into the doctors who treated the two young unvaccinated girls who died from measles amid last year’s outbreak in West Texas, which infected at least 762 people. “At first they were going to throw out the complaints,” Brian Hooker, CHD’s chief scientific officer, announced in a recent video. “But they have, upon further review… decided that they’re going to let their own medical expert look at the records for those particular deaths. Because in each case, inappropriate antibiotics were prescribed, and that, I believe, led to both girls’ deaths.” Paul Offit, an infectious diseases pediatrician and internationally recognized vaccine expert, said “it's not a good look” for Kennedy and other anti-vaxxers for so many cases and deaths to rise. “So they're trying to say, ‘well, it wasn't measles.’” Katherine Wells, director of the Lubbock Public Health, agreed. “It's their playbook,” she said. “It's just another tactic by them to disrupt or to question vaccines and the safety of vaccines. The issue at hand is that we’re having these large measles outbreaks, and they're not stopping.” It’s not just the deaths, it’s also the severe disease, Wells said. The “massive” outbreaks “impact families and communities and disrupt lives,” Wells said. One in five unvaccinated measles patients are hospitalized. Measles erases immunity to all other illnesses for years, putting patients at risk of other serious infections. And survivors may develop severe measles complications like subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which is fatal and untreatable, years later. Last year, Hooker traveled to Texas to interview the deceased six-year-old’s parents, who said they still would not have vaccinated their children. A second child, age 8, soon died from measles at the same hospital. Hooker asked to see the children’s medical records, and he shared them with Pierre Kory, a critical care physician with no pediatric training who lost his board certifications for promoting Covid misinformation, heavily promoted the antiparasitic ivermectin as a Covid treatment, and claimed that polio paralysis is caused not by the virus but by pesticides. Kory, who himself [escaped](https://www.importantcontext.news/childrens-health-defense-expert-who-blamed-measles-deaths-on-medical-malpractice-found-to-have-caused-patient-death/) legal liability in a malpractice lawsuit brought by the estate of a Covid patient who died as a result of his treatment plan, concluded that the measles deaths were actually the result of medical error. Kory claimed the first child was prescribed “a completely inappropriate antibiotic” for a bacterial infection she developed because of measles, adding that “she did not die of measles by any stretch of the imagination,” but rather she died of pneumonia and medical mismanagement. He also attributed the second child’s death to “medical malpractice” because of her antibiotic regime. Secondary bacteria infections are very common with measles, which can create a cascade of deadly complications. Privately, Kory reportedly said that he [suspected](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/?ref=importantcontext.news) the two deaths in young girls in Texas were caused by a weaponized version of measles. Hooker and a colleague both submitted complaints to the Texas medical board alleging that the antibiotics were given improperly to the sick children. In the video, he said the medical board is reviewing the complaints. The Guardian and *Important Context* were unable to confirm Hooker’s claims. The identities of the doctors are not public. Anyone can file a complaint with a state medical board, and boards take complaints seriously. Several leading anti-vaccine figures have received medical-board complaints about their own conduct. “The physicians went above and beyond, and the hospitals went above and beyond,” Wells said. Pediatricians in hospitals work with the sickest children, with high stress and relatively low pay. “It's so hard to be told that you either wanted to hurt them or didn't want to give the best care you could,” Wells said. Now, with the CHD accusations and possible medical board reports, “I think it's in the back of everybody’s minds,” she said. Hooker’s remarks about the Texas complaints followed the measles deaths of two unvaccinated infants in Pennsylvania. Hooker [vowed](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/vaccine-misinformation-rfk-jr-measles-deaths-pennsylvania?ref=importantcontext.news) to “get boots on the ground” in the state to “make sure that if it was a hospital error that it doesn't happen again.” Other anti-vaccine activists are helping to fuel the narrative. Peter McCullough, a former cardiologist whose board certification were revoked by the American Board of Internal Medicine,[ noted](https://x.com/P%5FMcCulloughMD/status/2099816744508399890?ref=importantcontext.news) on X that there was "no mention of antivirals, antibiotics, or steroids" in the case of the third measles death in Pennsylvania, an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman . Yet the county coroner said the woman was not able to seek health care before she took a turn for the worse, so she would not have received medications for her illness. Kennedy has suggested that Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro [made up](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/pennsylvania-outbreak-kennedy-measles-vax-01050922?ref=importantcontext.news) the measles deaths for political reasons. The message was echoed by Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, who claimed in a Fox News interview that Shapiro was “playing this out over the airwaves for political purposes, just like what happened during Covid,” adding, “And this is why there's such deep distrust in public health.” Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a Fox Business interview, “We don’t know if the children died from measles or had another condition that was already attacking them and they happened to get measles at the same time.” The CDC has also called the deaths into question, only listing two of the five deaths this year in Pennsylvania. Officials in Pennsylvania have been clear that the deaths were because of measles. Anti-vaxxers have long vilified and targeted physicians. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has [launched](https://doggett.house.gov/media/in-the-news/nyt-texas-pediatricians-face-paxton-investigations-vaccinating-children?ref=importantcontext.news) investigations into doctors who vaccinate children, alleging a conspiracy with drug companies. And CHD has funded numerous lawsuits against pediatricians over alleged side effects from vaccines. Last year, the group launched a RICO suit against the American Academy of Pediatrics, which had sued Kennedy over changes to the vaccine schedule. Despite no longer leading CHD, Kennedy still appears to enjoy close ties to the organization. At their Washington, D.C., conference in September, he [said](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/17/rfk-jr-measles-anti-vaccine-organization?ref=importantcontext.news) they had “a friend in the White House.” Advocates say the group appears to be [running interference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedys-former-anti-vax-group-running) for Kennedy amid the ongoing resurgence of measles, which was previously declared eliminated in the U.S. but has made a comeback with rising anti-vaccine sentiment. CHD and Kennedy have been top promoters of vaccine misinformation, according to a 2021 report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Kennedy has been “a very successful anti-vaccine activist,” which has resulted in the largest outbreak of measles in three decades as well as the resurgence of other preventable illnesses, Offit said. “Now we have more children dying of flu and measles and whooping cough – and Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis is now coming back.” Anti-vaccine activists want to “distract, distract, distract” from the damage they’ve caused, Offit said. He believes the tactic will not be successful, pointing to pushback from leaders like Shapiro and from pediatricians. “I think pediatricians will continue to move forward as they have,” Offit said. When Kennedy attempted to slash vaccine recommendations in January, “pediatricians ignored him,” Offit said. “I think most people are ignoring him.” The efforts to spread misinformation and mistrust about pediatricians may take a toll, especially on people who already doubt vaccines, Wells said. “It just further divides us. It sticks with the people who want to believe that narrative, and I think it adds to the doubt that they have.” Yet when the outbreaks worsen, people who were previously vaccine-skeptical choose to get them, she said. “During our outbreak, all the parents that were hesitant came forward as soon as they heard there were cases,” Wells said, “and they got their kids vaccinated.” ## Sign up for Important Context Independent investigative journalism. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Exxon Heiress Aims to Regenerate the Earth With Spirituality URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/exxon-heiress-aims-to-regenerate-the-earth-with-spirituality/ Last updated: 2026-10-05T18:25:51.000Z October 17 marks the kick-off of a global event aimed towards “regenerating the Earth through the power of collective human consciousness.” *Origin* will draw participants from multiple continents and countries and will feature “a synchronized moment of collective remembering” and parapsychology. Its website says it will be “the world’s largest synchronized gathering of ceremony, music and regenerative action.” Behind the whole affair is a fossil fuel heiress. Lamara Heartwell identifies as a “regenerative philanthropist, wealth-holder activist,” and the great-granddaughter of an Exxon “co-founder.” Specifically, she is a descendant of William Stamps Farish II, a prominent 20th Century oil executive who led Standard Oil New Jersey, which eventually became ExxonMobil—one of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world and a major driver of climate collapse. Business filings indicate that Heartwell is a [director](https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/corporationsearch/SearchResultDetail?aggregateId=domnp-n98000006925-3dbed844-bcb3-43ef-b0f0-a64cd25bd0ed&directionType=Initial&inquirytype=EntityName&listNameOrder=CORBETTENTERPRISES+L010000121160&searchNameOrder=CORBETTFAMILYCHARITABLEFOUNDAT+N980000069250&searchTerm=CORBETT+ENTERPRISES+INC&ref=importantcontext.news) of the Corbett Family Charitable Foundation along with other [descendants](https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9B04E5DF163AF933A1575AC0A9619C8B63.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of Farish. Heartwell presents herself as something of a black sheep, and has said she became interested in planetary sustainability after discovering where her family’s money came from during her college years. In a [video](https://youtu.be/48Rif%5Fy249E?is=0wymj17lg%5FZ3JFRi&ref=importantcontext.news) posted to YouTube four years ago, Heartwell said she initially tried to get the company to change course, but felt powerless after her pleas led nowhere—and got pushback from her family. She said she tried again after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, attending a shareholder meeting and calling on ExxonMobil to lead the way in renewable energy, which [hasn’t](https://rextag.com/blogs/blog/why-are-oil-giants-backing-away-from-green-energy-exxon-mobil-bp-shell-and-more?ref=importantcontext.news) happened. Heartwell [said](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaGQwlKoBgh/?igsh=MThkc2d3b2llcjhtMA==&ref=importantcontext.news) her latest project—*Origin*—came to her “as a vision a few years ago” and “would not leave me alone.” *Origin* comes the month after the United Nations Environment Programme [announced](https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/unep-world-set-cross-15degc-global-warming-can-still-limit-adapt-and?ref=importantcontext.news) that the planet was set to cross the Paris Climate Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius global warming threshold, which scientists say will result in more extreme weather globally and continued species die-off. The event website noticeably sidesteps the issue of climate policy, focusing instead on individual actions people can take at home, including planting kitchen herbs, collecting rainwater, making herbal infusions, and installing low-flow taps. In an Instagram [video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdUFp3Mye%5FK/?stkn=MWJkZjZxNjI0bmJyNg==&ref=importantcontext.news) posted last month, Heartwell said, “We’re wanting to spark a social revolution where we shift the mainstream narrative of the doomsday messaging to thriving.” *Origin* will open with a mass-prayer “composed of lines contributed by Indigenous Elders from many Nations around the world” on the specific date Heartwell says coincides with when “indigenous prophecies” predict a global rebirth. The prayer will begin in Aotearoa, New Zealand, “the first land to meet the sun,” before “traveling across the world.” Afterwards, participants will “gently touch the ground, stone, or plant and speak three words or short phrases that reflect their vision for a new world.” Vague as *Origin*’s mechanisms for largescale planetary revival are, its fundraising goals are quite clear. Organizers want to raise $10 million for two groups: Farmer’s Footprint, which is focused on promoting regenerative agriculture through stories, and its parent organization, Project Biome. The founder of Project Biome is Heartwell’s event-partner for *Origin*, Dr. Zach Bush. A physician-turned-New Age wellness-influencer, Bush famously eschews germ theory in favor of “terrain theory,” which holds that humans’ internal microbiome determines whether or not they get sick, and characterizes viruses as a mechanism for a "constant, genetic upgrade" akin to a software update. Bush[ claims](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFJezg4SbSV/?igsh=MWxkeWlueWdvNTE1dQ==&ref=importantcontext.news) breathing clean air, bathing in natural bodies of water, and touching soil with one’s bare hands and feet will make Alzheimer’s and autoimmune diseases disappear. He famously downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19\. In a June 2020 piece co-authored with New Age mogul Deepak Chopra, he[ wrote](https://worldbusiness.org/rethinking-the-virus-and-the-future-by-deepak-chopra-md-and-zach-bush-md/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the pandemic represented “the continued effort of the four-billion-year-old microbiome seeking to put things right.” “The virus is not our enemy—if we let it, it will be our greatest teacher,” they claimed. Bush has spoken out against vaccines, including the mRNA COVID vaccines and flu shots. Last year,[ claimed](https://youtu.be/NrTH9d-T1kY?is=H3V3EqV2pID2%5Fl0M&ref=importantcontext.news) “we don’t have data to suggest” that there has ever been a successful vaccine. On his website, Bush sells mineral supplements he claims heal damage from “toxin exposure.” In 2021 he appeared on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s podcast before Kennedy became Health and Human Services Secretary. *Origin*’s website lists a number of other partner organizations, including the HearthMath Institute, a group focused on the supposed relationship between the electromagnetic activity of human hearts and Earth's magnetic field, and its Global Consciousness Project 2.0\. The Global Consciousness Project was a parapsychology experiment launched at Princeton University in 1998 to test whether collective human emotion interacts with physical systems during major global events. On his personal website, Bush [notes](https://zachbushmd.com/pages/origin?srsltid=AU7gw4U1lRjE2bGT8JXN2PYeT9AG9tRy%5Faf3-lh9lu4NaGZXHt6YTH9%5F&ref=importantcontext.news) the “science partnership” between the project and *Origin*, explaining that “the hypothesis is being tested in real time.” *Origin* is not the first wellness project Heartwell has founded premised on healing the planet. One Body is a charity focused on meditation and dance with yoga instructor and hypnotherapist Magnolia Rasak. It is partnered with a UK-based reforestation charity and promises “Every time you sign up for a One Body program, 100 trees will be planted in your name.” The link to those programs is broken. On One Body’s website, offerings include a “monthly movement journey for women” (on pause), a “Body Intelligence Quiz,” and a purchasable online “Body Intelligence course” taught by Heartwell herself. One Body appears to be affiliated with another wellness nonprofit called Inspiratia. Our email inquiry to Heartwell was answered by Rasak from an Inspiratia email address, asking for more information. The wellness industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing in the world, on track to reach $9.8 trillion globally by 2029\. The industry exploded thanks to the New Age movement of the 1970s and 80s, which emphasized supplements and eastern and indigenous spiritual practices. Americans, lacking universal healthcare, vastly outspend the rest of the world on unproven wellness products—particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But while today’s wellness industry has largely been associated with right-wing politics and opposition to vaccines, it has also overlapped with the environmental movement, particularly through its focus on food supply and regenerative agriculture. “The New Age movement in America has had these idealized, romanticized visions of what it's like to live with and commune with nature,” said Derek Beres, host of the *Conspirituality* podcast. “Devotees have this ancestral idea that we once lived in perfect harmony with nature when you know something like 20 to 25 percent of kids died at childbirth just 150 years ago.” Beres said that the wellness space fetishizes indigenous people and called the premise of *Origin—*that collective prayer and intention will heal the planet “pure metaphysics.” “The people who are involved in it, if they are fundraising that would go to some actual organizations that are doing something about climate change, that's not a bad thing,” he said, but he isn’t sure that’s what’s happening. Heartwell did not respond to multiple requests for comment by the time of publication. ## Sign up for Important Context Independent investigative journalism. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### The U.S. “Campaign of Interference and Destabilization” in Brazil's Election URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-u-s-campaign-of-interference-and-destabilization-in-brazils-election/ Last updated: 2026-10-03T18:06:20.000Z As Brazilians head to the polls on Sunday, October 4, to choose their next president, U.S. interference could [determine](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/world/americas/brazil-election-bolsonaro-president-trump.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the results. Incumbent Lula da Silva will go head to head with Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro—both staunch Trump allies. A report from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency classified the risk of U.S. interference in the elections as [critical](https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/blogs/caio-junqueira/eleicoes/governo-ve-interferencia-dos-eua-em-eleicao-brasileira-por-quatro-frentes/?ref=importantcontext.news). According to the agency, Washington seeks to [undermine Silva](https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c6pvewvn2j79o?ref=importantcontext.news), whom it sees as an obstacle to Trump's hegemonic ambitions in Latin America. In a [letter](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61b7a607abe2b45e18150232/t/6ab571dab719bb17973ace57/1790276058851/Rep.+Ramirez+Letter+to+Sec.+Rubio+on+Brazil+Elections.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 31 members of Congress expressed “grave concern” over “a sustained, multifaceted campaign of interference and destabilization” in the country. They asked whether the Republican administration will “commit to respecting Brazil’s electoral process, which is widely regarded as one of the most secure and reliable in the world”. “American interference in Brazil’s electoral process has been a reality since July 2025, when Trump imposed higher tariffs on Brazilian products,” political scientist Octavio Amorim Neto [said in an interview](https://valorinternational.globo.com/politics/news/2026/09/30/us-interference-in-brazilian-elections-is-alarming-fgv-professor-says.ghtml?ref=importantcontext.news). Trump conditioned the lowering of the [50% tariffs](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c784ee81y4zo?ref=importantcontext.news) on the end of what he called a “witch hunt” against Jair Bolsonaro. At the time, Brazil's former president was on trial for his involvement in an [attempted coup](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/11/bolsonaro-convicted-election-plot-assassinations/?utm&ref=importantcontext.news) that included the assassination of Silva and his vice-president. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison and was [barred from running for office](https://apnews.com/article/brazil-bolsonaro-ineligible-court-ruling-vote-99dee0fe4b529019ccbb65c9636a9045?ref=importantcontext.news) until 2030\. Tensions escalated last July, when two senior State Department officials had their [Brazilian visas denied](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/24/us-sending-envoys-question-brazilian-electoral-system-officials-say/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). Their mission was to “cast doubt on the integrity of the country’s voting system, considered by many experts to be among the most reliable in the world,” said the letter to Rubio. In August, the hostilities escalated even further after the Trump administration designated Brazil’s two largest drug gangs as [foreign terrorist organizations](https://apnews.com/article/brazil-pcc-comando-vermelho-foreign-terrorist-organizations-trump-68fe261fa5ab6980864405345970f68f?ref=importantcontext.news) a mere 24 hours after Flávio Bolsonaro, who advocated for the move, visited Washington. Brazilian journalist and researcher [Raphael Tsavkko Garcia wrote](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/8/13/the-us-is-now-using-the-terrorist-label-to-interfere-in-brazils-election?ref=importantcontext.news) that the label reinforced a narrative that Silva is “aligned with criminal organisations or unwilling to confront them” — a claim that requires no proof and isonly meant to “create a climate of suspicion that can be weaponised domestically and used to justify greater U.S. involvement in Brazil.” ### **Trump of the tropics 2.0** ### The Trump-Bolsonaro alliance goes back years. When Donald Trump was pushing the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a supposed pandemic quick-fix, Jair Bolsonaro [joined](https://americansunlight.substack.com/p/how-maga-used-problematic-research?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) in the push. But Washington's support of his son goes beyond ideological alignment. A win for the right-wing candidate would give the U.S.access to the world's [second-largest reserves](https://restofworld.org/2025/china-rare-earth-export-curb-brazil/?utm&ref=importantcontext.news) of rare earth materials. During the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas last March, the younger Bolsonaro spelled it out when he declared that “[Brazil is the solution](https://www.techpolicy.press/how-a-brazilian-governor-turned-rare-earths-into-a-campaign-and-washington-into-a-partner/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) for the United States to no longer depend on China for rare earths and critical minerals.” It has been alleged that his campaign [received](https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/blogs/caio-junqueira/eleicoes/governo-ve-interferencia-dos-eua-em-eleicao-brasileira-por-quatro-frentes/?ref=importantcontext.news) funds from JD Vance's RockBridge Network investment fund, which would constitute a violation of Brazilian electoral lawsforbidding any foreign financing. Silva's Workers’ Party has [filed a petition](https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2026/09/23/depois-de-lula-renan-santos-tambem-alerta-sobre-risco-de-interferencia-dos-eua-nas-eleicoes-do-brasil/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court for a formal investigation. Bolsonaro's team denies having any relationship with the network. Yet, a document obtained by [Intercept Brasil](https://www.intercept.com.br/2026/09/29/rede-rockbridge-operacao-brasil/?ref=importantcontext.news) revealed a business plan for the “Rockbridge Network Brasil” project, which foresaw “using private resources to finance political infrastructure and strengthen conservative groups, a structure that the material says could benefit Flavio both ‘as a campaign tool’ and ‘as a governing platform.’” Another leaked file, entitled “[Prosperity Partnership](https://amadomundo.com/documento-eua-terras-raras-governo-flavio-bolsonaro/?ref=importantcontext.news)”, further connects the candidate to Rockbridge. The document, authored by André Marinho, one of the candidate's allies who is a champion of creating a chapter of the network in Brazil, laid out a plan for a Brazil-U.S. partnership to explore rare earths and critical minerals under his potential presidency. The author denied any relation with h campaign, although the presentation's cover bears the words the words “Flávio Bolsonaro | 2026 Campaign” and all other pages feature the candidate's logo. ### **Which history will repeat itself?** ### Historically, the U.S. has played a major role in Brazil’s politics. In 1964, it was U.S.[ support](https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/04/01/understand-the-us-participation-in-the-military-coup-of-1964-in-brazil-and-what-may-still-be-revealed/?ref=importantcontext.news) that enabled the military coup d’état that led to 20 years of brutal dictatorship—a period both Flávio and Jair Bolsonaro glorify as Brazil's golden age. Most recently, in 2022, the last time Silva ran against a Bolsonaro, it went the other way: The U.S. under President Joe Biden was [the first to acknowledge](https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c6pvewvn2j79o?ref=importantcontext.news) the election's result. In the months prior, the White House had sent a clear message [against casting doubt](https://www.euronews.com/2022/05/06/uk-brazil-election-usa-exclusive?utm&ref=importantcontext.news) on the country's voting system, something crucial for [keeping Brazilian armed forces in check](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/10/biden-lula-ideological-brazil-allies-trump-bolsonaro-relationship/?utm&ref=importantcontext.news) after the loser called fraud and demanded military intervention. Former White House National Security Council’s director Nick Zimmerman [told](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2026/10/ex-assessor-da-casa-branca-ve-risco-de-trump-nao-reconhecer-resultado-de-eleicao-se-lula-vencer.shtml?ref=importantcontext.news) *Folha de São Paulo* that bilateral relations between the two countries are at their lowest point since 1964\. Zimmerman believes there's a real possibility Trump may refuse to recognize a narrow Lula victory, and that this interference in the Brazilian elections has no parallel in recent U.S. history. In their letter to Rubio, the members of Congress wrote that “The contrast with the United States’ approach during Brazil's previous presidential election could not be clearer.” With the looming threat that the Trump administration won't “oppose any effort to block or overturn the will of Brazilian voters,” Silva has reaffirmed Brazil's sovereignty and publicly told the U.S. president [not to meddle](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/17/dont-meddle-lula-calls-on-trump-to-stay-out-of-brazils-elections?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) in the elections. Until the results are in, one question from the congressional report remains: “Will the Administration commit to recognizing the certified outcome of Brazil's 2026 democratic elections and to upholding standard diplomatic relations with whichever candidate is legitimately chosen by the Brazilian electorate?” ## Sign up for Important Context Independent investigative journalism. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. 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Unsubscribe anytime. ### Democrats Lose by Punching Down on Trans Issues, Strategists Say URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/democrats-lose-by-punching-down-on-trans-issues-strategists-say/ Last updated: 2026-09-29T18:05:56.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with* [*Assigned Media*](https://assignedmedia.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Terry Schilling, a main architect of Republicans’ transphobic campaign messaging in 2024, exuded a brash confidence in what has become the party’s single-minded repeat of that strategy this year. “After gay marriage, the left wanted to go for full victory,” he [told a podcast interviewer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5LH%5Fm6g0kM&t=850s&ref=importantcontext.news) this spring. “The magic really came when we convinced politicians to run on this.” “Gender,” said Schilling, president of the conservative American Principles Project, “should be a national issue.” His organization, [funded in good part](https://philanthropy.org/990/who-funds/264613397/american-principles-project?ref=importantcontext.news) by the [right-wing billionaire Richard Uihlein](https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?cycle=2024&data%5Ftype=processed&committee%5Fid=C00571588&contributor%5Fname=uihlein%2C+richard&two%5Fyear%5Ftransaction%5Fperiod=2024&line%5Fnumber=F3X-11AI&ref=importantcontext.news), has shifted its public focus almost entirely to anti-trans campaigning, but the broader backdrop was clear. “How do we win, how do we replicate this on other issues?” Schilling told his interviewer, Bradley Devlin of the Daily Signal, a hard-right website recently spun off from the Heritage Foundation. In his own remarks, Devlin lamented the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell, and said there is “a direct line from the logic of gay marriage to transgenderism.” If you trace the right wing’s [money through the Uihlein family](https://www.influencewatch.org/person/richard-uihlein/?ref=importantcontext.news), the American Principles Project’s main benefactor, there are other direct lines: opposition to women’s reproductive rights and government environmental regulations, along with the promotion of strict voter ID laws that encourage disenfranchisement. But is the Republicans’ “magic” coming to an end? The center-left think tank Third Way, which has been criticized in the past for drawing an equivalency between trans advocates and transphobes, is now decrying the party’s “sheer obsession and extremism” on trans issues. ### **Scant Evidence** ### Until now it has been an article of faith in some media and political circles that transphobic ads won the election for Trump in 2024 and will be decisive again in the mid-terms, but the evidence is scant. “It's very clear Republicans think this works, and even when you listen to political pundits talk about this on CNN or elsewhere, they seem to have accepted this idea,” said [Don Haider-Markel, a professor at the University of Kansas](https://kups.ku.edu/people/don-haider-markel?ref=importantcontext.news) who has studied the links between public opinion and policy for 25 years. “But as a social scientist, I can say there aren't any studies to say this worked in 2024\. And the evidence from special elections and off-cycle elections in 2025 suggests that it didn't help Republicans at all.” One person who needs no convincing is Elon Musk, whose [personal animus](https://www.them.us/story/elon-musk-right-wing-politics-trans-daughter-vivian-wilson?ref=importantcontext.news) toward trans people has [led him to pledge $100 million on ads through his America PAC](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/09/musk-pac-trans-senate-ads?ref=importantcontext.news), benefitting Republicans, emphasizing transphobia and targeting pivotal states such as Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Alaska. So far this year, [Republican advertisers overall have spent more than $60 million](https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/27/politics/democrats-trans-attacks-messaging-midterms?ref=importantcontext.news) on 190 TV ads focusing on trans people, CNN reported, citing data from the tracking firm AdImpact. “I think this election is really important, because it will be a testing ground for the extent to which this backlash against trans people will continue,” Haider-Markel said. “This could be a really important election for knocking Republicans away from that idea that this is effective, that punching down all the time isn't a good strategy.” Trans issues consistently rank at the bottom of voters’ concerns in polling, but strategists aligned with the Democrats say that confronting the Republicans' transphobic attacks directly is important for the party’s candidates this year. So far, our analysis found, the Democrats’ response is decidedly mixed with some candidates such as Alaska’s Mary Peltola and Ohio’s Amy Acton and Marcy Kaptur going so far as to adopt Republican talking points and misgendering. “For Democrats, it's really not clear to me they have had good messaging on this issue,” Haider-Markel said. “I think it's historically comparable to any point in history, when those in power are punching down at the weakest in society. When you concede to them these points, you're conceding that it's OK to punch down and letting them position themselves to ask for even more.” ### **How Winning Looks** ### Democrats don’t have to look far to find examples of winning and principled messages, said Tyler Hack, the founder and executive director of the [Christopher Street Project](https://christopherstreetproject.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news), which works to elect candidates who will defend trans people. Hack pointed to the election of Abigail Spanberger as governor of Virginia in 2025. “When her opponent spent the majority of her paid media budget on anti-trans ads,” Hack said, “Gov. Spanberger didn't cede ground. She went on the air, talked about why she cares about children's safety, and her experience as a former public safety officer. It was incredibly compelling, and she's now been [able to undo some anti-trans rules](https://www.wvtf.org/news/2026-09-14/spanberger-quietly-kills-youngkin-era-transgender-rulemaking-effort?ref=importantcontext.news) in Virginia. Hack also pointed to Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign in Michigan this year. ”He's a medical provider and is saying that decisions about care should be between a doctor and their patient, and if it's a minor, the parent.” Hack said. “These are candidates who understand we can win without throwing people under the bus.” According to Hack, Democrats can also succeed by pointing to the extremism of [transphobic policy proposals that demand sex-verification and encourage self-appointed gender police](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/trans-ballot-questions-washington-colorado-abortion/?ref=importantcontext.news). “Republicans are the ones who want genital inspections in schools. Republicans are the ones pushing rules that led to a girl in Minnesota being [followed into the bathroom and forced to take her top off](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/minnesota-teen-says-server-forced-prove-gender-restaurant-bathroom-rcna224562?ref=importantcontext.news).” Still, she said, “There are places where I'm concerned about Republican attacks and lackluster Democratic responses. This issue becomes most effective only when Democrats handle it poorly.” Republicans are using transphobia “as a wedge issue for the broader erosion of rights,” Hack said. “[We saw this playbook with abortion](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/trans-ballot-questions-washington-colorado-abortion/?ref=importantcontext.news) where they incrementally rolled back reproductive rights. And it's incumbent upon Democrats to prove to us that they will stand by our fundamental freedoms.” ### **Disenfranchising Americans** ### Studies of the 2024 election, though they provide [little evidence that transphobic ads were decisive](https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/documents/HRC-National-Post-Election-Public-Memo-11624.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), seem clearer on two almost dichotomous points: Most Americans [broadly oppose anti-trans discrimination](https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/23/voters-prefer-candidates-who-are-supportive-of-transgender-rights-think-recent-political-ads-have-gotten-mean-spirited-and-out-of-hand?ref=importantcontext.news), but the wave of stereotype-driven transphobic attacks has [eroded public acceptance of trans people](https://www.einpresswire.com/article/754414724/ground-media-study-finds-trump-s-anti-trans-ads-fail-politically-but-dangerously-erode-public-support-for-trans-people?ref=importantcontext.news) themselves. On Musk’s social media platform, X, where much of the U.S. media and political elite conduct business, transphobic extremism thrives. Leading anti-trans figures regularly promote the false notion that trans people are seeking “special” rights or “privileges.” Nowhere have these propagandistic claims collided more with the discriminatory reality faced by trans people than in the exercise of voting itself. A [new study](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/trans-voter-id-2026-press-release/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found that one in four transgender Americans will face significant hurdles in voting this fall and nine percent will face the real prospect of disenfranchisement because of mismatching identification documents. Williams, a leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, has released reports on the potential impact of voter ID laws on transgender voters each election year since 2012\. The obstacles facing trans voters voting have risen considerably. “We've seen states increasingly adopt voter ID policies in the last few election cycles. We've also seen Supreme Court decisions that make restrictions on voter access easier for states to enact,” said [Will Tentindo](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/experts/will-tentindo/?ref=importantcontext.news), the study’s lead author. “At the same time, we've also seen some states make it more difficult for transgender people to change their gender marker on their identity documents.” This fall, voters in at least 19 states face new restrictions that were not in place for the 2024 general election, the study found. “In those states, transgender people have to deal with barriers to changing their identity documents, as well as the barriers to voting and voter ID laws that every other American citizen has to deal with,” he said. “So there's increasing levels of barriers that transgender people have to deal with in particular.” “We do in the report, link voter ID very concretely to the history of the civil rights movement and barriers to voting that were particularly put in place to stop Black people from exercising their right to vote,” he added. Young people, poor or homeless people, people of color and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected because they are more likely to lack updated IDs that meet stricter requirements. “If the interest of these laws is to protect democracy, what our data show is that there's a sizable population of transgender people who could be disenfranchised because of a lack of careful policy making,” Tentindo said. “They have to deal with overlapping voter ID laws and restrictions on their identity documents, plus instances of discrimination when they show up to vote. It can be prohibitively expensive, a prohibitive administrative burden, and antithetical to the idea that everyone who is eligible should be able to cast their vote.” ### **‘Dynamic Has Shifted’** ### The Republicans’ transphobic ads focus on health care bans for young people and sports exclusion, repeating medical falsehoods, promoting stereotypes and preying upon the public’s understandable lack of knowledge about trans people. Only [about 40 percent of Americans personally know](https://www.hrc.org/resources/trans-visibility?ref=importantcontext.news) a trans person, surveys show. Though these attacks may seem narrow to the general public, Republicans and right wing groups have used these two areas as entry points into wider national assaults on rights such as the invalidation of IDs like passports and the ouster of honorably serving members of the military. In Kansas, the state government’s retroactive application of newly restrictive ID rules has [made daily life](https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/kansas-s-sex-assigned-birth-id-law-harm-public-health?ref=importantcontext.news) [a fear-inducing hazard ](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.%5FFA.-Kkd.A114p3naIEcS&smid=url-share&ref=importantcontext.news)for thousands of trans people. Many face the prospect of disenfranchisement on Election Day. Not so long ago centrists aligned with the Democrats broadly cast this civil rights struggle as one of moral equivalency, a fight between two sets of extremes. As recently as May 2025, Jonathan Cowan, the president and co-founder of the influential think tank Third Way, was urging Democrats to “express their frustration and disgust with the ways [extremists on both sides have weaponized the issue](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/29/transgender-politics-democrats-third-way-00372820?ref=importantcontext.news).” For Third Way, the terms of engagement have changed, [Lanae Erickson, the group’s senior vice president for social policy, education and politics](https://www.thirdway.org/about/staff/lanae-erickson?ref=importantcontext.news) acknowledged in a wide-ranging interview, although she cast the shift in terms of a changing political landscape. “On this issue, the dynamic has really shifted,” she said. Republicans and the right have grown far more extreme, while advocates for trans people have moved to a “more pragmatic place.” “The MAGA folks took from the 2024 election that this was a great issue for them, that it was one that united their base and made Democrats uncomfortable,” Erickson said. “And that was all true at that moment, but now they're going way beyond any concerns the public had.” She added: “Going after healthcare for adults, kicking people out of the military, taking people's driver's licenses away, they can't pick up their kids at school – these are well beyond the pale for most American voters. We've got an HHS secretary right now who believes the only appropriate healthcare for transgender people is conversion therapy. That's crazy.” “I think protecting trans people, trans kids in particular,” Erickson added, “has become an important part of the agenda for the entire progressive movement.” Addressing trans issues directly while refocusing attention to Republicans’ policy failures – including a war with no clear goal, economic distress and rampant corruption – is the tactic widely promoted among strategists advising the Democrats. Translating that into effective responses at the ground level in the heat of a campaign has not always gone well. “I’ve implored folks to practice talking about it,” Erickson said of the candidates. “You know, practice saying ‘I trust parents in my district to make decisions for their kids more than politicians.’ Practice saying, ‘sure, we need rules but politicians aren't the right ones to make it.’” Rules ensuring fairness and safety in sports – [which have been in place for at least 15 years](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/behind-rights-attacks-trans-girls-sports/?ref=importantcontext.news) – and parental involvement in youth health care – [which has long been standard protocol](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream/?ref=importantcontext.news) – are the two prongs of effective Democratic messaging, strategists say. Adoption of the Republicans' transphobic language, they say, is not. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat whose past record was generally supportive of LGBTQ people, referred to [“transgender ideology” and keeping “boys out of girl’s sports”](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/anti-trans-messaging-isnt-the-path-to-re-election-that-rep-marcy-kaptur-thinks-it-is/?ref=importantcontext.news) in an ad. The state’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Amy Acton, said in a statement that [she opposed “boys playing in girls’ sports”](https://19thnews.org/2026/08/trans-athletes-democrats-messaging-amy-acton-ohio/?ref=importantcontext.news) and then her campaign set off several negative news cycles with its adversarial stance to queer people who were taken aback by her calling trans girls “boys.” “A, it’s disrespectful, which is the most important part,” Erickson said. “And B, I don't think it's helpful to the political cause. A lot of the research we've done has shown as much – that repeating that language makes voters picture something that's not helpful.” She added: “Some candidates are repeating the language of the attack, which is not helpful on a policy ground or a political ground, but there are others who have more nuanced responses, and I'm hoping that some of those folks are going to win their races, and then we can show examples of how you can respond to these attacks in a way that combats them politically, but also does not give ground in the important policy context.” “One person who's done this extremely well is Jon Ossoff,” Erickson said of the senator from Georgia. “You talk about the corruption, about all the things that are wrong in our government and what is making people's lives hard. “And then he adds, ‘and it's not transgender kids.’ And I think that has helped to really inoculate him against some of these attacks.” “I am just hopeful that Republicans' sheer obsession and extremism in combination with Democrats responding better than they did last time will show that these ads don't work like that anymore,” Erickson said. “The impact on transgender people who have to watch this happening and watch people who are supposed to be their advocates looking scared and saying things that are offensive is very damaging.” ### **Past Is Prologue** ### Congressional Democrats, Erickson noted, have beaten back a series of transphobic measures that sought to impose sweeping sports and health care bans. Other Democrats agree. "For two years, near-unanimous Democratic opposition has prevented any anti-LGBTQ bill from becoming law since Donald Trump took office,” said Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, whose victory in 2024 made her the first trans person elected to Congress. As on other issues, though, the impact on individual rights advanced by the Trump administration’s extreme policies, and enabled by a deferential Supreme Court, has been significant. Government agents have killed and abducted people on American streets. Tens of thousands are held in detention camps, deprived of due process and subject to inhumane treatment, including withheld medical care. Right-wing attacks on trans people have been the tip of this spear, advocates say, an entry point into wider abuses that threaten American democracy. Its transphobic attacks were less about sports and health than they were about trans people themselves. The disenfranchisement of voters is evidence of that broader campaign. The past is prologue. Haider-Markel, the University of Kansas professor, points to historical parallels “whether it be Reconstruction, or the post-Reconstruction era, the treatment of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s, or the treatment of gays and lesbians in the backlash we observed in the 1970s.” Said McBride: “This November, after millions of dollars will have been spent by Republicans, once again, on anti-trans ads, we have the opportunity to show that these ads didn't work. That instead of focusing on what is keeping most voters up at night, Republicans were, instead, focused on attacking our community.” “And in the vast majority of races across the country, including competitive ones, Democratic candidates are holding firm in defense of all of their constituents,” McBride added. “We can elect a pro-equality majority in November, which will not only stop anti-LGBTQ bills from coming to the floor, but will lay the foundation for equality for the entirety of our community nationwide." ### Children’s Health Defense ‘Expert’ Who Blamed Measles Deaths on Medical Malpractice Found to Have Caused Patient Death URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/childrens-health-defense-expert-who-blamed-measles-deaths-on-medical-malpractice-found-to-have-caused-patient-death/ Last updated: 2026-09-27T05:00:10.000Z A doctor deployed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former anti-vaccine advocacy group to cast doubt on recent measles deaths was responsible for the death of one of his patients, according to a recent federal court ruling. The law that Kory successfully cited to win immunity has long been a target of Kennedy’s old group. Dr. Pierre Kory, a former critical care physician, became famous amid the pandemic for promoting the anti-parasitic [ivermectin as a COVID-19 cure](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) despite high-quality research debunking its efficacy against the disease. One of the co-founders of the pro-ivermectin Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, he became a fixture on the political right at the peak of the pandemic, but was eventually [stripped of his board certifications](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/111481?ref=importantcontext.news) for spreading misinformation. Kory is a longtime Kennedy ally. The secretary has [praised](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1677307834608889856?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) the doctor as “honest, brave, and sincere,” and [hosted](https://www.vice.com/en/article/robert-f-kennedy-jr-gives-the-game-away/?ref=importantcontext.news) him at a health policy roundtable at the launch of his failed presidential campaign. Both men were [speakers](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/2022-defeat-the-mandates-rally-returns-now-rescue-the-republic/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the “Rescue the Republic” rally in Washington, D.C. ahead of the 2024 election. Kory appeared alongside CHD president Mary Holland. Since leaving the FLCCC (now the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally/) and a major player in the MAHA space), Kory has primarily been appearing with Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vax advocacy group previously led by Kennedy. Kory has become a favorite alternative “expert” for the organization as it seeks to muddy the waters around the measles outbreaks cropping up across the country, which have proven to be a political headache for its former leader. Last year, at the behest of CHD, Kory reviewed the medical records of two unvaccinated Texas girl who died from the virus. The group had obtained the records from the girls’ parents. Kory’s [conclusion](https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/my-expert-review-of-the-medical-records?ref=importantcontext.news), which CHD has promoted, was that the deaths were [caused ](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/?ref=importantcontext.news)by hospital error and malpractice, not the virus. Last month, Kory himself [escaped](https://www.druganddevicelawblog.com/2026/09/prep-act-comes-full-circle-for-counter-culture-expert-in-covid-19-treatment.html?ref=importantcontext.news) a brush with professional liability. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit [ruled](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/25-76/25-76-2026-08-26.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that he had immunity from claims of negligence, wrongful death, lack of informed consent, and violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act in a lawsuit brought by the family of a former COVID patient who died in 2022 as a result of a drug Kory prescribed. The suit goes back to 2021 when Kory was offering a telehealth service to treat COVID patients with novel treatments—including ivermectin. One of those patients was an elderly Connecticut man, Edward James Waters, who had contacted Kory in late November of that year. Waters had recently suffered a gout flare-up for which he had been prescribed the corticosteroid prednisone, which carries a risk of peptic ulcers. According to the background of the case, Kory knew about the treatment, but prescribed Waters even more prednisone along with ivermectin and other drugs. Kory’s treatment plan was similar to a COVID protocol he and his FLCCC founding members outlined in a paper[ retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/11/09/bad-math-covid-treatment-paper-by-pierre-kory-retracted-for-flawed-results/?ref=importantcontext.news) the month Waters came down with the viral disease. Soon after starting treatment, Waters was hospitalized with shortness of breath and given more corticosteroids along with a proton pump inhibitor to counteract the impact on his stomach. Upon his release, Kory prescribed even more prednisone without reviewing the details of Waters’ hospitalization and treatment, and without a supplemental proton pump inhibitor. Less than two weeks later, Waters was hospitalized with a ruptured ulcer and died from multiple organ failure. In the wake of Waters’ death, his estate sued, alleging that Kory had been negligent in prescribing prednisone. Kory sought a dismissal of the case, arguing that his conduct had been covered under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act. Passed in 2005, the law provides a broad liability shield to licensed health professionals and drug manufacturers for “covered countermeasures” amid public health emergencies. The notable exception in the law’s protection is willful misconduct. While the court found that the law did protect Kory as a licensed physician prescribing a covered countermeasure in a pandemic, it ultimately agreed with the allegation against him. “Today, we hold that there is 'a causal relationship' between Kory’s prescription of prednisone and Waters’s death, and thus, the allegations are sufficient to trigger the PREP Act’s immunity provision,” the decision read. "My client is very pleased with the court's decision,” one of Kory’s attorneys insisted last month after the decision, noting that the doctor denied causing his patient’s death. Ironically, [anti-vaxxers](https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/the-prep-act-unchecked-power-zero-accountability-and-a-path-forward-implications-of-the-congressional-research-service-analysis-e7cc1074?ref=importantcontext.news)—and CHD specifically—have railed against the PREP Act, warning that it would create a permissive structure for medical negligence. Two months before the ruling came down, the group [posted on X](https://x.com/childrenshd/status/2079627561886196015?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “The PREP Act provides liability protection for: ✅ the U.S. government ✅ a manufacturer ✅ a distributor ✅ a program planner ✅ one who administers, or dispenses such countermeasures…Wait, why does the PREP Act seem to protect everyone, except for ‘WE THE PEOPLE?’” CHD president Mary Holland, had previously claimed that the law was providing a financial incentive for hastily made, unsafe vaccines in a co-authored March 2020 [op-ed](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/dr-fauci-and-covid-19-priorities-therapeutics-now-or-vaccines-later/?ref=importantcontext.news). “In light of the immunity from liability guaranteed by the PREP Act during declared emergencies, fast-tracked vaccines are a sweetheart deal for both biopharma and government,” the piece read. So far, CHD has not addressed Kory’s PREP Act legal win. Though another [Kennedy-allied](https://www.trialsitenews.com/p/robertkennedyjr?ref=importantcontext.news) website, TrialSite News, has [highlighted](https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/pierre-kory-wins-prep-act-immunitydoes-medical-freedom-face-a-test-of-its-own-principles-00ab40b7?ref=importantcontext.news) the issue the selective embrace of the PREP Act causes for the anti-vax movement. Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco, told *Important Context* that the court got Waters’ case wrong. “This ruling essentially tells people that if they're treated for COVID-19 with anything—however implausible it is as a COVID-19 treatment—and something happens, or the treatment is negligent, they're on their own,” Reiss warned. “They cannot sue the provider. It's not, in my view, required under the PREP declaration, and it's a bad result.” Reiss warned that the judges interpreted the liability shield too broadly, noting that the FDA does not recommend the treatments Kory prescribed for COVID, “and giving providers immunity essentially says that someone selling MMS—industrial strength bleach—or black salve for COVID-19 would also be immune.” “Also, it's extremely cynical for someone like Kory, who criticized liability protections for vaccines, to then turn around and use them to avoid responsibility for treating people,” Reiss added. ## Sign up for Important Context Independent investigative journalism. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Transphobic Ballot Questions Reveal the Right's Anti-Girl, Anti-Kid Agenda URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/transphobic-ballot-questions-reveal/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:55.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with* [*Assigned Media*](https://assignedmedia.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* A political action committee in Washington state has promoted a stream of Republican measures since its founding in 2022, from [tax relief for millionaires](https://ballotpedia.org/Washington%5FRepeal%5FTax%5Fon%5FHousehold%5FIncome%5FOver%5F$1%5FMillion%5Fand%5FProhibit%5FState%5Fand%5FLocal%5FTaxes%5Fon%5FIncome%5FInitiative%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) to [repeal of controls on greenhouse gas emissions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%5FWashington%5FInitiative%5F2117?ref=importantcontext.news). This year, [the PAC, Let’s Go Washington](https://ballotpedia.org/Let%27s%5FGo%5FWashington%5FPAC?ref=importantcontext.news), and its chairman, Brian Heywood, have turned their focus to schools — in particular girls — with two ballot initiatives that offer a window into Republicans’ nationwide strategy to whip up transphobia in the midterms. These initiatives — [one of which would subject girls from kindergarten through grade 12 to “sex verification”](https://ballotpedia.org/Washington%5FSex%5FVerification%5FRequirements%5Ffor%5FFemale%5FSchool%5FSports%5FInitiative%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) if they want to play sports — are among seven measures in five states, including Colorado, Arizona, Nebraska, and Missouri as well as Washington, that are expected to go before voters in November. The concerted and widespread use of ballot initiatives to directly enact discriminatory policies is a historic first for the anti-trans movement. The tactic has been used before against queer people, in right-wing activists’ drive a generation ago to block marriage equality, which produced a string of short-term setbacks. Heywood, the wealthy hedge fund manager behind the Washington initiatives, has waved away concerns that “sex verification” would be inherently invasive, and in an [hour-long interview with KUOW Radio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYzBJHQMSPY&ref=importantcontext.news) last year seemed a tepid champion of girls sports. Heywood described Title IX, the landmark measure responsible for gender equity in school athletics, as “brute force legislation” that helped girls but also “destroyed or decimated some boys sports.” An analysis by Assigned Media and *Important Context* has found some common themes in anti-trans initiatives nationwide. Indifference to the well-being of girls, the creation of a surveillance state that encourages the policing of gender, and the exploitation of trans people to promote a broader anti-women agenda are among them. The interests of children are placed last in some cases, as [in the second Washington state measure](https://ballotpedia.org/Washington%5FParental%5FRight%5Fto%5FReview%5FEducation%5FMaterials,%5FReceive%5FNotifications,%5Fand%5FOpt%5FOut%5Fof%5FSexual-Health%5FEducation%5FInitiative%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news). Legal analysts say the “parental rights” initiative could compel school personnel to out children questioning their sexuality or gender identity, and [narrow the protections for children](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6972939bd1f40d67631d1452/t/6a3d6336cbe77658dad18810/1782407990616/Memo+re+IP26-001.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) who confide in school counselors or nurses about abuse at home. “It places the rights of the parents above the safety and the privacy of these young people themselves,” said Gabriel Neuman, a trans man[ who has written about the life-saving help](https://www.thestranger.com/guest-editorial/guest-rant-school-counselors-saved-me-from-abuse/?ref=importantcontext.news) he received from his own school counselors[ and is among those working to defeat](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-001?ref=importantcontext.news) the measure. “Having this confidentiality abridged means students will no longer go to their school counselors at a time when mental health crises for young people are worsening.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### False Advertising In Missouri, Republicans seeking to repeal reproductive rights adopted by voters just two years ago are using transphobia to sell their effort. [Missouri’s Amendment 3](https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri%5FAmendment%5F3,%5FProhibit%5FAbortion%5Fand%5FGender%5FTransition%5FProcedures%5Ffor%5FMinors%5FAmendment%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) would add a Constitutional ban on surgery for young trans people to the ban already in state law, a step affecting virtually no one. Amendment 3’s main policy thrust, which would have direct implications for hundreds of thousands of Missouri women and families, is the repeal of abortion protections that voters passed in 2024\. That fact is obscured by [billboards and campaign materials in support of the amendment, which invoke trans kids](https://www.propublica.org/article/missouri-abortion-gender-transition-minors-amendment-3?ref=importantcontext.news) and barely mention the word “abortion.” “This illustrates how trans people’s lives are being used and exploited for political gain in a broader, coordinated campaign, not only against LGBTQ rights, but against women and reproductive rights,” said [Logan Casey](https://r4impact.org/people/logan-casey/?ref=importantcontext.news), director of policy research at the progressive nonprofit think tank [Movement Advancement Project](https://mapresearch.org/?ref=importantcontext.news), and a Missouri resident. “The folks pushing Amendment 3 are trying to make it entirely about transgender kids,” he added, “and covering up the fact that they’re also trying to ban abortion.” “If this were a polling question, Amendment 3 wouldn’t be allowed because it violates the fundamentals of polling,” said Kenneth Warren, [professor emeritus of political science at St. Louis University](https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/political-science/faculty/warren-kenneth.php?ref=importantcontext.news) and associate director of the [SLU/YouGov poll](https://www.slu.edu/research/research-institute/big-ideas/slu-poll/index.php?ref=importantcontext.news). “You’re asking two different questions at once.” Yet this is indeed the question being put to voters. [A new poll released Thursday](https://www.slu.edu/news/2026/september/slu-poll.php?ref=importantcontext.news) by SLU/You Gov reflected a notable shift away from support for Amendment 3, with voters now equally divided. Polling in February had shown voters favoring the proposal by several percentage points. [Steven Rogers, a professor of political science at SLU ](https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/political-science/faculty/rogers-steven.php?ref=importantcontext.news)and the director of its poll, said in a recent interview that the February survey had found that the unpopularity of medical care for young trans people among voters “appeared to predict their expressed vote preference on Amendment 3 more than their views on abortion.” “For opponents of Amendment 3, it may be advantageous to try to inform voters that Amendment 3 would not change whether minors receive transgender care,” Rogers added, “as Missouri statute already forbids it.” The new poll shows 13 percent are still undecided. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Genital Police Deception and the exploitation of young people have been hallmarks of the right’s anti-trans movement, and its broader anti-feminist aims. The Washington state sports measure bundles together fundamental misrepresentations that have been promoted by the right for more than a decade, [repeated by media like The New York Times](https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream?ref=importantcontext.news), and now accepted as “fact” by many in both parties. These broad misrepresentations claim that trans girls and women have an inherent physical advantage at all ages, even in prepubescence, and that they retain this advantage forever. But a steady drumbeat of research has shown that such claims, [first seeded by the Alliance Defending Freedom and other far-right political groups](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/behind-rights-attacks-trans-girls-sports/?ref=importantcontext.news), are untrue. “There’s a massive disconnect between what’s actually in the science and what public policies say is in the science,” said Anna Posbergh, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign[ who studies sports policy](https://www.ahs.illinois.edu/new-rst-faculty-member-brings-a-critical-eye-to-sport-policy/?ref=importantcontext.news). A[ systematic review of 50 studies](https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/60/3/198?ref=importantcontext.news) published in February in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, for example, concluded that “while transgender women exhibited higher lean mass than cisgender women, their physical fitness was comparable.” The article went on to say that current evidence “does not support theories of inherent athletic advantages for transgender women over cisgender.” In Washington state, the sports initiative is “really a witch hunt to find the five to 10 trans girls who want to play a sport that they love with their friends and their community,” according to [Lauren Hipp](https://www.momsrising.org/blog/users/25076?ref=importantcontext.news), a Washington resident, mother of three, and the national director of early education at the family policy focused nonprofit [MomsRising](https://www.momsrising.org/?ref=importantcontext.news). “This is subjecting all girls to a potentially very harmful experience where they have to prove, through a genital exam, that they are eligible to play a school sport.” The Washington state initiative’s language is quite specific that sex verification would be based on a girl’s “reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels” as attested by a health care provider. These standards are not part of the routine physicals that girls now go through and boys would not be required to undergo sex verification to play sports under the measure. The ballot initiative vests enforcement and implementation in local officials, meaning that the less invasive swab tests performed at elite levels would be prohibitively expensive, Posbergh noted. This would leave genital exams as the cheapest and most efficient way to verify sex in accordance with the initiative’s language. Genital exams, she added, [pose the most potential for abuse](https://msmagazine.com/2024/10/25/larry-nassar-pelvic-exam-sexual-assault-violence-women-rape-doctor/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Defining Sex, Expanding Prejudice Though Washington’s initiative is the most extreme, anti-trans sports measures are on ballots in the blue state of Colorado and in the purple state of Arizona. Arizona law already bars trans girls from school sports, but [the proposed Proposition 318](https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona%5FProposition%5F318,%5FRequire%5FAll%5FSchools%5Fand%5FAthletic%5FAssociations%5Fto%5FRestrict%5FSports%5FParticipation%5Fand%5FAccess%5Fto%5FPrivate%5FSpaces%5FBased%5Fon%5FSex%5FMeasure%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) goes further in several ways that may not be evident to voters. For example, Proposition 318 authorizes private lawsuits against schools suspected of having a trans athlete, raising [the potential for false accusations](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/utah-official-faces-calls-resign-falsely-suggesting-teen-girl-transgen-rcna137903?ref=importantcontext.news) and harassment. “These kinds of measures promote surveillance of each other, of our neighbors and our fellow community members,” Casey, the policy analyst, said. They foster the notion that self-appointed gender police might always be watching. “You might be out playing, or watching your kids play sports or going to the bathroom or even getting health care,” Casey added. “That is a really cynical and awful way for politicians to be using the responsibility that they have.” Proposition 318 also would prohibit “schools and athletic associations from authorizing a student, athlete, employee, or other individual from using a restroom, locker room, shower room, or other private space that is not designated for their sex.” The proposition defines sex as the “biological status as male or female as recorded at birth on the individual’s original birth certificate.” Though these two provisions apply to school sports settings only, they introduce policies and definitions not otherwise in Arizona state law, which has no trans restroom ban or definitional restrictions. And anti-trans activists nationwide have often leveraged the language introduced as part of one measure to push anti-trans policies into other areas. “So in Arizona, even though this initiative is specific to sports, putting a measure, a definition like that into law, even into one part of law, could easily be then used in other areas of law,” Casey said. In Kansas, the[ sudden implementation](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/kansas-anti-trans-id-law-avery-rowland/?ref=importantcontext.news) of such definitional standards as “original birth certificate” have[ disrupted trans people going about their normal lives](https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/kansas-s-sex-assigned-birth-id-law-harm-public-health?ref=importantcontext.news) or[ exercising their rights as citizens](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.%5FFA.-Kkd.A114p3naIEcS&smid=url-share&ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Blue States Are Not Immune [Trans Continental Pipeline](https://tcpipeline.org/?ref=importantcontext.news), a nonprofit based in Colorado, has helped hundreds of trans and queer people relocate from states like Kansas that have been overtly hostile to their existence. “These folks are being displaced by the legislation of their governments,” the group’s founder, Keira Richards, said in an interview. “So I would consider the folks that we are helping to be internal refugees in the United States.” What[ began in late 2023 as an ad hoc effort among Richards and her friends](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/transgender-pipeline-colorado-housing-keira-richards/?ref=importantcontext.news) to meet the needs of trans and queer people fearful of a spike in anti-LGBTQ legislation [eventually grew into a full-time commitment](https://www.cpr.org/2024/11/13/trans-people-relocating-colorado-2024-election/?ref=importantcontext.news). Richards quit her job in the state auditor’s office the next year to begin TCP as a nonprofit. “We heard about folks that bought one-way plane tickets, packed everything they could into a couple of checked bags and came to Colorado with no plan past that,” Richards said. “I know a woman who packed her car in Texas and just drove. What this was highlighting was the fear and desperation of these folks faced with state-level attacks on their very existence.” Now Colorado has two anti-trans ballot initiatives of its own. As in Washington state, the measures are seen as a test of the transphobic movement’s ability to make inroads in a blue state. [One would ban trans youth in sports](https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado%5FSex%5FRequirement%5Ffor%5FSchool%5Fand%5FCollege%5FSports%5FInitiative%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) from kindergarten through college. Colorado does not currently restrict trans athletes, and the [Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act](https://www.aclu-co.org/know-your-rights/lgbtq-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) provides broad protections from prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity. [The second would impose a ban on gender-affirming surgery](https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado%5FProhibit%5FSurgeries%5Ffor%5FTreatment%5Fin%5FResponse%5Fto%5FMinors%27%5FPerception%5Fof%5FSex%5For%5FGender%5FMeasure%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) for young people. Colorado has no restrictions on care, which is routinely given with parental knowledge and support. The two measures have been financed by a group called Protect Kids Colorado, founded by the anti-trans activist Erin Lee. Lee’s message[ has been championed](https://baptistnews.com/article/this-is-how-unhinged-focus-on-the-family-has-become/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the far-right [Heritage Foundation](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTeA0YqiVcD/?ref=importantcontext.news) and organizations such as the[ Alliance Defending Freedom](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1526726501669347) and Focus on the Family, both of which have been designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I believe that the Colorado propositions are being watched very closely because we have been seen as a safe haven,” Richards said. “I mean, personally I worry about the precedent these propositions set. Will Colorado still feel safe for families to relocate if these propositions pass?” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Politics of ‘Boys’ The raw calculus of politics appears to be driving some ballot initiatives. Nebraska, like Arizona, already bans trans athletes by law, but a petition drive seeking to codify the ban into the state constitution, was funded exclusively by $3.1 million from a [‘dark money’ group](https://www.opensecrets.org/dark-money/basics?ref=importantcontext.news). The group,[ a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Restore the Good Life Inc](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/874392727?ref=importantcontext.news)., has multiple connections to Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, who is seeking re-election in November,[ Nebraska Public Radio reported](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/dark-money-group-funds-nebraska-initiative-to-limit-sports-participation-to-biological-sex/?ref=importantcontext.news). Restore the Good Life has no public website or online presence and has not disclosed its donors. Its petition drive, which the secretary of state recently certified for the November ballot, refers to trans girls as “biological males,” a commonly used tactic in the transphobic movement. The Nebraska initiative shares this approach with Heywood, the Washington state hedge fund manager chairing the ballot effort there. On [KUOW Radio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYzBJHQMSPY&ref=importantcontext.news) Heywood consistently described trans girls as “boys” and “biological males.” “Trans has become a “dominating force” in the legislature and schools, he said, and trans people who speak up for human rights are “almost dangerous activists” and “trantifa.” He objected to any suggestion of bigotry in his group’s message before repeating several right-wing myths: that parents are not involved in young people’s gender-affirming care; and that trans athletes always “dominate,” which many years of evidence disproves. And he promoted the falsehood that trans athletes are a new phenomenon. “There used to be zero … Go back five years ago.” As[ Assigned Media and others have documented](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/behind-rights-attacks-trans-girls-sports/?ref=importantcontext.news), trans athletes have competed for 15 years or more, with little controversy until the Alliance Defending Freedom first saw political gain in contesting their presence in a 2018 lawsuit. What’s new is the right wing’s zeal in demonizing kids and denying their existence. “Our young people are very well aware of what’s happening in the political environment, and how their lives and very identities have become a political football,” Casey, the policy analyst, said. “Even when these initiatives don’t pass, they’re still causing harm to our young people. It’s changing what it’s like to be at school, potentially increasing instances of bullying.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### After the Fall If you count only ballot initiatives, trans and queer people are on the defensive, While seven questions nationwide would abridge human rights, only Vermont and Virginia voters are being asked to support them. Virginians would be [striking down a 2006 same-sex marriage ban](https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%5FQuestion%5F2,%5FRemove%5FConstitutional%5FSame-Sex%5FMarriage%5FBan%5FAmendment%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) that still exists in their constitution, a holdover from the marriage equity battles of that era. Vermont will ask voters to [amend its constitution to state explicitly](https://ballotpedia.org/Vermont%5FProposal%5F4,%5FEqual%5FProtection%5Fof%5FLaw%5FAmendment%5F%282026%29?ref=importantcontext.news) that “the state shall not deny equal treatment under the law on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.” But Casey said counting ballot questions alone may not be the proper calculation. “They’renot always a great tool for protecting minority rights, particularly when you’re talking about a minority most of the public doesn’t know. The majority of Americans do not know a trans person.” “This otherwise benign lack of information about trans people and our lives can easily be exploited to advance somebody else’s political agenda,” he said, especially when LGBTQ groups are massively outfunded by the right wing. Harking back to the struggle for marriage equality of a generation ago, when setbacks were many, Casey added: “A ballot measure is only a moment in time. It’s not a final statement. It’s not a public demand for more bad policy. “Marriage equality became the law of the land, and someday trans equality will be too.” ### HHS Releases Another Report Attacking Transgender Americans and Their Allies URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/hhs-releases-another-report-attacking/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:56.000Z Most political violence in America is perpetrated by individuals with right-wing beliefs, but the right is not the focus of the new report on the subject from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The document instead looks exclusively to the left—specifically to transgender people and their allies. Released Wednesday, “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?” attempts to tie recognition of transgender people and support for their health care needs to “authoritarianism and willingness to justify political violence.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Previous administrations have focused on right-wing extremism as a threat to national security, but the Trump White House has different priorities. The president has courted the far-right, once telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” and one of his first actions upon returning to office was pardoning hundreds of his supporters who had been convicted of crimes related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021\. Trump’s DOJ has also entered into questionable legal [settlements](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-doj-settles-lawsuit-by-vaccine) with the president and his allies while targeting colleges, media outlets, and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which now faces federal money laundering and wire fraud charges related to its infiltration of far-right groups. “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement” claims that “gender ideology…functions as a content package for \[left-wing authoritarianism\],” providing it “ideological fuel” by identifying oppressor and oppressed classes, seeking “top down censorship and control over those who do not conform to its dictates,” and by “aspiring to overturn the status quo with respect to sex and family.” Transgender Americans have become a favorite target of the political right, facing legislative, legal, and rhetorical attacks, and they are [significantly more likely](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/?ref=importantcontext.news) to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators. Some experts, including two former presidents of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, have [warned](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-warn-us-in-early-stages-of) that a genocide against them is underway in the U.S. The HHS report calls this position a “catastrophizing belief.” As its deployment of the term “gender ideology” suggests, the report dismisses the medical consensus supporting transgender identities and gender-affirming care. Groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association are targeted by the authors, who claim they are ideological—adherents of “minority stress theory,” which holds that minority groups face oppression that impacts their health and well-being. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement” is the second report targeting transgender Americans to come out of HHS this month. Ten days before it was published, another [report](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-hhs-report-on-gender-affirming) claimed that gender-affirming care was a hotbed of medical abuse and fraud by doctors. The authors of that first paper included the president of an SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQIA+ hate group and a doctor who had previously edited a book on identifying demonic possession. The latest report was also authored primarily by individuals affiliated with right-leaning groups. Three are with the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a think tank affiliated with Rutgers University that purports to track violent extremism and mis- and disinformation on social media. Joel Finkelstein, who previously worked at the pro-Israel advocacy group Anti-Defamation League, is the group’s chief scientific officer and co-founder. Rutgers PhD student Danit Finkelstein is also a co-founder while Ohad Fedida is a research fellow. Rutgers psychology professor Lee Jussim has been part of the group’s leadership team. Like the ADL, NCRI has positioned itself against the ascendant forces of the political left, largely over the issue of Israel. A September 2025 report from the group claimed that the Democratic Socialists of America—an organization with over 100,000 members—had “been overtaken by a radical ‘anti-Zionist’ resolution that seeks to delegitimize Judaism’s historical and religious connection to Israel while imposing exclusionary and discriminatory membership conditions.” The report warned that the group’s “mainstreaming of rhetorical support for organizations or movements tied to armed action raises counterterrorism and counter-extremism concerns if discourse translates into material support networks.” In February, an NCRI report claimed DSA “acts as an unregistered foreign agent inside the United States.” A search of the group’s website for terms “transgender” and “LGBT” turns up no results—no reports on misinformation targeting the LGBTQIA+ community. Although the group does not disclose its donors, *Important Context* was able to identify several grants to NCRI, including $300,000 from the[ Israel on Campus Coalition](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300664947/202320679349300442/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) between July 2021 and June 2022 and $19,000 from right-wing billionaire megafunder Charles Koch in 2021. The other group represented in “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement” is the Manhattan Institute, a well-funded far-right think tank that is known for its affiliation with right-wing activist Chris Rufo. The institute has been a wellspring of anti-trans misinformation. Colin Wright, who has a PhD in evolutionary biology, is a fellow with the group. Wright is also an academic advisor to the Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine. Both groups were[ identified](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/defining-pseudoscience-network/?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2023 by the SPLC as being part of an anti-LGBTQIA+ pseudoscience network. Jussim has also[ collaborated](https://manhattan.institute/multimedia/institutionalized-implicit-bias-with-lee-jussim?ref=importantcontext.news) with the Manhattan Institute. He was one of the academics to[ sign onto](https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/why-i-signed-on-to-the-manhattan?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) the group’s call to “reform” academia by force, which was[ spearheaded](https://www.thefp.com/p/the-president-wants-to-fix-higher-education-policy-reform-campus-university?ref=importantcontext.news) by Rufo. The statement claimed that “The universities have capitulated to the radical left’s ‘long march through the institutions,’ which has converted them into laboratories of ideology, rather than institutions oriented toward truth.” It called on Donald Trump to “draft a new contract with the universities, which should be written into every grant, payment, loan, eligibility, and accreditation, and punishable by revocation of all public benefit.” In his Substack post explaining his decision to sign the document, Jussim explained that while he did not agree with every statement the document made, he did agree with the reforms, either wholly or with some modification. ”I also signed on because I have seen no evidence that academia will reform itself to address the problems resulting from its overt politicization and evolution into an engine for the advancement of progressive values, policies, and worldviews,” he wrote. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The new HHS report has faced criticism for its methodology, which surveyed 1,208 participants about their views on transgender identities and gender-affirming care and whether they considered specific acts of political violence justified—like attacks on law enforcement and ICE or the killing of Charlie Kirk, the [far-right political operative](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/rewriting-extremism-right-wing-seeks?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the administration has lionized since his death. Epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz called the study “so nakedly political that it’s hard to infer any real meaning from the results” in a[ post](https://gidmk.substack.com/p/is-there-a-link-between-transgender) for his “Health Nerd” blog. “For one thing, the authors claim that their survey measured how much people agreed with “political violence”. But that’s obviously false—they asked whether people supported specific acts of *left-wing* violence,” he wrote. “There are plenty of forms of political violence that right-wing people generally endorse.” Meyerowitz-Katz noted that the questions measured left-wing beliefs without any connection to authoritarian actions, adding “In my opinion, all the authors have done in this farce of a survey is measured political affiliation.” “Had they asked, say, whether the attack on Paul Pelosi was justified, they probably would have seen markedly different responses from their participants,” Meyerowitz-Katz wrote. “Had they asked straightforward questions measuring adherence to authoritarianism, such as ‘should people who disagree with you be put in jail’, they might also have seen completely different answers. Instead, what we’ve got here is a garbled, useless set of questions that mostly tells us one thing: the Trump administration continues to support pseudoscience.” ### New HHS Report on Gender-Affirming Care Rife With False Information URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/new-hhs-report-on-gender-affirming/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:56.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with* [*Assigned Media*](https://assignedmedia.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Doctors are “wolves,” the Trump administration declares in a 64-page document that portrays the medical professionals who care for young trans people as predators interested only in profit. The [report](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hhs-wolves-in-white-coats.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of “Gender Medicine,” released last week, is the latest salvo in a broader right-wing campaign targeting transgender people. In the U.S. and abroad, legal attacks on the transgender community have been escalating. These attacks are not limited to the federal level. The Trump administration’s efforts are accompanied by state-level legislation aimed at restricting medical care, access to public bathrooms and athletic participation. The rhetoric on the right has also been escalating. Some genocide scholars warn that [the attacks represent the early-to-mid stages of genocide](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-warn-us-in-early-stages-of). Coming two days after the announcement by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the agency would cut off Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender-affirming care for minors, the report promises to expose “harm to America’s youth” endemic to such treatment. A review by *Important Context*, however, reveals that the document is more political than a genuine public health investigation. It appears instead to be aimed at intimidating providers into cutting off medical care for transgender Americans. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### Dubious Authorship Although the Trump administration has held up “Wolves in White Coats” as a game-changing document, its 10 authors hail not from any major medical association, but rather from the right-wing media and dark money ecosystem. Just three are medical doctors—only two in relevant fields—and all have been outspoken critics of gender-affirming care. The first listed contributor is Aaron Baer, the president of the Center for Christian Virtue, a Christian Right organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has [designated](https://glaad.org/gap/center-for-christian-virtue/?ref=importantcontext.news) an anti-LGBTQIA+ hate group. Baer has no medical or public health background, according to his LinkedIn. He graduated from Ohio University in 2009 with a degree in public relations. From there, he went to work at [ZooLoo.com](http://zooloo.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), a now defunct web dashboard company, as a marketing and public relations manager. Two of the authors. Victoria Coley and Neeraja Deshpande, are affiliated with the Independent Women’s Forum, an anti-feminist group with major right-wing funding that has spread misinformation related to gender-affirming care. The group’s past funders have included major names on the right including petrochemical billionaire Charles Koch and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Coley is IWF’s senior vice president of communications while Deshpande is an IWF policy analyst. There is also Dr. Aaron Kheriaty. A licensed psychiatrist, Kheriaty was fired from his job at UC-Irvine for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine—a decision he sought to reverse with an unsuccessful lawsuit. A conservative Catholic, Kheriaty once [edited](https://catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/the-devils-cunning.html?ref=importantcontext.news) a book on how to identify demonic possession. Kheriaty is a fellow and director of the Program in Bioethics and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), a Christian Right group backed by conservative legal activist and Trump “judge whisperer” Leonard Leo. EPPC [originated](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-is-using-anti-trans-language?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the term “sex-rejecting procedures” to refer to gender-affirming care, which the Trump administration has picked up on and appears throughout the HHS report. Kheriaty is affiliated with a number of other right-wing organizations as well. He is a senior fellow and director of the Health and Human Flourishing Program at the Zephyr Institute, which aims to recruit students at Stanford University. He is also a senior scholar at the [Brownstone Institute, an anti-science group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) known for spreading conspiracy theories and vaccine misinformation. Kheriaty has long been an ally of the administration. In March, he served as a [witness](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/religious-liberty-commission-hosts-sixth-hearing-religious-liberty-healthcare?ref=importantcontext.news) for the president’s Religious Liberty Commission. Three months later, the DOJ [settled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-doj-settles-lawsuit-by-vaccine?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) a censorship lawsuit he had brought against key Biden administration officials in 2023 despite the Supreme Court having previously ruled that he and his co-plaintiffs—including now-NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and former ACIP chair Martin Kulldorff—lacked standing. Another author of the “Wolves” report is Dr. Eithan Haim, a general surgeon and trauma surgeon at Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville, Texas. The report notes that in May 2023, Haim “anonymously exposed Texas Children’s Hospital’s secret transgender program—which helped spur the passage of state legislation banning pediatric sex-rejecting interventions.” He “also led to an investigation by the Texas attorney general that culminated in a $10 million healthcare fraud settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital and the establishment of the nation’s first detransitioner clinic in May 2026.” The other report authors include a number of contributors to right-wing publications like *The National Review* and *The Daily Wire*. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### A Political Document The “Wolves” report itself appears intended to intimidate providers and medical administrators by making veiled (and not so veiled) threats to retaliate against them for any care that MAGA opposes, which is effectively all care for trans people. It is shot through with inflammatory and prejudicial language—“surgical mutilation” and “sex-rejecting interventions”—and entirely reliant on right-wing sources such as the Manhattan Institute and the SPLC-designated hate group Do No Harm for its putative data. Throughout, the report insinuates that providers of transgender care are committing fraud by their mere participation in Medicare and Medicaid, universal necessities in U.S. society. It suggests that medical groups are engaging in a conspiracy by sharing guidance on navigating the intricacies of filing for insurance reimbursement, neglecting that such practices are routine for thousands of other treatments. Though President Trump and his administration are consumed by self-interest and corruption—[from insider trading to attempting to create a slush fund for allies](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/epic-corruption-plain-sight?ref=importantcontext.news)—their report nonetheless seeks to demonize doctors as profiteers. A New York doctor who treats transgender patients and who spoke with *Important Context* on the condition of anonymity to protect their practice, noted that negotiating with insurance companies is just a fact of American healthcare. They dismissed the idea that doctors were profiteering off of treating transgender patients, stating that the administration was “spinning information and making it sound terrible.” “If you wanted to scam the healthcare system, there’s a lot of easier ways,” the doctor said, noting that the transgender population is “massively underserved” and faces disproportionate economic hardship. While gender-affirming care has been shown to be lifesaving, transgender Americans do indeed suffer higher rates of homelessness, suicidality, and economic hardship tied to social stigmas. The doctor noted that patients do not pursue gender-affirming treatment unless they really need it. The HHS report repeats a favorite[ right-wing trope, popularized by the SPLC-designated anti-queer hate group Alliance Defending Freedom](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream/?ref=importantcontext.news), that medical care for transgender people demands “novel” lifelong treatment. It does not note that many dozens of conditions require ongoing treatment throughout a patient’s life, including high blood pressure, thyroid disorders, diabetes, heart disease, gout, perimenopause, Crohn’s disease, high cholesterol, asthma, hemophilia, HIV, epilepsy, eosinophilic esophagitis, glaucoma, ADHD, immunosuppressants, organ transplant treatments and estrogen treatment for cis women. It repeatedly invokes the fallacy of widespread gender-affirming surgery among young people, another right-wing trope, when in fact such [surgery is exceedingly rare](https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-affirming-surgeries-rarely-performed-on-transgender-youth/?ref=importantcontext.news). To support its myth of predatory doctors, it devotes a chapter to “Captive Patients,” as if young trans people and their parents have no voice in their own medical care. What little purported substantiation the “Wolves” report offers comes from a small, closed and circular universe of right-wing sources: a “landmark” lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has faced [allegations of corruption](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/justice-department-declined-to-prosecute-texas-ag-paxton-in-final-weeks-of-bidens-term-ap-sources/?ref=importantcontext.news) and is now running for Senate; cases filed by the Trump administration’s DOJ; stories from right-wing journalists for *The* *Daily Wire* and *The Daily Caller*; the writings of a putative whistleblower aligned with the religious right. It cites supposed insurance figures assembled by a group, Stop the Harm, an affiliate of billionaire-funded Do No Harm, whose [methodology page reflects an explicit anti-trans bias](https://stoptheharmdatabase.com/method/?ref=importantcontext.news)—asserting, against medical evidence, that gender-affirming care is “not based in well-established science”—and whose work has been criticized for inflating numbers to further its agenda. This is the second report HHS has published attacking gender-affirming care. The first was issued in spring 2025, shortly after Trump ordered the end of treatment for young people in an inflammatory executive order that repeatedly invoked the term “mutilation.” The report was then revised in November of that year to include the author’s names, which were originally withheld. The revised version of more than 400 pages was highly criticized for its tendentious use of data, broad misrepresentations and promotion of conversion therapy. (The url to the 2025 document now redirects to the new report. The [2025 report is still available as a pdf](https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) archived on that page.) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘Nobody’s Going to Trust Anything Anymore’ Despite its political intentions, the 2025 HHS report employed dry, academic language. By contrast, its new report appears to escalate HHS’s attacks on the medical profession itself, beginning with its incendiary title and its use of “fraud” as a means to threaten providers. According to the report’s conspiratorial picture of the medical profession, experts are “elites” motivated solely by profit. The American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics are all targeted with unsupported assertions of supposed malfeasance. Special bile is reserved for the nonprofit World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which has already been targeted by Trump’s FTC in an [unprecedented lawsuit that distorts consumer protection law](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/maga-attacks-nonprofits-it-took-lessons-from-authoritarians/?ref=importantcontext.news) to challenge clinical guidelines and medical standards. Several pages of derisive commentary are focused on former President Joe Biden, a favorite target of the president and his allies. Rewriting and erasing decades of history concerning gender-affirming care, the report describes Biden as having unilaterally imposed “gender ideology.” It attacks Biden for supporting equal rights and offers self-congratulatory messages about Trump’s campaign to eradicate trans people. The New York doctor told *Important Context* that they were troubled by HHS putting out such a political document. “As soon as you politicize any sort of healthcare it’s a really slippery slope,” they said. “You are … damaging trust in the institution, and you’re also … just making it so nobody’s going to trust anything anymore, which is kind of their whole point.” ### Right Wing Celebrates Former Biden COVID Czar’s Embrace of Unproven COVID Origin Story URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/right-wing-celebrates-former-biden/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:57.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* At the end of last month, Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as President Biden’s White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator from April 2022 to June 2023, shared a post on X that declared, “I believe the available evidence overwhelmingly points toward a research-related incident in Wuhan as the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.” ”I pretty much agree with everything here,” Jha commented. Later, he appeared on CNN reiterating the message. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The idea that SARS-CoV-2 originally escaped from a Chinese laboratory remains highly speculative with available evidence pointing to the virus having natural origins. Most experts, including the World Health Organization panel tasked with investigating the matter believe that the pathogen spilled over to humans from animals. The narrative has nonetheless found purchase on the right and with the Trump administration, where it became a vehicle for attacking the president’s perceived enemies. A 2020 GOP strategy memo urged Republicans to embrace the lab leak and accuse their detractors of being soft on China. At the center of the right-wing lab leak narratives has been Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci drew the ire of Trump and his allies back in 2020 for resisting the president’s push to reopen the country early in the pandemic and for rebutting misinformation he promoted about the state of the crisis. The most popular lab leak scenario alleges that Fauci funded the research that created the SARS-CoV-2 virus, tried to cover it up, and lied to Congress about it. The X post was not the first time Jha had endorsed the lab leak scenario, but it was the most public and explicit. In February last year, he [told](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/27/opinion/ashish-jha-say-more-podcast/?ref=importantcontext.news) *The Boston Globe* that he had “flipped” on the COVID origins question during his time in government, believing at first natural origins to be 80 percent likely when he began his tenure and then coming around to seeing the lab leak as 60 percent likely on his final day. Months later, he co-founded a biosurveillance firm called BioRadar, which he runs today. The company bills itself as “America’s AI-Powered Biological Intelligence Service.” Its website, which was registered last November, warns that “Engineering pathogens is now fast, cheap, and accessible” and “The world is saturated with high-risk labs.” Also notable about Jha’s lab leak remark was the timing. Two days earlier, Fauci had answered a subpoena and testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee where he’d been berated and faced conspiratorial accusations from the Republicans members that he had actually been responsible for the coronavirus. The post Jha shared actually criticized the treatment of the former NIAID director. Throughout the three-hour affair, Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, fearing that anything he said would be used to refer him to the DOJ for prosecution for perjury. Committee Chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other GOP lawmakers have repeatedly expressed a desire to see Fauci prosecuted. Biden, on his last day in office, amid escalating attacks on his former NIAID director, issued a preemptive pardon for Fauci going back a decade. Barring perjury, there appeared to be little the Senate Republicans could do. The next day, however, Florida’s Republican attorney general launched an investigation into the former top doctor. This week, the Senate committee also voted to hold Fauci in contempt and recommend him to the DOJ for prosecution anyway. Right-wing media has been in a frenzy. *The* *New York Post* even [published](https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/us-news/faucis-fed-up-wife-flips-the-bird-as-ex-top-doc-miserably-takes-out-trash-hours-after-contempt-vote/?ref=importantcontext.news) photos from a stake out of Fauci’s home, capturing the doctor “miserably” taking out the trash. “Grouchy Fauci,” the story opened. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Jha’s remark on the unproven COVID lab leak narrative, which came days before the contempt vote, helped fuel that media frenzy. Right-wing outlets and conspiracy theorists claimed vindication. “After years of debate, former COVID response coordinator acknowledges pandemic source ‘probably a lab leak,’” read the Fox News [headline](https://www.foxnews.com/media/after-years-debate-former-covid-response-coordinator-acknowledges-pandemic-source-probably-lab-leak?ref=importantcontext.news). “Joe Biden’s COVID Advisor Finally Admitted the Virus Came From a Lab,” [declared](https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/08/04/dr-ashish-jha-lab-leak-theory-cnn-n2680581?ref=importantcontext.news) Townhall—an outlet originally launched by the Heritage Foundation and subsequently bought by the Christian Right Salem Media Group. “The fact that BIden COVID adviser Ashish Jha only now is stating COVID had a lab origin, despite surely having known this for six years, makes it clear that the Overton Window has shifted, and Fauci and Fauci’s ‘Proximal Origin’ fraudsters have lost control of the narrative,” [wrote](https://x.com/r%5Fh%5Febright/status/2084270118310215827?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Rutgers University molecular biologist Dr. Richard Ebright, founder of the fringe lab leak group BioSafety now. Dr. Vinay Prasad, meanwhile, who briefly served as the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research under Trump before his unceremonious exit, twice, offered his take in a [video](https://x.com/VPrasadMDMPH/status/2084824126536237379/video/1?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for his YouTube channel and X. “I think it is good that he’s saying this, and it’s going to shift the Overton Window,” Prasad mused. “And we may someday actually be able to get some more honesty on all of the issues in the pandemic, which the media is just still completely dishonest about.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Renowned vaccine scientist and pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez, however, had a different response to the former COVID czar. In a post on X, Hotez, who himself has faced threats and harassment for his public health advocacy, noted that “There are at least a half dozen papers in our best scientific journals including[ @ScienceMagazine](https://x.com/ScienceMagazine?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @CellCellPress](https://x.com/CellCellPress?ref=importantcontext.news) detailing the zoonotic spillover origins of SARS-2 Covid, each more or less matching the origins of SARS-1 and MERS. We’ve had 3 major coronavirus epidemics/pandemics in this new century and most likely a 4th one is circulating in bats just like the others.” “In contrast we don’t have a single paper on lab leak nor \[gain-of-function research\], most likely bc it never occurred,” Hotez continued. “And \[by the way\] there’s a major coronavirus virus research institute in every major Chinese city established after SARS-1 in 2002-2003.” ### Trump Allies Deflect From Explosive Diarrhea Epidemic URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-allies-deflect-from-explosive/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:58.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* In an editorial for *The Free Press* and his Substack, former *New York Times* journalist Alex Berenson, known today for his polemical opposition to lifesaving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, dismissed concerns surrounding the record-breaking cyclosporiasis outbreak sickening Americans in at least 41 states, calling them “yet another effort by legacy reporters to attack the Trump administration.” The unpleasant condition, caused by the cyclospora parasite found in human feces, is marked by an array of gastrointestinal issues—most notably explosive, watery diarrhea lasting days to weeks—but is not generally life-threatening. Outbreaks happen every summer when temperatures are warmer, with the usual culprits being leafy greens and berries. The scale of this year’s multi-state blowout is unique. The situation, coming months ahead of the midterm elections, has been another headache for the Trump administration and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy’s leadership has come under fire for what critics say has been a sluggish federal response, plagued by poor communication. Earlier this month, the FDA announced that the outbreak was being fueled by iceberg lettuce sold at Taco Bell restaurants and produced by supplier Taylor Farms. But days later, the agency clarified that the sample it tested produced a false positive, while also reasserting that the agribusiness titan remained a likely source. Staffing and funding cuts made by the administration, which hit the CDC, FDA, and other critical public health agencies, have come under increasing scrutiny. According to experts, the cuts have [hindered](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/health/trump-cyclosporiasis-outbreak-cdc-response-invs?ref=importantcontext.news) the agency’s ability to track and respond to the outbreak, delaying necessary functions like [sample testing](https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5984356-usaid-cuts-cyclospora-response/?ref=importantcontext.news). Much of the political right and major anti-vaccine groups like Children’s Health Defense and the Independent Medical Alliance have engaged minimally with the outbreak, if at all. But a constellation of voices has emerged to respond—not by defending the government’s handling of the problem but by directing focus elsewhere. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Berenson, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 and recently received a six-figure settlement from his Department of Justice while his Biden-Era censorship lawsuit was on appeal following a dismissal, rejected any connection between the cuts to public health infrastructure and the historic outbreak. “The real epidemic here is the relentless legacy media effort to attack Trump and Kennedy on public health issues,” he wrote. His editorial put forward a narrative that explained away all of the infectious disease outbreaks that have dogged the administration in recent months. He suggested that journalists had been deliberately overhyping the threat to Americans posed by hantavirus, Ebola, and even measles, which killed two unvaccinated children last year and is seeing a historic resurgence. Vinay Prasad, formerly the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research who spearheaded a campaign against mRNA vaccines, saw a different problem with the outbreak: the public health warnings. In a [video](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/2079350395667931357?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) posted to his X account with the caption “Extreme public health advice,” the former official, who was unceremoniously ousted twice from his position, reacted to a July 13 NBC News tweet citing one expert’s recommendation to avoid produce for “the next week or so.” “You tell all these people, ‘You’re not supposed to eat produce for the next few weeks until we get to the bottom of cyclosporiasis’—that’s the craziest recommendation I’ve ever heard in my life,” Prasad opined, invoking pandemic mitigation efforts. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Some of the right-wing responses to the parasitic outbreak focused on a favorite target of the administration: immigrants. *The Daily Caller* published a [story](https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/17/illegal-aliens-poop-food-farms-cyclospora-diarrhea/?ref=importantcontext.news) earlier this month headlined, “Could Illegal Aliens Crapping In Your Food Be Why You’re Having Explosive Diarrhea?” The article asserted that “interviews with experts and research reviewed by the Daily Caller suggest poor field sanitation among illegal immigrant farmworkers could be a major source of the problem.” Investigators have [never been able](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/25/health/cyclospora-outbreak-investigation?ref=importantcontext.news) to identify how human fecal matter is entering American agriculture. Texas GOP Congressman Ronny Jackson also encouraged a connection between undocumented immigrants and cyclospora through a comparison. “Illegal immigrants and cyclosporiasis: both parasites coming from Mexico, spreading a SICKNESS across our country,” he wrote in a [post](https://x.com/ronnyjacksontx/status/2080784682216542490?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X. “BOTH need to be removed AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!!” Last week, *The Wall Street Journal* Editorial Board published a piece defending the administration and reframing the cyclosporiasis outbreak as a failure of big government—in particular, the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act signed by President Barack Obama. The law gave the FDA an array of tools to improve food safety, including produce-safety standards, mandatory recall authority, and more required inspections of facilities. “The Administration’s public messaging could be clearer, but it’s ironic that Democrats complain about the government response since they passed legislation in 2011 that they said would prevent outbreaks,“ the piece read. Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, [shared](https://x.com/jeffreytucker/status/2080231876430643544?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the article on X, calling it “a perfect editorial.” Brownstone itself has not published anything about the outbreak. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) At least one prominent voice on the right offered mild criticism of the Trump administration. In a post on X, Dr. Peter McCullough, the former cardiologist who became famous for spreading misinformation about mRNA vaccines, [wrote](https://x.com/p%5Fmcculloughmd/status/2080788265934663779?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “USDA and FDA MUST to do a better job protecting Americans from foodborne illness.” But McCullough’s critique was broader, primarily about “the system” and government bureaucracy. In a Substack post, he declared that “a $9 billion bureaucracy got outsmarted by tainted lettuce.” “Should America Stop Eating Lettuce? No—but you should stop trusting the system to protect you,” the post read. McCullough has also been using the outbreaks as an opportunity to [hawk](https://x.com/p%5Fmcculloughmd/status/2080605261954244954?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) emergency medical kits sold by his supplements business, The Wellness Company. In an appearance on the far-right Real America’s Voice Network, which *Important Context* previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/right-wing-broadcasters-sold-media?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) was featuring undisclosed paid content from Chinese billionaire fraudster Guo Wengui, McCullough made a promise to viewers. ”You don’t have to go to the ER or go through PCR testing,” he said while a chyron appeared on screen offering a promo code. ### Plaintiff in Children’s Health Defense Lawsuit Charged With Murder URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/plaintiff-in-childrens-health-defense/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:58.000Z *This piece was updated from its original email version to include additional context on 7/8/26.* An Idaho woman whose claims that vaccines killed her toddler twins were promoted by Robert Kennedy Jr.’s former anti-vaccine group has been arrested and charged with their murders. [Andrea Shaw](https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/mother-accused-in-death-twin-toddlers-arraigned-in-payette/277-0a015bcc-6dee-4b07-8b5c-94749c1cfbd8?ref=importantcontext.news), 23, formerly of Payette, Idaho, was arrested on Tuesday after a grand jury returned an indictment, charging her with two counts of first-degree murder, which requires premeditation, in connection with the deaths of her 18-month-old twins, Dallas and Tyson. Police found the twins unresponsive in their shared bed on May 1, 2025 after responding to a 911 call. Shaw blamed the flu, hepatitis A, and DTaP (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccines the children had received days earlier, but the [indictment alleges](https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/mother-accused-in-death-twin-toddlers-arraigned-in-payette/277-0a015bcc-6dee-4b07-8b5c-94749c1cfbd8?ref=importantcontext.news) that she suffocated the toddlers. The arrest concludes “a lengthy and thorough” multi-agency investigation led by the Payette Police Department, according to a press release [posted](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0JWMfz8ZqFEG3bex6MGvydV1KU2DwSvhpQPDWuXapasUFErWPkcneiFezsipWCPJcl&id=100064811735527) to the department’s Facebook page. That investigation was launched last year as foul play was suspected. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine advocacy group founded and previously led by Kennedy before he became Health and Human Services Secretary, picked up Shaw’s story and promoted it for months. Days after her children’s deaths, Shaw [appeared](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/events/trending-news-segments/breaking-toddler-twins-born-together-died-together-following-vaccinations/?%5Fga=2.85907545.1950598291.1783529628-694911637.1783029263&ref=importantcontext.news) on a CHD podcast, claiming that her husband’s side of the family all suffered allergic reactions to the flu shot that the pediatrician ignored. In the days after the vaccines, she said, her children deteriorated, prompting a hospital visit. On the eighth day, they died. Shaw and her husband also filed a report with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System with [help from a nurse](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/double-tragedy-dallas-tyson-twin-babies-deaths-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) affiliated with an anti-vaccine group called the Vaccine Safety Research Fund. The nurse subsequently [appeared](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd-2025/toddler-twins-death--medical-records--review--the-maha-report-whats-missing/?%5Fga=2.189584107.1950598291.1783529628-694911637.1783029263&ref=importantcontext.news) on the CHD podcast to discuss Shaw’s children alongside anti-vax former physician Pierre Kory, who previously helped the group downplay the measles deaths of two unvaccinated Texas children last year. Shaw later became the lead plaintiff in a racketeering lawsuit filed by CHD against the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)—while under investigation for murder. The CHD suit, launched in January, [alleged](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/rfk-jrs-former-anti-vax-org-launches?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) that AAP had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by making false and fraudulent claims about the safety of the childhood immunization schedule and blocking efforts to study its cumulative safety. It claimed the AAP was engaged in this activity while receiving donations for its charitable work from vaccine manufacturers. The lawsuit came as AAP was waging a legal battle of its own against Kennedy’s HHS over changes made to the U.S. childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule. In its suit, AAP alleged the schedule changes were made “without following the evidentiary-driven, and legally required processes.” A federal judge in that case [temporarily halted](https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/federal-judge-blocks-immunization-schedule-changes?ref=importantcontext.news) the changes and stayed Kennedy’s new appointments to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In its [complaint](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/aap-lawsuit-complaint-redacted.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), CHD noted that Shaw was being investigated for murder in connection with the deaths of her children, but painted the investigation as a consequence of AAP’s “fraudulent safety claims.” “Rather than investigating the documented post-immunization reaction as a potential cause of death, local authorities opened a homicide investigation targeting Mrs. Shaw,” it read. “Prosecutors have theorized that she caused her children’s deaths through a ‘postpartum blackout’ or that ‘the house was too hot.’ This criminal investigation is a foreseeable consequence of AAP’s fraudulent safety claims: when the medical system has been told that vaccines cannot cause serious injury or death, grieving parents become suspects rather than victims.” In the wake of the arrest, CHD has stood by Shaw, continuing to paint her as a victim of political prosecution. An [article](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/andrea-shaw-idaho-mother-twins-died-8-days-after-vaccinations-charged-murder/?ref=importantcontext.news) published on Thursday by the group’s media outlet, The Defender, claimed that “Rather than investigating Andrea’s vaccine concerns, the Payette Police Department opened an investigation into her.” In a [post](https://x.com/maryhollandnyc/status/2072699504210371013?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X, promoting the Defender story, CHD CEO Mary Holland wrote “Parents deserve to be heard when they raise vaccine safety concerns for their own children. This mother wasn’t — and now she’s facing life in prison.” Other anti-vax voices on X also defended Shaw. “This may be the best reason for not vaccinating your kids: to avoid being charged with first degree murder,” [wrote](https://x.com/stkirsch/status/2072797731064856584?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, who runs the Vaccine Safety Research Fund and has written for The Defender. Dr. Lynn Fynn of the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-ivermectin-anti-vax-group-positioned?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), which was originally co-founded by Kory, framed the charges as a [warning](https://x.com/fynnderella1/status/2072688478475690021?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “Moms, do you know who Andrea Shaw is? You should because it could happen to any of you,” she wrote. ### MAGA Attacks Nonprofits. It Took Lessons From Authoritarians. URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/maga-attacks-nonprofits-it-took-lessons/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:59.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with Assigned Media.* The seeds of the federal government’s unprecedented political assault on a major medical group were planted a year ago when the Federal Trade Commission convened what it billed as a workshop on gender affirming care. Of[ the more than 20 speakers and panelists](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc%5Fgov/pdf/Healthcare-Workshop-Speakers-July-9-2025.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) at the event, not a single one represented a mainstream professional organization. However, they did include Michelle Cretella, a veteran of the anti-trans extremist movement whom the FTC identified[ as a pediatrician though she has not held an active medical license for six years](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream/?ref=importantcontext.news). Then there was Jamie Reed, described as a whistleblower though her[ widely publicized accusations](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jamie-reeds-allegations-are-not-even-partially-confirmed/?ref=importantcontext.news) against a Missouri gender clinic were debunked by local news outlets. They ultimately proved so meritless that despite [building his political career on anti-trans rhetoric](https://www.aclu-mo.org/news/advocates-sue-block-missouri-attorney-generals-anti-transgender-rule-restricting-gender/?ref=importantcontext.news), the conservative state attorney general, Andrew Bailey, did not pursue them. Another panel at the workshop, on the “politicization of science,” featured[ Leor Sapir, a senior fellow with the right-wing Manhattan Institute whose doctorate in political science](https://manhattan.institute/person/leor-sapir?top=false&limit=10&page-number=7&people%5B%5D=46760&dates=&ref=importantcontext.news) has apparently qualified him to produce dozens of anti-trans pieces. So it was a natural progression when the FTC announced this month its [newest action ](https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/the-federal-trade-commission-attempts-to-regulate-medical-practices/?ref=importantcontext.news)against the nonprofit World Professional Association for Transgender Health: [a lawsuit that experts say twists consumer protection law](https://wpath.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/06.17.2026-WPATH-Statement-on-FTC-Statess-Announcement-of-New-Complaint.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to punish the group, which has, for 46 years, set standards of care for a minority group the Trump administration has targeted for months. “Historically, the FTC’s regulatory actions against medical professionals and organizations have focused strictly on antitrust, anticompetitive practices, or commercial fraud,”[ Lawrence Gostin](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/lawrence-o-gostin/?ref=importantcontext.news), professor of law at Georgetown University and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, said in an email interview. “The FTC has never before challenged the scientific validity of clinical guidelines,” he added. “Consumer protection law is fundamentally designed for commercial transactions, making it a blunt and poorly tailored tool for evaluating evolving scientific data.” The lawsuit, Gostin said, relies on the FTC Act’s prohibition against “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” But he said “this framework is not suitable when applied to medical standards or clinical guidelines.” “This lawsuit raises major concerns about weaponizing federal regulatory agencies to achieve political goals that Congress never intended. The Trump administration is using consumer protection as a backdoor mechanism to restrict care that it opposes ideologically.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) **A Broad** **Attack** The case is also emblematic of the administration and Congress’s widespread, politicized attacks on nonprofit groups involved in issues that the political right disfavors. Databases maintained by the[ National Council of Nonprofits](https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/files/media/documents/2025/chart-executive-orders.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) and the[ International Center for Non-Profit Law](https://www.icnl.org/congressional-investigations?ref=importantcontext.news) provide a stark look. Nonprofits focused on climate change, reproductive rights, Palestinian and campus speech, immigration, racial equity, LGBTQ rights and the legal defense of democratic principles have faced particular threats in a variety of forms: from investigations, subpoenas, funding cuts and lawsuits to, in the most extreme case, the filing of criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, long a nemesis of the right. “The Trump administration is really the first to all-out attack nonprofits,” said[ Christopher Einolf](https://www.niu.edu/clas/sociology/about/directory/einolf.shtml?ref=importantcontext.news), a sociologist at Northern Illinois University, who has studied nonprofits in the United States and internationally. ‘’Maybe the closest precedent is the McCarthy era, but I don’t think they went after nonprofits in particular then. They went after other institutions, and they really went after individuals.” “The U.S. right has devised a strategy based on 20 years of experience from Putin’s Russia to Orban’s Hungary to Erdogan’s Turkey,” Einolf continued, noting that the Conservative Political Action Conference [convened a number of meetings in Budapest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ZDER4oDN4&t=6s&ref=importantcontext.news). “And the opposition to authoritarianism has not done as good a job of learning from other oppositions about what works and what doesn’t.” Einolf nonetheless is optimistic that nonprofits in the US can push back successfully if they avoid the traps that befell law firms and universities early in the second Trump administration. “One of the strengths of the US nonprofit sector is that it is big, well established, and very cohesive,” he said in an interview. “Nonprofits are used to working together here, which isn’t the case in a lot of countries.” When he presents his new paper, “The Trump Administration’s Attack on Nonprofits and Their Response,” at the International Society for Third Sector Research in Lisbon, Portugal, next month, Einolf will also make the case that the nonprofit sector has learned important lessons about combatting the Trump administration’s divide-and-conquer tactics. “Its leaders learned from the experiences of law firms and universities that hiding and capitulating does not work,” he writes, “and took preemptive action to present a common front.” More than 3,700 leading organizations[ signed a letter last fall](https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/08/an-open-letter-rejecting-presidential-attacks-on-nonprofit-organizations?ref=importantcontext.news) saying that no president “should have the power to punish nonprofit organizations simply because he disagrees with them” and declaring that “we stand with those wrongly targeted and with each other.” That means going to court, preemptively in many cases. The nonprofit advocacy group Democracy Forward has taken a lead on the litigation front, filing more than[ 150 lawsuits against the administration in 2025](https://democracyforward.org/work/research/2025-impact-report/?ref=importantcontext.news) alone, many in conjunction with nonprofits. Democratic attorneys general have filed over 100 more, Einolf said. Broadly, Einolf said, “based on a reading of international attacks on nonprofits, the more they band together, the earlier they do it and the stronger the approach they take, the more likely they are to be successful.” An impulse among nonprofit leaders to keep one’s head down is understandable, and even effective to a limited extent. “They don’t want to lose funding because if they do, their clients will go hungry, their clients will lose child care,” he said. “So, they’re thinking, ‘well, if I just change some language on my website, I won’t catch the government’s attention.’” But the fear of losing federal funding has led to some significant capitulations, Einolf said, [pointing to a decision](https://19thnews.org/2025/02/trump-funding-freeze-domestic-violence-nonprofits/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the National Domestic Violence Hotline last year to remove a [page of resources for LGBTQ+ people](https://www.thehotline.org/here-for-you/?ref=importantcontext.news) from its website. [In another case](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/18/rainn-trans-language-removed/?pwapi%5Ftoken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzgyNzA1NjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzg0MDg3OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3ODI3MDU2MDAsImp0aSI6IjE0NDU0YjM0LTU3NDQtNGUwZS05ZmFhLThhZGJhNGM2NzMwYyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyNS8wMi8xOC9yYWlubi10cmFucy1sYW5ndWFnZS1yZW1vdmVkLyJ9.gew4emtzItIwEZmlA8KLabYURpokArtP1w1j-j0J3h8&ref=importantcontext.news), the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network removed all references to transgender people from its website, including [a page once devoted to trans survivors](https://rainn.org/survivor-stories-categories/trans-survivors?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Conservative or Radical?** Navigating this terrain has continued to prove difficult. In one prominent case, a leading medical nonprofit seemed to many critics to be overly intent on not offending the administration, at some cost to its reputation. Organizers of the American Diabetes Association’s annual conference this month[ directed the police to expel several senior members](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/121619?ref=importantcontext.news) who were handing out copies of an editorial printed in its own flagship journal. The piece, which criticized Trump administration changes to biomedical research, was being distributed by members on the day a top NIH official had been invited to speak. The organization[ initially seemed to hide behind its status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit](https://diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/american-diabetes-associations-statement-regarding-nonpartisanship?ref=importantcontext.news) to say, incorrectly, that the distribution of the editorial would have violated IRS rules. (Members of such groups are allowed to engage in educational advocacy.) The uproar over the association’s heavy-handed response eventually prompted its CEO to[ issue an apology](https://www.facebook.com/reel/2037833463512260). Close to two million nonprofits are now registered in the United States, [David Armiak](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/author/david-armiak/?ref=importantcontext.news), research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, said in an interview. Groups on both the right and left have become adept at obscuring the sources of their funding and using so-called 501(c)(4) action groups and affiliated political action groups to directly promote political positions. The Heritage Foundation, for instance, one of the most powerful conservative groups, has an affiliated 501(c)(4) action group Heritage Action for America and it helped start the political action group Sentinel Action. Beyond that, 501(c)(3) groups have taken full advantage of [fiscal sponsorship rules](https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/running-nonprofit/administration-and-financial-management/fiscal-sponsorship-nonprofits?ref=importantcontext.news) that allow support to be channeled through multiple fictitious or dba entities. “You can register a large number of names to your one nonprofit,” Armiak said, “which allows these dark money groups to shoot up everywhere.” “We’ve seen for many years now that organizations on both the right and the left have developed a more sophisticated infrastructure,” he said. “For one, they know that the IRS is lax in terms of enforcement and they know complaints are oftentimes not really acted upon, or at least there’s no publicity of them being acted upon.” Though dark money has flowed on both the right and the left, systemic abuse is more likely when one party has what Armiak called a “trifecta” hold on power via the executive, legislative and the judiciary. “Certainly, you can make a case that the DOJ is far more politicized than it’s ever been,” he said. “You can make the case that the federal court system has moved further to the right than it’s ever been.” “Conservative is not a good word to use for many of these courts, including the Supreme Court,” Armiak added. “When you’re overturning 50 years of precedent, that’s not conservative, that’s radical, extremist behavior.” Among those left particularly vulnerable, he said, are groups disfavored by the right, for example those that are aligned with Palestinian rights, that provide care to trans people, that examine climate change. Said Einolf, the sociologist, “Authoritarians gain power by identifying enemies and drumming up hatred.” “I think that the nonprofit sector in the U.S. is going to do better than most countries in resisting authoritarianism,” he added. “But that’s only a small battle in the overall war.” ### Trump DOJ Settles Lawsuit By Vaccine Skeptic Despite Winning in Court URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-doj-settles-lawsuit-by-vaccine/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:05:59.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Last month, the Department of Justice sparked widespread outrage with its announcement that it had settled Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over an unauthorized leak of his tax returns. The settlement raised eyebrows for its inclusion of a pledge by the IRS to drop any investigations into Trump’s family and organizations and the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate the president’s supporters who claimed to have been targeted by the previous administration. Critics blasted the agreement as an effort by the administration to reward its allies—including potentially individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. It wasn’t long before Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche [conceded](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/02/trump-weaponization-fund-todd-blanche-00947631?ref=importantcontext.news) that his office was “not moving forward with the fund.” But with all eyes focused on the Trump case, another unusual DOJ settlement from the week prior went largely unnoticed. The department conceded in a lawsuit brought by former *New York Times* journalist turned prominent vaccine skeptic—and Trump supporter—Alex Berenson. What made the settlement so strange was that it came after a federal court had dismissed the case on standing grounds. Courts cannot hear cases if the plaintiff lacks standing to bring the suit. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Berenson initially sued the Biden administration in 2023, alleging that it was responsible for Twitter suspending his account two years earlier after the company claimed he had violated its five-strike policy against posting COVID-19-related misinformation at the height of the pandemic. For evidence, Berenson presented email exchanges between administration officials and Twitter, in which the former requested the removal of some of his posts containing anti-mRNA vaccine musings. The fact that the government’s attorneys had continued fighting the case surprised Berenson, who had endorsed Trump in 2024\. He believed the Trump administration might be inclined to settle given the president’s political positioning. On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order declaring that the Biden administration had “infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate.” Berenson appealed the dismissal, and without even filing a response to his appeal, the administration settled. In a Substack post, Berenson noted his surprise at his good fortune. “I knew last week if I didn’t settle with the government, we would likely be stuck next year asking the Supreme Court to make new law by extending my rights to sue for money damages,” he wrote. “Could we win? Of course we could based on the facts. But we would face long odds.” The settlement included a [$150,000 payout](https://mynorthwest.com/john-curley/fear-based-tactics-settlement/4241717?ref=importantcontext.news) and an acknowledgment that the government had violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to suppress speech like his. Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California San Francisco College of the Law and leading expert in vaccine law, told *Important Context* that the administration “had no reason to settle.” She explained that payouts like Berenson’s come directly from the U.S. Treasury, which is fed by taxpayers. “It’s clearly political,” she said. “His chances on appeal were really poor.” Reiss said she was surprised by the settlement and could not see the logic in it, noting “The only reason to settle is political capital—a dig at the Biden administration—but if so…Why not settle earlier, why fight it in the lower court?…Why not publicize it? I think only Berenson wrote on it.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The Trump and Berenson cases are part of a broader pattern where the Trump DOJ has settled politically aligned, Biden-Era lawsuits—often after the government’s attorneys have scored favorable court rulings. In several instances, those settlements have funneled large sums of taxpayer money into the pockets of the president’s allies. In March, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, a key Trump ally, secured a $1.25 million payment from the government as part of a settlement in his wrongful prosecution lawsuit. Flynn was prosecuted during Trump’s first term for lying to federal investigators in 2016 about communications he’d had with a Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He pleaded guilty, but in May 2020, the DOJ moved to dismiss the case. Months later, he received a full pardon from Trump. Flynn filed a civil lawsuit in 2023 seeking $50 million for malicious prosecution. The Biden DOJ sought to get the case dismissed. The Trump administration settled. Not all the settlements with Trump allies have involved payouts. Another recent high-profile case in which the administration folded despite holding a winning legal hand is *Missouri v. Biden*. The DOJ reached a settlement in that case in March with anti-vaxxer Dr. Aaron Kheriaty. Kheriaty, a psychiatrist who lost his job over his refusal to get the COVID vaccine, had claims similar to Berenson’s, alleging that the Biden administration had censored him by pressuring social media companies to suppress his content. Kheriaty has been broadly supportive of Trump for years and [heralded](https://x.com/aaronkheriatymd/status/1881502502295851508?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the anti-censorship executive order as a “victory.” A conservative Catholic, he served as a [witness](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/religious-liberty-commission-hosts-sixth-hearing-religious-liberty-healthcare?ref=importantcontext.news) in March for the president’s Religious Liberty Commission. Kheriaty was one of several private plaintiffs in the suit, including current officials in Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services— Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, the chief science and data officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. They were represented pro bono by New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-wing lawfare group. The case was originally filed in May 2022 by the Republican attorneys for Missouri and Louisiana general and joined by the NCLA plaintiffs that August. A Trump-appointed district court judge granted the plaintiffs a sweeping injunction against the Biden administration, prohibiting it from communicating with social media companies. The injunction made its way up to the Supreme Court through the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and was overturned on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. The court ruled that they had not sufficiently demonstrated that the government’s actions were responsible for the moderation decisions. Following the ruling, the case went back to the district court and NCLA and Kheriaty kept fighting—Bhattacharya and Kulldorff left the suit to pursue their roles in HHS. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Despite the win at the Supreme Court, the administration settled the case in March with a consent decree—a legally binding agreement between the parties made without an admission of guilt or liability. The *Missouri* decree stated that “The Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency…and their employees and agents, shall take no actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly—except as authorized by the Constitution, statute, judicial order, or regulation—to threaten Social-Media Companies with some form of punishment…unless they remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected free speech. Nor shall Enjoined Defendants unilaterally direct or veto social media content moderation decisions of Social Media Companies.” By that time, the narrative that the Biden administration had engaged in censorship had been absorbed by the political right, reflected in Trump’s January 2025 executive order. Details of Kheriaty’s settlement are not public, but NCLA and the anti-vaxxer celebrated their win with the former calling it “historic.” The following month, the DOJ agreed to a consent decree to resolve another censorship lawsuit brought by *The Daily Wire*, a pro-Trump publication founded by right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro. The suit alleged that the Biden State Department had used third-party groups to censor conservative speech. Under the agreement, the department was barred from funding tools that suppress speech. Berenson’s settlement drew cheers from right-wing groups like the [Foundation for Freedom Online](https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/us-government-concedes-first-amendment-violation-in-berenson-settlement/?ref=importantcontext.news), the think tank founded by Trump’s former Secretary of State, Mike Benz, and far-right figures like [Ann Coulter](https://x.com/anncoulter/status/2055092214875717817?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). The vaccine skeptic, meanwhile, has [thanked](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/2053897868302258289?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and praised the president “for standing up for my rights.” ### Chair of President’s Cancer Panel Co-Authors Ivermectin Cancer Study Backed By Supplements Company URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/chair-of-presidents-cancer-panel/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:00.000Z The chair of the President’s Cancer Panel is a co-author on a new paper promoting ivermectin as a cancer treatment. The paper is backed by two anti-vaccine organizations, including a supplements company with which he is affiliated and which sells the drug. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The antiparasitic ivermectin was widely promoted amid the pandemic, particularly on the political right, as a possible COVID-19 treatment despite research showing it was not effective against the disease. Over time, advocates have expanded their claims about the drug’s benefits to include treating an array of diseases like cancer despite research not supporting those uses. Dr. Harvey Risch, an emeritus professor of epidemiology at Yale Medical School, was appointed by President Trump late last year to lead the influential panel. He is a co-author of “Real-world Clinical Outcomes of Ivermectin and Mebendazole in Cancer Patients: Results from a Prospective Observational Cohort.” Published in the June 2026 issue of the journal *Anticancer Research*, it purports to show positive results from treating cancer patients with a combination of ivermectin and another antiparasitic drug, mebendazole, and concludes that more study is warranted. As the chair of the body that oversees the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Program and advises the president, Risch is potentially positioned to make those studies happen. In his first [post](https://x.com/DrHarveyRisch/status/2060198007644070382?ref=importantcontext.news) on X since his appointment, he shared the study and indicated his support for more research with the drugs. “Our study of the use of Ivermectin and Mebendazole as an adjunctive cancer treatment has been published,” Risch wrote. “The positive results provide a signal of possible benefit that needs confirmation in more formal study.” Behind the new ivermectin paper are two anti-vaccine organizations: The McCullough Foundation, the nonprofit of anti-vax former cardiologist Peter McCullough, who is an author on the study, and The Wellness Company (TWC). A telehealth and supplements company founded in 2022 by [business scion Foster Coulson](https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/foster-coulson-1.7341713?ref=importantcontext.news), TWC is known for offering unproven treatments like a COVID-19 vaccine “spike detox” supplement developed by McCullough, who has had COVID-related research [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/?s=Peter+McCullough&ref=importantcontext.news). It also sells a compounded formulation of ivermectin and mebendazole. All of the authors on the *Anticancer* paper disclosed an affiliation with TWC as a conflict of interest—Risch is the company’s chief epidemiologist and McCullough its chief scientific officer. The study’s participants too were recruited from TWC clientele. “The sample included adults…with confirmed cancer diagnoses who received off-label prescriptions for the ivermectin-mebendazole protocol from licensed U.S. healthcare providers affiliated with The Wellness Company…telemedicine platform,” the paper notes. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Experts who reviewed the study for *Important Context* criticized its design, methodology, and conclusions. Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist and professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine, described the paper as a “small uncontrolled observational cohort for which the observations were collected from surveys of patients who received off-label prescriptions…through the telemedicine platform.” “Patient descriptions of their disease are not reliable indicators whether any drug has had a therapeutic effect,” he said. “Even if they were, there is no control group to compare this cohort to. Using such methods calculating a clinical benefit ratio is meaningless.” Dr. Robert Morris, an epidemiologist affiliated with the UW School of Public Health, had a similar critique of the study. “Everything about it is flawed,” he said, calling it “fundamentally an announcement that Harvey Risch has decided to end his career as a serious researcher.” Morris also pointed out the lack of a control group, explaining that “They prescribed an unproven treatment at inconsistent doses to patients that they never evaluated in person with more than a dozen different cancer types at various stages, more than a third of which had progressive disease.” He noted that many, if not most, of the patients were receiving other forms of treatment, like chemotherapy and surgery. “A third of patients were lost to follow-up which was nothing more than self-reported disease status,” he said. “No effort was made to account for the impact of conventional treatment. There was no control group. No information was available on disease status of patients lost to follow up.” “No \[institutional review board\] would ever have approved this study,” he added. Gorski is a scientific adviser to The Accountability Journalism Institute, which publishes *Important Context*, and Morris is a member of the board of directors. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The TWC paper is not Risch’s first foray into the medical fringes. The Yale professor has long promoted [hydroxychloroquine](https://americansunlight.substack.com/p/how-maga-used-problematic-research) for COVID—including as [recently](https://x.com/drharveyrisch/status/1985015410408735164?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) as November last year—despite research showing it is not effective against the disease. The antimalarial drug was initially popularized on the right as a pandemic “game changer” by Trump and his allies, seeking a justification to end COVID restrictions ahead of the 2020 election. The FDA initially granted hydroxychloroquine an emergency use authorization as a COVID treatment, but withdrew it following large-scale studies indicating it offered no benefit. According to a 2022 congressional [report](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), Risch and McCullough were both part of a “conspiracist network” mobilized by the Trump administration to pressure the FDA into reversing the withdrawal decision. Risch also backed ivermectin as a COVID treatment, which was the right’s [successor](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) to hydroxychloroquine. At the same time, he helped fuel mRNA vaccine hesitancy, [speculating](https://www.wired.com/story/risch-trump-panel-vaccines-turbo-cancer-ivermectin-hcq/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the shots caused “turbo cancer.” The idea that ivermectin can treat cancer has been gaining purchase on the right for some time. In an appearance on *The Joe Rogan Experience* in January last year, actor [Mel Gibson](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-health/cancer-patients-seek-unproven-antiparasitic-treatments-after-actors-podcast?ref=importantcontext.news) claimed that a combination of ivermectin and another antiparasitic, fenbendazole, cured three of his friends with stage 4 cancer. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) A number of other prominent right-wing figures have also suggested the dewormer might have anti-cancer use, including [Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis](https://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2025/09/20250924-Cancer.Innovation.Fund.pr.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Further,%20priority%20will%20be%20given,cancer%20care%20are%20also%20prioritized.) and Dilbert creator Scott Adams, who tried a combination of the drug with febendazole as an experimental treatment before he died at 68 from stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. In February, the NIH announced it would be looking into ivermectin for cancer. The focus on the antiparasitic comes as the Trump administration has overseen drastic cuts to cancer research, including a 31 percent drop in the first quarter of last year. While the authors of the new *Anticancer* paper on ivermectin and mebendazole called for more research, TWC has already begun using the “groundbreaking” study to [market](https://www.twc.health/pages/ivermectin-mebendazole-cancer-study?srsltid=AfmBOooE3aPegbcIrhys7uzsN7k5timYdbMfg-i5%5Fm52YEJJlfb52csM&ref=importantcontext.news) its compounded formulation of the drugs. “This isn’t clinical science,” Gorski said of the paper. “It’s marketing disguised as science.” ### Public Health Opponents Leverage Hantavirus Outbreak to Spread Conspiracies and Misinformation URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/public-health-opponents-leverage/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:00.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* The relatively rare hantavirus entered the mainstream lexicon in recent weeks, with an outbreak linked to a Dutch cruise ship. Thus far, there have been 11 known cases and three deaths. While the virus has a startling fatality rate of up to 40%, it is relatively rare and typically spreads from contact with the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. The strain responsible for the cruise ship outbreak, however, known as the Andes virus, can also spread person-to-person. The discourse online about the virus has ranged from curiosity, to mild concern, to COVID-19 pandemic flashbacks—the SARS-CoV-2 virus also spread on a cruise ship in February 2020\. Scientists, however, maintain that hantavirus’ pandemic potential is low because its structure renders it far less transmissible than coronaviruses. Experts are far more concerned with an emerging Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the World Health Organization just declared a global health emergency. Far-right and anti-vaccine groups and influencers have nevertheless capitalized on the hantavirus outbreak to attack the public health mainstream and promote conspiracy theories. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The Brownstone Institute, an anti-public health group founded in 2021 to combat pandemic mitigation efforts, published a[ piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/is-this-hantavirus-a-bioweapon/?ref=importantcontext.news) by its senior scholar Clayton J. Baker, M.D., asking “Is This Hantavirus a Bioweapon” and referring to media coverage of the outbreak as “fear porn.” Baker correctly noted that the virus likely lacks pandemic potential, but also paradoxically suggested it may have been engineered as a bioweapon to boost pharmaceutical profits. He claimed that the hantavirus has been the subject of “intense” vaccine research, including by groups like Moderna, which created the “toxic” mRNA vaccines for COVID. (COVID vaccines are estimated to have [prevented over 14.4 million deaths](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9537923/?ref=importantcontext.news) worldwide and serious adverse reactions remain very [rare](https://oregonhealthnews.oregon.gov/severe-side-effects-from-covid-19-vaccination-are-rare/?ref=importantcontext.news).) Baker writes that the virus has “also been repeatedly nominated, alongside such other candidates as Bird flu and Monkeypox, as the potential next pandemic-causing ‘Disease X,’” while not citing any reports or individuals who gave him this information. “Color me skeptical,” Baker wrote. “It’s hardly enough that these passengers *happened* to have visited Argentina, which *happens* to harbor the one species of hantavirus that *happens* to have been ‘implicated in human-to-human transmission’ to suddenly determine that a naturally-occurring, contagious Hantavirus strain is circumnavigating the globe aboard cruise ships.” The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) actually asserts that Hantavirus is [not](https://cepi.net/what-hantavirus-outbreak-tells-us-about-preparing-disease-x?ref=importantcontext.news) the next “Disease X’ and that scientists don’t need to rush into rapid response vaccine research for this disease. Baker ended his piece declaring, “If Hantavirus is spreading from person-to-person, then it’s been weaponized, and the evil bioterrorists that are responsible need to be held to account for it, which so far has not happened with Covid.” Evidence points to COVID having natural origins. Anthropologist and science writer Wendy Orent, who studies biological weapons and the evolution of infectious disease, said that hantavirus would make a very poor bio weapon. She explained that much like COVID, it kills slowly and has a relatively long incubation period. She also noted that the pattern of spread in this hantavirus outbreak shows no attempt at mass infection. “No bioweaponeer is going to use a \[pathogen\] like hantavirus which spreads so sluggishly and which doesn’t have the terrifying power of Marburg or Ebola to make people die rapidly and very quickly in dramatic ways,” she said. “The favorite weapons of the Soviet bioweaponry scientists were anthrax, smallpox, and plague. The whole point of bioweaponry is to terrify your enemies with an explosively spreading or horribly and dramatically lethal disease, not to kill them slowly.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Another piece, cross-published by Brownstone and the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://imahealth.org/the-hantavirus-panic-machine-when-rare-diseases-become-media-theater/?ref=importantcontext.news) (formerly known as the FLCCC), a fringe medical group known for its promotion of ivermectin, used public concern over the outbreak to reiterate right-wing criticisms of the public health mainstream. The piece was written by IMA’s president Joseph Varon, MD. “The hantavirus discussion also exposes an uncomfortable reality: many people no longer trust institutions to provide proportionate information,” it read. “That distrust did not emerge spontaneously. It was built through years of contradictory messaging, exaggerated projections, censorship controversies, and policy reversals during Covid. Once credibility is damaged, every subsequent warning is filtered through skepticism. Ironically, exaggerated communication about low-probability events may weaken public responsiveness when truly dangerous threats eventually emerge. Once lost, institutional trust is challenging to restore.” The “contradictory messaging” during the early days of the COVID pandemic was a symptom of [how the scientific process works](https://www.mtu.edu/unscripted/2020/08/the-scientific-method-on-display.html?ref=importantcontext.news), rather than a nefarious plot to deceive the public. As scientists learned more about the novel coronavirus, guidelines on practices like masking and the length of quarantine shifted. While some in the public health contrarian movement maintained that media hype regarding the Hantavirus outbreak is unfounded, X was rife with hysteria from far-right accounts. Like others on the far-right, fmr. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to the virus as a bioweapon, and declared vaccines poison: Chaya Raichik, who posts under the name LibsOfTikTok on X, reposted what appeared to be a 2022 tweet from a self-proclaimed astrologist whose profile only contained 4 tweets, predicting COVID would end in 2023 and hantavirus would emerge in 2026: MAGA Voice added to the frenzy, first raising the alarm that “23 hantavirus cruise passengers returned home,” then following it up with a post repeatedly declaring “I DON’T CARE ABOUT HANTAVIRUS.” “These people are one-trick ponies who wave the same narrative about ‘lockdowns’ and mandates in front of them to ward off imaginary authoritarian power grabs as a strategy to make the public more frightened of public health than of actual diseases,” lamented Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist and managing editor of *Science-Based Medicine.* Another familiar artifact from the COVID pandemic also made an appearance: Ivermectin, which Greene and physician Mary Talley Bowden recommended on X for treatment of Hantavirus. The anti-parasitic drug was touted by some fringe doctors as a miracle cure for COVID, however, repeated studies have shown [no indication](https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58170809?ref=importantcontext.news) that it is an effective treatment for the disease. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Hantavirus is also not a parasite and there is [no real evidence](https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.B2AR3WF?ref=importantcontext.news) pointing to Ivermectin as an effective treatment. “Ivermectin cannot be assumed to be helpful for hantavirus in the absence of clinical trials in actual humans to assess effectiveness,” pediatrician and cardiologist Frank Han told *Important Context*. Han noted that “While there are lab test reports of effectiveness in controlled conditions, there are a great variety of reasons why the lab tests may not directly translate into the real world. While it is appropriate to test the hypothesis, it is inappropriate to simply assert that it works without appropriate evidence.” ### MAHA Officials Out At FDA URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/maha-officials-out-at-fda/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:01.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Friday, the nation’s top drug regulator, [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/utterly-unqualified-embattled-fda?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, announced that she had been fired from her role following [a clash with Sanofi](https://www.statnews.com/2026/05/06/sanofi-asks-to-pull-diabetes-drug-teplizumab-makary-fda-voucher-program/?ref=importantcontext.news) over the biotech company’s new diabetes drug. Days earlier, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned following weeks of speculation that his ouster was similarly forthcoming over clashes with the White House—most notably over flavored vapes. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. reportedly made the call to cut him loose. The shakeup comes just weeks after the exit of Vinay Prasad, who led the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Prasad, too, had come under fire from biotech for slow-walking approvals, including of a new therapeutic for the rare and terminal progressive genetic disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy. By the time of his departure, he had already been [forced out](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) in July only to be reinstated two weeks later. Dr. Jonathan Howard, author of the 2023 book “We Want Them Infected: How the Failed Quest for Herd Immunity Led Doctors to Embrace the Anti-vaccine Movement and Blinded Americans to the Threat of COVID,” celebrated the staffing shakeup, telling *Important Context*, “These doctors rose to power partnering with disinformation forces and thinking that anger over Covid would sustain them. They understood neither the moment nor the nature of their temporary allies.” All three ousted FDA officials made names for themselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic as contrarian voices, questioning government efforts to control the virus and the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. They became close allies of Kennedy and were deeply involved in his campaign against mRNA COVID shots. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In August 2025, Makary’s FDA limited its approval of Pfizer’s COVID booster to people 65 or older or individuals with health problems that make them vulnerable. The following month, the commissioner [told CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/health/video/the-lead-marty-makary-health-rfk-jr-hhs-congress-hearing-jake-tapper?ref=importantcontext.news) that his agency was investigating the deaths of healthy children attributable to the COVID shots. In late November, Prasad sent a memo to FDA staffers announcing that the agency would change its vaccine approval process to require more safety data. He claimed that an internal review had linked the mRNA vaccines to the deaths of at least 10 children in the U.S. Large-scale studies and post-market monitoring support the safety of the COVID vaccines for children. A 2023 study from researchers at Oxford University found that the virus was a leading cause of death for American children and adolescents, killing [1300](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us?ref=importantcontext.news) between August 2021 and July 31, 2022. “This is a profound revelation,” Prasad wrote. “For the first time, the US FDA will acknowledge that covid-19 vaccines have killed American children.” Prasad’s extraordinary claim relied on an initial analysis led by Høeg of unverified reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The FDA was criticized for not providing evidence for the assertion, and its final report found [zero](https://open.substack.com/pub/insidemedicine/p/scoop-fda-vaccine-chiefs-memo-cited?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) deaths deemed “certain” to be attributable to the shots. Nevertheless, Makary promoted the dubious finding and [said](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/11/29/nx-s1-5624998/fda-vaccines-covid-children-safety?ref=importantcontext.news) his agency would no longer “rubber-stamp new products that don’t work.” In response to the FDA memo, several members of Congress [sent](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/us-reps-berate-fda-head-demand-data-proposed-vaccine-regulation-changes-purported-link?ref=importantcontext.news) the commissioner an angry letter, deriding the Prasad memo for “inaccuracies, misinformation, and unsupported claims regarding the agency’s regulation of vaccines, and asserting an unproven link between COVID-19 vaccines and pediatric deaths.” The ouster of Makary and his top lieutenants comes as the White House prepares for the midterm elections, which could see Trump lose control of the House and Senate. In January, *Politico* reported that the president’s pollsters had [warned](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/26/rfk-jr-food-vaccine-policies-00748061?ref=importantcontext.news) that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine push could prove politically costly. According to CNN, White House officials [decided](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/15/politics/fda-trump-stabilize-midterms?ref=importantcontext.news) to “overhaul” HHS amid controversy over the secretary’s new vaccine policies. With the president [polling underwater](https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/polls/presidential-approval/donald-j-trump-5/national/lv-rv-adults?ref=importantcontext.news), including in [every Senate race state](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-approval-rating-underwater-in-every-critical-2026-senate-race-state-11956047?ref=importantcontext.news), the administration has reportedly sought to shift Kennedy’s focus instead to his healthy food push. There is [concern](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/13/kennedy-vaccines-midterms-white-house-00918203?ref=importantcontext.news) among some insiders, however, that moderating too much could cost the GOP energy from anti-vaxxers. Kennedy, meanwhile, is moving full steam ahead, targeting vaccines with his remaining allies. The FDA departures shrink the number of high ranking allies the secretary has inside his department from his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Those remaining most notably include National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and the chief science and data officer at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Martin Kulldorff. Howard, who is a member of the Accountability Journalism Institute’s Scientific Advisory Board, told *Important Context* that he would like to see professional consequences for the ousted officials given their records in government. “They are not off the hook for what comes next,” he said. ### Trump Surgeon General Pick Celebrated DOGE Research Cuts, Called to Halt mRNA Vaccines for Children, and Expressed Anti-Trans Views URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-surgeon-general-pick-celebrated/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:01.000Z Donald Trump’s new surgeon general nominee defended the administration’s research cuts, previously urged public health officials to pause vaccinating children against COVID-19, and has suggested transgender identities are driven by a “fad.” On Thursday, the White House announced radiologist and supplements entrepreneur Nicole Saphier as the president’s next pick for surgeon general. Saphier, a Fox News regular, is the president’s third pick for the position. She follows wellness influencer [Casey Means](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trumps-new-surgeon-general-pick-had), whose views on vaccines and lack of an active medical license stalled her nomination, and physician [Janet Nesheiwat](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/from-the-front-lines-to-the-fringes?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), who withdrew amid controversy over her credentials. Saphier, who works at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has an active medical license and is reportedly [favored](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/04/who-is-nicole-saphier-trump-surgeon-general-nomination?ref=importantcontext.news) by experts for Senate confirmation. However, her past media appearances and social media posts paint the picture of a partisan and medical contrarian. As surgeon general, Saphier would not make policy directly, but could influence it with guidance [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### “One of the Greatest Things to Happen In U.S. History” Last year, Saphier [defended](https://youtu.be/-rKUFVV79yg?ref=importantcontext.news) the Trump administration’s cuts to cancer research amid public backlash, praising Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I have a lot of colleagues who are really upset right now. They’re very concerned that the funding for the research that they’re doing is going to be cut off,” she said on Fox. “I mean, we do a lot of valuable research in the cancer community—and I keep telling people, like, you just have to give it a pause right now.” “I think DOGE is probably one of the greatest things to happen in U.S. history, but change is hard,” she continued. For years, Saphier served as a medical voice supporting Republicans—and the Trump administration. Saphier has been a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, criticizing the law in her 2020 book, “Make America Healthy Again,” which coined the slogan long before HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. began using it. The book blamed the nation’s healthcare woes on “big government” and Americans’ “bad habits.” She has also expressed support for [work requirements](https://web.archive.org/web/20190328044629/https://twitter.com/nbsaphiermd) for Medicaid recipients—[56 percent](https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2026-03-02-fact-sheet-medicaid?ref=importantcontext.news) of whom are children, or disabled, or seniors. When the pandemic hit, Saphier was one of the few doctors praising the Trump pandemic response and backing his calls to reopen in the spring of 2020\. In April that year, she earned praise from the president on Twitter for an appearance on Fox. Saphier quoted the post with a ‘thank you’ message and pinned it to her profile for the rest of the year. The following month, she [defended](https://web.archive.org/web/20200512150320/https://twitter.com/nbsaphiermd) the president against criticism over his rollout of COVID tests. “For anyone who says[ @realDonaldTrump](https://web.archive.org/web/20200512150320/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump) is not taking testing and the health of Americans seriously, this press conference directly contradicts that criticism,” she wrote. Weeks later, Trump suggested scaling back testing would result in fewer cases. Two months later, the administration did just that. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Why Did the Media Hate Hydroxychloroquine So Much?” Throughout 2020, Saphier straddled a line between the mainstream of public health and supporting the president’s push to reopen the country ahead of the election. On May 5 that year, Saphier characterized COVID-related shutdowns as “authoritarian measures,” writing that she feared they would spark “civil unrest” and “more of a rebound spike in COVID19 cases rather than if businesses would be allowed to open up with smart measures in place to protect their employees and ensure safety of consumers choosing to go out.” Saphier frequently reposted tweets from Marty Makary, today the commissioner of the FDA. The pair [published a piece](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86338?ref=importantcontext.news) in MedPage Today in early May 2020 calling for a national standard for diagnosing COVID—to guide reopening. The article states that “approximately 10-85 times more people have been infected than are entered into most public health tracking systems,” and suggests many excess deaths in New York may have been due to people avoiding medical care for other conditions. The “85 times” figure came from a controversial seroprevalence study from Santa Clara County on which the current NIH Director, Jay Bhattacharya, was an author. Saphier’s positions appear to have hardened as COVID became a bigger wedge issue for the right. In May 2021, before the deadly delta variant wave, she [declared](https://web.archive.org/web/20210512161540/https://twitter.com/NBSaphierMD/status/1392513625601019908) that the U.S. was on the verge of herd immunity. In a Fox News [op-ed](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-19-america-state-of-emergency-declare-over-nicole-saphier?ref=importantcontext.news) days later, she said the emergency was over and called for “emaskipation” by Memorial Day. That same month, Saphier’s book, “Panic Attack,” was published, arguing that fear had taken hold of the country as a result of the pandemic. Saphier [described](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-vaccination-physician-mother-dr-nicole-saphier?ref=importantcontext.news) the text in an appearance on Fox the following month, teasing support for a spectrum of right-wing positions and unproven narratives favored by Trump and his allies. “I challenge: Why weren’t we allowed to discuss the possibility of a lab leak?” she said, referencing the highly speculative notion that the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged from a lab—evidence has consistently pointed to natural origins. “Why did the media hate hydroxychloroquine so much? Why, all of the sudden, was Dr. Fauci deemed the white knight and President Trump the villain?” Trump and his former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, clashed in the spring of 2020 over the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, which the president promoted as a “game changer” against COVID despite limited clinical evidence. Fauci publicly cautioned that the drug’s promise was based on anecdotal evidence. Subsequent high-quality, large-scale studies showed hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective against the pandemic virus. “Did that really turn out to be true?” Saphier continued. “All of the sudden, you saw big tech censorship of any contrarian opinions, many of which actually have turned out to be true. And then I actually divulge \[sic\] into: were those lockdown protesters right all along?” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ”Yet All Kids Need to Wear Masks” One of Saphier’s major focuses throughout the pandemic was COVID mitigation efforts in schools, which studies have shown were sources of COVID transmission. A parent herself, she argued closures might cause more harm than good as early as March 2020\. By May 2021, she was [lambasting](https://web.archive.org/web/20210513124627/https://twitter.com/NBSaphierMD/status/1392822762830536705) teachers unions—a frequent target or right-wing ire—blaming them for closures and “proven harms” to children. Saphier also blasted school mask requirements, which studies have shown reduced transmission of the virus—for years, a leading cause of death among children. “To be clear, the risk of an adult dying from Covid-19 after vax AND the risk of an unvax child dying from Covid are BOTH < 0.01%,” she [wrote](https://web.archive.org/web/20210710000524/https://twitter.com/NBSaphierMD/status/1413650504698191874) in July 2021\. “The risk of a kid dying from Covid after they’ve recovered from an infection & without risk factors is even less. Yet, all kids need to wear masks.” ### “The Newborn Probably Doesn’t Need This Vaccine” On the issue of vaccines, Saphier has been inconsistent. In June 2022, she signed onto an [open letter](https://www.urgencyofnormal.com/cdc-open-letter?ref=importantcontext.news) to then-CDC Director Rochelle Walenski and Coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha arguing against the CDC recommendation that children receive COVID vaccines. The letter was from Urgency of Normal, a right-wing medical group that formed to fight COVID mitigation in schools, and once counted among its members ousted director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad and Tracy Beth Høeg, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “We strongly urge you to revise the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines with regards to testing, isolation, and vaccine recommendations for children to ensure that public health policies are not doing more harm than good,” it read. In a July 2021 tweet, she noted that Missouri, with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S., was experiencing a surge in COVID cases while Vermont, with the highest vaccination rate, was reporting the fewest new cases. “It’s not a coincidence,” she wrote. At the same time, however, two months earlier, she called to [pause](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-vaccination-physician-mother-dr-nicole-saphier?ref=importantcontext.news) COVID vaccinations for children, writing, “As a physician and mother of three boys, my question is, if the vaccine successfully induces an immune response, which some studies suggest may be more robust than natural exposure to the virus, then could the vaccine incite the inflammatory reaction resulting in MIS-C?” Research has shown that children with no history of COVID infection are extremely [unlikely](https://news.vumc.org/2022/02/24/mis-c-diagnosis-rare-in-vaccinated-children-with-no-previous-covid-19-diagnosis/?ref=importantcontext.news) to get MIS-C; that vaccines are [safe](https://www.chop.edu/news/chop-led-study-shows-covid-19-vaccine-appears-safe-children-history-mis-c?ref=importantcontext.news) for children with a history of the condition and indeed provide strong protection against it. In September, she questioned the childhood immunization schedule, suggesting that the universal hepatitis B recommendation, which the Trump administration recently did away with, was unnecessary. “My opinion is if a woman recently tested negative for hepatitis B and they’re living a low-risk lifestyle, no IV drug use, not a sex worker, they don’t have a hepatitis B positive person living in the home, then the newborn probably doesn’t need this vaccine and we can have a conversation about whether or not they should get the vaccine later in life,” she said on a podcast. In February 2025, renowned vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit told *Important Context* that infants infected with hepatitis B in the first few months of life “have a 90 percent chance of going on to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer.” More recently, she questioned a decision to drop mandatory flu vaccinations for troops by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a personal friend from Fox who she previously [defended](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/not-once-did-i-suspect-nicole-saphier-defends-pete-hegseth/articleshow/115985092.cms?ref=importantcontext.news) against allegations of unprofessional conduct. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “It’s a Bit of a Trend Right now” One thing Saphier has been consistent on is her [opposition](https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/trump-nominates-anti-trans-fox-news?utm%5Fcampaign=post-expanded-share&utm%5Fmedium=web&triedRedirect=true&ref=importantcontext.news) to gender-affirming care for minors and skepticism of transgender identities, which major medical organizations recognize. Saphier, however, has suggested gender diversity is linked to mental illness. On an [episode](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-unmasked-with-dr-nicole-saphier/id1812416146?i=1000749077666&ref=importantcontext.news) of her *Wellness Unmasked* podcast in February, she hosted Claire Abernathy, who “detransitioned”—a rare phenomenon. During her introduction, Saphier cited mental health and suicide statistics for transgender high school students, asking “Were they mentally ill before they came out as trans or did they come out of trans and then they were dealing with some mental illness?” “What I’m seeing over and over again is you have these subset of kids—a lot of them which have unstable home environment, some sort of home stressor…and one thing that they’re grabbing onto, because it’s a bit of a trend right now and there’s a strong support, is to be transgender,” she said. Research has [found](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5178031/?ref=importantcontext.news) that suicidal behavior among transgender individuals is driven by external factors like societal prejudice, rejection by family, friends, and community, and discrimination in healthcare. ### The Heritage Foundation Has a Radical New Project URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/heritage-foundation-has-a-radical/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:02.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with Assigned Media. It has been updated from its original email version.* Heady from their anticipated victory in *Dobbs*, the Heritage Foundation and its partners in the anti-abortion movement [gathered in June 2022](https://www.heritage.org/life/event/life-after-roe-symposium?ref=importantcontext.news) to hail “Life After Roe.” The symposium was filled with high-minded pledges to support, protect and stand up for women in a new post-*Roe* era in which women’s reproductive rights and health care would be greatly restricted. Though all of its 11 panelists were white, Roger Severino, a foundation vice president, summoned racial justice parallels, invoking Martin Luther King and likening *Dobbs* to *Brown v. Board of Education*, the 1954 decision striking down school segregation. But Heritage president Kevin Roberts hinted at a broader project to come for his group and its powerful conservative allies—one that had little to do with gender or racial justice. He said *Dobbs* provided the conservative movement with an “opportunity to repair so many related issues,” among them “the crisis of right-ordered masculinity” and the “crisis of femininity, rightly understood.” Elements of that campaign would be unveiled in its Project 2025 tract, which provided the Trump administration with a detailed playbook to attack all forms of reproductive care by weaponizing federal funding, most notably Medicaid; restricting the availability of treatment nationwide; spreading junk science and censoring evidence-based research; undermining patient privacy and safety; and criminalizing the exercise of individual rights. This playbook, [which the administration followed virtually to the letter](https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/year-one-project-2025-tracking-trump-admins-campaign-against-srhr?ref=importantcontext.news), targeted the most vulnerable first: Young people, low-income earners who are disproportionately women of color; veterans, members of the military and their families. Health care providers of all types were targeted as well, the threat of funding losses looming so large that many over- and pre-complied with these unilateral and arbitrary edicts. The tactics in this radical project closely echoed and built upon the methods that Heritage and its [billionaire-funded](https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/25/project-2025-trump-mapped-how-6-billionaire-family-fortunes-fund-climate-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news) network of right-wing allies have used to attack gender-affirming care and undermine the civil rights of all trans people. “These attacks are intertwined because they are about something so central to our lives,” said [Anna Bernstein](https://www.guttmacher.org/about/staff/anna-bernstein?ref=importantcontext.news), principal federal policy advisor at the Guttmacher Institute, a leader in research that promotes reproductive rights and health care. “They’re about individual bodily autonomy, and being able to make the decisions and afford the care that you need in order to have the life that you want. To build a family if you choose to, to not have a family if you don’t want to.” As extreme as the right wing’s project has been so far, Heritage has set its sights much further to the fringe, publishing what experts say is a misogynistic, homophobic, racially discriminatory and science-denying document titled “Saving America by Saving the Family.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Making its intentions clear from the start (“The Founding Fathers were, quite literally, fathers”) the document envisions an America that overturns the marriage equality codified by *Obergefell v. Hodges*; denies trans people’s existence and vilifies the “LGBT agenda”; rejects the no-fault divorce doctrine that helped enable women’s emancipation; uses DEI as a cudgel to promote bias in federal policy and spending on Medicaid; restricts educational opportunities, particularly for single or low-income women; and celebrates a white Christian nationalist version of “God’s design.” In short, [wrote Elyse Shaw](https://www.clasp.org/blog/the-dangerous-and-violent-reality-of-controlling-women/?ref=importantcontext.news), a former senior official in the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, “The Heritage Foundation outlines what type of women they actually want to support: cisgender straight white women who stay home to raise kids while their husbands work.” “They are using the same playbook as Project 2025,” Shaw, now a [policy expert with the Center for Law and Social Policy](https://www.clasp.org/profile/elyse-shaw/?ref=importantcontext.news), added in an interview. “Anytime we see something come out of the Heritage Foundation now, we should take it seriously, because this administration is basing their policies off of their playbook.” ### Ideology Drowns Out Science In its “Saving the Family” tract, Heritage takes aim at climate science, writing that “climate change alarmism demoralizes young people” and that the media are falsely reporting that “climate change will only make weather patterns more violent.” Foundations linked to six billionaire families—Bradley, Coors, Koch, Mellon, Seid, and Uihlein, all with long histories of fighting regulation and promoting right-wing causes—were [major donors to Project 2025](https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/25/project-2025-trump-mapped-how-6-billionaire-family-fortunes-fund-climate-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news), according to an analysis by the independent news outlet [DeSmog](https://www.desmog.com/?ref=importantcontext.news). The administration, particularly the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led Health and Human Services Department, is now suffused with anti-science ideologues, many of whom, as documented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, have worked for Heritage, appeared at its events or been platformed by allies in right-wing media. Calley Means, [the senior White House advisor to HHS](https://reproductiverights.org/agency-watch/calley-means/?ref=importantcontext.news) who helped broker the Kennedy-Trump alliance in 2024, is a former Heritage research analyst who [told a foundation event](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1MBHLhx7cA&t=6061s&ref=importantcontext.news) that “bad people have coopted science” under the banner of “woke” and DEI. His company, TrueMed, helps customers use money from flexible savings accounts to purchase alternative “wellness” products, [prompting conflict-of-interest charges](https://auchincloss.house.gov/media/press-releases/auchincloss-and-schiff-probe-top-rfk-jr-advisor-calley-means?ref=importantcontext.news). His sister Casey Means, who had been President Trump’s surgeon general nominee until Thursday despite her lack of an active medical license, is a vaccine skeptic who [told Tucker Carlson that birth control](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUH4Co2wE-I&t=4639s&ref=importantcontext.news) “shuts down” a woman’s “life-giving nature” and reflects society’s “disrespect for life.” Natalie Dodson, [senior advisor in the Office of Population Affairs](https://reproductiverights.org/agency-watch/natalie-dodson/?ref=importantcontext.news) at HHS, which sets the rules for federal funding of family planning programs under Title X, was a named contributor to Project 2025\. She was an analyst with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a close partner of Heritage. Russell Vought, [director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budge](https://reproductiverights.org/agency-watch/russell-vought/?ref=importantcontext.news)t, is a self-described [Christian nationalist](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/08/russ-vought-trump-second-term-radical-constitutional/?ref=importantcontext.news) who co-authored Project 2025\. He founded the Center for Renewing America, which has been described as an ultra-right incubator for Christian nationalist policy ideas. In 2023, Vought [spoke with revulsion](https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/21/russell%5Fvought%5Fpropublica%5Fshadow%5Fpresident?ref=importantcontext.news) of “the transgender sewage that’s being pumped into our schools and institutions.” John Ehrett, a named contributor to Project 2025 and former chief counsel to U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, is now a senior counsel at Lex Politico, a [legal firm with close ties to Elon Musk and the Republican Party](https://worldlawyersforum.org/news/lawyers-musk-republican-campaigns-new-firm/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Hawley is a former Heritage intern, and his wife, Erin Hawley,](https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/resources/missouri-the-anti-abortion-extremist-testing-ground/?ref=importantcontext.news) is a lawyer for the anti-queer Alliance Defending Freedom, another chief ally of Heritage. The Hawleys have appeared at events sponsored by the Christian evangelical Family Research Council. In a Senate hearing on abortion medication, Hawley [used the entirety of his allotted time to ask](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/josh-hawley-asked-can-men-get-pregnant-11-times-at-abortion-hearing/?ref=importantcontext.news), repeatedly, whether a man can get pregnant. Missouri has been a testing ground, again, for abortion rights. After *Dobbs* found no constitutional right to abortion, Heritage and its allies are pushing on multiple fronts—the courts, state legislatures and public opinion—to create a de facto nationwide ban on the exercise of reproductive rights. These legal and legislative tactics replicate in many ways their bit-by-bit efforts to eradicate trans people’s health care—part of a larger project of stoking anti-trans bias to advance a right-wing agenda. ### A Through Line in Missouri Missouri voters adopted a state constitutional amendment in 2024 to protect the right to abortion, but Republican majorities in the legislature ignored the public’s will and effectively blocked its practical implementation. Anti-abortion advocates immediately began working on a new constitutional amendment, which will go before voters in November, that would overturn the protections adopted just two years ago. And the right turned to a familiar playbook to rev up their effort. They attached an unrelated anti-trans aspect to the ballot measure that ostensibly bans gender affirming care for young people—though a ban already exists in law. Some [polling suggests this ploy](https://missouriindependent.com/2026/03/17/missouri-poll-finds-ban-on-transgender-care-boosts-support-for-outlawing-abortion/?ref=importantcontext.news) is aiding the anti-abortion side. The tactic—divide and conquer—goes back more than a decade, to the period after *Obergefell* when the radical right needed a new mobilization tactic. They found one in the villainization of trans people and the [relentless spread of anti-trans disinformation from groups like the American College of Pediatricians](https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream?ref=importantcontext.news), whose official-sounding name belies its [extremist positions](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/american-college-pediatricians/?ref=importantcontext.news) and devotion to a religious right agenda. Groups like the evangelical Family Research Council amplified the message for a targeted audience. “Well before *Roe v. Wade* was overturned, the right knew they needed a new thing, a new scare tactic to to get people to turn out, and trans rights was the boogeyman,” said Jennie Wetter, director and host of [“rePROs Fight Back](https://www.reprosfightback.com/about-us?ref=importantcontext.news)” a podcast that advocates for reproductive rights and health care and [publishes extensive research](https://reportcard.reprosfightback.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) of its own. “They create a sea of misinformation,” Wetter said in an interview, “trying to move people based on feeling versus facts.” Going hand in hand, several analysts said, are the broad right-wing strategy to activate its base by framing individual rights as a culture war, and its tactic of siloing attacks on targeted populations to hinder a unified response. “The conservative project has always been much larger,” said [Chinyere Ezie, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights](https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/ezie-chinyere?ref=importantcontext.news), in an interview. “It aims to strip the ability of all people to have basic rights of bodily autonomy.” “A scapegoating of trans people allowed the conservative legal movement’s momentum to continue,” Ezie added, “rather than stall or retract in size following their big victory” in *Dobbs*. ### Fighting an Extreme Agenda Shaw describes an administration and Republican state lawmakers aiming to drive a wedge among the people they target. If a precedent can be set in one state against one group, she wrote, “it can then be used against other marginalized groups, slowly chipping away at our collective power and rights, including our rights to exist safely and freely in public spaces and to vote.” The imperative for those who value individual liberties is to understand how the right wing has targeted a vast swath of Americans for ideological reasons, and to oppose its agenda as a whole, [said the civil rights attorney Michelle Uzeta](https://dredf.org/person/michelle-uzeta/?ref=importantcontext.news). “These attacks are absolutely interconnected and must be fought as such,” Uzeta, the executive director of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, said in an email interview. “The mechanisms are identical: federal funding is used as a chokehold to control who gets care and on what terms. And the mechanisms serve an ideology. The administration has called gender-affirming care ‘mutilation’ and ‘malpractice,’ declared trans identity a form of ‘lunacy,’ framed abortion access as a threat to women rather than a right, and systematically stripped disability protections from people whose conditions it deems illegitimate.” She added: “This is not just policy disagreement. It is the government-sponsored devaluation of entire communities, informed by eugenic thinking.” Late last year, the Heritage Foundation’s [hired Scott Yenor](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/15/heritage-foundation-thinktank-scott-yenor?ref=importantcontext.news) as head of its American citizenship initiative. Yenor’s record of making oppositional statements about women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ equality is long, and was [documented by The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/15/heritage-foundation-thinktank-scott-yenor?ref=importantcontext.news): - “The heroic feminine,” he wrote, “[prioritizes motherhood and wifeliness and celebrates the men](https://americanmind.org/salvo/side-hustle-wives-are-tradwives-too/?ref=importantcontext.news) who made it possible.” - “A set of laws and manners to reinforce having kids and penalize people for not having kids” is needed, he said, “such that divorce would be difficult to get or proscribed. Sodomy would be illegal.” - Ending America’s “corrosive ideological commitment,” he said, demands that it “scale back how the Civil Rights Act applies to businesses, schools, and every other institution in the country.” Although even [Heritage allies were given pause by Yenor’s extremism](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/heritage-foundation-women-voting/685112/?ref=importantcontext.news), the foundation is well known for its[“One Voice”](https://www.heritage.org/one-voice?ref=importantcontext.news) principle, wherein what one official says is what all of the institution stands for. Yenor’s comments predated his hiring, but Heritage made a point of loudly standing by him. And, in fact, dressed-up versions of these same pro-natalist sentiments fill the 90 pages of Heritage’s “Saving America by Saving the Family” document. “Feminists of the 1960s and 1970s commanded a crusade that promoted sexual, financial, and familial ‘freedom’ for women,” the Heritage authors declared. And: “There was no public debate about the definition of marriage or whether it involved a man and a woman. Almost all American adults married, and few divorced.” Having invented a problem it labeled “a birth dearth,” Heritage found a culprit whose defeat needed to come at the expense of women. “Social pressures, from popular culture to guidance counselors to parents, now encourage almost everyone to go to college and delay getting married and having children.” In other words: Education was preventing women from staying at home and fulfilling their duty: Having babies. ### DEI as a Catchall for Attacks For the administration and its right-wing partners, “DEI” has become the all-purpose term for identifying the people it disfavors and the programs that benefit them. “It’s a catchall for a broad policy agenda that attacks rights,” said Shaw, who directed the office of policy and programs in the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor. “They’re labelling women as DEI,” she said, “which is wild given that women are 50-51 percent of the population.” Putting this ideology into action, the Trump administration has targeted [Title X, the federal grant program dedicated to providing comprehensive family planning services](https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/features-and-benefits-title-x-program?ref=importantcontext.news) to low-income individuals, and those who have little or no insurance. It’s already changing the rules to comport with the right’s anti-contraceptive, pro-natalist blueprint. The 2027 funding rules were quietly rewritten in April to say contraception is overprescribed and that the program should instead “strengthen family formation.” The president’s budget (“an indication of the administration’s ideal,” said Shaw) calls for Title X to be defunded. Perhaps the biggest shoe to drop, though, would be the administration reimposing what is known as “the domestic gag rule.” “The gag rule,” said the Guttmacher Institute’s Bernstein “which was implemented in the first Trump administration and will likely be proposed in its new iteration soon, prohibited counseling or referring for abortion services, undermining clinics’ ability to provide patient-centered care. They put so many onerous regulations on grantees that many providers had to leave the program, because they were unable to comply.” Under the [Hyde Amendment and other related restrictions](https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/hyde-amendment?ref=importantcontext.news), no federal Medicaid funding can be used for abortion, preventing people enrolled in Medicaid and other public programs in most states from using their health insurance to cover abortion care. A reimposition of the so-called domestic gag rule—which was in effect in 2019-20 and curbed health-care access to hundreds of thousands of patients—would again limit access to basic reproductive health care for patients already facing barriers to care. Title X programs entail [a broad spectrum](https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/features-and-benefits-title-x-program?ref=importantcontext.news) of [care](https://prh.org/what-is-title-x-an-explainer/?ref=importantcontext.news): contraceptive counseling and provision; breast and cervical cancer screenings; testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections; health exams; and pregnancy testing among others. In short, the administration and its right-wing allies threaten sweeping restrictions on women’s health. ### Meeting a Severe Test To put the challenge of restoring Americans’ rights into context**,** Ezie, the constitutional lawyer, summoned two notorious Supreme Court decisions: the 1896 ruling that found racial segregation constitutional, and the 1986 case that upheld the criminalization of gay sex. “I think of this as a generational fight in the same way Plessy vs Ferguson and Bowers vs Hardwick framed up decades of people being strangers to the Constitution and not having legal protections when it came to fundamental rights and matters of bodily autonomy,” Ezie said. “I think that the wrongness of this moment, and all of the state legislation and all of the attacks, whether they’re legislative or executive agency, will eventually be apparent, and we will see a correction of that horrible error.” Public opinion will shift, as will the law and the composition of the courts. “And the question really is: Will it take 5 years, 10 years, or longer, for us to see the wrongness of these policies and practices?” In Missouri, anti-abortion activists have [worked overtime to sow confusion, spread falsehoods and turn Americans against each other by overtly injecting prejudice](https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/resources/missouri-the-anti-abortion-extremist-testing-ground/?ref=importantcontext.news). This chipping away at rights, bit by bit, population by population, led by Heritage and its billionaire-funded allies in government and media, affects the vast majority of Americans. What Americans stand for will be severely tested, several analysts said. “We cannot let this cynical ploy divide us,” said Wetter, of the reproductive rights podcast, rePROs Fight Back. “This amendment makes it explicit that the same people fighting against abortion rights are using the anti-abortion playbook to fight against the rights of the transgender community.” “Whether the fight is over abortion rights or gender affirming care, it is the exact same fight. It is the fight over our ability to control our own bodies and to access life-saving and life-changing health care. It is about our right to bodily autonomy, and we must stand firm together or we will all lose.” ### Anti-Vaccine Groups Given Unprecedented Access to CDC Vaccine Panel URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/anti-vaccine-groups-given-unprecedented/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:02.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is giving several prominent right-wing and anti-vaccine medical groups a formal role in meetings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has sought to completely reshape the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since taking over at HHS. Last year, he [replaced](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/06/20/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel-with-anti-vaxxers/?ref=importantcontext.news) all original 17 members with contrarians and prominent anti-vaccine voices. Since then, the committee has made controversial moves like voting to recommend only flu vaccines without the organomercury compound thimerosal, which some anti-vaxxers believe is linked to autism despite research indicating otherwise. In his latest move to control ACIP, Kennedy has reshaped the body’s charter. The changes follow a court order in a suit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics temporarily blocking the committee’s work. The new charter broadens ACIP’s focus to identifying gaps in vaccine safety research and studying the cumulative effects of the childhood vaccine schedule and ingredients like aluminum. It also adds four additional liaison organizations. Liaisons are non-voting members of the committee who can comment and ask questions during presentations and assist the body with feedback. The groups Kennedy has added—Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Independent Medical Alliance, Physicians for Informed Consent, and the Medical Academy of Pediatrics and Special Needs—have each promoted anti-vaccine narratives in line with his long-held beliefs. Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco who helped the public health advocacy group Defend Public Health draft amicus briefs in the AAP lawsuit, told *Important Context* that anti-vax groups have never been part of ACIP. “Traditionally, liaisons included expert groups and other professional actors,” Reiss said. “Even in the days when the National Vaccine Information Center had members on federal committees, it was not an ACIP liaison. This is new.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons AAPS is a right-wing political advocacy group founded in 1943 to fight government efforts to establish universal healthcare in America. The Republican-aligned group’s former members include Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and anti-vax former cardiologist Peter McCullough. McCullough, who lost his board certifications, is now part of a supplements company that sells his COVID vaccine detox. Kennedy’s HHS [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-cited-by-rfk-jr-to-justify?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) his work to justify cuts to mRNA vaccine research. AAPS has long been on the medical fringes, promoting misinformation like HIV-AIDS denial and the long-discredited claim that vaccines cause autism, as well as staking out ideological positions against contraception and abortion rights. The group previously [helped](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/11/tea-party-doctors-american-association-physicians-surgeons/?ref=importantcontext.news) tobacco giant Philip Morris fight indoor smoking bans, and later came to the aid of President Donald Trump in downplaying the severity of the COVID pandemic. In August 2020, as Trump and his allies were pushing back on the Food and Drug Administration over its revocation of the emergency use authorization for the antimalarial [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/as-maha-looms-a-look-back-on-magas-big-hcq-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news) against COVID, the group [sued](https://casetext.com/case/assn-of-am-physicians-surgeons-v-food-drug-admin?ref=importantcontext.news) the agency. The EUA had been withdrawn due to evidence showing the drug was ineffective against COVID, and potentially *harmful*, but the president had billed it as a quick fix to the pandemic ahead of his 2020 reelection bid. AAPS has targeted the lifesaving mRNA COVID vaccines in particular, which extensive research has shown to be safe and to have saved millions of lives. The group, however, has suggested that they [cause](https://aapsonline.org/kidney-damage-from-covid-vaccines-is-easily-missed-according-to-the-journal-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons/?ref=importantcontext.news) harm like kidney damage and even [death](https://aapsonline.org/undisclosed-deaths-in-the-pfizer-mrna-covid-19-vaccine-trial-discussed-in-the-journal-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons/?ref=importantcontext.news). AAPS has “[enthusiastically supported](https://aapsonline.org/the-association-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons-aaps-supports-hhs-secretary-kennedy-and-making-america-healthy-again-maha/?ref=importantcontext.news)” Kennedy and his anti-vax Make America Healthy Again movement, and has enjoyed ready access to leading officials. At a meeting in September, it hosted James O’Neill, then the HHS Deputy Director and Acting CDC Director, who [authorized](https://www.statnews.com/2026/04/09/new-acip-charter-cdc-vaccine-advisers-rfk-jr-address-legal-defeat/?ref=importantcontext.news) the recent changes to the childhood immunization schedule. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Independent Medical Alliance IMA has become a key player in the MAHA movement, working closely with Kennedy and his former anti-vax group Children’s Health Defense (CHD). It was originally founded in early 2020 as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) by former critical care physicians Paul Marik and Pierre Kory, who earned reputations for spreading COVID misinformation and, like McCullough, had their board certifications revoked. The group became popular in pro-Trump circles—in part due to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) boosting Kory and Marik. It subsequently [rebranded](http://rebranded/?ref=importantcontext.news) ahead of a campaign pushing Kennedy’s confirmation as HHS Secretary. IMA has since served as a [feeder to the new administration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-ivermectin-anti-vax-group-positioned) with three of the secretary’s appointed ACIP members having been associated with the group, including its chair Kirk Milhoan. The group is best known for championing the antiparasitic drug [ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a COVID treatment, which large-scale studies have shown to be ineffective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. IMA has also promoted the drug for a number of other ailments, including cancer—a connection Kennedy’s National Institutes of Health is now pursuing. At the same time, IMA has spent years promoting doubt about mRNA vaccines and fighting mandates. It was one of the sponsors of the 2022 “Defeat the Mandates” rally at which Kennedy spoke, along with CHD. IMA, which has its own international fellowship program, has affiliated with controversial medical figures domestically and abroad, including Brazilian endocrinologist Flávio Cadegiani, who [became an advisor](https://imahealth.org/drs-kory-marik-and-new-advisor-dr-flavio-cadegiani-tell-why-they-changed-our-i-mask-protocol-aug-25-2021/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the group in 2021. That year, he was among 68 individuals [recommended](https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2021-10-20/acusado-de-crime-contra-a-humanidade-na-cpi-receitou-dose-inedita-de-proxalutamida-a-paciente-com-covid-19.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for indictment for crimes against humanity by a Brazilian parliamentary commission. A study he conducted evaluating the androgen receptor antagonist proxalutamide as a treatment for COVID reported roughly 200 deaths among hospitalized participants, particularly in control groups, and drew ethical scrutiny. Cadegiani has denied any wrongdoing. The following year, he and Kory [co-authored](https://open.substack.com/pub/americansunlight/p/how-maga-used-problematic-research?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) two papers based on a 2020 city-wide ivermectin experiment in Brazil. Both were criticized for methodological problems and one received a correction after it was reported that Cadegiani and another author received funding from an ivermectin manufacturer. In 2024, IMA gave Cadegiani a [research excellence award](https://x.com/honest%5Fmedicine/status/1754210503323500924?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Physicians for Informed Consent Formed in 2015, Physicians for Informed Consent is another anti-vaccine advocacy group that lists AAPS as a coalition partner along with Children’s Health Defense. PIC’s activities over the years have included pushing back on COVID school mask mandates, HPV vaccine mandates in California, and sponsoring the 2022 Defeat the Mandates rally. The group was also behind a lawsuit against the State of California over its now-repealed anti-misinformation law, AB2098\. The law empowered the state medical board to punish doctors who spread COVID and vaccine misinformation to their patients. Children’s Health Defense and IMA’s Kory were plaintiffs in the suit. PIC’s website features a section called “Comparing 10 Disease Risks to Vaccine Risks,” which contains a graphic purporting to show that the risks of vaccination against diseases like hepatitis B, measles, tetanus, pertussis, and even polio potentially outweigh the risks those diseases pose to children. It also includes a section on aluminum in vaccines, in which it casts doubt on long-established vaccines against diseases like hepatitis B. The administration’s updated childhood immunization schedule no longer recommends hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. ### Medical Academy of Pediatrics and Special Needs The final new liaison is MAPSN, which boasts a number of corporate partners, including CHD, and promotes debunked anti-vaccine narratives. On its website, under the tab “research,” the group features a [report](https://www.medmaps.org/research-document/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the supposed risks of autism, including from vaccines. The report was published by the McCullough Foundation, founded by McCullough. McCullough is listed as an author on the report along with disgraced physician Andrew Wakefield, whose [fraudulent 1998 paper](https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452?ref=importantcontext.news) spawned the vaccine-autism panic and who Kennedy has called Wakefield the “most unfairly maligned person in modern history.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The New Establishment Since the pandemic and ensuing government response brought the U.S. economy to a halt, right-wing groups have been working to supplant the traditional public health establishment—like AAP. Some have even launched their own medical journals to counter established publications where anti-vax and contrarian researchers have faced retractions and hurdles to publication. *Important Context* has previously reported that IMA, as well as the RealClear Foundation and the Brownstone Institute, started their own medical journals after Kennedy took office. AAPS has run its own publication for years, presenting its advocacy materials as reports and research. With the rise of Kennedy’s HHS, the groups now have federal muscle behind them and are actively influencing public health policy in the U.S. Reiss told *Important Context* in all likelihood, “ACIP is, functionally, going to be marginalized until real changes can be made,” so it does not matter who the liaisons end up being. “This change contributes to undermining the legitimacy of ACIP, which is why most states—across the political spectrum—have already taken steps to detach from it, and this will likely continue,” she said. ### FDA Vaccine Chief Front-Runner Called mRNA Vaccines “Experimental Genetic Technology,” Compared Pandemic Response to Iranian Rule URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fda-vaccine-chief-front-runner-called/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:03.000Z *This piece has been updated from its email version.* The leading candidate to become the nation’s next vaccine chief has a history of casting doubt on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and attacking public health efforts to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, drawing comparisons to Iran’s theocratic, authoritarian government. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary is [reportedly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/13/houman-hemmati-fda-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) backing Dr. Houman David Hemmati to lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. A Jewish Iranian refugee who came to the U.S. during the Iranian Revolution, Hemmati is a California-based ophthalmologist and a biotech veteran of several companies focused on vision loss. Some media coverage has focused on this business background, even [suggesting](https://insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/agency-leadership/us-fda/new-cber-director-candidate-could-signal-industry-cred-important-again-ZDJ4ECR4QNDBPBRTKNHD2B5R24/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Hemmati might signal a sort of return to normalcy after the tumultuous tenure of the outgoing CBER chief, [Dr. Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief), who drew criticism for delaying drug approvals and targeting mRNA vaccines. Prasad famously overruled his own staff to reject Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine and authored a controversial memo claiming that the COVID shots had killed ten children, without providing evidence. Like Prasad, Hemmati lacks experience in vaccine development. A search of his name in the National Library of Medicine’s database PubMeb turns up no studies related to vaccines authored by the ophthalmologist. A review of Hemmati’s old social media posts and interviews reveals a pattern of public health and vaccine skepticism, as well as alignment with Trump. ### Team Player Hemmati has long been an admirer of Prasad and other top officials inside the department—namely Makary and NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who he has publicly [asserted](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1907109521950192034?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) are his “most trusted friends.” All three men were on his “dream team” HHS roster, which he [posted](https://archive.ph/Gu3Zd?ref=importantcontext.news) on X in May 2022\. Hemmati included himself as FDA commissioner. In multiple social media posts, Hemmati has thanked anti-vax HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and his top lieutenants for their leadership. In May 2025, a month after Kennedy [shuttered](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/03/kennedy-shutters-several-foia-offices-at-hhs-00268646?ref=importantcontext.news) a number of Freedom of Information Act offices inside HHS, including at FDA, Hemmati praised the secretary and Makary for starting an official FDA podcast, writing “NEVER before have we seen this level of transparency & access from the @US\_FDA !” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Vaccines As the head of CBER, Hemmati would be in a position to influence vaccine and drug approvals. For years, he has called the COVID vaccines “experimental” and maintained that they were inadequately tested for human use. Hemmati has called into question the safety and efficacy of the shots, claiming the data was hidden from the public, and suggested that the risks of COVID vaccination outweigh the benefits—particularly for children, teens, and pregnant people. ”It was always WRONG to hastily develop a vaccine using experimental genetic technology, claim without proof that it must be perfectly safe, and censor and cancel and shame anyone who questioned that,” Hemmati wrote in a lengthy [post](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1860254803378712914?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X several weeks after the 2024 election. Dr. Arghavan Salles, a clinical associate professor at Stanford University, noted that the COVID vaccines “have been tested extensively, and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise.” “Data are particularly strong for pregnant people, whose incidence of complications is quite high if infected with SARS-CoV-2,” she said. In a March 2023 [interview](https://youtu.be/6QI9W%5Fhp2es?si=kPY0R5zZArm8QKr1&ref=importantcontext.news) on the *unDivided* podcast, Hemmati said that if he ever had “the opportunity in the future…to change how the FDA approaches safety assessments and drug approval,” he would force drug companies “to really allow patients to make informed consent decisions, rather than just ramming products down their throat.” That August, he criticized the Biden administration’s decision to buy more booster doses, [telling](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6335817570112?ref=importantcontext.news) Fox News the decision was made to benefit the manufacturers. The following August, he [called](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1827739703753457771?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for an “objective look” at the childhood vaccine schedule, insisting, “It’s about ensuring safety, not being ‘anti-vax.’” When the FDA required a new safety warning label on the mRNA vaccines last summer, he [celebrated](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1940164103416553757?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Makary’s commitment “to public safety & a level of transparency we have never seen before from this critical federal agency.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Masking Hemmati was also a vocal opponent of COVID masking requirements, comparing them to Iranian theocratic rule. In a May 2022 thread about a Los Angeles student facing punishment for refusing to mask in the classroom, he [wrote](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1522327529343889409?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “Belief in a sick new religion of the COVIDians. This is their form of extremism. Comply with our religious dress code or suffer. I left Iran when they started doing that…” The term “COVIDians,” which Bhattacharya has also used, references the Branch Davidian cult and is a pejorative used by pandemic deniers and minimizers to describe people who took COVID seriously. Hemmati [began](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1495636664848629760?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) using the term in February 2022\. His May thread was not the only time he compared pandemic awareness to a religion. In December that year, he [accused](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1603137778497327106?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) mask-wearers of being in a cult, writing, “The concept of universal mask mandates is no longer just about respiratory viruses. That’s how members of mask cult got indoctrinated - they were drawn in by their fear of infection/death.” ”Now, however, it’s like \[the hijab\] mandate in Iran - about forcing strict obedience to ideology,” Hemmati added. Salles, who is also Iranian American, rejected Hemmati’s comparison, noting, “hijabs have no health benefit, whereas masks do.” “Hijab mandates come, at least in part, from a belief that men can’t control themselves if women’s hair is exposed,” she explained, adding, “Mask mandates, when they are used, are based on scientific data demonstrating they reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases that are spread through the air.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Herd Immunity While casting doubt on the vaccines and opposing masks, Hemmati championed so-called “natural immunity”—meaning acquired through COVID infection—as the way through the pandemic. In his list of post-2024 election grievances, Hemmati wrote, “It was always WRONG to deny that natural immunity, which is by all measures a better form of immunity as it is against the ENTIRE virus, not just one protein, doesn’t exist to force mandated treatments on people.” Vaccine immunity has consistently been shown to be more reliable and safer to acquire than infection-acquired immunity. COVID has killed over 1.2 million Americans. Hemmati was a staunch opponent of closing businesses and schools to combat the rapid spread of the virus across the country. In the March 2023 *unDivided* podcast interview, he called for “[reparations](https://youtu.be/6QI9W%5Fhp2es?si=kPY0R5zZArm8QKr1&ref=importantcontext.news)” for business owners and funding for private tutors for disadvantaged children forced to do remote learning. Classrooms turned out to be vectors of viral spread, and long COVID in children has been [linked](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-links-long-covid-kids-worse-grades-attention-and-social-life?ref=importantcontext.news) to lower grades and poorer academic outcomes. Despite his advocacy for natural immunity and general opposition to pandemic control efforts, Hemmati—like [Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fda-commissioner-hiv-may-very-well?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), [Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), [Prasad](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1896298909292732805?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), and [Kennedy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/15/robert-kennedy-jr-covid-conspiracy/?ref=importantcontext.news)—is a proponent of the idea that COVID emerged from a laboratory in China. On *unDivided*, he suggested that the NIH may have funded the research that supposedly created the virus. Evidence strongly points toward the virus having natural origins. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Right-Wing Politics Like Prasad and current HHS leaders, Hemmati is broadly aligned with the political right. He has taken advantage of platforms like Fox News, *The Daily Wire*, and [The Atlas Society](https://www.atlassociety.org/video/the-atlas-society-asks-dr-houman-hemmati?ref=importantcontext.news), which was founded to honor the ideology of Ayn Rand. He has been particularly active in California politics as opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom, a prominent Trump critic who observers speculate is gearing up for a presidential run. Hemmati has [compared](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1564477971884150784?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the governor to the Iranian regime for policies like AB2098, a now-repealed state law that allowed the state’s medical board to strip the licenses of physicians who spread COVID or vaccine misinformation to their patients. Hemmati has [called](https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/10/letter-dr-hemmati-is-right-its-time-for-newsom-lara-and-bass-to-go/?ref=importantcontext.news) to oust Newsom—as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who he [criticized](https://x.com/houmanhemmati/status/1602071898019737601?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for masking at her 2022 inauguration, declaring, “I feel like I’m looking at a political event in Iran.” In an appearance on Fox and Friends that August, Hemmati [blasted](https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-doctor-rips-political-posturing-lawmakers-push-bill-make-state-refuge-trans-youth?ref=importantcontext.news) the governor over a Democratic bill to protect transgender youth seeking gender-affirming medical care. “I think a lot of it is political posturing on the part of the governor during an election cycle and in preparation for a potential presidential run,” he said. ### As HHS Rails Against Science Politicization, Leading Agency Officials Embrace Right-Wing Political Action URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/as-hhs-rails-against-science-politicization/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:03.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* “I’ll tell you, it’s no longer Tony Fauci’s NIH,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya declared, standing at the podium of the 2026 Conservative Political Action Conference last month, with the event’s logo emblazoned behind him. The National Institutes of Health Director and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was there to promote the public health record of the Trump administration and his anti-vax Health and Human Services secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. The crowd erupted in applause. It was an unusual moment—and not just because a serving federal public health official took a shot at the now-retired former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Launched in 1974 by the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom, CPAC has not traditionally featured leading HHS officials promoting public health policy. The nation’s largest gathering of right-wing activists, operatives, and politicians, the conference is known for spectacle, incendiary rhetoric, and controversial figures. It was at CPAC 2023 that conservative commentator Michael Knowles [called](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/?ref=importantcontext.news) for “transgenderism” to be “eradicated.” The following year, Nazis were able to [take part](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nazis-mingle-openly-cpac-spreading-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-fin-rcna140335?ref=importantcontext.news) in the event without being ejected. In 2025, Steve Bannon [did](https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/user-clip-steve-bannon-nazi-salute/5154286?ref=importantcontext.news) a stiff-arm salute at the conference. In the past, public health officials have tended to avoid CPAC and similar events as their field aims to be above partisanship. There are examples of public health leaders wading into politics, but generally years before or after their time in HHS. Prior to becoming NIH director, Dr. Francis Collins, then the former head of the National Human Genome Research Institute, endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama. Dr. Harold Varmus, who served as NIH director during the Clinton administration, became an informal advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Donald Trump’s former CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, [participated](https://www.facebook.com/heritagefoundation/videos/former-cdc-director-robert-redfield-we-need-to-have-honest-open-discussions-and-/464676136445243/) in a Heritage Foundation event in 2024 with Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who is now the chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS. Redfield later became a visiting fellow at Heritage. A notable exception, however, was George W. Bush’s HHS secretary, Tommy Thompson, who served from 2001 to 2005\. Thompson spoke to the American Legislative Exchange Council in 2002 and was [booked](https://web.archive.org/web/20020210122344/http://cpac.org/cpaccontents/speakers/index.shtml) as a speaker for CPAC that year. Thompson’s successor, Mike Leavitt, came under fire for [blogging](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/why-hhs-secretary-mike-leavitt-blogging-about-abortion/?ref=importantcontext.news) about abortion. A review of archived CPAC website snapshots—conference highlights, agendas, and speaker lists going back to 1996—found no previous examples of NIH or CDC directors appearing at the conference. Agendas and speaker lists before that are not readily available online, and the organization did not respond to our requests for production. “As a political appointee, NIH Directors have appeared at political events, usually around specific health-related issues where their insights and endorsements of specific policies may be politically helpful,” said Dr. Jeremy Berg, former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH. “But I do not know of other examples where an NIH Director has spoken at such political and partisan events, just to speak about his vision or alleged accomplishments.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Bhattacharya is not a typical NIH director. In many ways, he has more in common with the CPAC crowd than he does with his predecessors at the agency. His rise to power began with his involvement in right-wing political networks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fighting government efforts to control the spread of the virus, which he argued ought to be allowed to spread for herd immunity. His subsequent Senate confirmation came down to a party-line vote. Bhattacharya’s presence at the right-wing conference highlights how public health has been at the center of political debate in recent years—a shift heralded six years ago by the [appearance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1zDdiKKSc&ref=importantcontext.news) of HHS Secretary Alex Azar at CPAC 2020, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus was beginning its spread across the country. Bhattacharya was not the only HHS official to appear at CPAC this year. Others included Secretary Kennedy, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Mehmet Oz, and anti-vaxxer Dr. Robert Malone, a member of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. Despite this significant roster of HHS leaders at the conference, the department has been messaging about depoliticizing public health and restoring “gold standard science.” In September last year, Kennedy published an editorial in *The Wall Street Journal*, [lamenting](https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/wsj-kennedy-op-ed-restore-public-trust-in-cdc.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that “over the decades, bureaucratic inertia, politicized science and mission creep have corroded that purpose and squandered public trust.” But as examples of the politicization, Kennedy cited a laundry list of right-wing and anti-vax grievances with U.S. pandemic policy: “cloth masks on toddlers, arbitrary 6-foot distancing, boosters for healthy children, prolonged school closings, economy-crushing lockdowns, and the suppression of low-cost therapeutics in favor of experimental and ineffective drugs.” Critics have accused the Trump administration of doing a two-step on public health policy, claiming to combat the politicization of science while at the very same time, driving it. Colette Delawalla, founder of the advocacy group Stand Up for Science, compared the mismatch between official rhetoric and actions to George Orwell’s 1984. “The Trump Administration banned words and are actively dictating the types of science that we can conduct, based on what aligns with their ‘priorities,’” Delawalla said. “This is Orwellian ‘ignorance is strength’ level censorship and…politicization of science.” (The Accountability Journalism Institute, which publishes the *Important Context* newsletter, provided fiscal sponsorship to Stand Up for Science before it secured nonprofit status.) For months, HHS has been targeting gender-affirming care, [describing](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-is-using-anti-trans-language) it as “sex-rejecting procedures”—a term not used in medical practice that originated from the Christian Right—and implementing policy changes to restrict access by transgender and nonbinary Americans. Lifesaving vaccines have also come under review, including the hepatitis B shot for newborns. The CDC [updated](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-changes-vaccine-safety-page-to) its vaccine safety page to include untrue narratives about immunizations and autism favored by Kennedy’s anti-vax allies. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Few have been as vocal about fighting supposed liberal politicization of science as Kennedy’s lieutenant, the soft-spoken Bhattacharya. But while the NIH director has railed against agenda-driven science, CPAC is not the only far-right platform of which he has availed himself. In December 2025, Bhattacharya was a speaker at “Americafest,” the annual conference of Turning Point USA. There, he joined a roster of speakers that included white nationalists to celebrate the life of the late Charlie Kirk. The previous month, Bhattacharya [accepted an award](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-accepts-award-from-anti) from the Brownstone Institute. In August that year, just weeks after telling PBS that “science should not be partisan,” he appeared on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, known for its promotion of COVID-19 misinformation. During the appearance, which came the day after a radicalized anti-vaxxer fired hundreds of rounds into buildings on the CDC campus, he cast doubt on mRNA COVID vaccines. As *Important Context* has previously reported, Bhattacharya has faced growing dissension inside his agency over what staffers say is a naked politicization of science. His first agency town hall was plagued by disruptions as workers questioned research cuts. The NIH has terminated grants relating to topics like LGBTQIA+ health and mRNA vaccine technology—two targets of the political right and Trump administration. STAT News [reported](https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/nih-banned-words-analysis-grant-title-changes/?ref=importantcontext.news) recently that researchers were forced to change hundreds of grant titles to receive NIH funding In a public [declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) released in June last year with the assistance of Delawalla’s group, hundreds of NIH workers charged that research cuts on Bhattacharya’s watch were being made “based on political ideology.” “To achieve political aims, NIH has targeted multiple universities with indiscriminate grant terminations, payment freezes for ongoing research, and blanket holds on awards regardless of the quality, progress, or impact of the science,” it read. Berg noted that Bhattacharya had previously “declined to speak at at least one other event because the event had been politicized by including local Democratic politicians who were going to speak of the importance of NIH in the local community and the country.” The event in question was a rally following a meeting with some of the declaration signers. According to one of the organizers *Important Context* spoke with, the NIH director became angry and refused to join due to the participation of Democratic lawmakers. “The hypocrisy is shocking but not surprising,” Berg said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) For his part, the NIH director has defended his record, even bragged about how he’d “cured DEI”—a term he has not clearly defined—at his agency in an op-ed for *The Spectator*, a right-wing outlet. In his CPAC speech, Bhattacharya also took a dig at “DEI,” declaring, “80 years ago, Vannevar Bush challenged us to build a scientific enterprise that served the entire country. We today have an opportunity to strengthen that system for a new era by embracing market-based approaches, by advancing drug repurposing, and are committing ourselves to scientific rigor, getting rid of DEI and all the other nonsense.” Science policy experts have disputed Bhattacharya’s characterization of Bush’s argument, telling STAT News that the NIH director mischaracterized it to support the Trump administration’s record. Delawalla said she was “rather surprised at the content of Jay’s speech because he has overseen the *decimation* of HIV research and drug repurposing efforts around the nation by cutting hundreds of active grants in these areas.” “I implore Jay Bhattacharya to keep Vannevar Bush’s name out of his mouth while he is actively bringing about the destruction of the scientific ecosystem that Bush worked so hard to implement in the US,” she said. Bhattacharya closed out his speech with Trump campaign slogans, telling the crowd, “Remember what President Trump and Secretary Kennedy is \[sic\] leading us toward—to make America great again—and to do that, we must make America healthy again.” ### “Rewrite All of Your Woke Science”: Early-Career Researcher Says NIH’s Anti-DEI Agenda is Undermining Agency’s Mission URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/rewrite-all-of-your-woke-science/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:04.000Z Earlier this month, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, testified at an oversight hearing before the House Appropriations Committee about the Trump administration’s cuts to medical research. According to a recent [investigation](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/482363/nih-medical-research-grants-cut-2025?ref=importantcontext.news) by Vox, the NIH has slashed research, almost across the board, including in fields like cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, mental health, kidney disease, and more. In 2025, the agency gave out 2,000 fewer grants than it did in 2024, and this year, it is on track to do even less. The National Cancer Institute has given out just a fraction of the funding it has been allocated to spend. Meanwhile, the agency has lost thousands of workers and senior staff to workforce reductions, and sixteen institutes are currently headed up by acting directors. The Trump administration has also been targeting research funding for universities. The cuts are part of a larger White House anti-diversity agenda that has scientists looking outside the U.S. for opportunities. During the hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D–Conn.) asked Bhattacharya about the loss of opportunities for early-career researchers, noting “they’re looking at how they change their careers or where they go with this.” “It’s been harder and harder for early-career scientists to get their grants funded,” the NIH director replied. “Once upon a time, in the 1980s, you were in your mid 30s when you got your first large RO1, large first grant, and now you have to be in your mid 40s. You have to do one, two, three postdocs. And I’m thinking of how to fix that as NIH, because the NIH has undertaken lots of activities to try to fix that.” While the response was welcomed by the committee, many scientists remain skeptical of the director’s leadership. One is population health researcher Dr. Michael D. Green. Green is an early-career scientist, having earned his PhD in December 2025\. He studies healthcare discrimination, diversity and representation in clinical trials, and social determinants of health and cardiovascular disease. His motivations to do this work are deeply personal: his own family’s history with heart disease. “I’m a Black man, and this is something that…it’s important to note because a lot of the experiences of my grandparents and other people in my family have…deeply…affected how I view…health care in America,” Green told *Important Context*. “And so a lot of them, they don’t really trust…traditional allopathic medicine—so we go to a hospital…they felt that they were kind of dismissed. Often, people weren’t listened to, especially some of the older ones.” Green said that when his family members had issues like hypertension, they often went untreated and progressed to more serious conditions. Critical—and personal—as his research is, Green’s focus on minority communities put him on a collision course with the Trump administration. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Green applied for an NIH grant in September 2023, under the Biden administration. He went for a F99/K00 Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award, aiming to study links between reported discrimination in healthcare settings and heart attacks, strokes, and cognitive health. F and K awards cover both research and training, and are meant to assist early-career researchers in the transition out of their PhD programs. At 70 pages, the application took Green nine months to plan and write, and required four letters of recommendation. For good measure, he also obtained two letters of support for the proposals. Approval finally came in August 2024, two months before the election, and as far as Green was concerned, that was that. All the NIH requires from its grantees are progress reports on how the work is progressing. But things changed under the Trump administration, which began re-reviewing grants to weed out anything it viewed as “DEI” using [specific search terms](https://cen.acs.org/policy/research-funding/DOGEs-orders-threaten-NSF-grants/103/web/2025/04?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI'm%20most%20concerned%20that,%E2%80%9Cleft%2Dwing%E2%80%9D%20stances.). The NIH has denied having a list of banned words, though [reporting](https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/nih-banned-words-analysis-grant-title-changes/?ref=importantcontext.news) has cast doubt on the agency’s claim. Green began hearing about research cuts in March last year—one month before Bhattacharya took over at NIH. In July, he received emails about his awards, informing him that to “proceed with funding consideration, the scope…must be renegotiated to make it consistent” with the administration’s priorities. Put simply, he would need to “remove any DEI language” from his applications. The timing could not have been worse for Green. The emails arrived, he explained, as his family was planning the funeral for his grandfather, who had passed away from congestive heart failure. “I get this, ‘Hey, you have one week to rewrite all of your woke science’ requests while I’m preparing for my grandfather’s funeral, who died of heart disease—the same condition that I’m being told arbitrarily, hey, ‘that experience doesn’t matter,’” Green said. “It’s almost perfectly poetic.” For researchers like Green, waiting on already approved NIH grants is not merely an inconvenience. It is also a financial burden and injects uncertainty into budding careers. “I’m waiting for the approval of my NIH grant, which I applied to because I was told it was going to be a seamless transition to a postdoc position,” Green explained. “And so in that process of being told, ‘Hey, I know that you applied to this thing in 2023, but you need to change your work now…that has cost me real income—I haven’t been paid the past two months. It’s cost me…health insurance. I’m paying for a catastrophic health insurance plan, so in case I get hit by a car, I don’t get put in…life-crippling debt, like we do in America.” To Green, the new demands from the NIH were more than a headache—they were hypocrisy. For years, he noted, Bhattacharya has purported to be a champion of free speech and academic freedom, claiming to have been denied both during the pandemic when his [infection-based COVID-19 herd immunity strategy](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) was rejected by the scientific mainstream. He even [unsuccessfully](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) sued Biden administration officials, alleging that they had orchestrated this supposed censorship. “For me…my biggest issue wasn’t him saying my science is bad,” Green said, explaining that he was most troubled by “the fact that this new administrative process has been put in front of me where it’s not just, ‘Hey, I don’t agree with you,’ it’s, ‘Hey, I don’t agree with you, and change everything here.’” At the hearing, Bhattacharya faced questions about the anti-DEI push, but assured committee members that he was in no way making research funding decisions based on politics, but rather good science. “So the NIH, if we don’t do research that improves the health of minority populations, we’re not accomplishing our mission. It is vital. We’re not accomplishing our mission,” he said. “We have to do research that improves the health of minority populations, right? So I don’t think there’s anybody that disagrees with that. Research that is not rigorous, not as overly politicized, that doesn’t actually have a chance of improving minority health, I don’t want to fund it.” Bhattacharya’s conciliatory tone was markedly different from that of the December 2025 [piece](https://spectator.com/article/how-we-cured-dei-at-the-national-institutes-of-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) he penned with his principal deputy director, Dr. Matthew Memoli for The Spectator, boasting that they had “cured DEI” at the NIH. While Bhattacharya and Memoli did not define DEI, they suggested it was a ‘corrupting’ ideology requiring “de facto loyalty oaths.” “Scientists learned that the best way to maximize their chance of a slice of NIH money was to promise that their work would help achieve racial nirvana, however remote from utopian ideological pursuits the proposed work actually was,” the pair wrote. “Most scientists obsequiously complied to avoid the risk of career harm, whether they were true believers or not.” Bhattacharya’s ambiguous position on research affecting minority groups highlights the difficult line he has tried to walk, gesturing at the public health mainstream even while casting doubt on it and allying with fringe figures like Robert Kennedy Jr. Bhattacharya has previously faced pushback from inside his own agency for contradicting himself. At his first town hall, Bhattacharya was [heckled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) when he told staffers that studies of the impacts of specific policies like redlining that affect minority populations would not be cut. ”As the program officer who oversees this research, I will tell you my studies have been terminated,” a voice from the crowd protested. Bhattacharya then clarified that studies on structural racism were meritless and would be cut, and the heckler responded, “What do you think redlining is?” For Green, the administration’s anti-DEI push represents an “amorphous political agenda” that is fundamentally at odds with scientific discovery. “I think that to say that there’s no situation where inclusivity matters, it’s not only…ignorant, it’s also just kind of you’re closing off a whole side of your scientific possibilities.” He warned that the encroachment of the administration’s politics on research has created a new era of uncertainty—and a bad precedent for the future. Green noted that the loss of research opportunities has been driving scientists away from American universities and into the arms of the corporate sector. “You can go to industry where you’re probably not going to do something that’s entirely mission aligned, but again, at least you can, you know, support your family and kind of keep doing your work,” he said. ### Meat and Dairy Industries Spent Big Money Lobbying Ahead of Trump Dietary Guideline Changes URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/meat-and-dairy-industries-spent-big/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:04.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* In January, the Trump administration unveiled sweeping changes to the recommended dietary guidelines, promoting increased consumption of red meat and whole-fat dairy products, which are high in saturated fat. The recommendations followed a year in which beef and dairy industry groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying federal health agencies on nutrition policy. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), released by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture, not only provide nutritional advice for individuals, but also influence federally funded meal programs like school lunches and SNAP benefits relied on by tens of millions of Americans. The new DGA represent a significant departure from previous years. Earlier guidelines recommended limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of daily calories and encouraged lower-fat dairy and reduced consumption of red and processed meat. While the 2025-2030 DGA maintain the recommended limit on saturated fat, they [substantially increase](https://www.cspi.org/cspi-news/what-changed-new-dietary-guidelines-why-it-matters?ref=importantcontext.news) the recommended daily intake of protein, emphasizing animal sources, including red meat, and encourage the use of butter, full-fat dairy, and beef tallow as “healthy fats.” The changes reflect the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” agenda of HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who blames processed foods for fueling what he describes as a chronic disease epidemic. HHS has framed the new guidelines as a rebuke of corporate influence. “For decades, the Dietary Guidelines favored corporate interests over common sense, science-driven advice to improve the health of Americans,” a fact sheet on the department’s website reads. “That ends today.” However, federal lobbying disclosures show that in the year leading up to the revisions, major meat and dairy groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the administration—including HHS and the FDA—on nutrition policy and the dietary guidelines specifically, among other issues. When the changes were announced, STAT News [reported](https://www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/new-dietary-guidelines-review-panel-financial-ties-beef-dairy-industry/?ref=importantcontext.news) that some of the researchers on the panel that helped shape the new guidelines had ties to the meat and dairy industries. The disclosures offer even more insight into how the guidelines came to be. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Federal lobbying disclosures report total spending, the policy issues of concern, and the federal agencies contacted. While they generally do not indicate the positions taken by the lobbyists or how spending was allocated, they provide a broad snapshot of industry lobbying activity. From the second quarter through the end of last year, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the nation’s largest trade group representing the U.S. cattle and beef industry, spent $210,000 lobbying on a number of issues, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The group targeted the FDA and the White House Office, along with the House, Senate, USDA and U.S. Forest Service. In February, Kennedy [attended](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/07/nx-s1-5702499/rfk-jr-speaks-about-beefing-up-red-meat-consumption-at-cattle-con?ref=importantcontext.news) NCBA’s annual convention for the cattle industry, CattleCon 2026\. The group’s media contact, Hunter Ihrman, reposted a [tweet](https://x.com/seckennedy/status/2020185795928408492?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) by the secretary from the event in which he touted the new dietary guidelines, declaring “The war on protein is over—and beef is back on the menu.” In a statement, NCBA praised the new DGA for emphasizing “beef’s place in a healthy diet” and credited Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Kennedy for their “streamlined approach” that stayed true to science while being “far more practical.” The Meat Institute, another major industry group representing beef producers, spent nearly $500,000 last year lobbying HHS, USDA, and Congress on issues including nutrition, and released a similar statement, lauding Rollins and Kennedy for having “simplified the Dietary Guidelines making it clear that meat is a protein powerhouse which plays a vital role in healthy diets.” Lobbying disclosures for Q2 and Q3 last year from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)—the largest pork industry trade association in the country—list “engagement with the administration on Make America Healthy Again report.” The report took aim at the DGA for “problematic reductionist recommendations” like advising limiting saturated fats and sodium, and was widely criticized for citing non-existent studies and containing other errors. NCBA [praised](https://www.ncba.org/news-media/news/details/44024/american-beef-is-a-perfect-fit-with-the-second-maha-report?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20NCBA's%20Senior%20Vice%20President%20of%20Government,role%20beef%20plays%20in%20a%20healthy%20diet.) the report for highlighting the “positive role beef plays in a healthy diet.” The report noted that “beef contains protein that maintains skeletal muscle, which plays a key role in regulating metabolic health.” It also touted the benefits of dairy. NPPC hailed the new DGA with the group’s president-elect Rob Brenneman [declaring](https://nppc.org/news/u-s-pork-producers-pleased-new-dietary-guidelines-put-pork-front-and-center-on-plate/?ref=importantcontext.news) that they gave pork and other meat “their due when it comes to Americans’ health and dietary habits.” The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the largest dairy farmer organization in the U.S., spent nearly $600,000 in-house between the second and fourth quarter last year, lobbying on issues including the dietary guidelines, targeting the USDA and—in Q4—the FDA. NMPF released a statement from its president and CEO, Gregg Doud, thanking HHS and USDA for the DGA changes and declaring “we welcome the potential these guidelines hold for expanding upon dairy’s critical role in the diet.” Along with industry groups, Tyson Foods, one of the so-called “big four” meat producers in the country, spent $1.6 million last year on in-house lobbying, targeting the FDA, HHS, and USDA among other agencies and Congress, focusing on issues including nutrition. The company did not lobby HHS in 2023 or 2024. In May, Tyson handed Kennedy a political win by publicly [committing](https://katv.com/news/local/tyson-foods-commits-to-removing-synthetic-dyes-amid-fdas-health-push-katv-news?ref=importantcontext.news) to remove petroleum-based synthetic dyes from its food products—an issue the secretary has repeatedly highlighted. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Nutrition experts have criticized the new DGA for their promotion of red meat and dairy. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics noted that such emphasis “is inconsistent with the recommendation of limiting saturated fat to 10% of total calories.” The American Heart Association expressed concern “that recommendations regarding salt seasoning and red meat consumption could inadvertently lead consumers to exceed recommended limits for sodium and saturated fats, which are primary drivers of cardiovascular disease.” Dr. Jessica Knurick, a registered dietitian with a PhD in nutrition science, told *Important Context* that the visual representation released by HHS to explain the new dietary recommendations—with meat and dairy up at the top—was worse than the guidelines themselves. “It’s nearly impossible to follow their visual representation of the guidelines and keep saturated down under 10 percent,” she said. Knurick noted that lobbying on the DGA is normal, but the new guidelines—or at least the visual representation of them put out by HHS—made “very clear” that meat and dairy lobbying interests “had a huge role” in their shaping. “If you know anything historically about the dietary guidelines, you know all of these different industries lobby quite hard, and this time, the meat and dairy industries were quite successful,” she said. ”Which is just absolutely ridiculous, considering that…the thing that \[Kennedy\] constantly talks about are conflicts of interest and corruption, as he calls it, with…lobbying interests and guidelines.” “So it’s…kind of one of those things where every accusation is a confession with these people,” she added. ### New CDC Director Has Questioned Vaccine Safety URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/new-cdc-director-has-questioned-vaccine/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:05.000Z This week, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was named acting director of the CDC. The appointment is the latest signal that more changes may be in store for the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, which has long been a target of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the anti-vaccine movement he is a part of. Bhattacharya’s ascendance comes as the CDC has moved to limit access to vaccines. Last June, Kennedy [replaced](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with skeptics and anti-vaccine voices. In August, the Trump administration fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after mere weeks on the job after she refused to commit to green-lighting the new body’s vaccine recommendations. Since then, the CDC has updated its vaccine safety page [to link vaccines to autism](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-changes-vaccine-safety-page-to?utm%5Fsource=publication-search)—a narrative that research and major medical associations have repeatedly refuted—and adopted new guidance, reducing the number of recommended immunizations for children. Experts have warned that such changes threaten vaccine access as they inform what insurance companies will cover. Bhattacharya, the fourth person to head the CDC under the new Trump administration, following Kennedy’s dismissal last week of the agency’s previous director, Jim O’Neill, as part of a larger reorganization. He has previously cast doubt on vaccine safety. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhattacharya questioned the need for COVID-19 boosters and [claimed](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1570121907718205441?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) they were insufficiently tested prior to approval. In a 2024 documentary, he [suggested](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) that the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which research has shown is not effective against COVID, had been suppressed to secure vaccine approval. Even before his NIH appointment, the new acting CDC director was an ally of Kennedy. When the secretary ran for president in 2024 as an independent, Bhattacharya [spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) at the campaign event announcing his running mate. That summer, Bhattacharya also [organized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) a public health conference at Stanford University featuring individuals like writer and COVID vaccine critic Alex Berenson. There are already indications that Bhattacharya will support Kennedy’s anti-vaccine push. In January, he co-authored a [memo](https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/cdc-acts-presidential-memorandum-update-childhood-immunization-schedule.html?ref=importantcontext.news) with FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz endorsing the vaccine schedule changes the CDC adopted. “Not only does Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist, have zero expertise in controlling infectious diseases, he has used his voice to help spread them,” warned Dr. Jonathan Howard, author of the book We Want them Infected, who has followed Bhattacharya’s career closely for years. Howard, an AJI scientific advisor, noted Bhattacharya’s involvement in the vaccine schedule memo. Bhattacharya’s interim appointment comes just two weeks after he [would not fully rule](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-declines-to-fully-rule) out vaccines as a cause of autism while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Instead, he would only say he was not aware of any study linking a single vaccine to the neurodevelopmental disorder, leaving open the possibility that multiple shots may be a trigger. Later, he said some vaccines were not as well studied as the measles shot in relation to autism. In a podcast appearance from September 2024, Bhattacharya was even more explicit, [expressing openness](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) to alternative immunization schedules and suggesting more research into the debunked autism-vaccine connection was warranted. ”I think there is a legitimate increase in autism in the population at large and the question of why—we should be moving heaven and earth to answer it,” he said at the time. “And I don’t think it’ll likely end up being the vaccines, but I don’t know that for a fact. So it should be part of the scientific conversation as a hypothesis that looks at—because we’re asking parents to vaccinate their children with…several vaccines; many vaccines…Each of them could have a different combination of effects.” He also said he thought that it was “also reasonable to ask questions about the particulars of the vaccines that are on the schedule one at a time,” he added. “I don’t see how, in this post-COVID era, you can just simply say ‘trust the experts.’” Since Bhattacharya has been NIH director, HHS has slashed mRNA vaccine technology research. In August 2025, the day after a gunman who believed he was injured by the COVID vaccines fired multiple rounds into buildings on the CDC’s campus, he appeared on Steve Bannon’s *War Room* podcast, which has trafficked in conspiracy theories and misinformation, to [declare](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-spreads-vaccine-misinformation?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) that the lifesaving mRNA vaccine platform was “no longer viable.” “It’s not a surprise that measles is spreading uncontrollably today, and not only can we expect this to continue in 2026, it will take decades to begin to repair the damage he has done,” Howard said. “If we have another pandemic, heaven forbid, we’ll be on our own.” ### HHS Has Been Using Anti-Trans Language From a Christian Right Think Tank URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/hhs-is-using-anti-trans-language/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:05.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release praising the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for being the first major medical organization in the country to come out against gender-affirming surgeries for anyone under the age of 19. “HHS Leaders Commend the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for Disavowing Pediatric Sex-Rejecting Procedures,” the release read, employing terminology absent from the ASPS position statement. HHS has been referring to gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary Americans as “sex-rejecting procedures” since November. The term has appeared in at least three separate press releases from the department, including the announcement of its final 410-page peer-reviewed report on gender dysphoria. ASPS relied on the report to inform its position on gender-affirming surgeries—though multiple reviewers [criticized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-moves-to-restrict-gender-affirming) it as unscientific and political. The term has no basis in medical or clinical practice. It originates instead from a conservative Catholic group called the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which has been advocating for its usage for nearly a year, including through a direct appeal to HHS. In a statement provided to *Important Context*, the group said it was pleased to see its language used in official HHS briefings. “Public policy needs to be grounded in reality, not ideology,” the statement read. “We are very pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has adopted our language, which accurately describes the procedures in question.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Over the last year, the department has moved to curtail access to gender-affirming care by transgender and non-binary Americans and slashed related research. Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has claimed that he is restoring “gold-standard” and “evidence-based” science. But HHS’s adoption of terminology from the Christian Right underscores the extent to which ideology dictates policy under the Trump administration. Founded in 1976, EPPC has a stated goal of promoting Judeo-Christian values in law, culture, and politics. The group was formed as a sort of alliance between ultraconservative Christians and Jews to advance religiously motivated social policies, which often target the LGBTQIA+ community. It previously published the non-peer-reviewed, religious journal *The New Atlantis*, and was identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of an anti-LGBTQIA+ [pseudoscience network](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/defining-pseudoscience-network/?ref=importantcontext.news). EPPC was on the [advisory board](https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025%5FMandateForLeadership%5FFULL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) of Project 2025—the policy roadmap crafted by the far-right Heritage Foundation that appears to be guiding the Trump administration. In May 2025, President Trump appointed EPPC president Ryan Anderson, previously a Heritage fellow, to his Religious Liberty Commission. The group’s former president, legal activist Edward Whelan, came [under fire](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/23/ed-whelan-kavanaugh-theory-837445?ref=importantcontext.news) for his defense of Brett Kavanaugh amid sexual assault allegations in which he suggested a case of mistaken identity. EPPC’s board of directors includes names like Robert George, a Princeton professor and leading voice of the Christian right, as well as right-wing legal activist Leonard Leo. Leo’s The 85 Fund funneled $5.3 million to EPPC between 2020 and 2024, according to federal tax filings. Other major right-wing donors include the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which gave $1.8 million between 2019 and 2024, and the Sarah Scaife Foundation, which gave nearly $1.9 million over the same period. EPPC’s attempt to rebrand gender-affirming care goes back to last April. In a [public comment](https://eppc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/EPPC-Comment-HHS-PPACA-Markeplace-Integrity-rev2.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) submitted that month to Kennedy in support of an HHS proposal to eliminate “sex-trait modification” from the Affordable Care Act’s list of essential health benefits, the group urged HHS to use its term. “We suggest that HHS adopt the term ‘sex-rejecting procedures’ to avoid several significant problems inherent with the term ‘sex-trait modifications,’ which we outline below,” the comment read. The following month, EPPC published a [report](https://eppc.org/publication/terminology-and-definition-replacing-gender-affirming-care-with-sex-rejecting-procedures/?ref=importantcontext.news) on why “gender-affirming care” and “gender-affirming treatment” ought to be replaced with its preferred term. The group claimed that the medically accepted terms were “biased in favor of gender ideology.” In its statement, EPPC credited the authors of this report for HHS’ adoption of its language, “It is a testament to the quality of Rachel Morrison’s, Eric Kniffin’s, and Mary Hasson’s work that a growing number of officials, experts, and organizations are putting biological truth first when considering how best to respond to people who express discomfort with their sex.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “Sex-rejecting procedures” is not the only anti-trans Christian Right term HHS has adopted. The department also uses “gender ideology” to refer to the recognition of transgender existence—a phrase that traces back to conservatives in the Catholic Church in the 1990s. The medical consensus recognizes transgender and non-binary identities as legitimate. The American Medical Association, which this week followed ASPS in walking back support for gender-affirming surgery for minors, has previously [noted](https://glaad.org/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Transgender%20and%20gender-diverse%20individuals,the%20gender%20that%20they%20choose.) that “Empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.” EPPC’s attempt to stigmatize transgender medical care is part of a larger right-wing campaign targeting transgender people. Last month, several genocide scholars [warned](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-warn-us-in-early-stages-of) that escalating right-wing efforts to marginalize transgender people—both legally and rhetorically, including actions by the Trump administration—meet the criteria of genocidal processes. The transgender population already has a higher rate of suicidality than the general population and there is evidence [suggesting](https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/anti-transgender-laws-cause-up-to-72-increase-in-suicide-attempts-among-transgender-and-nonbinary-youth-study-shows/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-trans policies make the problem worse. While “sex-rejecting procedures” is a new term, the idea that transgender individuals are either rejecting or denying their biological sex goes back years. A 2016 Heritage Foundation [commentary](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/proposed-obamacare-gender-identity-mandate-threatens-freedom-conscience?ref=importantcontext.news) argued that “many \[people\] have strong grounds to hold that one’s sex is an immutable characteristic that should be respected, not rejected or treated as a disease.” In his January 2023 testimony before the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee, Jay Richards, today the vice president of social and domestic policy at Heritage and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, declared that “gender affirming is in fact sex-denying.” EPPC’s May 2025 report advocating for the use of “sex-rejecting procedures” argued that “sex denial” was imprecise, as "those who pursue a ’gender transition’ might not ‘deny’ their biology; indeed, the term ‘transgender’ itself concedes that the person’s asserted identity conflicts with the person’s sex.” *Correction 2/10/26: A previous version of this article said that EPPC currently publishes The New Atlantis. The journal has been independent since December 2017.* ### NIH Director Declines to Fully Rule Out Vaccine-Autism Link During Senate Hearing URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-director-declines-to-fully-rule/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:06.000Z The National Institutes of Health Director stopped short of saying that vaccines do not cause autism during his appearance before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Tuesday. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Jay Bhattacharya, known for casting doubt on public health measures to control COVID-19, appeared before the committee to testify about his agency’s efforts to “modernize” and restore trust in science. He said public confidence had tumbled in recent years. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked the official if he believed that having a Health and Human Services secretary—Robert Kennedy Jr.—who promoted the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism negatively affected public trust in science. Bhattacharya deflected, citing research suggesting the decline in trust began before Kennedy’s tenure. Sanders pressed, asking directly if vaccines cause autism. Bhattacharya replied, “I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism.” When Sanders repeated his question—“Do vaccines cause autism?”—Bhattacharya responded, “I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism.” The NIH director later clarified to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) that “When you’re studying anything like this, you can’t just say vaccines. You have to say vaccine-by-vaccine.” He claimed that on the autism question, some vaccines were “less well studied” than measles shots. The idea that vaccines are linked to autism originated with a fraudulent 1998 paper by disgraced researcher Andrew Wakefield, which was published in The Lancet. Although the paper has long since been discredited and retracted, anti-vaxxers like Kennedy have continued to promote the narrative. They suggest that certain ingredients in particular vaccines—or a combination of vaccines—causes the neurodevelopmental disorder. Bhattacharya has previously [expressed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) his openness to the idea that multiple shots in concert with one another may be linked to autism. During a podcast appearance in September 2024, he suggested more research into the childhood immunization schedule was warranted to rule out vaccines as a trigger. “I think there is a legitimate increase in autism in the population at large and the question of why—we should be moving heaven and earth to answer it,” he said. “And I don’t think it’ll likely end up being the vaccines, but I don’t know that for a fact. So it should be part of the scientific conversation as a hypothesis that looks at—because we’re asking parents to vaccinate their children with…several vaccines; many vaccines…Each of them could have a different combination of effects.” Bhattacharya has associated with anti-vaccine activists for years as part of his advocacy against COVID mitigation measures. In November, he [accepted an award](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-accepts-award-from-anti) from the Brownstone Institute, a group with which he was once affiliated, and he [spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) at a March 2024 presidential campaign event for Kennedy at which Kennedy’s vice presidential pick was announced. On Bhattacharya’s watch, the agency has [directed](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launches-fifty-million-autism-data-science-initiative-unlock-causes-improve-outcomes?ref=importantcontext.news) $50 million to research to identify the causes of autism, aligning with Kennedy’s priorities. ### “The Entire City's in This Sort of State of Siege:” A Conversation With A Minneapolis ICE Tracker URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-entire-citys-in-this-sort-of/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:06.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Saturday, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital. The 37-year-old had been involved in grassroots efforts to track the immigration crackdown in his city. His was the second such fatal shooting this month. Footage of the incident shows Pretti holding up a cell phone to record a confrontation with CBP agents outside a donut shop. Within minutes, Pretti is pepper sprayed, restrained on the ground, and struck repeatedly. Amid the struggle, one agent reaches into Pretti’s waistband and removes his legally-carried SIG Sauer P320 pistol from a rear holster. Simultaneously, another agent draws his own weapon and aims it at the disarmed nurse. As the agent with Pretti’s gun runs off, a shot rings out. Seconds later three more are fired in quick succession as Pretti goes limp. The agents continue firing—a total of six more shots—at his still body. Weeks earlier, Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot as she attempted to drive away from agents yelling conflicting orders at her. Trump administration officials have thus far defended the immigration officers, fabricating the events that led to the shootings and painting the victims as terrorists. Across Minneapolis, residents have responded to the escalating immigration enforcement actions and violence with mass mobilization, forming a decentralized rapid response network to track the movements of the federal agents and keep their communities alerted. Hours after the Pretti shooting, *Important Context* spoke with one person involved in those efforts: former Minnesota House candidate Will Stancil, an attorney and housing policy researcher. Stancil had just gotten home from the scene. Below is transcript of the conversation, which has been edited for clarity and abridged. Paid subscribers can also listen to the audio of the full unabridged two-part interview at the bottom of this piece. Since this interview was conducted, the Trump administration has [reportedly](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/greg-bovino-demoted-minneapolis-border-patrol/685770/?ref=importantcontext.news) ousted Greg Bovino as Border Patrol commander-at-large and is taking him out of the state and sending in Border Czar Tom Homan. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ## Transcript **Bragman:** Will, I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I wish it were under better circumstances, but, you know, I’m glad, I’m glad to talk to you anyway. **Stancil:** Yeah, just for context, I got back from, you know, the shooting of Alex Pretti was this morning, and so I have literally got back from—yeah, I kind of raced out there, and I’ve been out there since, you know, pretty quickly after it happened, and I just got back, literally four minutes ago. So I still have a lot of tear gas on my clothes, and I’m, like, dealing with some unprocessed trauma right now. So really, a great interview subject, I think. **Bragman:** Yeah, let’s start there. That’s the latest grisly update. **Stancil:** So for context here, I’ve been doing this rapid response, you know, community watch thing. This happened within my hyper local—is what we call it—rapid response area. So this appeared to be someone who was doing essentially the exact same thing I had been doing—at least that’s my best information. There’s a very good chance I know his pseudonym. We all work pseudonymously, mostly. So while I know his real name, I’m not 100% sure what his name was. There’s a couple people I suspect that might be, both of whom I like quite a lot. And so I’ve been trying to figure out who he was. There’s one guy in particular that I was just telling my friend yesterday. He’s, like, my favorite guy out there. He’s out there all the time and…very good at this. And I’m a little scared it might have been him, but I don’t know. I met him one time, but it was sort of a drive by where he introduced himself, and we kind of did a little wave. And so it may not be him. I don’t know for sure who it was. **Bragman:** Can you tell me a little bit more about these operations to track ICE and keep tabs on what they’re doing? **Stancil:** So basically, what Minneapolis has done in response to ICE is essentially organize into neighborhood groups. People get a little upset when you describe it, but it’s all in the press anyway, and I also don’t think the secrecy is all that helpful. ICE obviously knows what we’re doing. So what we do is we organize into neighborhood groups. And it’s all on signal. You join a signal chat for your neighborhood. There’s kind of nested Signals all the way up to the top. But most of it happens locally. At any given time, you’ll have 500 to 1000 people in the neighborhood group, which is—for a neighborhood of probably 30,000 people—pretty good. So you have people watching; you have people foot patrolling with whistles; and then you have people who are doing the commute—it’s called commuting, which is when you drive around in a car and you basically look for vehicles that appear to be ICE vehicles. We have people serving as dispatch and plate checkers. We have open-source directories of known ICE plates, and so when you see something suspicious, one thing you do is you call it in—the plate—and see if it’s confirmed ICE. I mean, a lot of times though, we don’t have the plate or we’re not sure, so and you’re trying to scope out the car, usually it’s like, at least fairly obvious if we should be suspicious. And sometimes it’s completely obvious--they’re in uniform or they’re wearing masks, that’s pretty often. I mean, a lot of times though, we don’t have the plate or we’re not sure, so and you’re trying to scope out the car, usually it’s like, at least fairly obvious if we should be suspicious. And sometimes it’s completely obvious—they’re in uniform or they’re wearing masks, that’s pretty often. And once you know that it’s ICE, we try and keep eyes on them. We get some observers on them. The car commuters will typically tell them, as long as they’re in the neighborhood, and really, as long as they’re in the city—and they work pretty hard to get out. They do not like being watched, and so they work pretty hard to get out of our site. And so you end up these...kind of long, slow car chases, which they often end by egregiously running a red light or something, which, \[would\] be high risk for us to do. **Bragman:** We’ve seen videos of ICE agents threatening people for doing this activity. **Stancil:** It infuriates them. They hate it. They really can’t stand it. Clearly they’re putting a lot of resources into not being detected. I mean, part of it is because of the nature of their nominal immigration enforcement operation here. They will pull up on the intersection or alley or somewhere, and just jump out and grab someone, stuff them in a van. Sort of secret police style. There’s no attempt to talk to the person, or gather information. They’re not talking to bystanders. They’re certainly sticking around afterwards. The van goes racing off. It’s very difficult for them to do this if there’s many people in the street watching them. And so…if you’re following a car, they know that if they get it out of the car, an alert will immediately go up, and everyone within, you know, many blocks will race that way. And so it has been a major impediment, I think, to their operations because of how they’ve chosen to conduct their operations. They’re not acting like traditional law enforcement here in any way, and because of that, they really can’t abide the kind of citizen observation that traditional law enforcement sees as just part of the job. **Bragman:** Have we ever seen anything like this? **Stancil:** I mean, I haven’t seen anything like this. I don’t know. I know that these tactics were largely developed in Chicago. The initial training I received was from people who had organized in Chicago. With that said, the scale of our ice deployment—the scale for population is 25 times greater than Chicago’s was. And the aggressiveness of the tactics—I’ve gotten to a point where I’m getting tear gassed every other day. Very often stuff blows up. Because what will happen is that ICE will—if they get out of cars, the neighborhood will flock there. There’ll be a standoff where...the neighbors are whistling and shouting and then ICE has a standoff, and they all kind of load into a convoy of cars, and then as they leave, they will toss a bunch of tear gas out the back, basically. So it’s become a regular thing. Also, many times they don’t appear to be even doing anything immigration related. The other day, Greg Bovino was here, and so I ended up tailing his big convoy like three times. He was just rolling from gas station to gas station. He parked all his cars in the gas station behind the pumps. They wouldn’t get gas, they wouldn’t buy anything, they wouldn’t go use the bathroom. And he’d get out, he’d have a little group of ICE guys around him, or Border Patrol, in his case, I guess. They’re heavily armed--like, look like they’re equipped for Fallujah, and all masked, obviously, everyone’s always masked. And he would just sort of strut, you know, stroll into the crowd or the street, and he would literally pose. He always had like, three or four photographers with him. And he would pose for the photographers as he sort of did this thousand-yard stare at his conquered territory. It was very strange. I mean, it was funny: I wasn’t even really particularly trying to follow him. It was just as I was doing ICE Watch. I just kept running into this convoy at a different gas station. At one point, I did follow him for about 40 minutes, and he went through a residential neighborhood, and they stopped in front of a random house for like, half an hour. No one ever got out of the car, but they had some photographers run up and take pictures and stuff. So it may have been some sort of photo-op thing. They largely appear to be doing this to intimidate, to incite. Some people are being abducted, and it’s terrible, but you know, if you were here to do immigration enforcement, the way they’re doing it is financially, and logistically the worst possible way you could do it. **Bragman:** You think the ultimate aim here is just intimidation? **Stancil:** For some reason, they want to target Minnesota. And I think the prevailing theory that I’ve heard—I mean, there’s three things. First, Trump hates us because we don’t vote for him, and Tim Walz ran against him. Second, they hate Somalis. Somalis have become their minority of choice. They, you know, it’s they’re Black, they’re Muslim, they’re immigrants—so it’s like, the trifecta for Maga. And then finally, I think the thing is, they think about us as Minnesota from 2020\. They think we’re on the edge of rioting. And I think that they have been looking. Basically, if you look at their history over the last few months, what they’ve been doing is taking increasingly large ICE deployments to increasingly small cities, seeming to try and kick up some civil unrest. \[Protesters\] burned out a car or something in LA, but there wasn’t really success there, so they went to Chicago. And in Chicago, there weren’t mass riots. And so now they’re coming here with a force that’s just vastly larger. I mean, I think I heard it was 10 times larger than the one they brought to Chicago at this point...And, you know, I think the idea is like, ‘Well, of course, Minnesota riot that you know; everyone knows, from 2020, that Minnesota riots.’ And after that, I don’t know what their plan is exactly, but I suspect it’s: invoke the Insurrection Act, bring in the military, essentially declare martial law—these sort of really sweeping authoritarian plans that Stephen Miller appears to practice rehearsing in front of the mirror every night. **Bragman:** What powers would Trump have if he invoked the Insurrection Act? **Stancil:** Not really any. The reality is that what he can actually do is use it to support local law enforcement. But they have made it into this almost fetish object for MAGA, where once he invokes the Insurrection Act, then he can just roll tanks over liberals. I think Stephen Miller genuinely dreams of himself as this kind of right-wing authoritarian Goebbels figure, and he’s looking for an excuse to do roundups and put people in camps, and probably have us killed. I mean, honestly, I think he fantasizes about this. I think he has an almost sexual attachment to this idea. You can see it every time something happens, and he’s like, ‘We will crush these little liberal…‘ and you can tell that he’s practiced his speeches entire life. **Yeah, with the jaw-jutting and the—** **Stancil:** It’s like the comic book version of a fascist. One of the things I think you see with the Trump administration is that—you know, I truly believe these men are fascists, but they’re not fascists in the sense that the old style fascists were developing what fascism meant. They are looking back at those people and seeing them as sort of historical, anti-heroes—protagonists of history—and they are trying to play the role. So that’s why, even after all this, American 2025 is nothing like Germany in 1933\. But they’re in a rush to get to the end. They want to get to that stage because that is what they fantasize about. And I really think that they think Minnesota can be their turning point where they can do it. **Bragman:** There’s something distinctly American about this iteration of fascism, right? Like, yes, there’s the German model, but there’s plenty of American history that we can look back on to say, like, ‘Oh, they’re clearly drawing from that.’ There’s sort of the sundown town kind of thing going on, where they’re where they’re clearly targeting people of color. **Stancil:** I mean, I genuinely think that their inspiration is European fascism. But I do absolutely agree that the form it has taken is this sort of American nativism and racism. I mean, I think it’s interesting when you watch—I’ve had at this point, a front row seat. I was a lead pursuit car between two convoys that abducted people, and then I showed up right before another big abduction happened. What appears to be happening is that they are just indiscriminately targeting people of color. The two that I was the first car there, they just jumped out and grabbed a pedestrian who happened not to be white. I don’t how—I can’t think of any possible way they could’ve known who they were grabbing. They didn’t have a conversation. They didn’t verify their identity as far as anyone could tell. I had a journalist with me and he saw the same thing. It was just literally you’re a non-white person on the street, ICE is hunting you. And what is happening here in Minnesota as a result is that basically the entire non-white population is afraid to go outside. It’s awful. Our schools are about 50 percent absenteeism. Sometimes it’s 70 percent. Our school system is basically in the COVID state of being mostly empty, kind of collapsing our schools. But we don’t have any federal support this time. There’s no, there’s no resources for remote learning or anything like that. So they’re just trying to make it work. They’ll assign, like, one third-grade teacher to remote learning, and the other one gets all the students. So they both end up in these totally untenable situations where they have massive classes and stuff. The other thing is people won’t go out to get food. We have the rapid response networks, which is what everyone wants to talk about, but there’s also this huge network of neighbors assisting each other. You can call them mutual aid or whatever, where basically you’re doing food deliveries to many, many, many families that are afraid to go out and get food—just so they can stay alive. Many of our businesses lock their doors all day. You have to ring a bell or knock or maybe a doorman to watch the door and make sure it’s not ICE. We try and put observers out at particularly vulnerable businesses—like immigrant owned businesses or businesses that employ a lot of immigrants—for shift change and also at close and open. You know, six in the morning, seven the morning. Sometimes, if it’s like a bakery, we’ll need a bunch of people there watching. Two in the morning sometimes, if it’s a restaurant or a bar...and then the big shift changes, we try and have people there so that there’s observers ready if ICE decides to grab someone who’s on their way in and out. So the entire city’s in this sort of state of siege. **Bragman:** How significant is the ICE presence? Like, how many agents are there in Minneapolis and throughout the state? I mean, is this, like, every corner you’re gonna find agents? **Stancil:** No, it’s not every corner. It’s 3000 agents. So for comparison, our local police force is 600 officers. So it vastly outnumbers the police. They are not always concentrated in Minneapolis. There have been a couple of times where I thought they were potentially moving out of Minneapolis—recent days have shown me I was wrong--where they seem to depart for the suburbs or St. Paul or outstate. You’ll hear about them in Wilmar, Minnesota, which is a little town. We have many diverse suburbs, and they’d be out there taking people. But the primary focus I think, has been Minneapolis. They tend to move as a wave. They don’t like to send in, like, one or two cars at a time. So, as a patroller, you will be out there, and you’ll have a day where you don’t see a single ICE car. You’ll see one that’s confirmed. And then, the next day, or maybe even three hours later, suddenly they all arrive in force. And when that happens, it’ll be a situation where, if you sit on a major intersection for 15 minutes, you’ll probably see one. But they tend to drive unmarked cars, kind of what you think—dark menacing SUVs, but unmarked, tinted windows. Often plates are obscured or taken off. Sometimes the front windows are very tinted, so you can’t even tell it’s them there. They kind of lurk around the neighborhood like secret police. But when they’re in the neighborhood, when this is a hub, when this is the focus, you will find them. You know, as a *New York Times* article [says](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/us/minnesota-scene-ice.html?ref=importantcontext.news), paranoid Minnesotans “see ICE around every corner,” and it’s like almost literally around every corner. They like to lurk in the alleys—we have alleys between our city blocks, which is how our neighborhoods \[are\] designed; how Minneapolis is designed. Very, very common for them to lurk in the alleys, just idle in the alleys. We have to check the alleys, and they’ll go racing out when you notice them. They like to lurk in front of businesses. I think today, if I remember correctly, it was chaotic this morning, this whole incident where someone was killed—was really murdered, executed—started because there was an ICE car that was lurking in front of this particular donut shop. It was just sitting there, I think. And sometimes, when they lurk, you see them and they race off. But then sometimes, a bunch more cars will suddenly show up and people come out. And it seems like this time maybe the second thing happened—some sort of confrontation happened, where I believe that they shoved an observer, and \[Pretti\] may have gone up to separate them, and then they start beating him, pistol whipping him, push him to the ground, and shot him, I think, five times. I don’t know exactly how many shots. **Bragman:** How ubiquitous is the violence then? Do you have lulls or is it a pretty high baseline of violence from ICE? **Stancil:** Yes, it is. You know, obviously if they’re just not in the neighborhood at all, you’re not going to see anything. I mean,I don’t think there’s been a day since they’ve gotten here where they haven’t deployed tear gas somewhere. Days where things are really popping off…you essentially go from one massive incident with tear gas and pepper spray and rubber bullets to the next. Because they will pull up, a crowd will gather, people start throwing ice and snow, shouting. The observers are trained to de-escalate, although it’s tough. But obviously just random people in the street are very, very angry. Anger here is pretty much universal, and so things will kick off and they’ll start spraying pepper balls at people; almost always will drop tear gas before they leave. Maybe lots of it. It’s become very common for them—and I have many, many videos of them just directly pepper spraying people right in the face. You know, someone gets a little too mouthy with them, a little too aggressive, and they will just shoot that person like, from six inches away, right in the eyes. And I’ve seen that personally, like many times. I own several gas masks now. It’s funny because Bondi was on TV, I saw earlier on social media, saying, ‘These guys are so organized. They’re terrorists. They have all gas masks. Who has a gas mask?’ And it’s like, yeah, the reason I got gas masks is, you guys tear gas me, like, two times in 36 hours, after which I thought, ‘that’s awful, I don’t want to do that again,’ and I went out and bought a gas mask. And now I’ve used it many times. I mean, I’m covered with tear gas right now. I can smell it on my clothes from earlier today…Minneapolis winter gear is now: coat, gloves, hat, gas mask. **Bragman:** So you mentioned on BlueSky that ICE is targeting children, and that it’s something that everybody knows. And you got into it a little bit on the site, but can you explain why you think that is? **Stancil:** There’s been a noticeable uptick in them targeting very small children. One thing they’re also doing a lot is hanging around schools. They’ll circle the school parking lot around pick-up or drop-off time—have a car full of masked men. I just want to emphasize that even I, when I first heard this, I thought that’s crazy. But it’s like, no, it’s not. They’re doing it. And I think that the reason why is because they are intentionally engaging in the most aggressive; the most horrifying; the most enraging immigration enforcement possible—the absolute, maximalist approach—because their goal here isn’t really to deport people or catch criminals. Their goal here is to incite violence and to enrage us and to terrorize us. I mean, one of the things that they keep saying is ‘Oh, you know, we’re trying to find sex traffickers.’ It’s like, you’re deporting five year olds. I watched them abduct two, sobbing, sixteen-year-old young girls who I believe were citizens. The other thing I’d say about Minnesota is that people don’t realize this, because you hear a lot about our Somali population, or Hmong population, the Somali population is almost entirely citizens. Most Somalis in Minnesota are citizens. Almost everyone else is a lawful permanent resident. But I’m talking like 85% plus are citizens. The Hmong population is even more. I think the population is probably 95% plus citizens. This is the immigrant population that’s been here for like, three generations at this point. The Somali one has been there about one and a half. These are not populations with high numbers of undocumented immigrants at all. And so they are sort of relying on a sense that, ‘Well, you have Somalis in America—they can’t possibly be American citizens,’ but they are. There’s very few people here you can lawfully deport. And so it doesn’t make any sense as a place you would go to if that’s what you’re looking to do. The other thing they’ve said—the initial excuse was about a fraud in the Somali community and daycares. You know, there’s viral videos about Somali daycares being fraudulent. And I’m going to say there is some fraud in immigrant communities the same way that you have any sort of small, close knit immigrant population, it’s a good environment for small scale fraud and crime. This is sort of the storied history of Italians in America. But it’s not like a huge social problem here in Minnesota. Minnesotans don’t feel broadly threatened by Somalis. They’re part of our communities, their great neighbors. There’s been a couple major frauds. But like, by and large, these are people who are extremely entrepreneurial; extremely friendly neighbors—peaceful, quiet, friendly. Also, if you’re here to investigate fraud, you didn’t bring accountants, you didn’t bring an auditor. I don’t think there’s a guy in the back of the blacked Ford Expedition, scrolling through a spreadsheet of revenues. It’s literally just an army full of poorly trained dudes with machine guns. Every reason they have given for this is just absurd. I mean, it’s absurd, and no one here believes it. Like, no one believes it. There’s no debate here. One of the things that I really would like to also emphasize—I know I’m just kind of doing my own interview at this point, going off… **Bragman:** No, it’s fine. I signed up for this. **Stancil:** Yeah, you can add any questions later to make it like, you know, I give it to you prompt off. But one of the things I’d like to emphasize about this is the uniformity of the opposition here in Minneapolis. Like every business, every street post, every conversation here is about ICE, ICE, ICE, and it’s just gotten worse, and worse, and worse. I wasn’t remotely surprised that we got 30,000 people or whatever at the protest yesterday, despite it being negative 20, because the entire city is opposed to ICE right now. **Bragman:** I’ve heard this, that it’s not just progressives and liberals—it’s conservatives, it’s everybody. **Stancil:** It’s everybody. I mean, it’s like an invading force. Outside, they’re telling all these lies—you know, agitators, protesters, fraud, ‘we’re here taking sex traffickers.’ But on the ground, that’s not what we’re seeing. And no one thinks that. They’re lying, and everyone here knows they’re lying. No one here is confused about what they’re doing. You can’t see this for one second and think, ‘Oh yeah, they’re just taking away a violent sex trafficker.’ They’re harassing our neighbors. They’re stalking through our alleys. They’re lurking around our schools. And every once in a while, they’ll shoot someone dead for no reason. It’s unbelievable to hear the idea that there’s some sort of valid government purpose behind any of this. We are being targeted, and everyone knows we’re being targeted. **Bragman:** So do you think this is a test for the rest of the country? Like if they’re successful here, then they’ll export this model? **Stancil:** Yes, I absolutely do. I think that they think if they can knock one domino over—you know, break us—then they will move on and then just go one by one down the list. And so, you know, I really think that this is why we have to stop them here. I keep saying on social media, this will be their Gettysburg. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### RFK Jr.‘s Former Anti-Vax Org Launches RICO Suit Against Leading Pediatrics Group URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/rfk-jrs-former-anti-vax-org-launches/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:07.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy group founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., has filed a racketeering lawsuit against the American Academy of Pediatrics. The suit alleges that the 67,000-member AAP—the nation’s largest pediatric medical trade group—engaged in a conspiracy to mislead the public about the safety of the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule while taking donations from vaccine manufacturers for its charitable efforts. The case comes as the AAP and other medical organizations are embroiled in their own federal court lawsuit against Kennedy and HHS over changing vaccine recommendations. In an amended complaint filed Monday, the AAP alleges that the recent updates to the U.S. childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule were made “without following the evidentiary-driven, and legally required processes for issuing recommended vaccine schedules in the United States.” Those changes include the CDC’s decision earlier this month to end its universal recommendations for meningitis, RSV, hepatitis A, rotavirus, and flu vaccines as well as its December move to drop the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation. The latter followed advice from the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which Kennedy reshaped last year, replacing the original 12 members with handpicked medical contrarians and figures known for casting doubt on vaccines. The AAP is seeking to block the schedule changes, invalidate ACIP on the grounds that its new members were unlawfully appointed, and overturn its previous recommendations. The new lawsuit from CHD frames these efforts as attempts by AAP to derail Kennedy’s “reform” of the childhood immunization schedule. “When the Department of Health and Human Services has attempted reform, AAP leads the opposition: it sued to restore the childhood COVID-19 vaccine recommendation after the CDC removed it and issued inflated statistics about the effects of the December 2025 ACIP hepatitis B decision,” the complaint reads. “AAP and its enterprise associates’ lawsuit to derail the CDC’s January 5, 2026 announcement bringing its vaccine schedule more in line with other industrialized countries (and U.S. states) is the latest evidence of its racketeering activities.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) According to CHD, which has been identified as a major source of online vaccine misinformation, the cumulative safety of the childhood immunization schedule has never been tested—a common anti-vax talking point that misunderstands how vaccines are tested and approved in the U.S.—and the AAP is to blame. The group takes specific aim at a 2002 article in AAP’s peer-reviewed journal *Pediatrics* by renowned vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit, evaluating the safety of administering multiple immunizations to children. The complaint calls the article the “foundational fraud” of the racketeering enterprise on the grounds that it “contained theoretical and modeling extrapolations” and has been widely distributed by the trade association—supposedly to silence dissent and prevent further research. CHD alleges that the AAP, relying on Offit’s work, has blocked efforts to study the cumulative schedule. Experts have pointed out that denying children vaccines and potentially exposing them to dangerous pathogens is unethical, but the suit argues there are other research models available. Kennedy’s HHS recently tried to fund a study of hepatitis B vaccines in African infants that was ultimately [suspended](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/health/hepatitis-b-vaccine-africa-study.html?ref=importantcontext.news) by Guinea-Bissau amid outcry from scientists over the ethics of the research. The CHD lawsuit claims that “independent researchers worldwide have conducted…comparative analyses, consistently finding superior health outcomes in unvaccinated children.” As proof, it cites papers by former cardiologist Peter McCullough, researcher Anthony Mawson, and CHD chief scientific officer Brian Hooker. Each has authored vaccine-related research that was later retracted, according to Retraction Watch. The lawsuit also repeats the long-discredited, fraudulent narrative that vaccines cause autism and cites as evidence the CDC’s vaccine information page, which was updated in November on Kennedy’s watch. That page, which now endorses the debunked claim, [relies](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-changes-vaccine-safety-page-to?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) on a paper by one of CHD’s co-plaintiffs: Dr. Paul Thomas, whose positions on vaccines lost him his medical licenses. The CHD lawsuit ultimately alleges that AAP works to protect the profits of major pharmaceutical companies that have donated to its charitable work. In a statement, CHD president Mary Holland called the trade association “a front operation in a racketeering scheme involving Big Pharma, Big Medicine and Big Media, ready at every turn to put profits above children’s health” and said “It’s time to face facts and see what the AAP is really about.” Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco and leading expert in vaccine law, told *Important Context* that CHD “using RICO to target AAP’s vaccine policy is a pretty blatant misuse.” “The lawsuit makes it clear that Children’s Health Defense complaint is that they do not agree with AAP’s position on vaccines,” Reiss explained. “But that’s not racketeering activity.” Reiss said that the plaintiffs’ injury claims bore a “very weak connection to anything AAP does,” highlighting the cases of Dr. Thomas and Dr. Kenneth Stoller, a California physician who lost his license for writing [unnecessary vaccine exemptions](https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/doctor-who-lost-license-over-vaccine-exemptions-moves-to-bozeman-sues-cdc/article%5F7c4948d4-4dcb-5052-8396-6d149c1cf498.html?ref=importantcontext.news). She noted that the issue the doctors faced in their disciplinary actions was not AAP but rather “the schedule recommended at the time by ACIP.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Kennedy resigned from CHD in December 2024, anticipating his HHS role. During his Senate confirmation hearings, the longtime anti-vaccine activist shared a tense exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who pressed him to disavow anti-vax merchandise on the CHD website and to call on the organization to stop selling it. In response, Kennedy claimed he had “no power over that organization, I’m not part of it, I resigned from the board.” Yet during Kennedy’s tenure as HHS secretary, CHD has come to his aid on several notable occasions. The suit is the latest example, but last year, when measles outbreaks rocked Texas, killing two unvaccinated children, the group [began running interference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedys-former-anti-vax-group-running?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) by casting doubt on the causes of death. In March, after Kennedy came under fire for a CHD-launched anti-vax web page resembling the official CDC vaccine information page, the group removed it following the secretary’s request. Additionally, *Important Context* reported, the group [hosted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-said-he-was-done-with-childrens?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) Cheryl Hines as a guest of honor at its annual conference’s Champion Dinner this November. CHD did not respond to our request for comment. ### Jon Stewart Praises Attorney Behind Years of Anti-Vaccine, Anti-Public Health Lawfare URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/jon-stewart-praises-attorney-who/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:07.000Z This week, *Daily Show* host Jon Stewart heaped praise on an attorney who spent years opposing COVID-19 mitigation efforts and promoting vaccine skepticism. “Jenin, I wanted to talk to you because we are in a moment where consistent courage seems in short supply,” Stewart [told](https://youtu.be/5rIWRYOngb0?si=xM4LQIGwdpwWCePg&ref=importantcontext.news) guest Jenin Younes, the national director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “You’re a civil rights attorney who has been canceled by both the right and the left, which means you must be doing something right.” Younes was on the program to discuss the state of civil liberties in Donald Trump’s America, and Stewart thanked her for her principles and for trying to protect vulnerable people. What he did not mention was her long record of working with right-wing groups and close associates of Donald Trump, challenging public health measures, promoting unproven scientific claims, and pursuing legal action against Democratic officials. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Younes has been at her current job since September. Her previous title was litigation counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-wing lawfare group known for challenging federal regulatory authority. There, she fought COVID mitigation policies, including a [vaccine mandate](https://northerndistrictpracticeprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Opinion%5F-Why-my-client-is-suing-MSU-over-vaccine-mandate-1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) at Michigan State University and [testing and mask requirements](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/law-prof-who-had-covid-19-sues-over-universitys-mask-testing-mandates-2021-08-04/?ref=importantcontext.news) for unvaccinated employees at George Mason University. Her highest-profile cases, however, challenged government efforts to combat pandemic misinformation. In *Missouri v. Biden* (later *Murthy v. Missouri*), Younes represented a group of private plaintiffs alleging that Biden administration officials had unconstitutionally coerced social media companies into suppressing content that challenged government narratives on COVID and other issues. Younes’ clients included two future Trump HHS officials: Dr. Martin Kulldorff, now the chief science officer in the department’s planning and evaluation office, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the current National Institutes of Health director. The case reached the Supreme Court, concerning legal experts. The Brennan Center for Justice filed an amicus brief [urging](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/court-cases/murthy-v-missouri-formerly-missouri-v-biden?ref=importantcontext.news) the justices “not to adopt a rule that prevents or chills communications between social media companies and local, state, and federal government officials.” The court found that the plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue their claims. Younes tried again in 2023, bringing a similar suit on behalf of people allegedly injured by COVID vaccines. The complaint named Biden officials as well as a former Stanford disinformation researcher, Renee DiResta, alleging that she participated in the administration’s censorship conspiracy. A magistrate judge in that case has [recommended](https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/texas/txsdce/3:2023cv00155/1918901/113?ref=importantcontext.news) that defendants’ motions to dismiss be granted. That year, Younes briefly worked for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and his congressional subcommittee on the “weaponization of government,” which later released a report titled, “The Censorship-Industrial Complex: How Top Biden White House Officials Coerced Big Tech to Censor Americans, True Information, and Critics of the Biden Administration.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Younes built her audience and right-wing alliances through the pandemic, posting as @leftylockdowns1 on Twitter. She presented herself as a disillusioned liberal who agreed with Republican calls to reopen the country. In a September 2020 article for the libertarian think tank American Institute for Economic Research, Younes [wrote](https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/whats-gone-wrong-with-left-liberalism-and-lockdowns/?ref=importantcontext.news) that lockdowns “cause more death than the coronavirus itself.” The virus has killed over 1.2 million Americans. Younes has also suggested that COVID emerged from a Chinese laboratory—a narrative favored by Trump but disputed by many experts. She claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and frequent right-wing target, worked to cover up the leak because of his “[culpability in gain-of-function research](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1797655802549088318?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” In January 2022, she [tweeted](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1486333970572787714?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that if she lived to see “St. Fauci…held accountable for what he’s done to Americans, that will be enough for me.” Available evidence points to natural origins as a World Health Organization scientific advisory group [noted](https://www.who.int/news/item/27-06-2025-who-scientific-advisory-group-issues-report-on-origins-of-covid-19?ref=importantcontext.news) last June. Amid the Biden administration’s vaccine rollout, Younes promoted doubt. She called mRNA shots “[experimental](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1380570537840283652?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and claimed boosters offered “[no benefit](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180689755250688?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” to young adults while [implying](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562512675203977223?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a blood clot [risk](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180686995488770?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). In a piece for the right-wing [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), she [suggested](https://brownstone.org/articles/mandates-are-about-political-control-not-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) they could damage the immune system long-term. She later [supported](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1857989981714718816?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Robert Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary, [rejecting](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1857602265743532135?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the notion he was “anti-vaccine.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) During her *Daily Show* appearance, which largely focused on ICE, Younes again said the Biden administration violated American freedoms. “I’m not actually super hopeful because whoever wins, we continue to see a denigration of our civil liberties,” she said about the midterms. “This administration is very blatant, but the one that came before was kinda bad too that’s why I was suing them all the time.” The *Daily Show* segment sparked pushback. “I wonder if Jenin Younes had told Stewart about how she did interrogations for Jim Jordan’s Weaponization committee of academics accused of being part of a ‘censorship industrial complex’ that never existed,” DiResta [wrote](https://bsky.app/profile/noupside.bsky.social/post/3mccwaeo7es25?ref=importantcontext.news) on BlueSky. Stewart is no stranger to public health controversy. In 2005, he interviewed Kennedy, [praising](https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/do-you-remember-2005-liel-leibovitz?ref=importantcontext.news) him for raising awareness about vaccines and autism. The paper behind the supposed connection [had already been discredited](https://web.archive.org/web/20220201080615/https://www.nature.com/articles/nm0310-248b). Stewart has since done segments criticizing anti-vaxxers, but he endorsed the COVID lab leak narrative and recently [joked](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/hey-jon-stewart-jokes-about-wearing-masks-arent-funny/?ref=importantcontext.news) about people masking in public for their health. ### Experts Warn U.S. in Early Stages of Genocide Against Trans Americans URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/experts-warn-us-in-early-stages-of/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:08.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Genocide scholars are sounding the alarm over what they describe as escalating attacks targeting transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans in the United States. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Experts, including two former presidents of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), warn that the nation may already be in the early stages of committing genocide. “I am concerned about genocide against trans people in the United States in the near future,” said Dr. Henry Theriault, who served as IAGS president from 2017 to 2021. Under international law, genocide refers to acts aimed at destroying, in whole or in part, religious, national, ethnic, or racial groups. But experts *Important Context* spoke with argued that these legal categories may be too narrow—or too narrowly interpreted—today. Theriault said that increasingly, attacks are aimed at groups that are socially defined rather than those explicitly covered by the UN Convention. Haley Brown, a former genocide researcher focused on attacks on transgender people, said “there’s very little scholarship on this topic at all.” Dr. Gregory Stanton, a former IAGS president who serves now as founder and president of the group Genocide Watch, said the attacks on transgender and nonbinary people in the U.S. represent a “genocidal” attempt “to destroy a gender group.” Stanton noted that Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide” in the 1940s, also understood it to have a broader definition beyond religious, national, ethnic, and racial contexts. “His view was that political groups, cultural groups, social groups, economic groups…should all be included in the definition of genocide,” Stanton said, adding, “I think he also would have included gender groups.” “I think what they’re doing here is they’re trying to destroy a gender group,” he added. “And so I do think it’s genocidal. I think that the objective here is literally, physically to destroy this group.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) For years, the political right has been ratcheting up eliminationist rhetoric against transgender Americans and dismissing their identities as ideology. At the 2023 CPAC, conservative commentator Michael Knowles called to “eradicate” so-called “transgenderism” from public life. In its first year, the second Trump administration has quickly moved to marginalize gender-nonconforming Americans. The president issued a number of [executive orders](https://www.kff.org/other-health/overview-of-president-trumps-executive-actions-impacting-lgbtq-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) aimed at eroding nondiscrimination protections and access to healthcare. The NIH [defunded](https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/nih-terminates-research-grants-lgbtq-gender-identity-and-dei-studies?ref=importantcontext.news) LGBTQIA+-related research amid a larger rollback of so-called “DEI” initiatives. Republican lawmakers have been on a similar crusade. More than half of all states now restrict youth access to gender-affirming care and transgender participation in youth sports. Twenty states now have explicit regulations on transgender bathroom use. Transgender existence and gender-affirming care are evidence-based and supported by virtually every major medical organization in the country. Haley Brown also told *Important Context* that the bathroom bills effectively give non-state actors tacit approval to commit violence. “It’s always been about policing,” she said, explaining: “It’s this idea that I am going to create and reinforce my ideal values of society and the state, down to the very physiological characteristics and features of the humans that exist within that state.” Theriault said he is concerned about “the kinds of legal shifts that are happening and the kind of blatant hatred being expressed by \[Trump\] and his followers and government leaders—and at the way they’re acting on it.” “I think we’re already at the point for trans folks, for immigrants, where the damage is being done,” Theriault said. “So it’s not so much ‘will genocide happen?’ as ‘we got to stop it from happening.’” Dr. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, founder and executive director of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, said she believes the U.S. is now in the “early-to-mid stages of a genocidal process against trans and nonbinary and intersex people.” She said Republicans are using trans people to generate fear—particularly surrounding children, family, and their ideal concept of masculinity—which is priming their base for genocide. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Stanton said the U.S. was undergoing “a hardening of the categories” with people being either male or female—a binary, he noted, that does not exist in nature nor within many other cultures. He called it “totalitarian” and driven by “Nazi ideology,” explaining that the Nazis also held a binary view of men and women and killed many LGBTQIA+ individuals. Brown pointed out that the conspiracy theory of so-called “cultural Marxism”—that leftists, feminists, Marxists, and LGBTQIA+ people are trying to destroy western civilization—was borrowed directly from the Nazis and their antisemitic claims of “Cultural Bolshevism.” “The Trump administration and its bases…have identified a set of ‘enemies’ or ‘objectionable people’” and have fomented public prejudice against them “in a way that is escalating toward violence,” Theriault said. He cautioned that transgender Americans are more vulnerable than other groups due to their population size. Today, they make up roughly one percent of the total U.S. population—a rough equivalent to [Jews in 1933 Germany](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/germany-jewish-population-in-1933?ref=importantcontext.news). Anti-trans incidents and violence have risen over the years, with 2021 the [worst year on record](https://everytownresearch.org/freedom-from-fear-of-hate-fueled-violence-preventing-transgender-homicides/?ref=importantcontext.news) for homicides. Reported gender identity hate crimes show an [increase](https://usafacts.org/articles/which-groups-have-experienced-an-increase-in-hate-crimes/?ref=importantcontext.news) from 2020 through 2024, according to FBI data. Transgender Americans are also at an [elevated risk](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5649411/?ref=importantcontext.news) for suicide, and a 2024 [study](https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/anti-transgender-laws-cause-up-to-72-increase-in-suicide-attempts-among-transgender-and-nonbinary-youth-study-shows/?ref=importantcontext.news) from The Trevor Project suggests that anti-trans laws may be worsening the trend. Von Joeden-Forgey said that the LGBTQIA+ community, “as other very small minority groups, tends to be a kind of canary in the coal mine,” noting that states throughout history “use certain communities as testing grounds” to desensitize their populations to violence. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “The genocidal process is really about destroying identities, destroying groups through all sorts of means,” she said, explaining that even those that result in mass deaths have “started out with other techniques that are less violent—at the beginning.” Brown discussed possible coming measures that would accord with such historical patterns like rolling back “laws that prevent people from using certain legal defenses,” like the “Trans panic defense” in murder cases. “The right has always hated hate crime laws,” she said. Theriault said the U.S. might see policies aimed at making life “intolerable” for transgender Americans to live authentically such that the suicide rate dramatically goes up. “There could be all sorts of things that we would do that are not like what’s happened in the past, but would still be destructive of trans people as a group,” he said. Whatever lies ahead, von Joegen-Forgey said the situation was “terrifying,” adding, “no one goes to war…on behalf of the victims of genocide.” “You don’t have a democracy that’s committing genocide against one group,” she warned. “That is not a democracy anymore, once genocide is in the mix. The state in question will commit other mass atrocities.” — *This article is the first in a multi-part series examining genocidal patterns and historical parallels during the second Trump administration.* *CORRECTION: A previous version of this article said Dr. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey was the president of the Lemkin Institute. Her title has been corrected to executive director and founder.* *UPDATE 1/7/26: The paragraph on anti-trans violence has been updated and expanded for clarity.* ### How a Free Speech Group Helped Right-Wing Dark Money Undermine Protections for Trans and Nonbinary Students URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/how-a-free-speech-group-helped-right/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:08.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* A prominent free speech organization helped two right-wing dark money nonprofits score a legal win last month against an Ohio school board and its anti-bullying policy protecting transgender and nonbinary students. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In an en banc ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [granted](https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/25a0307p-06.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) a preliminary injunction to Defending Education (formerly Parents Defending Education). The group, [labeled](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/network-anti-student-inclusion-groups-public-education/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Defending%20Education%20%E2%80%94%20formerly%20known%20as,for%20marginalized%20student%20populations.%E2%80%8B) by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as “anti-student-inclusion,” had sued the Olentangy Local School Board of Education in 2023 over its anti-bullying policy prohibiting “discriminatory language” about immutable traits, including gender identity. It argued the policy violated the First Amendment rights of students who wished to misgender their transgender peers. The court found Defending Education would likely succeed on its claims, reversing a previous denial by the district court, which had been upheld by its own three-judge panel. Supporting Defending Education was the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a group dedicated to free speech on college campuses. FIRE filed an [amicus brief](https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-and-manhattan-institute-amici-brief-support-appellant-and-reversal-parents?ref=importantcontext.news) with the Manhattan Institute—a right-wing think tank the SPLC has [identified](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/defining-pseudoscience-network/?ref=importantcontext.news) as part of an anti-LGBTQIA+ pseudoscience network—backing the lawsuit and calling for a reversal of the lower court’s injunction ruling. The Ohio case is [not the first time](https://www.transgendermap.com/issues/academia/gender-critical/foundation-for-individual-rights-and-expression/?ref=importantcontext.news) FIRE has sided with opponents of transgender equality. It wrote a [letter](https://www.thefire.org/sites/default/files/2023/11/FIRE%20Letter%20to%20Long%20Island%20University,%20October%2010,%202023.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) of concern in 2023 to Long Island University, for example, after the school punished a student group for social media posts critical of transgender women. More recently, FIRE [defended](https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-amicus-brief-first-amendment-bars-using-schoolkid-standards-silence-parents-speech?ref=importantcontext.news) the rights of parents to protest the inclusion of transgender student athletes in high school sports. FIRE has longstanding right-wing ties. A former member of the State Policy Network, it has received support from major conservative funders like the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and groups tied to Charles Koch, the Coors family, and Leonard Leo. Some of its large right-wing funders have also given to Defending Education and Manhattan Institute. FIRE’s focus on campus speech aligns with right-wing efforts to reshape higher education. The group has collaborated with the far-right Turning Point USA and [defended](https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-letter-university-maryland-october-17-2025?ref=importantcontext.news) its University of Maryland chapter after the school required additional security for a speaker event in the wake of founder Charlie Kirk’s murder. The group publishes a rankings list of schools based on their supposed openness to free speech—a project it launched with the research firm College Pulse and right-wing RealClear Education. For the last two years, it has ranked Harvard poorly, citing grievances from mainly conservative students, including one who complained of having “to introduce ourselves by stating pronouns.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The FIRE/Manhattan Institute brief treated transgender students’ preferred pronouns as a matter of political debate, arguing that prohibiting intentional misgendering amounted to government-compelled speech. “Olentangy School District seeks, through a web of interconnected anti-harassment policies, to compel all students to use another student’s chosen pronouns,” it read. “Students are required to do so even if they have religious, moral, or philosophical objections to doing so, as do the student members of plaintiff organization Parents Defending Education.” The American Medical Association [notes](https://glaad.org/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Transgender%20and%20gender-diverse%20individuals,the%20gender%20that%20they%20choose.) that “Empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.” The brief’s argument [echoed](https://open.oregonstate.education/civilrights/chapter/speech-expression/?ref=importantcontext.news) Civil Rights Act opponents like the late Sen. John Tower (R-Texas), who said the law would deny business owners “any freedom to speak or to act on the basis of their religious convictions or their deep-rooted preferences for associating or not associating with certain classifications of people.” Students do not lose their First Amendment rights in school, but courts allow officials to limit their speech under certain circumstances like harassment. In the landmark case of *Tinker v. Des Moines* (1969), the Supreme Court held that officials may regulate student speech that is—or is likely to be—substantially disruptive or that “invades the rights of others.” According to FIRE and the Manhattan Institute deliberate misgendering did not inherently meet this standard. D Dangaran, an assistant law professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and co-chair of the National Trans Bar Association, told *Important Context* that “the harm experienced by trans people when they are intentionally misgendered runs deeper than the Sixth Circuit acknowledged” and said “the trial court was in a much better position to weigh that harm.” Research has [shown](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-54169-001?ref=importantcontext.news) that misgendering is associated with feelings of psychological distress and stigmatization among transgender people—a population with high suicide rates. Civil rights attorney and Harvard Law professor Alejandra Caraballo compared misgendering to slurs, warning, “Once you make the distinction that one group’s dignity is insufficient to curtail behavior to ensure an orderly classroom, you erode those protections for everyone else.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In recent years, transgender Americans have faced escalating political and legal attacks from the right. The Trump administration has been [particularly hostile](https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights?ref=importantcontext.news), rescinding federal protections, moving to ban them from military service, and taking steps to restrict access to gender-affirming care, among other actions. According to [Trans Legislation Tracker](https://translegislation.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), over 1,000 anti-trans bills were introduced across 49 states this year—124 passed. FIRE was not the only speech-focused group supporting Defending Education. The American Civil Liberties Union filed an [amicus brief](https://www.acluohio.org/app/uploads/2023/10/parentsdefendingeducation-v-olentangylocalschooldistrictetal%5Famicusbrief%5F2023-1002.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) arguing that the anti-bullying policy was overly broad but noted that intentional misgendering might “rise to the level of such severe or pervasive harassment that it creates a hostile environment and may be regulable on that basis.” The ACLU also rejected the compelled-speech argument because accommodations existed for students who wished to use different pronouns. Dangaran told *Important Context* that the Sixth Circuit’s interpretation of the *Tinker* standard was “not the only path courts can take” regarding misgendering and anti-trans messages in schools, explaining that in 2024, the First Circuit found that a student wearing a shirt reading “there are only two genders” was disruptive. “One could say that there’s a split,” they said while cautioning that the means of communication in the two cases “could make a difference.” Kenneth White, of the law firm Brown White & Osborn, said he thought the Sixth Circuit dissent in the Ohio case made a “very plausible case that allowing students to misgender peers is inherently disruptive in the way that using racial slurs at them would be.” “But school speech caselaw is a bit of a mess so it’s not an absolute clear call,” he added, noting that disruption is the standard for school speech—not morality, manners, or decency. ### HHS Moves to Restrict Gender-Affirming Care Based on Dubious Report Shredded in Peer Review URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/hhs-moves-to-restrict-gender-affirming/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:09.000Z On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announced new policies to restrict transgender and nonbinary youths’ access to gender-affirming care. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Accompanied by his top lieutenants, including National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Dr. Mehmet Oz, Kennedy declared, “Under my leadership, and answering President Trump’s call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk.” The promised changes include leveraging CMS participation rules to stop hospitals from performing gender-related medical procedures on minors and using the FDA to target companies that market breast binders to children. HHS will also move to reverse a Biden-Era rule that classified gender dysphoria as a disability subject to federal civil rights protections. According to a press release, the HHS policy changes to prevent what it called “sex-rejecting procedures on minors” were based on a [peer-reviewed report](https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report?ref=importantcontext.news) claiming such care did not meet “professionally recognized standards.” But *Important Context* looked into the peer reviews, which are available on the HHS website, and several offer stark criticism and warnings that the document is not a credible basis upon which to set policy. One of the most authoritative reviews came from the American Psychiatric Association, which wrote that “the Report’s claims fall short of the standard of methodological rigor that should be considered a prerequisite for policy guidance in clinical care.” The APA highlighted a number of serious methodological problems with the report. It noted, for example, that the document failed to “clearly articulate how the studies were selected, what criteria governed their inclusion or exclusion, or how their quality was assessed.” Most seriously, the APA warned that the report failed to account for confirmation bias. It noted that “There is no indication that key stakeholders—namely, transgender individuals, their families, and clinicians—were consulted or that their perspectives were considered.” “A comprehensive review of best practices would include input from recipients (both those for whom treatment was beneficial, and those for whom it was not), families, and providers of the treatments under evaluation,” the review read. The APA further noted that the report failed to “apply any kind of rational scrutiny to potential harms that have been associated with withholding intervention, including higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and social withdrawal” and relied heavily on the so-called Cass Review “which itself has been criticized by experts for its methodological flaws and biases.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) A second review, published in the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine’s *Journal of Adolescent Health*, was similarly critical. It warned of its “extensive violations of scientific norms, misrepresentations of science, and wanton disregard of the expert standard of care for \[transgender\] youth” and called it “a dangerous incursion of politics into science and medicine.” The review noted that because the report had been commissioned by an executive order that described “expert clinical guidelines as ‘junk science’ and uses incredibly incendiary language…the possibility that the findings…were predetermined…must be considered.” It further noted that “Over 20% of the references in the HHS report are of lay press articles, blogs, or social media posts,” adding “Such citations fall far short of the minimum standard of evidentiary credibility typically expected of a scientific review because they skew toward personal opinion rather than observations supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) A third review by a team of researchers led by Nic Rider, Ph.D., an associate professor and a licensed psychologist at the University of Minnesota, concluded that the HHS report was “replete with factual errors, distort\[ed\] current scientific evidence, and defi\[ed\] expert medical consensus,” warning that it “joins a growing list of White House-endorsed actions that platform harmful practices against \[transgender and nonbinary\] children and adolescents and their families, as well as the healthcare professionals who support them, with little regard for their civil rights and for the expertise that protects and promotes their well-being.” The review added that the report reflected the White House’s “politically motivated and biased agenda” and similarly noted that “more than a fifth of its references are from popular media articles, blogs, or social media…compromising the transparency, accountability, and rigor central to scientific best practices.” The HHS report does have favorable reviews as well. Several of the writers behind those positive appraisals, however, have no publications related to gender-affirming care listed on PubMed, the database of the National Library of Medicine. One individual had even assisted in the crafting of the HHS report. As STAT News [reported](https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/19/hhs-gender-affirming-care-report-authors-named/?ref=importantcontext.news) last month, some of the report’s original authors had involvement with anti-LGBTQIA+ groups. More than half disclosed receiving payments or honoraria for consultations, speaking engagements, or testimony about “pediatric gender medicine,” including Leon Sapir, a senior fellow at the far-right Manhattan Institute, and Evgenia Abbruzzese, co-founder of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine. The latter was labeled a pseudoscience group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. ### FDA Commissioner: HIV “May Very Well Have Come From a Lab” URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fda-commissioner-hiv-may-very-well/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:09.000Z The commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, promoted several conspiracy theories on a recent podcast, including claims about the origins of AIDS, Lyme disease, and a dead raccoon. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Last month, Makary sat down for an interview with right-wing podcaster Patrick Bet-David to discuss a range of topics, from vaccines and autism to Tylenol. During the conversation, Bet-David asked the nation’s top food and drug regulator where AIDS originated. “You know, speaking of the film *Thank You, Dr. Fauci*, they explore a non-traditional narrative which has not gotten the attention it deserves, and that is that it may very well have come from a lab in Africa,” Makary said, referring to a 2024 [pseudoscientific documentary](https://www.the-gallop.com/from-fauci-to-fiction-doc-promises-covid-origins-delivers-hiv-lies/?ref=importantcontext.news) in which he appeared. Directed by Jenner Furst, known for projects like *Murdaugh Murders*, *Thank You, Dr. Fauci* makes the case that AIDS, Lyme disease, Ebola, and COVID-19 were the result of human experimentation rather than natural spillover—claims that are not widely accepted by experts nor supported by available evidence. Pressed on his response, Makary conceded, “I don’t know where HIV came from,” before citing the film’s lab leak narrative about Lyme disease. “Where did Lyme disease come from? I can tell you with a high degree of probability it came from Lab 257 on Plum Island…25 miles from Lyme, Connecticut, where the first case was described,” the FDA commissioner said, explaining that Lyme disease was really the work of a Nazi scientist who had been recruited by the U.S. and spared from execution at Nuremberg. Makary also cited as further evidence of scientific malfeasance the so-called “Montauk Monster”—a partially decomposed carcass that washed up on Ditch Plains Beach on the east end of Long Island in 2008\. A photo of the carcass went viral due to its unusual appearance, with some observers speculating that it might have been an escaped experiment from Plum Island, about 10 miles offshore from Montauk. While the remains were never tested, experts [concluded](https://tetzoo.com/blog/2021/10/23/montauk-monster-a-look-back?ref=importantcontext.news) it was most likely a raccoon. “\[Lyme disease\] was not the only thing that showed up nearby,” Makary said. “They found half-rat, half-deer carcasses on…Montauk…What the hell is going on there? Again, a bunch of mad scientists doing things.” (Video from the “PBD Podcast” used pursuant to fair use for news reporting.) “Makary’s claims are not new and are completely baseless,” molecular biologist and science communicator Dan Wilson told *Important Context*. Wilson, who is a scientific advisor to the Accountability Journalism Institute, noted that “HIV has been genetically determined to have first jumped to humans in Central Africa in the early 1900’s, before any genetic engineering was possible” while “Lyme disease has always been present in the Americas with cases having been recorded in Native Americans before colonialism.” “Not only are these ideas wrong, they are shameful and disrespectful to everybody suffering from these diseases,” Wilson added. “We should not accept this blatant denial of reality from anybody in public health, let alone the head of the FDA.” The Trump administration has broadly embraced lab leak narratives, which the president and his allies popularized in 2020 as the pandemic spiraled. Makary is one of two Trump-appointed public health officials to have been affiliated with the controversial COVID lab leak group BioSafety Now. The other is National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. In April, the White House replaced the federal COVID.gov website with a page titled “LAB LEAK: The True Origins Of COVID-19.” The following month, Bhattacharya publicly endorsed the lab leak at his first agency-wide town hall. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. not only subscribes to the COVID lab-leak narrative but has also repeatedly promoted the idea that Lyme disease began as a bioweapon. Earlier this week, *Scientific American* [reported](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-jr-backed-lyme-disease-conspiracy-theory-may-be-probed-under-new-bill/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the president was expected to sign a defense bill that includes language ordering an investigation into the origins of Lyme disease. ### Fact-Checking the Liam Neeson-Narrated Anti-Vax Documentary URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fact-checking-the-liam-neeson-narrated/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:10.000Z On Thursday, *Important Context* [revealed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/liam-neeson-narrates-anti-vax-pro) that actor Liam Neeson, a longtime Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, narrated a recent anti-vaccine documentary celebrating the rise of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., whose tenure has seen rising deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. As we reported, the pro-Kennedy film, *Plague of Corruption: 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed*, is overstuffed with false narratives related to vaccines and features interviews with fringe figures, including the secretary himself. Our story, however, only scratched the surface in terms of the misinformation promoted in the film. Now, we have broken down, in detail, more of the various misleading claims promoted in the film. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) **“There is no liability for vaccine makers”** Central to *Plague*’s conspiratorial narrative is a claim that vaccine manufacturers are immune from liability for the harm caused by their products. Kennedy confidently declares that the “companies have no incentive to make a safer vaccine because they cannot be sued.” He asserts that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, passed in 1986, gave manufacturers blanket liability immunity “no matter how grievous your injury is, no matter how toxic the product, no matter how negligent the company.” Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California San Francisco College of the Law and leading expert in vaccine law, explained that his assertion is false. “Mr. Kennedy knows that the Vaccine Act does not give manufacturers absolute immunity,” Reiss told *Important Context*. “You can sue manufacturers for a range of claims—including negligence—after going through vaccine court. Mr. Kennedy has made money off litigation against Merck over their Gardasil (HPV) vaccine, so when he says there is absolute immunity, he is lying and he knows that.” **The case of Alexis Lorenze** Throughout its 90-ish-minute runtime, *Plague* bombards the viewer with graphic images of blood clots, animal experimentation, and alleged vaccine injuries. The film features an interview with Alexis Lorenze, whose story of supposed vaccine injury went viral on TikTok in 2024\. Lorenze claims that she had a severe allergic reaction to vaccines administered to her in the hospital, which worsened her Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare blood disorder. She is shown with severe swelling, bruising, and pain, claiming her symptoms began 10 minutes after receiving the shots. Although vaccines *can* contribute to a PNH flare up, Lorenze also tested positive for parvovirus B19, which was a more likely [cause](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6728831/?ref=importantcontext.news) of her severe symptoms, according to [Science Feedback](https://science.feedback.org/anti-vaccine-claims-alexis-lorenze-mislead-vaccine-risks/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Experiments on orphans** One of the more visceral narratives presented in *Plague* centers on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Kennedy, who wrote a [conspiratorial](https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-rfk-jr-s-covid-19-deceptions/?ref=importantcontext.news) book about Fauci, accuses the scientist of greenlighting unethical experiments on Black and Latino orphans during the 1980s AIDS crisis. He calls the drug trials “the most barbaric, brutal experiments that you can possibly imagine” and claims Fauci “just got rid of all the guardians and let those companies do whatever they wanted to those children.” “He should be in prison for what he did to those babies and those little kids,” Kennedy says. Fauci did oversee the funding of clinical trials on HIV positive children—some of whom were in foster care—between the late 1980s and 2005\. Over [80 percent](https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-410618634223?ref=importantcontext.news) were conducted by the NIH, not pharmaceutical companies. There were recordkeeping and other issues with the studies, but an independent review [found](https://vera-institute.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/publications/Experiences%5Fof%5FNYC%5FFoster%5FChildren%5Fin%5FHIV-AIDS%5FClinical%5FTrials%5FFINAL%5Fappendices.pdf?dm=1647370756&ref=importantcontext.news) that safety protocols were followed and no children died as a result of the treatments. The children, however, were incredibly sick and experimental drugs were their only option for what was a near-universally fatal illness. Kennedy based his claims on a 2004 BBC documentary that the broadcaster itself [apologized for](https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1207-1391?ref=importantcontext.news), admitting it was [biased](https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/sites/default/files/BBC%20July31%202007%20letter.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) toward the views of AIDS denialists. **Military “Experimentation”** Another misleading narrative in *Plague* surrounds the military’s COVID vaccine requirement implemented under President Biden. That suggests that servicemembers were illegally used as test subjects for un-approved, experimental COVID vaccines. Again, the reality is starkly different. By the time the mandate order was issued in August 2021, the FDA had fully approved the Pfizer vaccines. In *Plague*, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sam Shoemate (Ret.) claims that the FDA-approved, and Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) versions of those shots were used interchangeably. This is significant, Shoemate explains, because the president is the only person who can waive a servicemembers’ informed consent for a non-FDA approved treatment under a national security purview, which Biden did not do. “These were not harmless mistakes,” Neeson narrates. Yet, the FDA-approved and EUA vaccines had the [same formulation](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine?ref=importantcontext.news). *Plague* suggests that the result of the ‘experimentation’ was an increase in certain chronic conditions, including cancer and miscarriage, among servicemembers. The apparent increase, however, was attributed to [underreporting](https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.333Y8JV?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Copyright%20%C2%A9%20AFP%202017%2D2025,of%20underreporting%20in%20prior%20years.) in the Defense Medical Surveillance System in 2016–2020\. The mRNA shots[ are not linked](https://science.feedback.org/review/alleged-spikes-in-medical-conditions-military-after-covid-19-vaccine-based-on-faulty-data-thomas-renz/?ref=importantcontext.news) to cancer or miscarriage. ### Liam Neeson Narrates Anti-Vax, Pro-RFK Documentary URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/liam-neeson-narrates-anti-vax-pro/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:10.000Z *This report has been updated to reflect a post-publication comment provided to Important Context by Liam Neeson’s publicist.* Liam Neeson has a very particular set of skills—skills he recently lent to a new anti-vax documentary that glorifies the rise of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. The Academy Award-nominated actor, known for leading roles in *Schindler’s List* and the *Taken* franchise, narrated the film, which includes interviews with Kennedy and other prominent anti-vaccine activists. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) *Plague of Corruption: 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed* features a bevy of discredited claims about vaccines, including that they cause autism and aluminum toxicity, and frames Kennedy’s leadership of U.S. health policy as hopeful. The film is based on a book co-authored by disgraced researcher Dr. Judy Mikovits—known for her role in the *Plandemic* series—and attorney Kent Heckenlively. The book was published by Children’s Health Defense, the multimillion‑dollar anti-vax group founded by Kennedy. Neeson’s involvement comes at a pivotal moment as Kennedy’s HHS dismantles U.S. public-health infrastructure, including the childhood immunization schedule, as vaccine-preventable diseases reemerge. For the A-lister, who has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2011 and assisting with global vaccine efforts, this is a U-turn. In 2022, Neeson [said](https://www.unicef.org/cuba/en/press-releases/world-immunization-week-unicef-goodwill-ambassador-liam-neeson-headlines-week-long?ref=importantcontext.news) vaccines were “a remarkable human success story” and recorded a [video](https://hungarytoday.hu/hollywood-actor-liam-neeson-thanks-mrna-pioneer-kariko-vaccine-covid-19/?ref=importantcontext.news) thanking scientists, including Hungarian biologist Katalin Karikó, who was instrumental in the development of mRNA COVID vaccines. In *Plague*, Neeson calls those vaccines “dangerous experiments,” and frames the mainstream scientific community as “fanatics” and “defenders of…orthodoxy” who “demand unconditional submission.” “Liam Neeson should not lend his name to promoting an anti-science, anti-public health documentary,” said professor Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at the University of California San Francisco College of the Law. Reiss noted that children have already died this year as a result of preventable outbreaks fueled by policies under Kennedy and Trump. Teal Cannaday, a publicist for Neeson, declined to comment by the time of publication. UNICEF did not respond to our inquiry. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Consciousness-infused storytelling” *Plague* is the first project of Amigo Film Studios. The nascent company’s website provides no information about the people or funding behind it. Amigo’s CEO, Turu Sukhotin, is a producer on the film and self-described “multi dimensional healer” based in Los Angeles. According to her personal website, she offers “personalized transformation experiences that honor each person’s unique path back to authentic power” while *Plague* is “consciousness-infused storytelling that heals while it reveals.” Director Michael Mazzola is better-known for his presence and work in the U.F.O. community. Last month, he and Heckenlively, who is an executive producer on the film, released a [new book](https://books.google.com/books/about/Catastrophic%5FDisclosure.html?id=Lf0%5F0QEACAAJ&source=kp%5Fauthor%5Fdescription), “Catastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth.” Several other members of *Plague’s* production team have worked on documentaries about paranormal phenomena. Neeson is by far the biggest name attached to the production. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “All of the sudden, it wasn’t” *Plague* opens by revisiting the events of Mikovits’ professional downfall. Neeson narrates that her 2009 paper in *Science* “rocked the scientific community” with its conclusion that “a deadly virus known as XMRV had infected millions of people and contaminated the global blood supply.” ”The source? Mouse tissue used in countless medical products for decades, starting most notably with the polio vaccine of the 1950s,” he says. “XMRV, reported as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, was the biggest health crisis since HIV and AIDS, and then, all of the sudden, it wasn’t.” The XMRV panic ended when Mikovits’ paper was retracted. Mikovits ultimately lost her job and was subsequently arrested after reportedly trying to steal notebooks from the lab where she worked. The film paints the episode as a Big Pharma cover-up with Neeson suggesting two researchers who published papers debunking Mikovits’ paper were compromised by “pharma.” In reality, the 2009 paper’s results could not be replicated despite numerous studies attempting to do so, including an [analysis](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22991430/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the original investigators. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Dangerous experiments” Near *Plague*’s end, Neeson veers into familiar pandemic talking points. In a monologue he asserts that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a U.S.-funded lab in Wuhan, China. “The National Institutes of Health…avoided taking responsibility, bypassed oversight, and intentionally misled Congress, the American people, and the global community,” he says, adding that the agency “withheld crucial information about their activities and funding connections to gain-of-function research.” Publicly available evidence points to natural spillover as COVID’s most likely origin—a conclusion reaffirmed in June by independent experts on a WHO panel investigating the matter. Neeson also hits emergency COVID “lockdowns” implemented to halt the spread of the virus, which killed more than 1.2 million Americans. The measures have been a favorite target of GOP politicians as well as right-wing media, dark money groups, and business interests. He declares, “Thousands of lives were lost, not to the virus, but to the mental anguish brought on by these harsh restrictions.” He then turns to COVID vaccines, estimated to have saved millions of American lives. Preventable U.S. deaths resulting from vaccine-refusal number in the [hundreds of thousands](https://globalepidemics.org/2022/05/13/new-analysis-shows-vaccines-could-have-prevented-318000-deaths/?ref=importantcontext.news). Neeson, however, says, “these vaccines, rushed to market, were dangerous experiments.” He continues, “...those responsible…continue to evade accountability.” (*Plague of Corruption* clip used pursuant to fair use for news reporting.) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “A new chapter” *Plague* is ultimately pro-Kennedy, presenting the anti-vaxxer as a truth-teller and letting him promote numerous falsehoods. The film ends with Kennedy’s appointment as HHS secretary, treating the moment as a national reckoning—using Neeson’s vocal timbre to great emotional effect. “We cannot change the past, but we can demand transparency and accountability for the future,” the actor says. “We cannot bring back every loved one we lost, but we can honor their memory by seeking and upholding the truth.” The film fades to black, returning on a dramatic straight-on shot of Kennedy sitting for his confirmation with reporters buzzing around him. To triumphant background music, Neeson wraps. “This is not the end of our story,” he says. “This—is the beginning of a new chapter.” — *UPDATE: After initially declining to comment, Cannaday provided the following statement to Important Context:* > *We all recognize that corruption can exist within the pharmaceutical industry, but that should never be conflated with opposition to vaccines. Liam never has been, and is not, anti-vaccination. His extensive work with UNICEF underscores his long-held support for global immunization and public-health initiatives. He did not shape the film’s editorial content, and any questions about its claims or messaging should be directed to the producers.* *NOTE:* *Dr. Peter Daszak, who Plague suggests is implicated in funding the gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, sits on the board of directors of the Accountability Journalism Institute, which runs Important Context. He had no involvement in, influence on, or advanced knowledge of this article.* ### “Utterly Unqualified”: Embattled FDA Taps Vaccine Opponent For Top Drug Regulator Position URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/utterly-unqualified-embattled-fda/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:11.000Z Topping off weeks of reported chaos and staffing shakeups, the Food and Drug Administration has named a prominent opponent of COVID-19 vaccines as its latest top drug regulator, drawing backlash from the scientific and medical communities. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On Wednesday, the FDA announced that [Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) had been appointed to head the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which regulates prescription and over-the-counter drugs in the United States. A sports medicine physician and epidemiologist who rose to political prominence amid the pandemic opposing viral mitigation measures, Høeg previously served as a special assistant to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, an ally and fellow COVID contrarian. She also represented the FDA at meetings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices where she [questioned vaccines](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). “Dr. Hoeg is the right scientist to fully modernize CDER and finish the job of establishing a culture of cross-center coordination there,” Makary said. Høeg is the fifth person to head up CDER this year and the fourth of the Trump administration. Her predecessor, [Dr. Richard Pazdur](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/top-drug-regulator-richard-pazdur-set-retire-fda-stat?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Mere%20weeks%20after%20being%20named,spokesperson%20confirmed%20to%20Fierce%20Biotech.), a longtime agency veteran, announced his retirement on Tuesday after just weeks on the job. Pazdur had been appointed last month after [Dr. George Tidmarsh](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fda-continues-to-recruit-from-the?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), who came on in July, [resigned under pressure](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/cder-chief-tidmarsh-resigns-deleted-linkedin-post-blasting-lupkynis-prompts-aurinia-lawsuit?%5Fgl=1%2A17mungi%2A%5Fgcl%5Fau%2AMjQxNzE5NjcyLjE3NjQ2MTk2OTQ.%2A%5Fga%2ANjMxOTUzMDI0LjE3NjQ2MTk2Nzg.%2A%5Fga%5FKG49J84SR4%2AczE3NjQ4MTMyOTIkbzIkZzEkdDE3NjQ4MTMyOTMkajU5JGwwJGgw&ref=importantcontext.news) amid a lawsuit alleging that he attempted to use his position to extort a former business associate. Makary’s FDA has become infamous for personnel turmoil. Most senior staff have [left](https://www.biospace.com/fda/pazdurs-sudden-exit-leaves-just-three-veterans-in-fdas-senior-ranks?ref=importantcontext.news) or have been pushed out. Over the summer, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and ally of Høeg and Makary, was [unceremoniously fired](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) and [rehired](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-returns-to-fda?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). The last few weeks, in particular, have seen a mix of dramatic and dire headlines about the FDA—from [leadership scandals](https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/fda-in-disarray-expert-analysis-george-tidmarsh-scandal/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [power struggles](https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-fda-head-management-7dce398f?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=AWEtsqdj2PYsfVK-%5FSe2YgTkgff88WcBwXOo8sQU2RkjNypAbREddnwvB4OWqNFxcsU%3D&gaa%5Fts=692df849&gaa%5Fsig=-yQTcT0O%5FR8MUO4SaXwsiT2RBn%5F8TRnfjlcCpo2w6FhoPEKE3x3SzWE1R7W54zeUiiHbSocnEX%5F0mKKEJYOjow%3D%3D&ref=importantcontext.news) to claims of [political pressure](https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/fda-under-trump-rfk-jr-staff-describe-political-pressure/?ref=importantcontext.news) on staffers; from accusations of “[make-a-deal](https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/21/fda-national-priority-voucher-program-deals-ethics/?ref=importantcontext.news)” drug review processes to external [concerns](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/letter-makary-biotech-ceos-push-fda-stability-and-say-volatility-threatens-us-innovation?ref=importantcontext.news) about internal instability threatening innovation. On Friday, public health experts were rattled by a leaked FDA memo written by Prasad containing proposed changes to the FDA’s vaccine approval process and claiming that the COVID-19 vaccines killed ten U.S. children without [providing data](https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/29/covid-vaccine-deaths-fda-memo-vinay-prasad/?ref=importantcontext.news). The supposed vaccine-induced deaths were reportedly identified by Høeg from an unverified database. The memo drew [sharp criticism](https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/03/fda-former-commissioners-vaccine-policy/?ref=importantcontext.news) from a dozen former agency commissioners. Now, just five days after the memo leak, the vaccine skeptic on whose work it was based is the nation’s top drug regulator. Høeg’s promotion has launched a fresh wave of public criticism at the FDA during an already turbulent time. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist who runs the *Science-Based Medicine* blog and is a scientific advisor to the Accountability Journalism Institute, which runs *Important Context*, said he had grave concerns about her “lack of qualifications” for the critical role, which he said “will further degrade CDER and endanger Americans.” “Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg is utterly unqualified to lead CDER,” Gorski told *Important Context*.“She has none of the deep experience in clinical trial design and management for drugs that this job requires, nor does she have deep regulatory experience.” Virologist Angela Rasmussen, PhD, another AJI scientific advisor, offered a similarly dismal take on the FDA’s new hire, speculating that the agency’s leadership “must be either desperate or intent on ensuring FDA’s total destruction” to put Høeg, who she called a “completely unqualified and inexperienced anti-vaccine medical skeptic,” atop CDER. Høeg does not have a background typical of CDER directors. She has no history in drug development and limited experience in government regulation. Her path to the top of a critical center inside of the FDA began with the COVID-19 pandemic, when Høeg emerged as a prominent contrarian voice on Twitter, gaining popularity with the political Right as it sought to restore economic normalcy. Høeg became known for her focus on the supposed unintended consequences of mitigating the virus, particularly the costs for children, and won key allies—and collaborators—on the medical fringes like Makary and Prasad. When Makary was appointed head of the FDA, it was predictable that Høeg would join him in some capacity. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Despite her COVID-era work, Høeg’s [resumė](https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116080/witnesses/HMTG-118-IF02-Bio-HegT-20230607.pdf?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) has overwhelmingly been focused on physical medicine and rehabilitation. When the pandemic hit, she had just gone into private practice in sports medicine in California, selling [non-FDA approved platelet rich plasma injections](https://bsky.app/profile/ryanmarino.bsky.social/post/3lm4f2lfgxc2g?ref=importantcontext.news), after completing fellowship training in 2019\. Høeg had earned a PhD in epidemiology in Denmark in 2015, but her research focus had been ophthalmology. A [Wordpress blog](http://sealegsgirl.blogspot.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) she published about her personal life around that time advertised her “scientific interest in vision loss, vision loss during exercise, exercise, running during pregnancy, MAF training as well as nutrition and health for athletes.” She and her husband also ran a subscription [coaching business](https://web.archive.org/web/20160314060559/http://www.mylittlephysiology.com/coaching.html) for high endurance athletes. The website included her academic publications, all of which dealt with physical medicine. As *Important Context* [previously reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), her first COVID-related publication in PubMed came in January 2021. “This seems like a bad idea,” remarked Colette Delawalla, CEO of the science advocacy group Stand Up for Science, regarding Høeg’s ascension. “Maybe we should be sure our political appointees overseeing life or death policy decisions have the qualifications for the work they have been appointed to do.” It is unclear what changes may come to CDER under Høeg. Weeks before her appointment, the Trump administration announced that Tylenol taken during pregnancy was a potential cause of autism. The link [was unproven](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/reupping-unproven-claims-about-tylenol-kennedy-claims-a-link-between-circumcision-and-autism?ref=importantcontext.news), but President Trump still publicly discouraged pregnant people from taking the drug, which is one of their only options for fever reduction. Public backlash saw Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy [walk back](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/29/rfk-jr-walks-back-trump-administrations-claims-linking-tylenol-and-autism?ref=importantcontext.news) the claim. In her new role, Høeg will be in a position to impose new regulatory requirements on drug manufacturers. Høeg has also continued serving as the FDA representative at ACIP, having [participated](https://bsky.app/profile/melodyschreiber.com/post/3m76kudw7ts24?ref=importantcontext.news) in Thursday’s meeting about the hepatitis B vaccine. ### Pro-Ivermectin, Anti-Vax Group Positioned to Influence CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/pro-ivermectin-anti-vax-group-positioned/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:11.000Z The new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes vaccine recommendations, has ties to an anti-vax group known for promoting unproven treatments for COVID-19 and other conditions. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a shakeup: Martin Kulldorff would be leaving his post as ACIP chairman, which he’d held for less than a year. Kulldorff was one of several contrarians [appointed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) to the committee in June by Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. after he’d fired all original 17 members. Kulldorff is set to take on a new role as chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which directly advises the secretary. Buried at the bottom of the announcement was the name of Kulldorff’s replacement: Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a Hawaii-based pediatric cardiologist and pastor appointed to ACIP by Kennedy in September. Since [May 2024](https://x.com/honest%5Fmedicine/status/1792960719694246116?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), Milhoan has been a [senior fellow](https://imahealth.org/ima-senior-fellow-dr-kirk-milhoan-appointed-chairman-of-advisory-committee-on-immunization-practices-acip/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the so-called Independent Medical Alliance, an anti-vax group originally known as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. His [wife](https://www.blessing.org/blog-post/modeling-christs-love-in-maui?ref=importantcontext.news) and fellow physician is also [affiliated](https://imahealth.org/experts/kimberly-milhoan/?ref=importantcontext.news) with the group. IMA is best known for its promotion of the anti-parasitic [ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a treatment for COVID—and for continuing to endorse its use long after research has proved it ineffective for that purpose. Ivermectin was the second false COVID cure seized on by the MAGA movement, following the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump touted as a pandemic quick fix as he sought to downplay the pandemic threat ahead of his 2020 reelection bid. Milhoan has [promoted](https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/09/maui-doctor-who-promoted-dubious-covid-treatments-named-to-rfks-vaccine-panel/?ref=importantcontext.news) both drugs, providing them to Maui patients during free house calls to treat and prevent COVID. In 2021, the Hawaii state medical board filed complaints against him but later [dropped them](https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2022/04/doctors-cleared-of-covid-19-misinformation-allegations/?ref=importantcontext.news). IMA, which was founded in 2020 by former intensivists Drs. Paul Marik and Pierre Kory, has become a key player in the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” movement. It is closely allied with Kennedy, announcing its [name change and rebrand](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally) from the FLCCC ahead of his Senate confirmation hearings and leading advocacy efforts in support of his appointment as HHS secretary. Today, the group serves as a connection point between the world of anti-vax nonprofits and more traditional right-wing groups. The partners IMA listed for its [annual conference](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/07/02/heritage-foundation-partners-with-ivermectin-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) earlier this year included the anti-public health Brownstone Institute, Kennedy’s former anti-vaccine advocacy group Children’s Health Defense, and the Heritage Foundation, the far-right think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint for Trump’s second term. ACIP Chairman Milhoan is one of two IMA affiliates serving on the vital CDC committee. Vice chair [Dr. Robert Malone](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor), an infamous anti-vaxxer, is [listed](https://imahealth.org/experts/dr-robert-malone/?ref=importantcontext.news) as an IMA senior advisor on the group’s website. Celebrating the news of Milhoan’s promotion, IMA [wrote](https://imahealth.org/ima-senior-fellow-dr-kirk-milhoan-appointed-chairman-of-advisory-committee-on-immunization-practices-acip/?ref=importantcontext.news) that their fellow “represents the very best of medicine, and his leadership of ACIP will restore a patient-centered balance to the nation’s vaccine panel.” It is unclear exactly what impact this week’s ACIP shakeup will have on the critical CDC advisory committee. Outgoing ACIP chairman Kulldorff was a COVID vaccine refuser and rarely served as a moderating influence on the anti-vax impulses of his fellow Kennedy appointees. At the June ACIP meeting, for example, he [voted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vax-sentiment-on-display-at?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) with the majority to recommend only flu shots without thimerosal, an organomercury compound used as a preservative in some vaccines that anti-vaxxers like Kennedy have falsely suggested causes autism. When the American Academy of Pediatrics blasted ACIP’s decision, Kulldorff [accused](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-vaccine-advisors-share-anti-vax?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the organization of being “pro mercury.” The former ACIP chair had also expressed openness to delaying the hepatitis B vaccine for babies born to mothers not infected with the virus—something the new ACIP is [poised to vote on](https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2025/12/why-reporters-should-cover-the-cdcs-meeting-this-week/?ref=importantcontext.news) this Thursday. The shot is currently given universally at birth to protect newborns against a deadly disease that can cause liver cirrhosis and cancer. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Milhoan is perhaps more extreme in his anti-vaccine views than Kulldorff. He has [called](https://x.com/kmilhoanmdphd/status/1885131684674236852?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the mRNA platform “our clearest enemy of health currently,” compared COVID vaccination efforts to the Holocaust, and [made](https://x.com/kmilhoanmdphd/status/1925645108134744573?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) false claims that infection risk increases with each booster and that the shots cause cancer and miscarriages. His past research on the COVID vaccines has been dubious. In April, the new ACIP chairman [appeared](https://imahealth.org/dr-kirk-milhoan-on-the-rise-of-myocarditis-in-young-men/?ref=importantcontext.news) on Sinclair’s National News Desk to promote a [paper](https://www.reseaprojournals.com/journals/cardiovascular-research/Articles/myocarditis-after-sars-cov-2-infection-and-covid-19-vaccination-epidemiology-outcomes-and-new-perspectives?ref=importantcontext.news) he’d published with prolific anti-vaxxer and former cardiologist [Dr. Peter McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the risk of myocarditis from COVID vaccines. The condition is a rare side effect of the shots that occurs more often from COVID infection itself. However, the paper, published in an [open access “medical journal”](https://www.reseaprojournals.com/journals/cardiovascular-research/editorial-board?ref=importantcontext.news) that lists McCullough as both its editor-in-chief and an editor, claimed that the shots had led to a 620 percent surge of myocarditis in young men. IMA [cited](https://imahealth.org/questions-about-mrna-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) the paper in their anti-mRNA vaccine “Smart Moms Ask” campaign, which targeted parents and expecting couples with misinformation, including claims that the shots led to miscarriage and lower rates of conception. In May, Milhoan [appeared](https://imahealth.org/rebuilding-trust-in-medicine-post-covid-19/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the pro-Trump One America News to discuss the initiative. In August, Milhoan co-hosted a [webinar](https://imahealth.org/parents-taking-back-classroom-and-lunchroom/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the group touting its new back-to-school “Parents’ Healthcare Bill of Rights,” a [document](https://imahealth.org/parents-bill-of-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) featuring seven demands on topics from gender and sexuality education to food choices and vaccines. The first enumerated “right” was the “Right to Vaccine Autonomy.” “Parents hold ultimate authority to decide on vaccinations for their children, free from school-based coercion including School Based Health Centers, misinformation, or threats of exclusion,” the document read. “This safeguards against industry-driven requirements that may overlook individual health risks and family preferences.” Since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, vaccine hesitancy has been increasing as right-wing groups like IMA have worked to politicize public health. Uptake of routine vaccinations has correspondingly declined. This year alone has seen several children die from vaccine-preventable diseases. ### Robert Kennedy Jr. ‘Absolutely Tried to Silence Me’: Blogger Sued by HHS Secretary Speaks Out URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/robert-kennedy-jr-absolutely-tried/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:12.000Z David Vickrey was not a professional journalist when, as he put it, Robert Kennedy Jr. “absolutely tried to silence” him. He was a retiree, a grandfather, and a regular blogger on the liberal website *The Daily Kos* where he had written hundreds of posts over the span of two decades under the pseudonym DowneastDem. But a post he’d written in August 2020 would put him in the crosshairs of the notorious anti-vaccine activist. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and like millions of Americans, public health was on Vickrey’s mind. Fluent in both English and German, he was a regular reader of the German news magazine *Der Spiegel*, which he read online. That August, [an article](https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/zehntausende-demonstrieren-in-berlin-gegen-die-corona-massnahmen-5374549.html?ref=importantcontext.news) caught his eye: Kennedy, the failson of a Democratic political dynasty and long-time anti-vaccine activist, had spoken at a protest in Berlin against the country’s COVID mitigation measures that had been organized by, and featured elements of, the German far-Right. The day before, Kennedy had hosted a press conference announcing the [launch](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/what-senators-should-know-about-hhs-nominee-rfk-jr-s-ties-to-german-far-right/?ref=importantcontext.news) of a European branch of his well-funded and lucrative anti-vaccine organization, Children’s Health Defense, joined by members of far-right and anti-vaccine groups. Vickrey took to his DowneastDem blog to write up a post summarizing the *Der Spiegel* story in English. Titled “[Anti-Vaxxer RFK JR. joins neo-Nazis in massive Berlin ‘Anti-Corona’ Protest](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/29/1973395/-Anti-Vaxxer-RFK-JR-joins-neo-Nazis-in-massive-Berlin-Anti-Corona-Protest?ref=importantcontext.news),” Vickrey’s piece noted that the rally “was organized by right-wing extremist organizations including the AfD party and various anti-Semitic conspiracy groups as well as the neo-Nazi NPD party.” (*Daily Kos* blog posts are not reviewed by the site’s editors prior to publication.) Other outlets, [including the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53959552?ref=importantcontext.news), reported on Kennedy’s involvement in the rally, and Vickrey’s post was not widely shared. Nevertheless, the anti-vaccine activist, who has long [sought to position himself](https://www.facebook.com/rfkjr/videos/they-didnt-pass-the-first-amendment-to-protect-speech-that-everybody-likes-they-/1668335234008509/) as a champion of free speech, singled out the retiree blogger, embarking on what can only be described as [a legal crusade](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/free-speech-warrior-rfk-jr-has-been-trying-to-censor-a-blogger-for-years/?ref=importantcontext.news) against him, aiming to pressure him into retracting his post. That crusade, which finally came to an end in September, would eat up five years of Vickrey’s life and include multiple lawsuit filings in multiple states. “It was awful,” Vickrey said. “I mean, I was just angry, but my wife, my family, was afraid that he was asking for millions of dollars in damages. And who knows, you know? He could have gotten a MAGA judge that would say, ‘Yeah, let’s go after this guy.’” Vickrey described Kennedy’s legal pursuit of him as “a message for anyone else,” but noted, “I don’t think it stopped anyone. If you go online, there’s so many things written about him—which are also coming from his own family—which are much worse than anything that I ever said.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In November 2020, Kennedy sued *The Daily Kos* seeking to obtain DowneastDem’s identity in New York and California. The legal attempt to unmask Vickrey alarmed organizations like the [Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press](https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/rfk-jr-v-kos-media-llc/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Public Citizen](https://www.citizen.org/litigation/downeastdem-v-kennedy/?ref=importantcontext.news), but Kennedy was relentless. Upon finding out Vickrey’s identity, [reportedly](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-allegedly-tried-to-bully-dailykos-blogger-david-vickrey-after-appearing-at-far-right-rally-in-germany/?ref=importantcontext.news) through his own investigations (Children’s Health Defense would credit its “[sleuthing](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-libel-suit-daily-kos-writer-david-vickrey/?ref=importantcontext.news)”), Kennedy launched a defamation suit against him seeking, at minimum, $1 million in damages. Children’s Health Defense provided financial help for the suit—something the organization noted in its [coverage](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-libel-suit-daily-kos-writer-david-vickrey/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the lawsuit on its own blog, “The Defender.” Kennedy stepped down from his position as Children’s Health Defense’s president in late 2024 in preparation for his Senate confirmation hearings for his health secretary nomination, though his legal battle with Vickery continued as he assumed office. Originally, in the [fall of 2023](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nhd.62389/gov.uscourts.nhd.62389.1.0.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), Kennedy filed in state court in New Hampshire where Vickery had previously worked, despite the blogger being based in Maine. New Hampshire notably does not have a law protecting its residents against strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). Maine, on the other hand, does have an anti-SLAPP statute. The New Hampshire case was ultimately [dismissed](https://www.scribd.com/document/924906457/RFK-Jr-loses-case-against-Daily-Kos-blogger?ref=importantcontext.news) on jurisdictional grounds last January after being removed to federal court, and Kennedy subsequently refiled with an amended complaint in Maine that October. “I wrote the five sentence blog in like two minutes in August of 2020, and he claimed I wrote it to derail his presidential campaign in New Hampshire, even though he didn’t declare until three years later,” Vickrey said. In his legal filings, Kennedy did not dispute the central premise of Vickrey’s blog post that he had appeared onstage with groups linked to neo-Nazis. Rather, his lawyers argued that the post was libelous because Kennedy had not become a member of those groups—something the blogger never claimed. Kennedy also argued that Vickrey had made other defamatory statements about him because he had posted links to articles about him on social media without additional comment. Despite the questionable merits of the suit, Vickrey said Kennedy’s legal campaign was a constant stress on him and his family. “It was scary,” he said. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this powerful guy files a lawsuit against you. You never know, right?” Vickrey said he had even reached out to his senator, Republican Susan Collins, who sat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, ahead of Kennedy’s confirmation hearings to inform her of the situation and ask for her to reject his nomination. Collins voted to advance and later confirm the anti-vaxxer anyway. Vickrey called his confirmation “sickening,” “awful,” and “a tragedy for the nation.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Luckily, Vickrey, told *Important Context*, he had an insurance policy that covered him in the event of a defamation lawsuit. That insurance ended up paying out to cover his legal fees. In the U.S., there is no right to an attorney in civil suits and even frivolous lawsuits can end up costing winning defendants big money upfront, especially if the plaintiff is well-resourced. As there are few avenues for recourse for defendants against bad faith or doomed legal campaigns, plaintiffs will file with the ultimate goal of obtaining an out-of-court settlement. Sanctions against attorneys are seldom asked for and even less frequently imposed and recovery of legal fees is not a guarantee. President Trump has filed multiple dubious defamation lawsuits against media companies—seemingly to extract settlements, as it is difficult for public figure plaintiffs to win such suits. They have to show the defendant acted with “actual malice” under the precedent set in the Supreme Court case of *New York Times v. Sullivan* (1964)—a higher bar aimed at protecting open discourse which Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to eliminate. Two right-wing Supreme Court Justices have also [expressed openness](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/us/supreme-court-libel.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to reviewing the standard. In 2024, the president filed a $20 billion suit against CBS over what he claimed was a deceptively edited ‘60 Minutes’ interview with his presidential rival, Democrat Kamala Harris. The suit ultimately settled for $16 million with observers noting that at the time, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was in the process of merging with Skydance Media and needed approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Trump also *The Wall Street Journal* and has recently [threatened](https://bsky.app/profile/reuters.com/post/3m5nhouv36g26?ref=importantcontext.news) to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion. Vickrey noted the cases brought by Trump, explaining that when it came to the media outlets, “They can fight” because the cases will “be tossed eventually,” adding, “But guys like me, we don’t have those resources, right?” He noted that Kennedy’s case against him had been brought as “a nuisance.” As *The Daily Beast* [reported](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-allegedly-tried-to-bully-dailykos-blogger-david-vickrey-after-appearing-at-far-right-rally-in-germany/?ref=importantcontext.news), Kennedy did come to him with a settlement offer before the court handed down its ruling. “Towards the end, I think he realized the futility of the whole case and said, ‘Okay, I’ll drop the case if you retract everything you said and delete every post that you ever made,’” Vickrey told *Important Context*. “We said, basically, you know, ‘Go pound sand, we’re not going to do that.’” On September 10, the court handed down its decision granting Vickrey summary judgment. Children’s Health Defense has not posted anything about the defeat. ### CDC Updates Vaccine Safety Page to Promote Vaccine Misinformation, Cites Kennedy’s Anti-Vax Allies URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/cdc-changes-vaccine-safety-page-to/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:12.000Z *This article has been updated from its email version.* On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its vaccine safety page to include several discredited claims linking immunizations to autism in the latest signal that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. intends to target childhood immunizations. Several links on the page direct to papers by Kennedy’s anti-vax allies. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy promised he would “work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems” and “maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.” These assurances, given to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, were enough to secure Kennedy the nation’s top public health role despite years of anti-vaccine advocacy and misinformation spreading. Since he took the helm of HHS, however, the department has been making moves that have fueled concern that unscientific changes to the schedule may be imminent. On the secretary’s watch, HHS has terminated over [$1 billion](https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/11/over-74000-people-were-kicked-out-of-clinical-trials-because-of-trump-cuts/?ref=importantcontext.news) of dollars worth of research, including all mRNA vaccine research. It has sought to make COVID vaccines harder to get, has eliminated key personnel, and has seen longtime career scientists and public servants depart—making room for fringe voices close to the secretary. The CDC, which falls under the umbrella of the HHS, has seen drastic changes, including the [replacement](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) of its entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with Kennedy allies. Former CDC Director Susan Monarez, PhD, who Kennedy fired in August, [testified](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) before the Senate HELP Committee that her departure was preceded by a closed door meeting with the secretary at which she said he sought her blanket approval of any changes made by the new ACIP. She [warned](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jr-coming-childhood-vaccine-schedule-september-monarez/story?id=125669503&ref=importantcontext.news) that changes to the vaccine schedule were coming. The idea that vaccines cause autism largely originated with a [fraudulent](https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452?ref=importantcontext.news) 1998 paper by disgraced physician Andrew Wakefield, a longtime ally of Kennedy’s. Wakefield recently spoke at the [annual conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-said-he-was-done-with-childrens) of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy dark money operation the secretary founded and left ahead of his 2024 presidential run. Kennedy’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, also spoke at the event. The supposed connection between childhood immunizations and autism has been widely debunked, but anti-vaxxers like Kennedy have maintained that the science is not settled and a link may yet be found. Much of their focus over the years has been on ingredients in some vaccines like [aluminum](https://www.ms.now/opinion/msnbc-opinion/rfk-jr-attacks-aluminum-in-vaccines-for-children-rcna219770?ref=importantcontext.news) and the organomercury compound thimerosal, both of which have been shown to be safe—and neither of which cause autism. At its June meeting, the new ACIP [voted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vax-sentiment-on-display-at?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) to recommend only flu vaccines without thimerosal despite widespread objections from the scientific community. The CDC vaccine safety page update is the latest push by Kennedy’s HHS to promote the discredited connection between vaccines and autism. Atop the page are three “key points”: - The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism. - Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities. - HHS has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links. While the page still maintains the heading “Vaccines do not cause autism,” there is now an asterisk after it alerting readers to the disclaimer at the bottom, noting that it had been kept “due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website”—an apparent reference to Cassidy. Further down, it highlights a number of routine vaccinations as potential culprits as autism causes, claiming more research is needed. “Approximately one in two surveyed parents of autistic children believe vaccines played a role in their child’s autism, often pointing to the vaccines their child received in the first six months of life (Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP), Hepatitis B (HepB), Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), Poliovirus, inactivated (IPV), and Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV)) and one given at or after the first year of life (Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)),” it reads. “This connection has not been properly and thoroughly studied by the scientific community.” It further claims that “The rise in autism prevalence since the 1980s [correlates](https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/data-table.html?ref=importantcontext.news) with the rise in the number of vaccines given to infants,” adding that “Though the cause of autism is likely to be multi-factorial, the scientific foundation to rule out one potential contributor entirely has not been established.” The link on the word “correlates” takes the reader to a page of the studies that includes [one](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14976450/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Kennedy ally David Geier and his father Mark from 2004\. In June, Kennedy [hired](https://www.thecardiologyadvisor.com/news/rfk-jr-hires-autism-skeptic-to-look-into-cdc-autism-data/?ref=importantcontext.news) the younger Geier, an anti-vaccine activist who does not have a medical degree and was [disciplined](https://www.mbp.state.md.us/BPQAPP/orders/GeierOrder07.302.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2012 by the Maryland State Board of Physicians for practicing medicine without a license, to study vaccines and autism. Mark Geier, who passed away earlier this year, was a de-licensed physician and vaccine critic who was also [disciplined](https://quackwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/quackwatch/casewatch/board/med/geier/m%5Fgeier%5Fcharges%5F2012.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) for practicing without a license in Maryland. Like Kennedy, both Geier men have promoted the false claim that vaccines cause autism, specifically highlighting thimerosal. The pair also famously developed supposed treatment for autism that used the drug Lupron, which has been used in high doses to chemically castrate sex offenders. Mark Geier [called](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/05/21/miracle-drug-called-junk-science-2/?ref=importantcontext.news) it a “miracle drug” but experts decried the protocol as “junk science.” The Geiers recommended their treatment for children. The CDC page suggests that aluminum might cause autism and links out to papers by other Kennedy allies. One is by Dr. Paul Thomas, an anti-vax physician who [surrendered](https://omb.oregon.gov/Clients/ORMB/Public/VerificationDetails.aspx?EntityID=1459035&ref=importantcontext.news) his Oregon medical license [due to unprofessional conduct](https://wmc.wa.gov/news/out-state-md-indefinitely-suspended?ref=importantcontext.news) and lost his Washington license as well. Thomas was joined on the paper by researcher James Lyons-Weiler, whose LLC, IPAK-EDU, launched a medical journal in 2024 with an editorial board stacked with anti-vaxxers including Thomas and Children’s Health Defense staffers. Kennedy [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) a dubious study in the journal during his confirmation hearings to argue vaccines cause autism. The other cited paper is a review by current ACIP chairman Dr. Martin Kulldorff in the [RealClear Foundation’s medical journal](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), which launched earlier this year with him as its founding editor-in-chief. “The CDC has fully turned into the anti-vaccine personal mouthpiece of RFK Jr. and can no longer be trusted,” Accountability Journalism Institute scientific advisor Dr. Frank Han, a board certified pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist, told Important Context. “Those of us who still can push back and preserve public health are needed now more than ever.” Other AJI scientific advisors echoed Han’s sentiment. Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist and managing editor of the blog *Science-Based Medicine*, proclaimed that “the CDC has now been totally coopted by RFK Jr.’s anti-vax views,” explaining that the agency’s messaging “is now aligned with three decades of anti-vaccine narrative designed to cast doubt on the strong scientific consensus that infant and childhood immunization do not detectably increase the risk of autism, no matter how many large, well-designed studies fail to find a link.” Epidemiologist Elizabeth Jacobs called the page “an egregious affront to scientists, healthcare providers and public health practitioners who have worked to research and promote vaccination in order to protect the health of the people and the national security of the United States.” “There is no place for disinformation on United States government websites,” she said. “The harm that this will cause to vaccination coverage in the United States is incalculable, and will put the United States and the world at greater risk for preventable disease outbreaks”. The changes to the CDC’s vaccine information page come as ACIP prepares for another two-day meeting beginning on December 4\. A [draft agenda](https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/agendas/draft-posted-2025-11-14-508.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) for the event shows that the “childhood/adolescent immunization schedule” is one of the topics for discussion. Public faith in vaccines has taken a hit in recent years as right-wing groups, media, and politicians worked to sow doubt in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coinciding with a decline in childhood vaccination has been a [resurgence](https://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2025/measles100125.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20Centers%20for%20Disease%20Control,measles%20cases%20around%20the%20U.S.) of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, which has killed three children this year. This story is developing and will be updated as more information comes out. ### Kennedy Said He Was Done With Children’s Health Defense; His Wife Headlined Its Annual Conference URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/kennedy-said-he-was-done-with-childrens/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:13.000Z Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy says he cut ties with Children’s Health Defense, but his wife was a guest of honor at his former anti-vaccine advocacy group’s annual conference this weekend. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) An October 17 email from the group boasted that actress Cheryl Hines was co-headlining the group’s “Champion Dinner” with Russell Brand, an [anti-vax](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-russell-brand-has-become-a-powerful-voice-for-anti-vaxxers/?ref=importantcontext.news) comedian and actor who, after being accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, [found Jesus](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-29/russell-brand-baptized-christianity-rape-sexual-assault-allegations?ref=importantcontext.news) and a home within Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. The dinner, which took place on Saturday, was billed as a closed-door networking session, available only to those who either purchased the $397 (plus $12.17 in fees) general admission ticket with an add-on for the event—or those who hold a “Champion All-Access Pass.” “The combination of these two firebrands promises an unforgettable evening of laughter and thought-provoking insights about their journey in the health freedom movement,” the email reads. During his Senate confirmation hearings, when confronted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders over anti-vax baby onesies sold by Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy [insisted](https://youtu.be/8ufLquEuPMY?si=2qzOvZXI8Msbuw4b&ref=importantcontext.news) that he had cut ties with the [lucrative](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vax group. “Senator, I have no power over that organization, I’m not part of it, I resigned from the board,” he said. Throughout his tenure as HHS secretary, however, Children’s Health Defense has continued to promote Kennedy and his agenda, and defended him. As *Important Context* previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedys-former-anti-vax-group-running?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), the group ran interference for Kennedy after several children died in a measles outbreak in Texas this year. Children’s Health Defense also [hosted](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/reallcdcorg-fake-cdc-website-childrens-health-defense/?ref=importantcontext.news) a vaccine safety page containing misinformation that was made to look like the one from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was taken down after Kennedy [called on the group](https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2025/03/25/kennedy-instructs-anti-vaccine-group-to-remove-fake-c-d-c-page/?ref=importantcontext.news) to remove it. The fact that the Children’s Health Defense conference featured Hines, who has previously used her relationship with Kennedy to [hawk](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/cheryl-hines-posts-cringe-video-183745997.html?ref=importantcontext.news) “MAHA” products, raises more questions about Kennedy’s relationship with the group. The “Moment of Truth” [conference](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news), which ran Nov 7-9 in Austin, Texas, hosted a number of fringe-sounding panels with speaker lineups featuring of a who’s who of anti-vaxxers and other health conspiracists. For example, two panels—the reunion for the pseudodocumentary “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” and another called “Breaking the Mainstream Media Measles Narrative”—featured [disgraced researcher](https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452?ref=importantcontext.news) Andrew Wakefield, progenitor of the debunked vaccine-autism connection. The lineup also featured a panel focused on “The Enduring Nightmare of COVID mRNA Technology” and hosted anti-vaxxers like former cardiologist Peter McCullough, his frequent collaborator and computational biologist Jessica Rose, ivermectin-promoting physician Pierre Kory, osteopathic physician Sheri Tenpenny, and evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein, who *Important Context* reported recently [received](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-accepts-award-from-anti) an award last weekend from the Brownstone Institute along with National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya. The agenda also featured talks from notable individuals in the MAHA movement, including one from the president of the MAHA Institute, a think tank created earlier this year to push for policies aligned with Kennedy’s anti-vax mission. The talk “Bobby Kennedy, the CDC, and the Vaccine Industrial Complex” featured Dave Weldon, an anti-vax physician and former congressman who was unsuccessfully nominated to lead the CDC in Kennedy’s HHS. Kennedy ousted Weldon’s replacement, Susan Monarez, not long after her confirmation for failure to comply with his agenda. Tech entrepreneur-turned anti-vaxxer Steve Kirsch, founder of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation, was slotted for a talk called “Safe & Effective? What the Czech Data Tells Us.” Kirsch [previously](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/?ref=importantcontext.news) used stolen patient data from New Zealand to [falsely claim](https://www.yahoo.com/news/false-claim-20-zealanders-received-004425853.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the vaccines had killed 10 million people worldwide. Joseph Varon, head of the ivermectin-pushing, pro-MAHA Independent Medical Alliance ([formerly the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally?utm%5Fsource=publication-search)), was slated to talk about “The Great Medical Awakening: From Captured Science to Independent Medicine.” Anti-vax Florida Surgeon General [Joseph Ladapo](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/florida-surgeon-general-to-appear), who just announced he would be doing away with vaccine mandates in his state, despite rising vaccine-preventable pediatric disease cases nationally, was scheduled for a talk titled, “Sustaining the Promise of Freedom Through Action.” Two Republican senators featured on the anti-vax group’s conference lineup: Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Both have been key allies of the anti-vaccine movement and promoted misinformation about COVID-19. Notably, [early announcements](https://web.archive.org/web/20250930165720/https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/speakers/) of the conference advertised the involvement of MAGA strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon’s podcast was a [leading source](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/technology/podcasts-steve-bannon-war-room-misinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of COVID misinformation at the height of the pandemic and he [encouraged](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) Kennedy’s aborted presidential campaign as a means of causing “chaos” and spread anti-vax sentiment. Bannon recently raised eyebrows for [declaring](https://bsky.app/profile/strictlychristo.bsky.social/post/3m55hdnqtx22s?ref=importantcontext.news) that Republicans losing the midterms would result in his imprisonment along with others in the MAGA movement. At one point, photos of Hines and Bannon were [both featured](https://bsky.app/profile/walkerbragman.bsky.social/post/3m3ggeth7jk2q?ref=importantcontext.news) on the Children’s Health Defense conference poster. Today, however, his picture and name are absent. The big sponsor of the festivities was MAHA Action, the 501(c)(4) dark money group founded to promote Kennedy’s anti-vax agenda at HHS. Kirsch’s Vaccine Safety Research Foundation and the Independent Medical Alliance were Gold Sponsors while the Brownstone Institute was Silver. ### NIH Director Accepts Award From Anti-Vax Group Founded By Ally Accused Of Sexual Misconduct URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-director-accepts-award-from-anti/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:13.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Over the weekend, the Director of the National Institutes of Health accepted an award from a Robert Kennedy Jr.-allied anti-public health dark money group founded by an accused serial sexual harasser. He called it “the most fun I’ve had in ten months” and said “I feel like I’m at home.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On Sunday, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who has faced [criticism](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) and[ allegations](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) from inside his own agency over what staffers call the politicization of science and devastating cuts to critical research, appeared at the [annual conference](https://brownstone.org/great-transition/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Brownstone Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. There, he received the group’s first ever annual prize along with two other recipients, both of whom are involved with the Institute. Brownstone fellow Bret Weinstein, a notorious anti-vaxxer, promoter of ivermectin for COVID-19, and brother of the managing director of Thiel Capital, the firm founded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, was awarded alongside Bhattacharya. So too was Thomas Harrington, a professor of Hispanic studies from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, who wrote a book for the group called “The Treason of the Experts,” and is listed as one of its senior scholars. Brownstone was founded in May 2021 and has quickly emerged as a major player in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement started by Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy, which serves as a bridge between the traditional right and the so-called “medical freedom” movement. Brownstone has partnered with groups like The Heritage Foundation and Kennedy’s old anti-vax organization [Children’s Health Defense](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). The main function of the Institute has been waging a war on public health in the name of preventing the return of mitigation measures implemented amid the pandemic. The group is a hub of anti-vaccine misinformation, right-wing grievance, and conspiracy theories—particularly those focused on COVID. It has [amplified individuals](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/story-developments?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) who have called for violence against former public health officials, given column space to conspiracy mongers, and proudly trafficked in pandemic misinformation. Its writer roster is a who’s who of anti-vaxxers and public health contrarians. The group’s reach extends to the highest levels of the Trump administration beyond just Bhattacharya. Brownstone has ties but HHS Secretary Kennedy, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), senior FDA advisor [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), as well as various members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, including its chairman [Martin Kulldorff](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). To wit, ACIP member [Dr. Robert Malone](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor) was also in attendance and slated to speak at this year’s conference and gala. Brownstone was founded by Bhattacharya’s longtime friend and ally, Jeffrey Tucker, a [child labor and youth tobacco use advocate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) with ties to the crypto industry and past links to the neo-Confederate movement, who was formerly the editorial director of the libertarian think-tank American Institute for Economic Research. Tucker had recruited and organized the October 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, which the NIH director co-authored, calling for pursuing pandemic herd immunity via mass infection of the healthy population. Bhattacharya also appeared at [last year’s Brownstone conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). Two weeks before this year’s event, dubbed “The Great Transition,” *Politico* [*revealed* ](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/18/brownstone-tucker-kennedy-rfk-maha-00614274?ref=importantcontext.news)that Tucker and his Brownstone co-founder Lucio “Lou” Eastman had left their positions at AIER amid sexual harassment allegations. Tucker, the report noted, had left a previous job at the Foundation for Economic Education as well under similar circumstances. *Politico* uncovered a 2022 [response filing](https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000199-f476-d77a-add9-ff7fa3d70001&ref=importantcontext.news) from the think tank, the chairman of its board of trustees, and Tucker to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination outlining the allegations. Based on the document, Tucker was accused of inappropriate behavior toward the women working at AIER. Among many other allegations addressed in the document is the claim he would allegedly buy female interns and staff fur coats from estate sales with company money and encourage them to model them and pearl necklaces. Tucker and other male colleagues in leadership would then allegedly “ogle the women and gape at them, asking the males and females in attendance, i.e., the females’ coworkers and managers ‘Isn’t’ she beautiful?’ and ‘Doesn’t she look lovely dressed like this?’” Brownstone co-founder Eastman, meanwhile, was accused of making interns uncomfortable by allegedly visiting their living quarters at inappropriate times, like when they had gotten out of the shower, “under the guise of bringing them coffee.” AIER denied the allegations against the men. Despite the damning reporting, Bhattacharya [delivered remarks](https://www.youtube.com/live/yT%5FD1Ri5efk?si=dIDamMLah2cHGOuY&ref=importantcontext.news) at this weekend’s Brownstone conference. He used his time to hit familiar talking points and grievances, lamenting public health measures taken in the spring of 2020 to stem the spread of COVID, which has killed well over a million Americans to date. During his address, the NIH director called for a pandemic “reckoning” and praised Brownstone for the work it was doing to “grapple with”—and keep people talking about—“the dark days.” “I think, to me, that’s the most important part of what Brownstone is doing,” Bhattacharya said. “I mean, there’s so much else. Like, it’s not just about the lockdowns anymore, it’s about a fundamental culture shift—a group of people who are so different in so many ways, think very, very differently from one another, have different backgrounds, and yet somehow we’re tied together. I feel like I’m at home.” Bhattacharya continued on, laying out the metric for the anti-public health group’s success. “When will we know that Brownstone is a successful organization?” he asked the audience. “When we can all confidently answer ‘could the lockdowns happen again?’ And the answer is no. But we’re not there yet.” The NIH director then segued into a familiar diatribe about how his professional peers had ostracized him over his advocacy for pursuing herd immunity through widespread COVID infection, calling it “a vicious attack on me.” Throughout the speech, he repeatedly joked that his current job is “terrible.” Closing out, Bhattacharya offered the anti-vax group’s audience “my main source for hope,” noting that if a new pandemic threat emerged, “There is now a vast army of people—and Brownstone, we’re just the tip of the spear of it—a vast army of people that would say ‘this was wrong before and we should not ever do it again,’” referring to lockdowns. “The protests that didn’t happen in March of 2020, this time would happen,” he said, adding that he would personally join anti-lockdown protests. Tucker is not the only man accused of sexual misconduct that Bhattacharya has allied himself with. Trump has faced a [slew](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/25/trump-sexual-misconduct-allegations-timeline?ref=importantcontext.news) of assault allegations by multiple women. Last year, [Kennedy](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1rw8d0p2j7o?ref=importantcontext.news) apologized over text to a former family babysitter who accused him of sexual assault, claiming he had no memory of the incident. In 2022, *Business Insider* [reported](https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5?ref=importantcontext.news) that four years prior, another of his allies, billionaire Elon Musk, paid $250,000 to a flight attendant to settle a misconduct claim after he allegedly exposed himself to her and offered her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage. In 2023, after he purchased Twitter, Musk [met with](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) Bhattacharya and [promised](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1602052940738404352?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) him to access Twitter’s files to determine how his account had ended up on a trending ban list. ### Federal Court Dismisses Censorship Lawsuit By “Leading COVID-19 Vaccine Skeptic” URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/federal-court-dismisses-censorship/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:14.000Z Self-proclaimed “leading COVID-19 vaccine skeptic” Alex Berenson has suffered a significant setback in his legal efforts to hold the government accountable after Twitter suspended his account for spreading vaccine misinformation at the height of the pandemic. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Berenson’s lawsuit against the government came in April 2023—two years after Twitter permanently suspended him for violating its five-strike policy against posting COVID-related misinformation, and a year after he’d been reinstated as part of a settlement with the company. He had [teased](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/alex-berenson-white-house-rfk-jr-podcast/?ref=importantcontext.news) the legal venture during a 2022 podcast interview with now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for “The Defender,” the media outfit of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy group Kennedy led at the time. Berenson alleged that his suspension had been the result of a government-led conspiracy against him at the height of the SARS-CoV-2 public health crisis. The alleged conspirators included former President Joe Biden, various administration officials, and executives at Pfizer. Berenson claimed that these individuals worked to pressure Twitter (today “X”) into taking action against his account—a supposed attack on journalism and free speech. The case centered around efforts by the Biden administration to combat online misinformation, which was slowing the COVID vaccine rollout amid mounting deaths. The White House sought to work with social media platforms on their content moderation. Companies like Twitter were resistant to the government’s requests and public pressure attempts, ultimately making their own moderation decisions. To this day, vaccine misinformation is rampant online. Nevertheless, the government efforts have become a talking point and [target](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) for lawsuits by contrarians, anti-vaxxers, and the broader political Right. With his legal effort, Berenson cast himself a First Amendment crusader—a wronged journalist punished for the crime of doing his job. But Berenson has another mantle: “[The pandemic’s wrongest man](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news),” given by a writer for *The Atlantic* over his promotion of false, misleading, and conspiratorial claims about the mRNA vaccines, which have [saved](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news) millions of American lives and prevented millions more hospitalizations. According to [court documents](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.597054/gov.uscourts.nysd.597054.127.0.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), Berenson’s Twitter suspension came after he posted a number of dubious claims about the mRNA vaccines. The first strike against his account came after he falsely called the shots “gene therapy” and claimed they would alter recipients’ genetic code. The second, which did follow discussions between several White House officials and the company, was over a tweet claiming the vaccines were “failing.” The third followed a post seemingly encouraging his followers to pursue immunity through COVID infection rather than the shots. ”You know what immunizes you against #SARS\_CoV\_2? Quickly, efficiently, and with low risk to healthy non-elderly people? Getting #SARS\_CoV\_2,” he wrote. COVID, which has killed [well over one million](https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-05-27/u-s-had-1-5-million-excess-deaths-following-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) Americans and left millions [suffering](https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/long-covid-keeps-people-out-of-work-and-hurts-the-economy?ref=importantcontext.news) with long COVID, only [dropped out](https://www.statnews.com/2025/09/10/leading-cause-death-heart-disease-cancer-suicide/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the top 10 leading causes of deaths last year. Berenson received a seven-day suspension from the platform with his fourth strike. He had claimed, “The pivotal clinical trial for the @pfizer #COVID-19 vaccine shows it does nothing.” The following day, before Twitter took action against him, he [posted](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1421109651660320774?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the words “Impfung macht frei,” which translate to “vaccines make you free”—an apparent reference to the infamous “Arbeit macht frei” (work makes you free) slogan at the entrance of Nazi death camps, most notably Auschwitz. The tweet was widely criticized and caught the attention of White House senior advisor Andy Slavitt, who told a Twitter employee that if the post did not result in a ban, “the outcry will be justified.” The ban finally came after Berenson called COVID vaccine mandates “insanity,” arguing that the shots did not prevent infection or transmission and “should not be thought of as a vaccine, but instead as “a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be diagnosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.” The vaccines have been shown to reduce transmission and offer robust protection against severe illness and death. In response to being banned, he [sued](https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-skeptic-alex-170053359.html?ref=importantcontext.news) Twitter, reaching a resolution that saw his account reinstated. Since then, he has [continued](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1814049890764542371?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) attacking the lifesaving vaccines and [downplaying](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1814782759866445911?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) their importance and efficacy. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Berenson’s latest lawsuit is one of a handful of similar cases alleging that the Biden administration coerced social media companies into censoring dissent amid the pandemic. The most prominent of these is [*Murthy v. Missouri*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) (originally *Missouri v. Biden*), which counted among its plaintiffs the current National Institutes of Health Director, Jay Bhattacharya, and the current chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Martin Kulldorff. The lawsuit aimed at preventing the government from communicating with social media companies about misinformation on their platforms. Representing plaintiffs was the Charles Koch-tied corporate-aligned lawfare group New Civil Liberties Alliance. *Murthy* made its way up to the Supreme Court where it was tossed last year on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing. In that case, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the 6-3 majority, determined that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the government was the cause of their injury. The ruling played a role in Berenson’s lawsuit as the court stayed his case in March pending the outcome of *Murthy* given the “nearly identical issues with respect to Berenson’s First Amendment claims.” The court noted it was “therefore highly likely to affect the outcome of the instant case.” Like the *Murthy* plaintiffs before him, Berenson saw his case fail on the issue of standing. He had alleged that various individuals in the Biden administration and executives at Pfizer “engaged in a nearly unprecedented conspiracy to suppress \[his\] First Amendment rights” by “work\[ing\] together to pressure Twitter to suspend \[his\] account and mute his voice as a leading COVID-19 vaccine skeptic.” This, he argued, amounted to a conspiracy to interfere with his civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) because, as an unvaccinated person, he was part of a protected class—a term reserved for groups that have faced discrimination like racial and ethnic minorities, and women. Anti-vaxxers have been [pushing the argument](https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/new-weapon-anti-vaccine-arsenal-claiming-unvaccinated-protected-class?ref=importantcontext.news) that the unvaccinated are a protected class for years. It was a difficult case for Berenson, who based his claim for relief on the judge-made rule in *Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents* (1971), which established a right under the Constitution itself to seek monetary damages against individual federal officers. The circumstances under which a plaintiff can win under *Bivens* are extremely narrow and, as the court would note in its decision, none applied to his case. Still, the outcome of the case was not certain. There had been a changing of the guard since the case was initially filed. As of January 2025, Donald Trump was back in the White House—in part thanks to an alliance with anti-vaxxer Kennedy, who he made Health and Human Services secretary. Representing the federal defendants was the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which falls under the Department of Justice. In civil suits involving the government, the DOJ has ultimate authority over whether or not to settle—not the named defendants themselves. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The administration’s early signaling was suggestive that its approach to cases like Berenson’s might change. On January 20, the new president issued an executive order barring any “Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent” from using taxpayer resources “to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The order also directed the Attorney General, “in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies,” to “investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President...with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report.” Weeks later, Vice President JD Vance [attacked](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/jd-vance-stuns-munich-conference-with-blistering-attack-on-europes-leaders?ref=importantcontext.news) European leaders at a conference in Munich, accusing them, among other things, of suppressing free speech. In April, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York requested a stay on a hearing set two days earlier by Judge Jessica Clark to hear oral arguments on defendants’ motions to dismiss. The private defendants objected to the stay, which was granted for the federal defendants only. In the [filing](https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2023cv03048/597054/123?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com), the U.S. Attorney’s Office cited the January executive order and the new leadership at the DOJ, explaining they needed “more time for the Attorney General to complete her investigation and report and for new leadership at the Department to determine its position as to the official capacity defendants.” At the time, Berenson himself certainly thought a settlement was possible, believing the case presented a political opportunity for the new regime “to repudiate the Biden administration’s social media censorship efforts,” as he put it in an email to *Important Context*. After all, he had evidence that prior to his suspension from Twitter, administration officials and employees of the company had communicated about his content—and the former had sought to get it removed. The day before the government’s request for a stay, Berenson had published a Substack post declaring his case was “about to get serious” and asking readers, “Will the Trump White House stand with me and free speech…or with Pfizer?” The piece suggested that donations from Pfizer might influence the administration to continue fighting. Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, who is a leading expert in vaccine law and policy, told *Important Context* that she too had initially thought the Trump administration might settle the case as a way of jabbing at its predecessor. Reiss noted that she was actually surprised when it continued fighting. “They may not have wanted to close the door to their own efforts to influence social media,” Reiss said. “But yes, I was surprised…I thought there was a real chance.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The dismissal of *Berenson v. Biden* came in two parts. In July, Judge Clarke granted summary judgment to the three private defendants—former White House senior advisor Andy Slavitt as well as Pfizer executives Dr. Scott Gottlieb and Albert Bourla—who were not being represented by the U.S. Attorneys. The court reasoned that only the government can violate constitutional rights. In that ruling, Clarke also noted that Berenson had not established himself as a protected class. The case against the federal defendants came to a close at the end of last month when Clarke [granted](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.597054/gov.uscourts.nysd.597054.132.0.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) them summary judgment without leave for Berenson to amend his complaint. The court reasoned that he had not shown a risk of future injury given the fact that named defendants were now private citizens. He had also failed to establish himself as a member of a protected class, which would be required for recovery. Still, in her decision, Clarke noted a peculiar concession on behalf of the defendants. “Second, while Official Federal Defendants effectively concede an underlying First Amendment violation…Plaintiff lacks standing for declaratory and injunctive relief because he has not plausibly alleged a ‘substantial risk’ of imminent future injury,” the decision read. *Important Context* reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to inquire as to why the government would not challenge Berenson’s claim of a First Amendment violation. In response, we received an email stating, “We will decline to comment. Thank you.” Reiss offered a possible explanation, noting that the concession might have been deliberate—an opening to attack the Biden administration. She noted that while the lawsuit had come down to risk of future injury, she did not believe that Berenson had much evidence of past injury. Nevertheless, due to the summary judgment, the case never went to the fact-finding stage where Berenson’s censorship claims could have been litigated in the first place, had the government not conceded the point. Still, Berenson is claiming vindication. In emails to *Important Context*, in which he tagged his attorney, he highlighted the concession and noted that he looked forward to having the case heard on appeal—up to the Supreme Court, if possible. He filed on October 27. “The court in *Berenson v. Biden* found the government conceded that my First Amendment rights had been violated and included an extensive factual record supporting my claim,” Berenson said. “It dismissed the case not because I couldn’t prove a violation but because as of now citizens cannot win money damages from the federal government for First Amendment violations or most constitutional violations. This is wrong, whether Democrats or Republicans commit such violations, and Senator Ted Cruz may introduce legislation to correct it.” Indeed, while Berenson’s claims failed to win in the Southern District of New York, Senate Republicans promptly gave him a platform to continue telling his story. Earlier this month, at the invitation of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Berenson testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in a hearing called, “Shut Your App; How Government Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans.” In his [opening statement](https://open.substack.com/pub/alexberenson/p/my-opening-statement-to-the-senate?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios), Berenson sought to frame his alleged censorship as a matter of concern for all Americans, arguing that social media companies have business before the government and are willing to sacrifice the speech of some users to stay in the “good graces” of federal officials. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The Senate hearing came amid a push by the Trump administration to control speech in the U.S.—from defamation [lawsuits](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paramount-trump-60-minutes-lawsuit-settlement/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the president against media outlets to [threats to withhold funding](https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html?ref=importantcontext.news) from colleges which the White House says are indoctrinating young people, to threats by the Federal Communications Commission against corporations like Walt Disney Co. over “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies. It also came weeks after Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, seemingly [scared](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech?ref=importantcontext.news) ABC into firing late night host Jimmy Kimmel over an opening monologue in which he discussed the ideology of the man who killed Charlie Kirk. On a right-wing podcast, Carr had [suggested](https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/10/02/what-we-learned-from-the-fcc-and-jimmy-kimmel?ref=importantcontext.news) that Kimmel’s remarks could lead to his agency revoking the broadcast licenses of ABC affiliate stations. Following the interview, broadcast station owners Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group stopped airing the show and ABC suspended the host. Nexstar, Sinclair, and Disney all had major deals pending approval by federal regulators. “Whatever anyone thinks about my views on the mRNA Covid shots—and I believe time has proved me mostly right—I am fighting for free speech here, and that should matter to journalists and everyone else,” Berenson told *Important Context* over email. ### Anti-Vaxxers Plan to “Make Europe Healthy Again” URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/anti-vaxxers-plan-to-make-europe/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:14.000Z Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement made its official European debut this week. On Wednesday, Dr. Robert Malone, an anti-vax [conspiracy theorist](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor) who Kennedy tapped as a vaccine advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [addressed](https://www.politico.eu/article/rfk-jr-adviser-praises-europe-uk-covid-shots-data/?ref=importantcontext.news) a group of European parliament members in Brussels who had gathered to launch “Make Europe Healthy Again.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) According to Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vax group Kennedy founded and led for years, MEHA is [meant to be](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/events/international-events/make-europe-healthy-again-meha-launch-event/?utm%5Fsource=cc&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=chdtv&utm%5Fid=20251015) “a European-wide campaign offering solutions to the crises in public health exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The Brussels event was organized by a new group bearing the MAHA spin-off name. Malone, who made a name for himself peddling misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines and was [named](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices over the summer after Kennedy fired all original 17 members of the panel, was there on behalf of the group Patriots for Europe. His talk focused on how European powers could implement the secretary’s anti-public health policies. As HHS Secretary, Kennedy has sought to reshape the nation’s public health institutions to accommodate his anti-vaccine agenda. He has slashed scientific research, gutted critical agencies, and fired senior personnel, bringing in conspiracy theorists and ideologue contrarians to set the nation’s public health policies. MEHA is not Malone’s first foray into international public health politics. He and his nonprofit, the Malone Institute, which sponsored the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan for the second Trump administration, signed the so-called “American Sovereignty Declaration” [calling](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/covid-contrarians-protest-whos-efforts-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization over its efforts to craft a pandemic preparedness treaty. Malone was a featured speaker at an event in Geneva last summer protesting the WHO’s annual meeting where the pandemic treaty was to be signed. The treaty was delayed and finalized earlier this year—[without the U.S.](https://www.science.org/content/article/global-pandemic-treaty-finalized-without-us-victory-multilateralism?ref=importantcontext.news), which pulled out of the international body as part of an executive order from President Donald Trump. Malone has also spoken at various events across Europe and the UK over the years, including with lawmakers. For example, in early 2024, he spoke on [a panel](https://bylinetimes.com/2024/01/10/andrew-bridgen-mp-and-the-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists/?ref=importantcontext.news) hosted by former far-right UK MP [Andrew Bridgen](https://bylinetimes.com/2023/05/12/the-radicalisation-of-andrew-bridgen/?ref=importantcontext.news), who has [appeared with](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/events/representing-the-people-with-mp-andrew-bridgen/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Help%20Children's%20Health%20Defense%20and%20RFK,%20Jr.,epidemic%20of%20poor%20health%20plaguing%20our%20children.) Children’s Health Defense and was “expelled from the Conservative Party”—as [he put it](https://x.com/abridgen/status/1978883073027477588?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)—“for asking questions about the Covid 19 vaccines safety and efficacy in early 2023.” Other speakers at Bridgen’s panel were affiliated with the GOP-aligned anti-vax medical groups America’s Frontline Doctors and the Independent Medical Alliance (previously the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance). While Malone is not officially involved with MEHA, the new organization does [feature other prominent voices](https://gomeha.com/about-us/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the anti-vax movement. Its founder and president, [Dr. Maria Hubmer-Mogg](https://caraka.hu/dr-maria-hubmer-mogg/?ref=importantcontext.news), who organized the Brussels event, previously organized rallies in Austria against COVID mitigation efforts. She appeared alongside Malone at an anti-vax [event](https://imahealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ICS5-AGENDA.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) during last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference that was hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and has served on the steering committee of the UK-based, internationally active anti-vax group World Council for Health. The Florida chapter of WCH [calls](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/florida-surgeon-general-to-appear) the COVID vaccines “weapons of mass destruction” and has hosted the state’s anti-vax Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on several [occasions](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/florida-surgeon-general-to-appear?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). On the MEHA executive board and steering committee is [Dr. Aseem Malhotra](https://www.statnews.com/2025/09/07/aseem-malhotra-mrna-covid-vaccine-remarks-reform-uk/?ref=importantcontext.news), a UK-based cardiologist who serves as a medical advisor to another Kennedy-allied organization, MAHA Action, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that exists to promote Kennedy’s efforts at HHS. This week, MAHA Action held a virtual media hub with 8,000 people tuning in, with speakers included Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) and Ladapo. MEHA also features leadership from Children’s Health Defense. Its CEO Mary Holland sits on MEHA’s steering committee, while its chief scientific officer, [Brian Hooker](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/21/anti-vaxxer-measles-texas?ref=importantcontext.news), is listed on MEHA’s international advisory board along with other anti-vax voices. Another international advisory board member is [Dr. Ryan Cole](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/01/10/washington-regulators-restrict-medical-license-of-idaho-doctor-who-spread-covid-19-disinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news), who served as the medical director for America’s Frontline Doctors, spoke at the previously mentioned Bridgen panel and Sen. Johnson’s CPAC event, and is currently an [international fellow](https://imahealth.org/about/senior-fellows/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Independent Medical Alliance. Mattias Desmet, a professor of psychology at Ghent University in Belgium and the author of “Psychology of Totalitarianism” about COVID mitigation measures, is also on the MEHA international advisory board. He spoke at the 2024 annual conference of the U.S.-based, anti-public health dark money group [The Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy?utm%5Fsource=activity%5Fitem). As we [noted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) in our coverage of that event, Desmet [presents himself](https://books.google.com/books/about/The%5FPsychology%5Fof%5FTotalitarianism.html?id=8orP0AEACAAJ&source=kp%5Fauthor%5Fdescription) as “the world’s leading expert on the theory of mass formation as it applies to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a reference to a conspiracy theory promoted by Malone that the population had been hypnotized into accepting the mitigation measures. Another international MEHA advisor is Canadian computational biologist [Jessica Rose](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), who is a [fellow](https://brownstone.org/author/jessica-rose/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Brownstone Institute and a [senior fellow](https://imahealth.org/experts/jessica-rose/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Independent Medical Alliance. Rose, who also [spoke](https://imahealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ICS5-AGENDA.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) at Johnson’s CPAC event, is a longtime collaborator of prolific anti-vaxxer [Dr. Peter McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news)—one of the co-authors on a widely rebuked anti-vax bibliography Kennedy [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-cited-by-rfk-jr-to-justify?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) to justify cutting mRNA vaccine research. Rose’s name also [appears](https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Shot-Facing-Dangers-Vaccines/dp/B0D8FZC157/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the book from which the bibliography originated. COVID misinformation and anti-vaccine rhetoric have been central to the resurgence of the far-Right in the U.S., serving as the tip of the spear for anti-government, anti-liberal radicalization. But the pandemic era anti-vax movement has been radiating out for years, becoming a global force as the launch of MEHA demonstrates. Kennedy himself has been internationally active during the COVID pandemic. For example, held a press conference in Berlin in August 2020 to [launch](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/what-senators-should-know-about-hhs-nominee-rfk-jr-s-ties-to-german-far-right/?ref=importantcontext.news) Children’s Health Defense Europe while in town to speak at a rally protesting COVID lockdown and mitigation measures. The rally also [featured elements](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/29/2346036/-RFK-Jr-loses-case-against-Daily-Kos-community-blogger-again?ref=importantcontext.news) of the German far Right. With Kennedy atop the HHS, the second Trump administration has not only spurred an increase in preventable disease burden in the US, but has dangerously exported anti-vax rhetoric with the help of this network. As the *BMJ* recently [reported](https://www.bmj.com/content/391/bmj.r2167.full?ref=importantcontext.news), public health policy leaders speaking at the World Vaccine Congress Europe in Amsterdam this week were worried about a “domino effect” of anti-vax messaging from the U.S. The MEHA launch, with a member of Kennedy’s ACIP in attendance, highlights those concerns. “Dear European colleagues, I strongly advise you to forcefully repudiate this initiative before they end up in a position to influence policy,” virologist and Accountability Journalism Institute scientific advisor Dr. Angela Rasmussen [posted](https://bsky.app/profile/angierasmussen.bsky.social/post/3m3cp7vexd22x?ref=importantcontext.news) in response to the MEHA launch. “Let me know if I can help.” ### 1,000 Doctors Challenge Florida’s Anti-Vax Surgeon General URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/1000-doctors-challenge-floridas-anti/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:15.000Z Last month, over a thousand Florida doctors signed a letter challenging a decision by their state’s anti-vax surgeon general to end school vaccination mandates. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In early September, Dr. Joe Ladapo announced that his state would be the first to end all immunization requirements. While the new policy won’t take effect until December, it means that school children will no longer need to be inoculated against preventable but potentially devastating diseases like hepatitis B and meningitis. Ladapo [hailed the move](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/florida-surgeon-general-says-state-will-eliminate-vaccine-mandates-rcna228835?ref=importantcontext.news) as a victory for parental freedom. “Who am I as a government or anyone else, who am I as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body?” the state surgeon general said. “Who am I to tell you what your child should put in \[their\] body? I don’t have that right.” Now, a group of medical doctors are speaking out against policy. In a letter sent September 15, they warned of the obvious dangers. “As a group of over 1,000 Florida physicians, representing the medical community across the state, we urgently call on officials to preserve existing vaccine requirements for school attendance and in other high-risk settings,” the letter read. “The recent announcement by the Surgeon General proposing their removal jeopardizes the hard-won gains in community disease prevention and threatens to undo decades of progress.” The [letter](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kgovU%5F78AsBQ2BNR%5FZkclp-83DPEIR29/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=108902448054045557010&rtpof=true&sd=true&ref=importantcontext.news) noted that Ladapo’s policy changes could weaken community immunity many Florida residents depend on, including newborns, chronic illness sufferers, the immunocompromised, and healthy children and adults who are either unvaccinated or not up-to-date on their vaccines. “Vaccine protection allows our children to safely attend school and daycare, participate in activities, and enjoy childhood without unnecessary fear of life-threatening infection,” it read. “Removing these protections would undermine public trust and create preventable risks.” The message has thus far fallen on deaf ears. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) For years, Ladapo has been on the medical fringes. His rise to power came out of an apparent political rivalry between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. In late August 2021, Trump had been booed at an Alabama rally for encouraging the crowd to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The political Right had increasingly been embracing the medical fringes as part of a larger campaign to undermine politically and economically inconvenient public health efforts to control the spread of the virus. DeSantis, who made a run for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 cycle, [leaned in](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2023/07/how-ron-desantis-turned-covid-denialism-into-a-major-political-weapon?ref=importantcontext.news). Almost one month to the day after the booing, the Florida governor named Ladapo as his surgeon general. The anti-vax doctor, who got his medical degree from Harvard, began his ascent as part of the pro-Trump medical group, America’s Front Line Doctors, which was organized with help from the secretive and influential Christian Right group [Council for National Policy](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Council%5Ffor%5FNational%5FPolicy?ref=importantcontext.news) to lend legitimacy to the president’s push to reopen the country ahead of the election. Ladapo advised Trump in a closed-door Oval Office meeting the next month. As Florida surgeon general, Ladapo has been a steady source of medical misinformation, particularly around the COVID vaccines. In April 2023, he was [exposed](https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/florida-surgeon-general-altered-state-funded-study-covid-vaccine-risk?ref=importantcontext.news) as having altered a study on the risks of the mRNA shots to make them appear dangerous for young men. As *Important Context* previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/florida-surgeon-general-to-appear), he has appeared at multiple events—including one last week—hosted by an anti-vax group that has called the COVID shots “weapons of mass destruction.” “Banning vaccine requirements is banning progress,” said letter signer Dr. Natalia Solenkova, a Florida-based intensivist and scientific advisor to the Accountability Journalism Institute. “It dismantles the achievements of science that have protected our communities for generations.” Solenkova, an at-large member of the [International Medical Graduates Section (IMGS) Governing Council](https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/international-medical-graduates-section-imgs/international-medical-0?ref=importantcontext.news), said she did not expect Florida to change course. She explained that the goal of the letter is to show politicians that there are dissenting doctors and to put pressure on the Department of Health to protect vaccines. “Just a little over a century ago, one in five children died before the age of five,” she said. “Thanks to vaccines and public health, kids live longer, healthier lives. Instead of celebrating this progress, Florida is now choosing to fight it—and that will cost lives.” ### Trump Public Health Officials Attacked mRNA Vaccines, CDC For Years Before August 8 Shooting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-public-health-officials-attacked/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:15.000Z On August 8, a gunman opened fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus in Atlanta, hitting several buildings with 180 rounds and killing one responding police officer. The shooter had repeatedly expressed anger over the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which he believed were killing him and many other people, and wanted to make the country aware. His father blamed online misinformation for his son’s radicalized worldview. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Vaccine skepticism in the United States has been on the rise for years. But the last few, since COVID hit, have been a golden age for conspiracy-mongers, who found amplification and larger audiences as they were embraced by right-wing politicians, media, and dark money groups seeking to r[estore economic normalcy](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oil-negative-price-1.5538996?ref=importantcontext.news) to the country at the height of the crisis. Thanks to this alliance, misinformation, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has reached a sort of endemicity in the population. Online [bullying](https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/physician-advocates-social-media-hate-nauseatingly-normal?ref=importantcontext.news) and harassment of doctors and scientists has correspondingly increased. The August 8 attack put a spotlight on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vax conspiracy theorist who was [named](https://counterhate.com/research/the-disinformation-dozen/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=22915829467&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrc7GBhCfARIsAHGcW5WJ7GPfh2TwkngQZzhwo-NSVXge3LXToiC185F0og1yHjhjEiCF2Q0aAgGnEALw%5FwcB&ref=importantcontext.news) in a 2021 report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of its most prolific vaccine misinformation spreaders. Kennedy once called the mRNA shots the “deadliest” vaccine ever produced and has long been a critic of the CDC, which he has called a “[cesspool of corruption](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1767176567678017604?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” Even in his response to the August shooting, the secretary took a jab at the CDC for its handling of the pandemic, declaring, “One of the things that we saw during COVID is that the government was overreaching in its efforts to persuade the public to get vaccinated and they were saying things that are not always true.” In the aftermath of the attack, calls for Kennedy’s resignation have been mounting [inside](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/03/health/hhs-employees-letter-rfk-jr?ref=importantcontext.news) and outside HHS—from political leaders like Sens. [Bernie Sanders](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/kennedy-must-resign/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Jon Ossoff](https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3lxy23ayy5g23?ref=importantcontext.news) to [public health groups](https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2025/joint-statement-calling-for-secretary-kennedy-resignation/?ref=importantcontext.news) like the Infectious Diseases Society, the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the American Association of Immunologists, the American Public Health Association, and others. Petitions demanding he step down had racked up tens of thousands of signatures online. Kennedy’s firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez—which Monarez said followed her refusal in a closed door meeting to green light his anti-vax agenda—only inflamed the situation. Earlier this week, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) [introduced](https://www.wate.com/hill-politics/house-democrat-introduces-articles-of-impeachment-against-rfk-jr/amp/?ref=importantcontext.news) articles of impeachment against him. But Kennedy is not the only public health official working in the Trump administration to have spread misinformation about the mRNA vaccines and attack the CDC as corrupted or compromised in the years preceding the shooting. *Important Context* has compiled a list of these individuals, who have spent years casting doubt on the mRNA shots and the CDC, and who were elevated to key roles in America’s vital public health apparatus. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Marty Makary Food and Drug Administration Commissioner [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce) has been a prominent critic of mRNA vaccines for years and sought to limit access to them in his government role. He has also been a vocal critic of the CDC, rising to national prominence on the Right by attacking public health authorities for their response to the pandemic—and embrace of the COVID shots. In August 2022, Makary was one of several medical voices [promoting](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1564943270702206978?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a misleading narrative, popular in anti-vax circles, that the updated boosters the agency was recommending had only been tested on a handful of mice and were not ready for human use. While Pfizer’s preliminary vaccine tests did use eight mice, the booster saw little additive changes from previous iterations. That fact, combined with the urgency of addressing the Omicron variant, [trumped the need](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/pfizer-says-covid19-bivalent-booster-significantly-increase-antibodies-fight-omicron?ref=importantcontext.news#New-bivalent-boosters-found-safe) for human trials. Ultimately, the vaccines proved both safe and effective against hospitalization and death, but Makary would not acknowledge it. Instead, he published a dubious paper in December that year, arguing that the shots had proven to be a “[net clinical harm](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1599935606259605504?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” for young people ages 18 to 29\. Two of his co-authors are also now working inside FDA with him—Vinay Prasad, head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Tracy Beth Høeg, who serves as a senior advisor for clinical sciences at the agency and at CBER. In [*New York Post*](https://nypost.com/2023/09/14/the-real-data-behind-the-new-covid-vaccines-the-white-house-is-pushing/?utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=nypost%5Fsitebuttons)op-ed from September 2023, he and Høeg asked readers a series of leading questions that cast doubt on the COVID boosters, like, “What if I told you one in 50 people who took a new medication had a ‘medically attended adverse event’ and the manufacturer refused to disclose what exactly the complication was — would you take it?” “And what if we told you the Food and Drug Administration cleared it without any human-outcomes data and European regulators are not universally recommending it as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is?” they wrote. “That’s what we know about the new COVID vaccine the Biden administration is firmly recommending for every American 6 months old and up.” The op-ed rejected the idea the COVID booster would reduce the risk of hospitalization, infection rate, and the potentiality of long COVID, claiming, “None of those claims has a shred of scientific support.” Independent [studies](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9896606/?ref=importantcontext.news) from across the world have shown that the boosters, [promoted by](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0912-COVID-19-Vaccine.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the CDC, do indeed lessen the extraneous risks associated with the disease. In a June 2023 op-ed, Makary [accused](https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/was-covid-vaccine-safe-pregnant-women?ref=importantcontext.news) the CDC of “absolutism,” “groupthink science,” and having “deferred to Big Pharma” on the issue of COVID vaccine safety for pregnant people. He claimed the agency was “ignoring the role of natural immunity.” COVID vaccines have been shown to offer critical protection during pregnancy to both the [recipient and their newborns](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/30/nx-s1-5415916/heres-the-science-behind-the-covid-vaccine-in-pregnancy?ref=importantcontext.news) and are [recommended](https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2025/08/acog-releases-updated-maternal-immunization-guidance-covid-influenza-rsv?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Makary has even attacked the CDC for promoting water fluoridation, [calling it](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1852887374646157735?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) ‘inexplicable’ that “Despite the many now-recognized potential harms of putting fluoride in America’s drinking water, the CDC still…lists on their website that the fluoridation of drinking water is one of the 10 greatest public health achievements in modern history.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Jay Bhattacharya National Institutes of Health director [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) also has a long history of attacking the mRNA vaccines and CDC. Bhattacharya was recently defending cuts to mRNA vaccine research on the grounds that the mRNA platform is “no longer viable” for public health. The letter to Kennedy from HHS workers following the CDC shooting included a request to Bhattacharya that he cease making such false assertions. The NIH director rose to national prominence advocating against COVID mitigation measures, promoting herd immunity through widespread infection. Bhattacharya eventually allied himself with anti-vaxxers like Kennedy and began casting doubt on the safety, efficacy, and necessity of the vaccines—particularly for young people. In an [op-ed](https://theprint.in/opinion/majority-indians-have-natural-immunity-vaccinating-entire-population-can-cause-great-harm/582174/?ref=importantcontext.news) from January 2021, weeks before India suffered its worst COVID wave, he argued that universal vaccination in the country would be a net harm because the population had allegedly achieved herd immunity. Bhattacharya [appeared](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) in the 2024 pseudo-documentary *COVID Collateral*, which pushed a number of false and contradictory narratives about the pandemic, and promoted an anti-vaccine conspiracy theory. During his interview, he claimed that effective early treatments for COVID had been suppressed in order to enable the vaccines’ emergency use authorization. He specifically mentioned ivermectin, which the overwhelming body of research shows is not effective against COVID. Like Makary, Bhattacharya has spent years attacking the CDC over its response to the pandemic, [stating](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1777334458783580515?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the agency “failed utterly.” He has painted the CDC as both [politically compromised](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1766487708942368806?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [incompetent](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1841751992785637588?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), claiming that it did great harm to Americans supporting shutdowns, [child masking](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1690549390191280128?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)—which he called “[lunacy](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1679714082298163200?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)”—and vaccine mandates. Last March, for example, he suggested that its isolation guidelines for the sick were [insane](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1763641039808762355?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [accused](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1766487708942368806?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) it of having taken marching orders from teachers unions on school closures. That July, he said the agency had committed “[data crimes](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1685880780831207424?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” overstating the damage of COVID. When it came to mRNA vaccines, Bhattacharya [alleged](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1566663654853861377?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the agency had embraced the shots without adequate testing data. The NIH director made his [comment](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-spreads-vaccine-misinformation) about the mRNA platform not being viable days after the CDC shooting on Steve Bannon’s misinformation-spreading *War Room* podcast. ### Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg Høeg, a prominent ally of FDA Commissioner Makary, was appointed as Senior Advisor for Clinical Sciences at the FDA in May. As *Important Context* [covered](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine) in April, Høeg has a cache of evergrowing sway in national public health politics despite her lack of experience in the field. Like Makary, Høeg made a name for herself on the Right [opposing](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/doctor-with-wish-list-more-vaccine-scrutiny-named-assistant-new-fda-chief-2025-04-02/?ref=importantcontext.news) CDC-recommended health measures to combat COVID infection, particularly efforts to keep schools safe, like mask and vaccine mandates. A sports medicine physician, she went to work as a consultant epidemiologist for Florida’s anti-vax surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo. Her initial appointment in the FDA as the commissioner’s special assistant raised eyebrows. She has a long record of casting doubt on the mRNA and other vaccines as well as the CDC. Sharing the September 2023 op-ed she co-authored with Makary about the COVID boosters, Høeg [asked](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1702677152607707625?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) her X followers, “Do FDA/CDC work for the 🇺🇸people or pharma?” Vaccines are not the only topic Høeg has slammed the CDC over. After an illegal Chinese-owned laboratory was found in Reedley, California, holding infectious diseases like Dengue and HPV, Høeg was quick to stoke conspiratorial speculation over the nature of the work conducted at the facility—dragging the public health agency. Although the lab [posed no danger](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-lab-biological-weapons-fears-california-5ca5824b09ad5b8c2c65b639743e8507?ref=importantcontext.news) according to officials—and though the diseases were held [legally](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-lab-biological-weapons-fears-california-5ca5824b09ad5b8c2c65b639743e8507?ref=importantcontext.news)—Høeg suggested that the CDC was not looking deep enough [into the matter](https://tracybethhoegmdphd.substack.com/p/reedley-california-biolab-ccp-involvement). In a post on [X](https://x.com/TracyBethHoeg/status/1726844689498964302?ref=importantcontext.news) about the lab, she hinted that corruption was the reason, suggesting a connection between the lab, the CDC and the CCP, Bill Gates, the Pandemic Preparedness Treaty, among others. ”As soon as I read about this lab I wondered about ties to not just the CCP but Bill Gates, the WEF & WHO OneHealth & Pandemic Preparedness Treaty,” she wrote. “If these things aren’t interrelated along w CDC’s reluctance to get involved w the lab, I’ll be shocked.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Vinay Prasad Another Kennedy ally who has been a prolific mRNA vaccine opponent and critic of the CDC is Vinay Prasad, who is currently the nation’s current top vaccine regulator. Before joining the Trump administration, Prasad made a name for himself opposing government efforts to control the spread of COVID, particularly in younger populations, emerging as one of the loudest voices against the mRNA vaccines. Prasad, who allied with anti-vaxxers, even letting the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) republish his Substack, has repeatedly asserted that the boosters were inadequately tested and possibly even dangerous. His evidence? The risk of myocarditis from COVID vaccination—which is very low as noted in [a study](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9538893/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the European Society of Cardiology. Other studies, such as [one](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.059970?ref=importantcontext.news) from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA ASA) Journals, note that the risk of myocarditis from vaccines is far lower than the risk of heart damage from COVID infection. In making his claims, Prasad has often targeted public health authorities—especially the CDC, which he has castigated for allegedly misleading the public about a host of mitigation measures, including vaccines. In February, after the Trump administration slashed the CDC staff by 10 percent, Prasad went on a tear defending the cuts, citing a litany of alleged transgressions by the agency. In [one post](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1887569235800625413?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X, Prasad wrote, “Some people \[at\] CDC are responsible for 1 inaccurate death statistics for kids during covid 2 masking toddlers with cloth masks 3 pushing boosters on young men who had COVID-19,” adding, “These people must be fired” and, “You can’t have incompetent experts.” In another post, Prasad highlighted the fact that “The CDCs website still lists covid 19 shots on the childhood schedule for every 6 month old,” adding, “You really have to be incompetent to do this.” “CDC should remove this immediately and fire those who permitted it,” he wrote. In November, Prasad wrote a [Substack post](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/a-simple-suggestion-for-rfk-jr-to?utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&ref=importantcontext.news) calling on Kennedy to implement a rule across HHS, limiting the amount of money any independent group advising the department could receive from the pharmaceutical industry. ”A generation of physicians without conflicts will think differently about medicine,” he wrote. “They won’t recommend off label drugs based on a hail mary— lacking good evidence. They won’t want to treat pre-malignant conditions. They will be more disciplined and think more about what is best for patients.” Prasad himself has [listed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-white-house-cites-fringe-doctor?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) health insurance industry consulting fees on papers in his conflict of interest statements. Some of Prasad’s rhetoric has bordered on extreme. He once suggested that he would [fire](https://bsky.app/profile/joho.bsky.social/post/3lhajr5rvrs2g?ref=importantcontext.news) 10,000 CDC staffers and anyone else involved in recommending masking toddlers, and in the fall of 2022, he was all in on payback—or “accountability”—for public health officials who promoted pandemic control measures. At the time, there was discussion of pandemic “amnesty,” or moving on from disagreements over COVID policy. The idea had been floated in an op-ed for *The Atlantic* by COVID contrarian economist Emily Oster. Prasad utterly rejected the idea. “I don’t believe in forgiveness because in my opinion, these pieces of shit are still lying,” he [said](https://x.com/thechiefnerd/status/1842590098497425479?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in an interview last November. “I mean, if you want forgiveness, the first thing you have to say is what you actually did wrong, and they’re still fucking lying.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Martin Kulldorff There is also Martin Kulldorff, who has chaired the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) ever since Kennedy [remade](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) the body by stacking it with his anti-vax and contrarian friends. In his government role, Kulldorff has continued promoting misinformation about vaccines. He recently [attacked](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-vaccine-advisors-share-anti-vax?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the American Academy of Pediatrics as “pro-mercury” after it criticized ACIP’s decision to recommend only flu vaccines without thimerosal, an organomercury compound that has not been shown to be harmful. But Kulldorff has been promoting fringe views about vaccines and public health for years. The Swedish biostatistician fell from Harvard Medical School into the world of right-wing and anti-vax dark money. He is a longtime collaborator of Bhattacharya and critic of government efforts to control the spread of COVID. Like the NIH director, he has cast doubt on the mRNA shots and attacked the CDC and other public health authorities. In June 2022, for example, he [tweeted](https://x.com/martinkulldorff/status/1538968175630438400?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that it was “Tragic how CDC, FDA, NIH, university & pharmaceutical leaders abandoned evidence-based medicine during the pandemic,” while tagging Makary, Bhattacharya, Høeg, and Prasad, claiming they and others “filled the void.” One of Kulldorff’s favorite accusations—one that has been made by Bhattacharya, Makary, and others on the right as well—is that the CDC ignored or denied “natural immunity” from COVID as an alternative to lockdowns and vaccine mandates. In August 2022, he [wrote](https://x.com/martinkulldorff/status/1559781145969057792?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “Now that CDC has finally admitted that there is natural immunity after covid infection, all unions should demand the reinstatement with backpay for unvaxxinated employees that were fired.” Last November, he shared Prasad’s post calling for an HHS-wide rule limiting pharmaceutical funding for independent department advisors, [writing](https://x.com/martinkulldorff/status/1860309323941024006?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “Eliminate scientists with pharma-ties from FDA, NIH, CDC and CMS advisory boards.” Like Prasad and other officials named in this article, Kulldorff’s advocacy has bordered on extremism. In December 2021, for example, Kulldorff [shared](https://x.com/gidmk/status/1508954365503361027?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) an op-ed by Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker calling for “accountability” for public health officials who recommended COVID mitigation measures. The piece, which focused on lockdowns and the public health officials who supported them, used the image of a guillotine as the cover photo. “It is very likely that the people who did this to us will never be held accountable, not in any court and not in any legislative hearing,” it read.” They will never be forced to compensate their victims. They will never even admit they were wrong. And herein lies what might be the most egregious feature of evil public policy: this is not and will not be justice or anything that even vaguely resembles justice.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Robert Malone Then there is notorious anti-vax physician and biochemist [Robert Malone](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor), a Kennedy ally and conspiracy theorist who serves on ACIP. Purporting to be the inventor of the mRNA technology, Malone has [claimed](https://www.businessinsider.com/scientist-made-unfounded-covid-19-mass-formation-psychosis-claims-2022-1?ref=importantcontext.news) that millions of Americans were hypnotized by the government to accept COVID mitigation measures, including the vaccines—which he has falsely suggested have killed hundreds of thousands of people. He has also promoted disproven COVID cures like the anti-malarial drug [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/as-maha-looms-a-look-back-on-magas-big-hcq-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news) and the anti-parasitic [ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news). Malone has repeatedly attacked the CDC to his more than 1 million followers on social media, [claiming](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1939801633522680039?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the agency conceals data on the harms of the vaccines. In late July, less than three weeks before the August 8 shooting, Malone [shared](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1947202829958967578?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) an article on his X account titled “Where Does the CDC’s Pervasive Dishonesty Come From?” He called it “recommended reading.” On August 5, Malone suggested, in a [post](https://www.malone.news/p/silos-and-crevasses-nih-fda-cdc-and?utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&ref=importantcontext.news) on his lucrative Substack, that there was dangerous “lot-to-lot variability in safety and effectiveness with the mRNA products.” On August 11, three days after the shooting, Malone [posted](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1910887518943183273?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X that the Trump administration had identified individuals at the agency who were “responsible” for “hiding ‘CRITICAL’ data regarding the jab and hospitalizations.” ### Retsef Levi Another anti-vax ACIP member appointed by Kennedy who has spread misinformation about the COVID shots and cast doubt on the CDC is Retsef Levi. A professor of operations management at MIT, Levi has written dozens of posts on X expressing his disbelief in vaccinations for a variety of reasons, ranging from potential myocardial injury to the supposed risk of sudden death for which there is no evidence. He has even falsely suggested the COVID vaccines are the real [cause](https://x.com/RetsefL/status/1676503751107153922?ref=importantcontext.news) of long COVID. Levi has [attacked](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1952383969443357100?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the American Academy of Pediatrics advocating for vaccinations for children in a majority of cases, calling them “vaccine-fanatics, or perhaps financially conflicted.” Levi has long been a [critic](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1734396558592930233?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of the CDC for recommending COVID vaccines. In a [post on X](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1698708407987912851?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) from September 2023, tagging Høeg, Bhattacharya, and others, he slammed the agency for recommending the shots to children. “CDC continues to recommend COV vacc’s for children 6-48 mo. How many red flags needed to stop?” Levi wrote. “More harm in vacc’s vs. placebo in Pfizer trial, 6 vs. 2 severe COV & 23 vs. 11 other severe viral infections! Concerns of prolonged reduced immune response to viruses & bacteria! Not to mention risk of cardiovascular injury, for which Pfizer holds back its trial results!” “Seems like the burden of proof of safe & effective changed to the burden of proof of not-safe & not-effective,” he added. In another [post](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1860407959244701878?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) from November 2024, he suggested that the agency had abandoned science, writing, “To rebuild the trust in the US regulatory system, we need to bring back truly science-based approach that puts patients’ health at the center!” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dr. Kirk Milhoan A recent addition to ACIP, Kirk Milhoan is a pediatric cardiologist and pastor from Hawaii who was serving as a senior fellow at the anti-vax group [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). Formerly the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, the group is known for its promotion of ivermectin for COVID despite the anti-parasitic drug not being effective for that purpose, and its anti-vax stances. Like the other names in this report, Milhoan has cast doubt on the mRNA vaccines and the public health authorities who recommend them. During an appearance this June on *American Thought Leaders*, a podcast of the anti-vax *Epoch Times* hosted by [Bhattacharya ally](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) and anti-vaxxer Jan Jekielek, Milhoan [called](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rise-in-cardiovascular-conditions-myocarditis-in/id1471411980?i=1000712382799&ref=importantcontext.news) vaccine myocarditis “a silent killer” and made a number of other false claims about the shots. For example, he asserted that they were more likely to cause myocarditis than the virus and had “negative efficacy,” meaning the vaccinated were more susceptible to COVID than the unvaccinated. Milhoan suggested that the vaccines had been rolled out “very quickly” with inadequate testing before being used on children. He said that given the low risk profile of young people, “we” had done harm by vaccinating them and claimed that the shots could trigger a “chronic vaccinated state” where the body continues producing the spike protein, which he blamed for inflammation. Later, he endorsed unproven COVID treatments—namely ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. ### Kennedy-Appointed CDC Vaccine Advisor Posts Bizarre Conspiracy Theory Ahead of ACIP Meeting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/kennedy-appointed-cdc-vaccine-advisor/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:16.000Z On Wednesday, ahead of this week’s two-day meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a member of the body tweeted a baseless conspiracy theory about former CDC Director Susan Monarez, PhD, who was testifying before the Senate about her ouster last month. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Monarez told members of the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that she had been fired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. after resisting pressure from the longtime anti-vaccine activist to give “blanket approval” for his agenda. Specifically, Monarez said Kennedy wanted her to rubber stamp changes to the childhood vaccine schedule based on the recommendations of ACIP, which he [reshaped in June](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), firing all 17 members and replacing them with his anti-vax and contrarian allies. Kennedy, who has a [long history of making false statements](https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996570855/disinformation-dozen-test-facebooks-twitters-ability-to-curb-vaccine-hoaxes?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Anatomy%20Of%20A%20COVID%2D19,in%20donations%20to%20his%20organization.), has disputed Monarez’s account and has repeatedly claimed he fired her because she [told](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/susan-monarez-former-cdc-director-testify-senate-ouster/story?id=125628812&ref=importantcontext.news) him she was not "trustworthy”—a description that stands in stark contrast with how the secretary described her when she was confirmed to her post in July. At the time, Kennedy had [called](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/2025-secretary-kennedy-swears-in-susan-monarez-as-cdc-director-to-advance-make-america-healthy-again.html?ref=importantcontext.news) Monarez “a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials” and said he had “full confidence in her ability to restore the CDC's role as the most trusted authority in public health and to strengthen our nation's readiness to confront infectious diseases and biosecurity threats." ACIP member Dr. Robert Malone, a physician and prolific anti-vaccine and pandemic conspiracy theorist, publicly took Kennedy’s side, floating a bizarre conspiracy theory about the former CDC director. Malone suggested that not only was Monarez lying in her testimony, but perhaps she had been “trained” to do so by the “intelligence community.” ”The CIA trains people how to lie and manipulate others. That is a fact,” Malone [wrote](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1968388963850404223?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in a post on X. “Has she been trained to lie by our intelligence community?” A physician and biochemist, Malone is perhaps best known for [overstating](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html?ref=importantcontext.news) his role in the development of mRNA vaccine technology while spreading fear and misinformation about the COVID shots, which he once [suggested](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKxvGIXAeW%5F/?igsh=MTdtejJmOXI5emh2Yw==&ref=importantcontext.news) had caused 17 million deaths worldwide. But he also has a history of promoting unsubstantiated claims of government conspiracies. In his bestselling 2022 book, “Lies My Gov’t Told Me: And the Better Future Coming,” which featured a foreword by Kennedy and was published by his anti-vax group, Children’s Health Defense, Malone [claimed](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/06/robert-malone-cdc-acip-vaccine/683178/?ref=importantcontext.news) that former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci was manipulating the public’s fear in order to amass power. The follow up to that book—the Kennedy-endorsed “PsyWar: Enforcing the New World Order,” which he co-authored with his wife—purported to expose how the U.S. government had used psychological warfare tactics against the American people, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, to engineer social control. It alleged that the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the CIA work with a “censorship industrial complex” to give the government “reality-bending information control capabilities.” Malone became famous for a December 2021 appearance on *The Joe Rogan Experience* podcast in which he claimed that the population was under the influence of a so-called “[mass formation psychosis](https://www.vice.com/en/article/robert-malone-mass-formation-psychosis-covid-joe-rogan/?ref=importantcontext.news)”—a form of hypnosis tricking the public into supporting COVID mitigation measures and trusting experts. He also compared pandemic control measures to life in Nazi Germany. Malone’s latest conspiracy theory about Monarez was not the only bizarre post from the anti-vax physician on Wednesday. The fringe ACIP member [posted](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1968404291716014568?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a chart of unproven COVID treatments and their alleged “cost per life saved.” The chart included ivermectin, which research has repeatedly demonstrated is not effective against the coronavirus. Malone was previously a senior advisor to the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally), an ivermectin-pushing, anti-vax dark money group formerly known as the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. At its meetings this week, ACIP is set to [discuss](https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/agendas/final-posted-2025-09-17-508.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) the measles-mumps-rubella, hepatitis B, and COVID vaccines—all of which have been targets of Kennedy and his allies. The meetings mark the first for [five new ACIP members](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/prescription-pulse/2025/09/16/rfk-jr-s-last-minute-additions-to-acip-00564656?ref=importantcontext.news), who were announced by the secretary on Monday. They include IMA senior fellow Dr. Kirk Milhoan. ### Rewriting Extremism: Right-Wing Seeks Nation to Mourn Charlie Kirk URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/rewriting-extremism-right-wing-seeks/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:17.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Wednesday, the head of one of the most influential right-wing dark money groups in the country was shot and killed in an act of violence decried across the political spectrum. In the wake of the killing, the Trump administration, GOP lawmakers, and right-wing personalities have paid tribute to their fallen ally—and sought to silence critics who pointed out his long history of extremism, violent rhetoric, and derogatory and conspiratorial statements. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old Christian Nationalist podcaster and internet personality, was at Utah Valley University for one of his signature “Prove Me Wrong” debates at which he would invite college students to confront him with questions challenging his regressive political views. The outdoor event, which was organized by Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the dark money group he co-founded to promote right-wing ideology on college and university campuses, was set to be the first stop on a national tour. Over 3,000 people were in attendance, [including Kirk’s wife and two young children](https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c206zm81z4gt?post=asset:c0251c3a-1ff7-4d57-8c3b-b124a011e280&ref=importantcontext.news#post), as the far-right activist was shot in the neck. The horrific slaying by a suspect with thus far [unclear motivations](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-memes-meaning?ref=importantcontext.news) comes at a precarious time for the nation—one defined by extreme polarization and rising political violence. Just last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus was shot up by a [radicalized individual](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-workers-demand-changes-from-kennedy) who believed the COVID-19 vaccines were killing him and other people. One responding police officer was killed. In June, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated, and State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were left wounded, by an [anti-abortion gunman](https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/vance-luther-boelter-minnesota-shooting-wife-tim-waltz-fjtpxnx9d?ref=importantcontext.news). In April, a [man with anti-government](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/josh-shapiro-arson-trump/682456/?ref=importantcontext.news) views threw Molotov cocktails into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion. Before that, in July 2024, a gunman with an unclear motive took a shot at Donald Trump on the campaign trail, grazing his ear. Kirk was a high profile member of the so-called New Right, a neo-fascist movement that has engulfed the Republican Party under Donald Trump. He is credited with helping turn out college-age men for Trump in 2024\. With his death has come an outpouring of support from the president and other Republican politicians, right-wing personalities, and political operatives, who have been lionizing the fallen extremist as a champion of free speech and open debate. Some have even called him a ‘martyr,’ including Heritage Foundation president [Kevin Roberts](https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-president-mourns-loss-condemns-assassination-charlie-kirk?ref=importantcontext.news) and *Newsweek* senior editor at large [Josh Hammer](https://www.newsweek.com/martyrdom-my-friend-charlie-kirk-opinion-2128752?ref=importantcontext.news). Trump called Kirk a “Great American Patriot,” [announced](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-will-posthumously-award-charlie-kirk-presidential-medal-fre-rcna230581?ref=importantcontext.news) that he would posthumously award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and [ordered](https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/nation/california/2025/09/12/trump-orders-flag-at-half-staff-for-charlie-kirk-until-sunday/86094109007/?ref=importantcontext.news) all flags throughout the country to fly at half mast to honor him. Vice President JD Vance [escorted](https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-jd-vance-turning-point-assassination-49501e2fdcb268c74c7dd929049abcd6?ref=importantcontext.news) the far-right activist’s casket on Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona where his body was laid to rest. A memorial service for Kirk is [planned](https://thehill.com/homenews/5502967-charlie-kirk-dc-prayer-vigil-kennedy-center/?ref=importantcontext.news) for Sunday night at the Kennedy Center. Coupled with the hagiographic tributes has been a campaign to silence Kirk’s critics. Trump and his allies have rushed to blame The Left, with some prominent right-wing voices calling it—or for—“war.” The president [vowed](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/13/politics/trump-rhetoric-democrats-charlie-kirk?ref=importantcontext.news) in a video Wednesday that his administration would “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.” The State Department [issued a warning](https://www.axios.com/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-shooting-immigrants-state-department?ref=importantcontext.news) that it would be reviewing the legal status of immigrants who celebrated or mocked the killing and the Pentagon implemented a “[zero tolerance](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-announces-zero-tolerance-military-personnel-mocking-charlie-kirks-assassination?ref=importantcontext.news)” for military personnel who did the same. Others, like Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), have been trying to get Kirk’s online detractors fired. McCormick [demanded](https://x.com/senmccormickpa/status/1966307689023287332?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the University of Pennsylvania take “decisive action” after renowned climatologist and geophysicist Michael E. Mann, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media and an Accountability Journalism Institute advisor, after he reposted criticisms of Kirk on X. Olivia Krolczyk of the right-wing Leadership Institute’s Riley Gaines Center—so named for the former college swimmer turned anti-trans crusader who appeared at events with Kirk—[announced](https://bsky.app/profile/reportbywilson.bsky.social/post/3lyorfvhqts2p?ref=importantcontext.news) that while it was ”free speech for liberals to celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death” it was also her free speech to “call their employers and let them know 💅.” On Wednesday, a website went up, www.charliesmurderers.com, which featured a list with pictures, social media screenshots, and personal details about those speaking ill of Kirk. The rewriting of Kirk and the efforts to shut down criticism of him appear to be part of a deliberate strategy to not only whitewash his extremism, but normalize and mainstream it—and perhaps use his death as a pretext for the Trump administration to continue targeting its political opposition. But there is a chasm between Kirk’s emerging right-wing legend as a champion of open debate and free speech and the reality of who he was in life. The TPUSA chief had been one of the major drivers of the nation’s polarization and division, especially amongst younger voters. His incurious, black and white thinking and intuitive understanding of rage-baiting in the digital media landscape was useful to the big money interests bankrolling the conservative movement. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Targeting Schools Kirk’s Turning Point operation, which boasts the main 501(c)(3) charity, TPUSA, and various arms, including a 501(c)(4) social welfare group and a PAC, specializes in generating outrage for a young, online right-wing audience. It purports to be the largest youth movement in America. Kirk launched the group in 2012 at the age of 18 with his friend and mentor, the late businessman and conservative activist Bill Montgomery. The aim of the organization was to indoctrinate, organize and train students to wage war on colleges as liberal bastions and turn them into incubators of right-wing thought. The organization grew into a juggernaut with the election of Donald Trump, establishing itself as a fixture in the president’s Make America Great Again movement. It amassed a staggering war chest—last year, it drew in more than $85 million in [revenue](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/800835023?ref=importantcontext.news)—with which it would hold splashy conferences that featured some of the biggest names in GOP politics as speakers and attendees. Kirk became something of a kingmaker on the Right. TPUSA’s annual AmericaFest conference regularly drew in thousands of conservatives and far-right figures, including white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and other extremists. Among the personalities slated to speak at the upcoming 2025 AmericaFest are white nationalist Steve Bannon, Fox News comedian Greg Gutfeld, who called on conservatives to [embrace the label](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/greg-gutfeld-fox-news-1235386916/?ref=importantcontext.news) of “Nazi,” and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who once called to [‘eradicate’](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/?ref=importantcontext.news) “transgenderism.” Also speaking is National Institutes of Health Director and public health contrarian Jay Bhattacharya and anti-vax actor Rob Schneider. The core of TPUSA’s success, its digital operation, was built around Kirk, who would make outrageous remarks—either on his podcast or in his debates with young college students—which the group would then turn into viral clips, generating media buzz and attracting big money support from the Right. The group was [launched](https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/09/11/wyoming-businessman-foster-friess-kick-started-charlie-kirk-group-turning-point/?ref=importantcontext.news) with funding from multimillionaire GOP donor and businessman Foster Friess but other funders have [included](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Turning%5FPoint%5FUSA?ref=importantcontext.news) various foundations linked to the petrochemical billionaire Koch family, the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, The Leadership Institute, and more. The narrative Kirk and TPUSA pushed out over and over again, with little regard for potential consequences, was that the Left was wantonly destroying America and American values—and the colleges were key to the operation. Kirk encouraged conservative students to rat out faculty members with whom they disagreed, publishing a professor “watchlist” on the TPUSA website to identify ostensibly liberal and left-wing professors. The list, which has been [compared](https://web.archive.org/web/20250406090543/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/04/nation/professor-watchlist-academics-fear/) to McCarthy Era targeting of academics, has been widely rebuked among academics for engendering fear on campuses and exposing the professors on it to online harassment and threats. The group also created a school board watchlist in 2021. The political Right has long targeted college campuses as bastions of liberal and progressive thought. In his influential 1971 memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Attack on American Free Enterprise,” corporate attorney and future Supreme Court justice Lewis Powell Jr. called on the business community to throw their resources behind changing the culture on college campuses by grooming speakers and right-wing professors. But Kirk’s operation treated institutions of higher learning as inherent enemies in a culture war that did not need to be slowly transformed so much as targeted and crushed into subservience. As *The Guardian* [noted](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/13/charlie-kirk-campus-culture-wars?ref=importantcontext.news) recently, this ideology is reflected in Trump administration policy. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Division and Doubt Kirk, himself a community college dropout, became known for his invective, his white supremacy, Christian nationalism, and proud anti-intellectualism. He reveled in and celebrated violence, peddled rank misogyny, and dealt in antisemitic tropes, racist myths, xenophobia, anti-LGBTQIA+ hate, and conspiracy theories. Some of his most controversial, viral moments include: - [Suggesting](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/charlie-kirk-bail-out-alleged-paul-pelosi-attacker-1234621493/?ref=importantcontext.news) that a “patriot” should bail out the man who attacked Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in their home with a hammer. - [Calling](https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3lysjytcyks2f?ref=importantcontext.news) President Joe Biden a “bumbling, dementia-filled, Alzheimer's, corrupt tyrant who should honestly be put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America." - [Expressing](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOet6XTCNwa/?igsh=MTg0dXV4b3NyYnpibA==&ref=importantcontext.news) his support for public executions. - Calling the Civil Rights Act a “[huge mistake](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fact-check-charlie-kirk-once-223400567.html?ref=importantcontext.news).” - [Stating](https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-flips-martin-luther-king-jr-attacks-growing-myth-1860839?ref=importantcontext.news) that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was “awful” and “not a good person.” - [Declaring](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOcVFsTDA3U/?igsh=MWU5NnVvMXFpa2lobw==&ref=importantcontext.news) that several high profile Black women—former First Lady Michelle Obama, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee—lacked the “brain processing power to…be taken really seriously” without Affirmative Action. - On multiple occasions, [admitting](https://youtu.be/dGQt-L5IYiA?ref=importantcontext.news) that DEI policies made him question the competence of Black professionals like pilots and surgeons. - [Arguing](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOeF2s5Ecr5/?igsh=MWF6c3ZncmRwNWN5&ref=importantcontext.news) that Black Americans were better off during segregation. - [Stating](https://fair.org/home/action-alert-snopes-thinks-kirk-was-kidding-about-killing-gays-being-gods-perfect-law/?ref=importantcontext.news) that “God’s perfect law” holds that homosexuals “shall be stoned to death.” - [Arguing](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJLgrHVNTef/?igsh=MXRoOTE3bjFlN3M0Zw==&ref=importantcontext.news) that a hypothetical drunk woman withdrawing consent from an equally drunk man during a late night sexual encounter was a “murky middle gray area.” - [Stating](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOddPfJCG9V/?igsh=MTViandiYm9udGJubw==&ref=importantcontext.news) that if he had a 10-year-old daughter got pregnant through rape, “the baby would be delivered.” - [Claiming](https://x.com/zhao%5Fdashuai/status/1966003520878129300?ref=importantcontext.news) that Marxist, secular Jewish financiers controlled America’s cultural institutions like Hollywood, colleges, and nonprofits. - [Claiming](https://youtu.be/uhkLycH9GrQ?ref=importantcontext.news) that “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”. - [Calling](https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-refers-democrats-maggots-vermin-and-swine?ref=importantcontext.news) Democrats “maggots…vermin and swine.” - [Declaring](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOg89DCArbp/?igsh=MTljeHllcXlrcGc2eA==&ref=importantcontext.news) that “prowling Blacks” were targeting white people. - [Calling](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs?ref=importantcontext.news) gun violence “worth it to” as a cost of having the Second Amendment. - [Espousing](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs?ref=importantcontext.news) the white nationalist Great Replacement theory that immigrants were deliberately being brought into America by nefarious left-wing forces to replace white people. Following Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020, Kirk became a major promoter of election denial. Turning Point Action, the social welfare arm of Kirk’s operation, even bused angry Trump supporters to D.C. for the demonstration that devolved into the Capitol Insurrection. Kirk himself called on Mike Pence to ignore the results of the election and has celebrated Trump’s pardons of insurrectionists, who he called “hostages.” Despite his group’s co-founder, businessman and conservative activist Bill Montgomery, [dying from COVID complications](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/29/turning-point-usa-founder-dies-coronavirus-complications-387077?ref=importantcontext.news), Kirk [joined](https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1301464955993174016?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) broader right-wing efforts to [politicize and undermine](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c13cab66-2b95-4995-9b47-c132150e5487/episodes/7d8af058-4244-47a1-80cb-e6729b3a9693/townhall-review-full-interviews-monologues-these-lockdowns-are-unnecessary-and-unhelpful-charlie-kirk-with-dr-simon-gold-and-richard-urso?ref=importantcontext.news) economically disruptive public health measures like “[lockdowns](https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1329188980810604544?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” Kirk promoted unproven COVID treatments embraced by the Right, including [hydroxychloroquine](https://casebook-static.pages.dev/case-studies/trading-chain-hydroxychloroquine-rumor/?ref=importantcontext.news) in early 2020 and [ivermectin](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27908148/?ref=importantcontext.news). Neither drug has proven effective for that purpose. Kirk also pushed fear of the mRNA COVID vaccines, which have saved millions of lives, calling them “[experimental](https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1653547533220859910?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and [suggested](https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1664380636537446402?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) they were [injuring people](https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1788610144324157555?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Kirk [partnered](https://www.facebook.com/realCharlieKirk/posts/get-10-off-the-twc-medical-emergency-kit-with-promo-code-charlie-gain-access-to-/1152218669594719/) with anti-vax group The Wellness Company, which hawks an unproven “spike detox” to cleanse the body of COVID vaccines. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Promoting White Nationalists Kirk associated with a number of white supremacist and white nationalists throughout his career. He even considered some friends. For example, the TPUSA chief was a longtime collaborator of [Jack Posobiec](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/07/08/jack-posobiecs-rise-tied-white-supremacist-movement?ref=importantcontext.news), the ex-Alt Right provocateur known for his white supremacist connections, support of #Pizzagate, and antisemitic posts. The pair did a promotional podcast episode for Posobiec’s book, *Unhumans:The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them)*, which makes the case that conservatives should follow the lessons of right-wing dictators who tortured and slaughtered leftists. Posobiec, whose podcast, Human Ev*ents Daily*, has been “[powered by](https://tpusa.com/contributor/jackposobiec/?ref=importantcontext.news)” TPUSA, [opened](https://youtu.be/DooSn5f9FOE?ref=importantcontext.news) the group’s convention last year by walking on stage with another staffer and unfurling flags that read “white boy summer.” He is set to speak at this year’s AmericaFest. In a recent [interview](https://youtu.be/mcTK-aX-Klc?si=NyJiqIYAMLyaZyxn&ref=importantcontext.news) with CNN about Kirk’s murder, Posobiec said the Right was “facing asymmetric warfare.” Another white nationalist Kirk platformed was [Steve Sailer](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/10/steve-sailer-far-right-event?ref=importantcontext.news), a blogger that writes for [Vdare](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/vdare/?ref=importantcontext.news)—a website that is openly associated with white supremacy—and is the founder of a eugenics group called the Human Biodiversity Institute. Sailer is also virulently anti-gay, claiming in a 2003 Vdare column that ”An infectious disease itself could cause homosexuality. It’s probably not a venereal germ, but maybe an intestinal or respiratory germ.” On October 12th of 2023, Kirk published a podcast episode called “The Crime of ‘Noticing’ with Steve Sailer.” “Noticing” has a specific meaning on the far-Right. In 2019, multiple news organizations began reporting on a Telegram channel that was publishing a hitlist targeting Jews. The list, which had initially started on 4chan, was moved to Telegram after being banned there. It was meant to target Jews for harassment. Each post consisted of the person’s name, photos, and a handful of social media posts. And in some cases potential locations were also included. First on the list was Senator Richard Blumenthal. That channel was called “The Noticer” and it spawned the far-right irony drenched trend of “noticing.” Noticing happens when you realize racist tropes such as “Blacks commit more crime,” or “Jews control everything.” The schtick behind “noticing” is that it is not racist to just observe and see patterns. Nevermind that the proponents of “noticing” only see the patterns that suit their biases. The term is widely used on social media platforms by nazis and antisemetic trolls. Sailer joined Kirk to promote his book full of racist stereotypes entitled, “Noticing: An Essential Reader.” Kirk opened the show by describing Sailer as “incredibly interesting, and one of the most talented noticers in the country.” And that “we like to say on the show that people committed the crime of ‘noticing,’” suggesting Kirk’s broad understanding of the phenomena. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Christian Nationalism Less than three months ago, Kirk was asked how he would want to be remembered. He responded, “for courage for my faith.” Although he initially advocated for the separation of church and state, Kirk [became](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/turning-point-usa-case-study-hard-right-2024/?ref=importantcontext.news) a Christian nationalist and a member of the secretive Christian Right group the [Council for National Policy](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/council-national-policy-behind-curtain/?ref=importantcontext.news), which connects right-wing activists with big donors and focuses on laying a media ground game for the far-Right. Early in 2023, Kirk’s operation launched an effort called [Turning Point USA Faith](https://tpusafaith.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), to unite various Christian religions behind “Biblical values,” defined by opposition to LGBTQIA+ acceptance and the perpetuation of patriarchy. On October 4, Kirk did an episode of his podcast, *The Charlie Kirk Show*, [titled](https://thecharliekirkshow.com/podcasts/the-charlie-kirk-show/is-the-pope-catholic-with-dr-taylor-marshall-and-h?ref=importantcontext.news), “Is The Pope Catholic?” “I’m not a Catholic so I can speak freely,” Kirk said on the program. Pope Francis “feels like an infiltrator that is LARPing as a Pope.” He went on to accuse the late Pope of trying to introduce “unclean spirits or even heretical ideas that are rooted in Marxism” into the Catholic faith. Kirk’s guest for his segment questioning the Pope’s faith was writer and YouTuber Dr. Taylor Marshall who is part of the “traditionalist Catholicism” movement that is virulently antisemitic. “Trad Catholics” seek a return to Latin based services and often refer to church officials they disagree with as “Marxist.” Kirk’s associate Posobiec has spoken at Trad Catholic events. Kirk was also one of the [signers](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-officials-gop-lawmakers-join) on a statement of principles for so-called National Conservatism, a fascistic, Christian Nationalist movement promoted through the Edmund Burke Foundation. The group recently held its fifth ever National Conservatism [conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-officials-gop-lawmakers-join) in D.C. attended by Trump administration officials, Posobiec, Bannon, and other extremists. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Real Gateway Pundit Perhaps the most defining part of Kirk’s legacy is his role as a gateway to right-wing radicalization. [Nathan Damigo](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nathan-benjamin-damigo/?ref=importantcontext.news), who is a white supremacist and was one of the main organizers of the Unite the Right rally in [Charlottesville](https://abcnews.go.com/US/charlottesville-rally-lawsuit-proceed-nathan-damigos-bankruptcy-filing/story?id=61149383&ref=importantcontext.news), openly encouraged his followers to attend Kirk’s campus events in February 2025\. Damigo founded the group [Identity Evropa](https://unicornriot.ninja/2021/former-identity-evropa-organizer-tells-secrets-in-trial-deposition/?ref=importantcontext.news) that was at the forefront of the Alt-Right’s efforts to recruit young men. He told his white nationalist followers on Telegram, “These events are excellent places to recruit.” He also told them that Kirk and others were able to spread antisemitism more effectively than they could because he had “full license from the Jews to say whatever they need to in order to maintain an audience, in order to deliver a poison pill later on.” ![Danilo telling his followers to go to TPUSA events to recruit people](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/476f7aa0-bafa-4b6a-944a-1ea82d578056_2134x1312-jpeg.jpg) ![Damigo posting that Kirk has permission from the Jews to say what he needs to say, explaining that the TPUSA president was about to get more antisemitic.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/1c3af47f-c5a3-42b9-99d2-9bfae005f5ae_2137x1178-jpeg.jpg) Another example is [neo-Nazi Ryan Sanchez](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nazis-mingle-openly-cpac-spreading-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-fin-rcna140335?ref=importantcontext.news), who is one of the original members of the Rise Above Movement and is a sometime fanboy of [Groyper](https://www.isdglobal.org/explainers/groypers/?ref=importantcontext.news) podcaster Nick Fuentes, who has criticized Kirk for not being extreme enough for his liking. Sanchez became more known after [sieg heiling](https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/022724%5Fcpac%5Fextremists/at-least-two-neo-nazis-white-nationalists-cpac-from-arizona/?ref=importantcontext.news) over journalist Amanda Moore. In his Telegram channel, Sanchez noted that [Kirk discussing “whiteness is good”](https://youtu.be/8WhabBnLC48?ref=importantcontext.news) was normalizing the nationalism they all longed for. Kirk adapting their language, he noted, could effectively do more for their cause than anything they were doing on their own. ![Post from Sanchez touting Kirk using extremist language, calling it “a vindication of the Groyper War…and efforts of the Nationalist movement more broadly.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/1d017b41-93b3-4175-b4e6-9b826b62e893_2136x1181-jpeg.jpg) In April, a mass shooting at Florida State University claimed two lives and left six other people injured. According to a survivor, the suspect had been kicked out of a political roundtable club for expressing “white supremacist” views and had been a [member](https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/mass-shooting-survivor-tells-nbc-suspect-was-member-of-pro-trump-group-had-white-supremacist-views/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Florida chapter of Kirk’s TPUSA. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Politics the (Far) Right Way The right-wing campaign to rewrite Charlie Kirk has already scored some victories with prominent liberal voices and legacy media outfits participating in the effort. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for example, who has been positioning himself as the anti-Trump and who interviewed Kirk on his podcast earlier this year, posted on X that “The best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue his work. Engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse.” *New York Times* columnist Ezra Klein made a similar argument in an op-ed in which he [proclaimed](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that the far-right extremist had been “practicing politics the exactly right way.” “He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him,” Klein wrote. “He was one of the era’s most effective practitioners of persuasion.” CBS News had Posobiec on to [discuss](https://youtu.be/-p9xjsbggGE?si=rgtcn0%5FXTAhy9Zke&ref=importantcontext.news) Kirk’s death with its chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, who steered clear of the extreme politics of Kirk and his guest in favor softball questions about the slain TPUSA chief’s faith and personality, including one asking if he was really “a happy warrior” as “it has been said.” “He enjoyed, as I gather it and have read, the engagement—the back-and-forth—and he wasn’t intimidated by people who disagreed with him, he actually was kind of energized by that. Do I have that about right?” Garrett asked in a follow-up. Comcast executives, meanwhile, [sent out a company-wide email](https://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-ceo-msnbc-matthew-dowd-memo-employees-charlie-kirk-2025-9?ref=importantcontext.news) to employees of NBCUniversal, which owns a number of major media properties like NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC, calling Kirk an ”advocate for open debate, whose faith was important to him.” The email defends the firing of political analyst Matthew Dowd from MSNBC over comments he made about Kirk’s record of fueling division and hate. “That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions,” it read. ### Florida Surgeon General to Appear With Ivermectin Group That Called mRNA Vaccines “Weapons of Mass Destruction” URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/florida-surgeon-general-to-appear/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:17.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Later this month, Florida’s anti-vax state surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, will appear at a[ conference](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/event/healing-beyond-covid-vaccine-induced-cancers-immune-disorders/?ref=importantcontext.news) hosted by an arm of a UK-based group that promotes the antiparasitic drug ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 and just “[declared](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/press-release-wch-florida-declares-mrna-injections-weapons-of-mass-destruction/?ref=importantcontext.news)” the mRNA vaccines “weapons of mass destruction.” **Like journalism that holds the oligarchy accountable? *Important Context* needs your help to continue our work! Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5-per-month (or $55 annually). You can also make a** [**tax-deductible donation**](https://www.paypal.com/US/fundraiser/charity/4288903?ref=importantcontext.news) **to the** [**Accountability Journalism Institute**](http://accountabilityjournalism.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)**.** On September 27, Ladapo, who recently[ vowed](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/florida-surgeon-general-ban-vaccine-mandates-vibes-video/?ref=importantcontext.news) to get rid of all school vaccine mandates, will give opening remarks at an event called “Healing Beyond COVID,” organized by the Florida chapter of World Council for Health. [World Council for Health](https://www.vice.com/en/article/mysterious-medical-organizations-are-calling-for-an-end-to-covid-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) is a UK-based pseudo-medical group co-founded by anti-vax obstetrician Tess Lawrie in 2021\. The group is known for its promotion of conspiracy theories about vaccines and 5G technology and for pushing ivermectin-for-COVID despite the drug’s proven failure against the disease. It even hosts an annual “World Ivermectin Day.” Although the group was [denied charity status](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/world-council-for-health-refused-charitable-status/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the UK, it has nevertheless grown into a multi-national operation with an international roster of “[coalition partner](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/coalition-partner/?ref=importantcontext.news)” organizations. Those partners notably include the U.S.-based Independent Medical Alliance and Children’s Health Defense. The former, previously called the Frontline Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), was co-founded by Wisconsin intensivist [Pierre Kory](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news), whose promotion of ivermectin for COVID Lawrie has [cited](https://bird-group.org/who-are-bird/?ref=importantcontext.news) as an inspiration for another project she founded to promote the drug, The British Ivermectin Recommendation Development Group. The latter is the anti-vax advocacy group founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., which is itself [internationally active](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/what-senators-should-know-about-hhs-nominee-rfk-jr-s-ties-to-german-far-right/?ref=importantcontext.news). In January 2022, during the peak of COVID’s deadly initial Omicron wave, the three organizations were [sponsors](https://web.archive.org/web/20221114173804/https://defeatthemandatesus.com/about/) of the “Defeat the Mandates” rally in Washington, D.C., along with other anti-vax groups like Informed Consent Action Network, run by long-time Kennedy ally Del Bigtree, and the California-based [The Unity Project](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-unity-project-formed-by-concerned-parents-to-coordinate-opposition-to-californias-k-12-covid-19-vaccination-mandate-301423241.html?ref=importantcontext.news), of which Lawrie and Kory are both members. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Since the D.C. rally, Lawrie’s World Council for Health has continued making inroads in the US anti-vax space, particularly in Ladapo’s Florida where it [set up shop in May 2024](https://worldcouncilforhealthflorida.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news). The upcoming ”Healing Beyond COVID” is not the first World Council for Health event Ladapo has headlined. In January, the group’s Florida chapter announced that it had[ booked](https://x.com/FreeWCH/status/1876025888208281610/photo/1?ref=importantcontext.news) Ladapo to give opening remarks at their “[Detox and Wellbeing Fair](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/event/wch-florida-detox-wellbeing-fair/?ref=importantcontext.news)” which featured a talk about ivermectin. Other booked speakers included Lawrie and Kory. Several months earlier, in July 2024, Ladapo appeared at an anti-vaccine forum alongside World Council for Health’s Florida Chair Maravic Villa, a pulmonologist who claims to treat mRNA vaccine injuries at her private clinic. The[ event](https://www.josephsansone.com/p/medical-freedom-vs-medical-tyranny?ref=importantcontext.news), a benefit for the Lee County Republicans, was hosted by Joseph Sansone, who[ authored](https://www.obbmnetwork.tv/media/gff102-sansone-mrna-bioweapons-prohibition-act-update-gallery-of-freedom-fighters-650643?ref=importantcontext.news) an “mRNA bioweapons prohibition act.” Ladapo sat next to Villa, who [called](https://www.josephsansone.com/p/medical-freedom-vs-medical-tyranny?ref=importantcontext.news) the mRNA shots “bioweapons” in her opening remarks and later, during a Q&A session, said she was going to “remove” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health on the grounds that “they’re part of the tyranny.” She also told the audience to trust their own remedies over the advice of their doctors. *(The above clip is used in compliance with Fair Use.)* A third speaker was former pediatric resident Andrew Zywiec who has published with the right-wing, anti-vax Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Zywiec also called the mRNA shots “bioweapons” in his opening remarks. Later, he indicated he believed the nation was living through Biblical end times. The COVID vaccines have [saved](https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-researchers-are-sure-that-the-covid-vaccine-saved-millions-of-lives-080056236.html?ref=importantcontext.news) millions of lives and prevented millions more hospitalizations. During the panel discussion, Ladapo himself said the vaccines had “enormous problems,” including containing “DNA contaminants”—a popular [anti-vax narrative](https://www.globalvaccinedatanetwork.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)—and claimed the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC were in “denial” about their efficacy. “They’re somehow managing to pretend that these vaccines have only saved lives and everything’s fine, and they’re safe and effective and all that,” said Ladapo, who was [previously caught](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-00093510?ref=importantcontext.news) altering findings in a study on COVID vaccine safety. Both Villa and Zywiec are slated to participate in this month’s World Council for Health Florida forum with Ladapo. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Like World Council for Health, Ladapo has a history of pushing disproven COVID cures and engaging with conspiracists. He was a founding member of America’s Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group formed to push MAGA’s first failed COVID cure, the Trump-endorsed [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/as-maha-looms-a-look-back-on-magas-big-hcq-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news), ahead of the 2020 election. As a state surgeon general he has been criticized for pushing vaccine disinformation on [far-right, conspiracy-peddling podcasts](https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-surgeon-general-appears-on-far-right-conspiracy-podcasts-2022-10?ref=importantcontext.news). The anti-vax Florida surgeon general is not the only public health official to agree to participate in a World Council for Health event this month. Kennedy – who promoted hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID,[ continues to claim](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/robert-f-kennedy-jr-were-restoring-public-trust-in-the-cdc-6f26c176?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=ASWzDAjwgs4m6qSVW%5FbgWfVpF9W1NJuOHAU8sBjfBP0285T1qd3427wbOAG3RcBNexw%3D&gaa%5Fts=68bf5687&gaa%5Fsig=d1k%5FToZ4A7W7ekD%5FtZkWUUhGexFbR-ewL5pXpgxnVe-ST-XnZfVZJsg9RVMukHhglcQetqbx9NIusP-f03JOWQ%3D%3D&ref=importantcontext.news) pandemic “early treatment” was suppressed, and is waging war on vaccines at the federal level – was slated to appear at an event hosted by the group in Estonia this week. He appears to have pulled out due to public pushback—what World Council for Health’s X account[ described](https://x.com/FreeWCH/status/1962546226554917310?ref=importantcontext.news) as “targeted political and personal attacks.” However the Estonia event will still have American representation in the form of anti-vax cardiologist[ Peter McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news), who is a member of The Unity Project and various other anti-vax groups. McCullough has written prolifically in support of COVID “early treatment” and against the vaccines, including one pro-early treatment [paper](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33387997/?ref=importantcontext.news) co-authored with Ladapo and a self-published book chapter recently[ cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-cited-by-rfk-jr-to-justify?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) by Kennedy’s HHS to justify cuts to mRNA vaccine research. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Florida-based The Wellness Company, which sells ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and COVID vaccine “detox” supplements, and is a coalition partner of World Council for Health. ### Trump Officials, GOP Lawmakers Join Far-Right Extremists At “National Conservatism” Conference URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-officials-gop-lawmakers-join/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:18.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with the* [*Counter Disinformation Project*](https://counterdisinformationproject.substack.com/)*.* Several high ranking Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers are speaking at a major right-wing conference that will also feature an array of extremists including white nationalists and representatives of hate groups. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) For two days, starting September 2, Washington, D.C., will play host to the so-called National Conservatism conference—the fifth ever. NatCon 5, as it is called, is organized around a right-wing ideology called “National Conservativism,” which emphasizes isolationism, xenophobia, integrating Christianity and the Bible into all aspects of public life, anti-LGBTQIA+ bigotry, right-wing populism, heavy handed law enforcement, and a crackdown on academic freedom at universities. A declaration of principles of National Conservatism, featured on the NatCon 5 website, is signed by a range of voices from across the far-right and Make America Great Again movement—individuals like tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who has spoken at NatCon before. Other signees include Russell Vought, the White House Office of Management and Budget Director, and Larry Arn, the president of Hillsdale College president and vice chairman of [The Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Claremont%5FInstitute%5Ffor%5Fthe%5FStudy%5Fof%5FStatesmanship%5Fand%5FPolitical%5FPhilosophy?ref=importantcontext.news), which *The New York Times* once called a “nerve center of the American Right.” The group is [part](https://admin.atlasnetwork.org/assets/documents/financials/2018yearinreview.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) of [Atlas Network](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Atlas%5FNetwork?ref=importantcontext.news), a right-wing dark money seed organization that has fostered a global web of free market think tanks. Other signers include Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, fmr. Sen. Jim DeMint, founder of the Conservative Partnership Institute, Ben Weingarten, editor at large for RealClearInvestigations, and Katy Faust, founder of the SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQIA+ hate group Them Before Us. Faust has called to “[breed out](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/anti-lgbtq/?ref=importantcontext.news)” immigrants and trans people. NatCon 5 will bring together a wide range of far-right voices, including public officials and lawmakers, representatives from major right-wing dark money groups and media outfits, and a host of extremists and conspiracy theorists—and, of course, business interests. Klingenstein is speaking at the conference along with four other speakers affiliated with Claremont—like John Eastman, for example, who worked to prevent the certification of the results of the 2020 election after Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. Eastman serves as the founding director of Claremont’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence. Ryan Williams, another speaker, is president of the institute and publisher of the Claremont Review of Books. Spencer Klavan is the associate editor at the publication, and Will Thibeau is director of the American Military Project at the group’s Center for the American Way of Life. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Joining the Claremont crew are a number of high-ranking Trump officials. There will be OMB Director Vought, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Small Business Administration Director Kelly Loeffler, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya—a friend of Thiel’s—U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, former legal counsel for the Department Of Government Efficiency James Burnham, and United States Trade Representative and acting Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics Jamieson Greer. Several GOP lawmakers are also speaking—Sen. Eric Schmitt, Sen. Jim Banks, Sen. Josh Hawley, and Rep. Riley Moore. UK MP Nigel Farage and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier are also speaking. Several of the speakers are affiliated with The Heritage Foundation, another Atlas Network right-wing think tank and arguably the most influential in the country. Heritage is behind the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership roadmap that the Trump administration appears to be hewing closely to. The Heritage speakers include Rob Bluey, executive editor of its *Daily Signal* outlet, John Backiel, a visiting fellow for its Capital Markets Initiative, Victoria Coates, Vice President of its Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, Robert Greenway, director of its Allison Center for National Security, and Ryan Neuhaus, the group’s chief of staff. The conference will also feature two speakers from Trump-allied America First groups. Gene Hamilton is president of America First Legal, a lawfare group he co-founded with senior Trump advisor and white nationalist Stephen Miller that has [targeted](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/us/politics/stephen-miller-america-first-legal.html?ref=importantcontext.news) allegedly “woke” companies. Former Ambassador Carla Sands, meanwhile, is vice chair of the Center for Energy and Environment at the America First Policy Institute, which [helped](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/05/19/maga%5Fthink%5Ftank%5Fstaffing%5Ftrump%5F20%5Famerica%5Ffirst%5Fpolicy%5Finstitute.html?ref=importantcontext.news) staff the second Trump administration. Two of the NatCon 5 speakers are from organizations that the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as hate groups. One is Faust of Them Before Us. The other is Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the anti-immigrant group [Center for Immigration Studies](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/center-immigration-studies/?ref=importantcontext.news), which was founded by eugenicist and famed white nationalist John Tanton. Other extremists speaking at the NatCon conference as well—White nationalist commentator Steve Bannon, for example, a former Trump strategist and far-right conspiracy promoter. The event will also feature former [Claremont 2019 Lincoln Fellow](https://www.claremont.org/2019-lincoln-fellows/?ref=importantcontext.news) and white surpemacist Jack Posobiec as well as anti-vax conspiracy theorist and COVID-19 contrarian Jeffrey Tucker, who founded The Brownstone Institute. A [child labor and youth smoking advocate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) with [past links to neo-Confederate groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy), Tucker launched Brownstone in 2021 to oppose economically disruptive pandemic mitigation measures. Today, it is one of the leading organizations in the Make America Health Again movement that merges MAGA with the anti-vaccine movement. The group has become a hub of COVID misinformation, anti-vax content, and conspiracy theories. Despite being solidly on the fringes, it boasts impressive connections to multiple public health officials—Bhattacharya, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, his assistant Tracy Beth Høeg, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research head Vinay Prasad, and multiple members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices like chairman Martin Kulldorff and Robert Malone. Other notable NatCon 5 speakers include Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, which works to keep the Supreme Court stacked with right-wing Justices and [helped secure](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/politics/conservatives-judicial-nominees.html?ref=importantcontext.news) Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation. The conference will see the return of Dan Caldwell, the former senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was [ousted](https://apnews.com/article/caldwell-pentagon-investigation-leaks-hegseth-344d480e47cf4c04e0b2c510bd333b02?ref=importantcontext.news) over leaks in a Signal chat that included a reporter. Josh Hammer, the senior editor-at-large at *Newsweek*, is also speaking. So is Inez Feltscher Stepman, senior policy and legal analyst at the anti-feminist Independent Women’s Forum, an Atlas Network group with links to the Koch political network. Speaker Shyam Sankar, meanwhile, is the chief technology officer at Thiel’s Palantir Technologies. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) NatCon 5 is a project of the Edmund Burke Foundation, a right-wing dark money group founded in 2019 to promote the National Conservative ideology. The foundation’s leadership includes Christopher DeMuth, a Distinguished Fellow in American thought at Heritage and former president of the American Enterprise Institute. DeMuth is the chairman emeritus of the conference. The foundation has ties across the political right. Initial funding came from The Jewish Philosophy Fund which [contributed](https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/edmund-burke-foundation/?ref=importantcontext.news) $174,000\. Yoram Hazony, an American-Israeli philosopher, is not only the group’s chairman, he is the president of the Israel based Herzl Institute, and was previously the director of the John Templeton Foundation's project in Jewish Philosophical Theology. Hazony is considered to be part of JD Vance’s [inner circle](https://www.politico.com/interactives/2024/jd-vance-inner-circle-guide/?ref=importantcontext.news), which has guided him on his political journey from Trump critic to vice president. The Thomas D. Klingenstein Fund also [contributed](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/edmund-burke-foundation,833008254/?ref=importantcontext.news) $100,000 to the founding of the Edmund Burke Foundation. The Fund is a private foundation of hedge fund manager and GOP megadonor Thomas Klingenstein, who is also the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Claremont Institute. Past sponsors of NatCon include Peter Thiel as well as Cathy and Alex Cranberg, who have provided at least [$350,000](https://bylinetimes.com/2023/04/05/suella-braverman-to-address-radical-national-conservatism-event-with-ties-to-us-right/?ref=importantcontext.news) in support. Alex Cranberg is a Republican donor whose wealth comes from oil and gas production, and has close links to the Koch Network. In 2017 he hosted a [Koch-sponsored gathering](https://www.followthemoney.org/research/blog/alex-cranberg-in-the-background-of-the-koch-network?ref=importantcontext.news) of donors in Colorado Springs. He is a founding member of the Edmund Burke Foundation and will be speaking at NatCon 5. The Common Sense Society (CSS) donated at least $250,000 to NatCon Miami and $50,000 to an Orlando event, and was a named [sponsor for conferences](https://bylinetimes.com/2023/04/05/suella-braverman-to-address-radical-national-conservatism-event-with-ties-to-us-right/?ref=importantcontext.news) in Brussels and London held in 2019\. The CSS also provided $205,000 in [funding](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/edmund-burke-foundation,833008254/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the founding of the Edmund Burke Foundation. Founded in 2009 in Central Europe, CSS describes itself as a “celebration of the political, intellectual, and cultural inheritance which constitute our shared civilization” seeking to cultivate “a future that draws on the best of the past”. Operating as an international network, CSS aims to identify and train future leaders in the “nature of liberty” on subjects such as “cultural inheritance and personal responsibility”. The group has links to a multitude of conservative and radical right organizations in the U.S. Its President and CEO Marion Smith is a former visiting Heritage Foundation fellow and the former CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Other CSS leadership links include [The Leadership Institute](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The%5FLeadership%5FInstitute?ref=importantcontext.news), Restoration Project Foundation, The Claremont Institute, [Young Americans for Freedom](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Young%5FAmericans%5Ffor%5FFreedom?ref=importantcontext.news), and *The Daily Caller*. There are now also CSS National Branches in [Hungary](https://commonsensesociety.hu/?ref=importantcontext.news), [the Netherlands](https://commonsensesociety.nl/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [the United Kingdom](https://www.commonsensesociety.org/2022/10/21/common-sense-in-the-united-kingdom/?ref=importantcontext.news). Authoritarian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has [spoken](https://nationalconservatism.org/natcon-brussels-2/presenters/pm-viktor-orban/?ref=importantcontext.news) at previous NatCon events as have his Political Director Balazs Orbán, representatives of his MCC culture war think tanks and the Hungarian-based Danube Institute. ### FEMA Workers Send “Katrina Declaration” To Congress URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fema-workers-send-katrina-declaration/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:18.000Z On Monday, 182 Federal Emergency Management Agency workers delivered a “declaration” to several congressional and senate committees sounding the alarm over their agency’s ability to help Americans through emergencies due to cuts and changes under the Trump administration. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “The Katrina Declaration” is named for the disastrous 2005 hurricane that rocked the Gulf Coast. Beyond the initial destruction wrought by the storm, mismanagement from the Bush administration compounded the crisis—millions without homes, over 1,800 dead and over $160 billion in damage. The document is a warning that a similar failure could happen again today because of decisions made by the current administration under the leadership of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “Hurricane Katrina was not just a natural disaster, but a man-made one: the inexperience of senior leaders and the profound failure by the federal government to deliver timely, unified, and effective aid to those in need left survivors to fend for themselves for days, and highlighted how Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities are disproportionally affected by disasters,” the draft obtained by *Important Context* opens. “These failures prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006…which introduced safeguards to ensure such shortcomings of disaster preparation and response would not be repeated. However, two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent.” The Katrina Declaration is the latest such effort by federal workers in vital agencies to alert lawmakers and the public to devastating changes happening to their agency under the Trump presidency. In June, hundreds of workers from the National Institutes of Health delivered “[The Bethesda Declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new),” demanding changes of Director Jay Bhattacharya, who they accused of politicizing the agency and failing to defend science. Workers at the Environmental Protection Agency sent a similar “[Declaration of Dissent](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/epa-staffers-demand-change-in-declaration)” to Administrator Lee Zeldin and were retaliated against. A third document from the union representing employees at the National Science Foundation was [planned and subsequently pulled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/national-science-foundation-workers). Then, in July, NASA workers issued “[The Voyager Declaration](https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/science/nasa-trump-voyager-declaration?ref=importantcontext.news)” decrying budget cuts and grant terminations. These efforts were all coordinated with help from the nonprofit Stand Up for Science, which aims to stop the cuts to vital agencies under Donald Trump. The group prepared letters of support with each declaration, [including the latest](https://www.standupforscience.net/fema-katrina-declaration?ref=importantcontext.news), for people to sign. (The Accountability Journalism Institute, which runs *Important Context*, is the fiscal sponsor of Stand Up for Science’s planned 501(c)(3) arm and receives administrative fees related to that function.) The FEMA workers’ declaration states that their agency “has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA Administrator.” ”Decisions made by FEMA’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator…David Richardson, Former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial…partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management,” it reads. In seven pages, the declaration lays out a list of grievances. Atop the list is Noem’s move to require her personal review and approval of all contracts, grants and mission assignments over $100,000\. This, the document warns, “reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission.” Next, it targets the lack of a qualified administrator, noting that “hurricane season has begun.” The workers also call out cuts to risk mitigation initiatives, noting that “On average, mitigation grants save $6 for every $1 invested and are among the most effective tools to limit future destruction and bolster our national resilience.” Other frustrations include interference with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners and the “censorship” of climate science and environmental protection. “This administration’s decision to ignore and disregard the facts pertaining to climate science in disasters shows a blatant disregard for the safety and security of our Nation's people and all American communities regardless of their geographic, economic or ethnic diversity,” it reads. The declaration highlights the administration’s decision to remove the Future Risk Index from the agency’s website in February, warning that the move impeded “the nation's ability to properly prepare for and mitigate against the risks of tomorrow and support underserved communities.” It explains that “This action represents increased risk for communities and an incalculable waste of time, information, and taxpayer dollars.” The final dissent in the declaration is against the reduction in FEMA’s disaster workforce, explaining “One-third of FEMA’s full-time staff have departed the agency this year, leading to the loss of irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-built relationships.” The document closes with a call for action by congress. It asks that FEMA be established as a cabinet-level independent agency in the executive branch and that it be ‘defended’ against “further interference from \[the Department of Homeland Security\].” It petitions for FEMA employees to be ‘protected’ from “politically motivated firings” with “merit-based personnel systems,” and demands transparency from the White House Office of Management and Budget, the so-called Department Of Government Efficiency, and FEMA leadership “regarding internal employment policies and future agency reductions.” *UPDATE 8/26/25: The Washington Post* [*reports*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/26/fema-employees-leave-trump-administration-letter/?ref=importantcontext.news) *that some FEMA workers have been put on leave in the wake of the declaration, including at least two who were involved in responding to the Texas flooding last month.* ### HHS Employees Demand Changes From Kennedy, NIH Director Bhattacharya in New Response to CDC Shooting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/hhs-workers-demand-changes-from-kennedy/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:19.000Z *This piece has been updated from its email version.* On August 8, a gunman who authorities say believed himself injured by the COVID-19 vaccine fired over 500 rounds in a shooting targeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s campus in Atlanta that left one responding police officer dead. Now, hundreds of current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services are speaking out, demanding changes from Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist with a history of spreading misinformation about the agency. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Following the shooting, Kennedy put out a [statement](https://x.com/seckennedy/status/1954197860754350238?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), declaring “We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.” Even as he expressed condolences, however, Kennedy [criticized](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-the-shooting-at-cdc-rfk-jr-criticizes-agencys-pandemic-response?ref=importantcontext.news) the agency’s pandemic response. On Wednesday, HHS workers pushed back. Kennedy and members of Congress received a formal letter responding to the shooting from hundreds of current and former department employees, accusing the secretary of contributing “to the harassment and violence experienced by CDC staff.” The letter, which is signed by over 750 people, is published on the website [saveHHS.org](https://www.savehhs.org/letter/hhs-staff-response-to-the-august-8th-attack?ref=importantcontext.news). The authors and signers make three key requests of Kennedy with a deadline of September 2 to carry out the changes. First, they ask that the secretary stop spreading and publicly disavow inaccurate health information about vaccines, infectious disease transmission, and America’s public health institutions. Kennedy has spent years misleading Americans about the safety and efficacy of immunizations and modern medicine. He was named as one of the top spreaders of online vaccine misinformation in the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s 2021 report on the “Disinformation Dozen” along with the dark money group he founded, Children’s Health Defense, which paid him handsomely for his advocacy. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The letter’s second ask is for Kennedy to “acknowledge and affirm” the CDC’s scientific integrity—specifically that its “work is rooted in scientific, non-partisan evidence focused on improving the health of every American.” For years, Kennedy has repeatedly attacked the CDC, suggesting the agency is a “[cesspool of corruption](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1767176567678017604?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” that needs to be ‘cleaned up;’ that its experts have ulterior motives for recommending immunizations; that it is [insufficiently protecting Americans](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1819855873801392393?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and may be [withholding](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1639040230463541248?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) important information from them; that it has [lied](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1674416532435378177?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to the people about the safety and efficacy of vaccines; that it has have [contempt for the law](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1770110172683190428?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “The CDC recommends THREE Pfizer Covid shots for babies by age 9 months,” Kennedy wrote in a September 2024 [post](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1831126630225629421?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X, These shots are unsafe and ineffective, especially over the long term. And babies are at near-zero risk from Covid. So whose benefit is the CDC serving here?” Children’s Health Defense has also [sued](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1626313191377567748?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the agency before to amplify its anti-vaccine claims. As HHS secretary, Kennedy replaced all 17 members of the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with his contrarian and anti-vax allies. The final request in the letter to Kennedy from HHS employees is simple: Guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce with “emergency procedures and alerts that are fully functional for all workers.” The letter pleads with Kennedy to take “vigorous action to remove high-profile online material targeting the federal workforce such as the widely seen ‘DEI watchlists.’” ”The deliberate destruction of trust in America's public health workforce puts lives at risk,” the letter reads. “We urge you to act in the best interest of the American people—your friends, your families, and yourselves.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The letter, which concludes by honoring Officer David Rose, the police officer killed in the CDC shooting, for making “the ultimate sacrifice in giving his life to protect others,” includes an addendum by NIH employees to their director. It is the second public letter to Bhattacharya from workers from his agency. In June, hundreds signed “[The Bethesda declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new),” accusing him of politicizing the NIH and demanding changes. “We, the undersigned NIH employees, sign this letter in solidarity with our CDC colleagues,” reads the HHS letter addendum. “We also call on NIH Director, Jayanta Bhattacharya, to refrain from his dangerous politicization of mRNA vaccine technology.” Bhattacharya, who has [cast doubt](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) on the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines for years as part of a larger campaign against pandemic control efforts, has long defended Kennedy. In an [interview](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-director-spreads-vaccine-misinformation) the day after the CDC shooting with far-right conspiracy theorist and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, the NIH director discussed the secretary’s decision to end mRNA vaccine research. He said the mRNA platform was “no longer viable” for public health due to widespread public mistrust in it. Bhattacharya made his case again in a *Washington Post* [editorial](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/12/nih-mrna-vaccines-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) days later. Like Kennedy, the NIH director has spent years casting doubt on the CDC, [claiming](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1777334458783580515?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), for example, that it—along with NIH and the Food and Drug Administration—had “failed utterly in their management of the pandemic.” He also [suggested](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1766487708942368806?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that it was taking marching orders from the teachers unions. In a [post](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1841751992785637588?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X last October, Bhattacharya mocked the agency, calling the popular board game *Pandemic* “very unrealistic” because “It places the CDC as a hypercompetent globe-spanning, science-focused agency that organizes the worldwide response to four simultaneous pandemics.” “As a co-op game, groupthink is at the very center of gameplay, so from a public health perspective, I suppose that aspect of the game is realistic,” he wrote. “I would recommend it to anyone who has the stomach to play because lockdowns play no part in the game's permitted pandemic management strategies.” ### ‘Experts’ Cited By RFK Jr. to Justify mRNA Vaccine Funding Cut Have Ties to Anti-Vax Supplement Company URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/experts-cited-by-rfk-jr-to-justify/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:19.000Z A document cited by the Department of Health and Human Services to justify gutting mRNA vaccine research was authored by a group of well-known anti-vaxxers and COVID-19 contrarians. Several were named in a congressional report detailing a pressure campaign by the first Trump White House to get a disproven COVID-19 treatment reapproved by the Food and Drug Administration, and some have ties to anti-vaccine groups, including a supplement company that sells COVID vaccine “detox” pills. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Earlier this month, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, [announced](https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/07/kennedy-mrna-vaccines-national-security/?ref=importantcontext.news) that his department was cutting $500 million in funding to mRNA vaccine projects. While mRNA vaccine technology saved millions of lives through the COVID pandemic and earned its inventors a Nobel Prize in 2023, Kennedy has long opposed its use and peddled false claims about it. In support of the funding cut, the HHS website linked to a single piece of “evidence.” The 181-page [document](https://zenodo.org/records/15787612?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email), “COVID-19 mRNA ‘vaccine’ harms research collection,” which is hosted on an open website, is a bibliography of [misrepresented studies](https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/rfk-jr-mrna-vaccine-research-science-papers-justification-misreading/?ref=importantcontext.news)—the overwhelming majority of which have nothing to do with the vaccines. It originally appeared in an independently published 2024 anti-vax book “Toxic Shot: Facing the Dangers of the COVID ‘Vaccines,’” according to its opening page. Co-authored by Canadian immunologist Bryan Bridle, a professor at a veterinary college in Ontario and one of the authors on the bibliography, the book featured a foreword from [Sen. Ron Johnson](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/senate-gop-ramps-up-attacks-on-covid) (R-WI) and Naomi Wolff—both of whom have promoted conspiracy theories about the mRNA vaccines. Bridle made headlines in 2022 when he sued his university for $3 million, alleging he faced online harassment and censorship pressure after speaking out about shortcuts in the development of mRNA vaccines. He [dropped](https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/byram-bridle-drops-3m-vaccine-mandate-lawsuit-against-u-of-g-9744051?ref=importantcontext.news) his suit last November. Today, he is an “international fellow” at the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally), a fringe medical group in Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement known for promoting the use of ivermectin as a treatment for a range of maladies including COVID, against which it is not effective. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Bridle’s co-author of the book, and a fellow co-author of the excerpt cited by HHS, is Yale physician-scientist Harvey Risch. Risch was an [early proponent](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/87844?ref=importantcontext.news) of MAGA’s first false COVID cure, [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/as-maha-looms-a-look-back-on-magas-big-hcq-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news), pushed by Trump and his administration to re-open the economy ahead of the 2020 election. He and two other authors of the HHS-cited book excerpt appeared in the August 2020 [report](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Democratic-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, “A ‘Knife Fight’ With the FDA: The Trump White House’s Relentless Attacks On FDA’s Coronavirus Response,” which details a failed administration-backed push to reauthorize emergency use of the drug for COVID long after it had proven useless against the disease. Another co-author of the HHS-cited document who appears in the HSSCC report is Dr. Steven Hatfill. An adjunct assistant professor at George Washington University, Hatfill joined the Trump White House in January 2020 as a full-time volunteer on the coronavirus response. He has been working in the second administration as well and was [involved](https://www.msnbc.com/news/news-analysis/rfk-jr-alienated-maga-maha-white-house-mrna-vaccine-rcna225100?ref=importantcontext.news) in efforts to smooth over public response to the mRNA research cuts. Hatfill is featured prominently in the “knife fight” report as an organizer of the campaign against the FDA over its decision to pull the emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine for COVID. According to the report, Hatfill’s campaign involved recruiting Risch and another co-author on the anti-vax document cited by HHS: Dr. Peter McCullough. A former cardiologist who made a name for himself spreading pandemic-related and vaccine misinformation, McCullough had his board certifications [revoked](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/113624?ref=importantcontext.news) last year. He has been a favorite of the political right for years, appearing on panel discussions about vaccines and the pandemic hosted by Sen. Johnson, on right-wing media like [*Fox News*](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/dishonest-doctors-who-were-fox-news-most-frequent-medical-guests-2021-0?ref=importantcontext.news), and on podcasts like *The Joe Rogan Experience* and former Trump strategist and white nationalist Steve Bannon’s *War Room*. In September, McCullough is [speaking](https://rsvp.cpi.org/otr?ref=importantcontext.news) at an event hosted by the Conservative Partnership Institute, an influential right-wing dark money group in Washington, D.C., founded by businessman and former Senator Jim DeMint. McCullough is also a member of various anti-vaccine groups, including South African pandemic denial group Pandata, also known as PANDA, and The Unity Project. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya was once an [advisor](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/trump-nih-jay-bhattacharya-covid-south-africa-nick-hudson-panda/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the former group. Both organizations have featured the [involvement](https://pandata.org/statement-on-the-ethical-principles-of-public-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) of famous anti-vaxxer Dr. Robert Malone, currently a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices [thanks to Kennedy](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel). [McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news), who published problematic papers in support of the COVID “early treatment” drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2024/02/19/paper-claiming-extensive-harms-of-covid-19-vaccines-to-be-retracted/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vax work, has also launched his own anti-vax initiative, The McCullough Foundation. Both Risch and McCullough are on the medical board of [The Wellness Company](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/about-those-ivermectin-ads-on-trump-rally-broadcasts/?ref=importantcontext.news), a pro-Trump supplements company that sells an [unproven](https://www.factcheck.org/2023/09/scicheck-posts-push-unproven-spike-protein-detoxification-regimen/?ref=importantcontext.news) “Ultimate Spike Detox,” which supposedly cleanses the body of COVID vaccines. The former is the organization’s “chief epidemiologist” while the latter is its “chief scientific officer” and the mastermind behind the spike “detox,” which is purportedly based on his “McCullough Base Spike Detoxification Protocol.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Risch and McCullough are not the only Wellness Company medical board members on the document. Co-author Dr. Kelly Victory, an emergency and trauma physician who has frequented right-wing media to oppose pandemic mitigation measures and promote [anti-vaccine narratives](https://youtu.be/oev6T-Gp6z8?si=tTvQk6Wy0hsqf1Cd&ref=importantcontext.news) about the COVID shots, is the company’s “chief of emergency & disaster medicine.” Dr. James Thorpe, an anti-vax obstetrician, is its “chief of maternal and prenatal medicine.” As *Important Context* has previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/senate-gop-ramps-up-attacks-on-covid?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), Thorp, who appeared in the anti-vax conspiracy film *Died Suddenly*, participated in a recent hearing organized by Johnson about the supposed “corruption of science and federal health agencies.” The focus of the hearing, which also featured McCullough, was COVID vaccines. In his opening statement, the doctor falsely claimed that pregnant women had been duped about the safety of the shots. “If \[pregnant women\] could be convinced the vaccine was safe and effective, it would imply it was safe and effective for everyone,” Thorp said. “From the outset of the pandemic, this vaccine was never grounded in biological science but rather in behavior science, specifically the manipulation of public perception through influence, fear, and persuasion.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists “strongly recommends COVID vaccination for all people, including anyone who is pregnant.” The professional association representing OB/GYN’s [notes](https://www.acog.org/womens-health/infographics/why-should-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine-while-im-pregnant?ref=importantcontext.news) that pregnant people are more likely to get seriously ill from infection and the shots provide defense and may even protect the fetus. Since Kennedy took over at HHS, the department has been gunning for mRNA vaccines—seemingly based on baseless anti-vax narratives. Back in March, the NIH [cut funding](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5325863/nih-trump-vaccine-hesitancy-mrna-research?ref=importantcontext.news) for research into vaccine hesitancy. In May, the CDC [removed](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/27/nx-s1-5413179/covid-vaccine-children-pregnant-rfk-cdc?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=announced%20that%20CDC%20recommendations%20for,pregnant%20women%20and%20healthy%20children.) the COVID shots from the recommended vaccine schedule for pregnant women and healthy children. That same month, the FDA announced plans to curtail access to new boosters for Americans under the age of 65 and [mandated](https://www.axios.com/2025/05/21/fda-warnings-covid-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news) expanded safety labels for the shots based on rare, often mild side effects. ### NIH Director Spreads Vaccine Misinformation One Day After CDC Shooting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-director-spreads-vaccine-misinformation/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:20.000Z *This piece has been updated from its email version.* On Friday afternoon, a man who reportedly believed himself injured by the COVID-19 vaccine opened fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus in Atlanta and killed a police officer. The blood had barely dried when the National Institutes of Health Director [appeared](https://youtu.be/IB0H2lJPGIk?si=02dkbdliSEmTSiC1&ref=importantcontext.news) on MAGA extremist Steve Bannon’s podcast and stoked fears of the mRNA vaccines. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On Saturday, Jay Bhattacharya sat down for a virtual interview with former Trump strategist Bannon on his *War Room* show to discuss a recent move by the Department of Health and Human Services to wind down mRNA vaccine research. In the course of the 20-minute interview that ranged from topics like late night host Stephen Colbert to the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration Bhattacharya co-authored in 2020, the NIH director cast doubt on the efficacy and safety of the COVID vaccines and suggested the mRNA platform should be discontinued. “As far as public health goes for vaccines, the mRNA platform is no longer viable.” Bhattacharya said. “If you look at the uptake of the recent COVID vaccines in kids, for instance, it’s less than five percent…overall less than a quarter of people have taken it despite the fact that there’s been relentless propaganda pressure to take the COVID vaccines…forever.” ”You can’t have a platform where such a large percentage of the population distrusts the platform if you’re going to use it for vaccines and expect it to work,” he said, while failing to address the role he and his political allies have played in stoking fear of said vaccines. The NIH director is not the only Trump administration official to espouse the narrative that low uptake warrants an end to the use of the shots. After his agency stopped recommending the vaccines to pregnant women and healthy children, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary made a similar claim that people simply do not want the vaccines after his agency moved to restrict access to new boosters. “By the way, America doesn’t want COVID boosters,” he [declared](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lprhkf7mbk2g?ref=importantcontext.news), testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Bhattacharya rose to national prominence amid the pandemic [arguing against government interventions](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) disfavored by the business-aligned political right, and has [long cast doubt](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) on the [safety and usefulness of COVID vaccines](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about)—particularly for young people. As NIH director, however, he has sought to position himself as a champion of unbiased science and free inquiry, lamenting the loss of public trust in health authorities and framing his leadership around restoring that faith. But Bhattacharya’s tenure at the NIH has been [rife with controversy](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless). His first agency town hall saw a walkout after he [asserted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes) that NIH research likely caused the pandemic via lab leak—a highly speculative narrative that runs counter to the scientific evidence. In June, hundreds of workers at NIH signed an open letter, [the Bethesda Declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new), accusing him of politicizing and undermining the agency. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Bannon, himself a [major promoter](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/technology/podcasts-steve-bannon-war-room-misinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of COVID-related misinformation and [conspiracy theories](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html?ref=importantcontext.news)*,* opened his interview with Bhattacharya with a clip from a [2021 skit](https://youtu.be/sSkFyNVtNh8?si=JuPS3wNeJFOERuoF&ref=importantcontext.news) from Colbert’s *The Late Show* promoting vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has killed over 1.2 million Americans to date. A frequent Trump critic, Colbert had just days earlier [mocked and criticized](https://www.thedailybeast.com/colbert-sends-a-massive-f-you-to-roadkill-munching-rfk-jr/?ref=importantcontext.news) HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. over the mRNA funding cuts. Bhattacharya told Bannon that the comedian had done “tremendous damage to public health for several years now with this kind of like, relentless propaganda and now bullying.” The *War Room* host responded that Colbert “will be held accountable, over time” and pivoted to asking the NIH director what the science said about mRNA vaccines—or “this experimental gene therapy,” as he called them. Nodding along, Bhattacharya did not correct him. “My bottom line is that the technology is promising but not yet ready for prime time for vaccines,” he said, noting that the shots do not prevent people from getting or spreading COVID. The vaccines significantly reduce the odds of hospitalization and death from the disease. Bhattacharya made a number of misleading claims about the vaccines popular among anti-vaxxers. He suggested, for example, that they turn the body into “an antigen factory” and that the amount of antigen produced could not be controlled. And while Bhattacharya said he was “not sure” he agreed with claims that the shots had caused “large numbers of deaths,” he also said he did not agree with estimates that they saved millions of lives, as research has indicated. “Those are estimates…are based on modeling estimates,” he said. “What I think happened is that it’s very likely that the COVID vaccine protected people that were older for a short period of time against dying from COVID, and for younger people…because the risk of…dying from COVID is so low, especially for children, that the mRNA vaccine in that setting didn’t do very much good at all,” he added. “And we know for a fact that it had some side effects—severe ones, including myocarditis in an unacceptably high rate in especially young men.” Myocarditis is a rare side effect that can occur from both the vaccine and COVID infection, but when it occurs from the shot, it is often mild and self-resolving. Public health experts [hit back](https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/11/mrna-vaccines-bhattacharya-bannon/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the dubious claims Bhattacharya made on Bannon’s podcast. Friday’s shooting put a spotlight on vaccine misinformation spreaders and [fueled calls](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/rfk-jr-kennedy-cdc-shooting-atlanta-response-vaccines-rcna224269?ref=importantcontext.news) for the ouster of Kennedy, who is a longtime anti-vax activist and once called the mRNA jabs “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” But as Bhattacharya’s appearance on *War Room* highlighted, Kennedy is not the only government official in the current HHS to push vaccine fear. Along with the secretary and NIH director, Makary and his team at the FDA—[Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) and reinstated head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief)—have also cast doubt on the safety and usefulness of the mRNA vaccines. After his agency moved to restrict their use, the FDA commissioner went on CNBC to discuss the vaccines. Asked for data on vaccine injury, he cited anecdotes, [claiming](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lv6mgiepad2d?ref=importantcontext.news) that a friend of his had lost a parent to the shot. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) NIH workers told *Important Context* that they were disappointed with Bhattacharya’s comments and willingness to engage openly with Bannon, who was [instrumental](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/prominent-political-podcasters-played-key-role-in-spreading-the-big-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news) in promoting the political conspiracies and hysteria that led to the violent insurrection, and who served time in prison for openly defying a congressional subpoena from the January 6 Commission. “I was in the room when Dr. B said he was ‘disappointed in us’ for politicizing our interactions by having a pro-NIH rally,” said Sarah Kobrin, a branch chief at the National Cancer Institute. Kobrin, who made clear she was speaking for herself, as an individual, continued on, remarking, “How should we understand his appearances on extreme right-wing media? I’m disappointed in him.” One staff scientist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that “skepticism over and false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine, championed by RFK Jr. and amplified by Dr. Bhattacharya on right-wing news media, has furthered distrust in biomedicine and discontent,” warning that the director’s “sensationalistic comments contribute to a narrative that federal workers and the public health workforce are intentionally causing harm.” “This kind of demonization unsurprisingly leads to violence when so many people are armed in this country,” they said. Another NIH worker, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told *Important Context* that Bhattacharya’s appearance on Bannon was hypocritical for the director. “For someone who doesn't want science to be politicized he sure does a lot of politicizing of science,” they said. “It's extremely frustrating. Coupled with [the recent EO](https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/08/trump-executive-order-disrupts-science-lawsuits-expected/?ref=importantcontext.news) (and all sorts of quotes from \[Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Russell\] Vought AND Jay) blaming NIH for COVID it's a real problem.” “We do not feel safe,” they added. Shiv Prasad, a scientific review officer at NIH, warned that the agency needs to update security in its buildings in light of the shooting. Indeed, online threats against scientists have been [worse](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2806018?ref=importantcontext.news) since COVID hit. Violence has also [increased](https://www.aha.org/advocacy/advocacy-issues/workplace-violence?ref=importantcontext.news) against health care workers. “Americans have been misled into believing that mRNA vaccines are unsafe and that NIH was somehow complicit in the COVID-19 pandemic,” Prasad said. “As we saw in Atlanta, unstable people will be motivated by these falsehoods to attack federal research facilities. NIH has campuses and off-campus buildings across the US that are vulnerable. At risk are not only workers, but visitors, patients, and children at daycare facilities.” ### Vinay Prasad Returns to FDA URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/vinay-prasad-returns-to-fda/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:20.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Just one day after a man who [reportedly believed](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/09/everything-we-know-about-the-fatal-shooting-near-cdc-headquarters-00501308?click%5Fx=210&click%5Fy=252&item%5Fheight=343&item%5Fwidth=225&vct=9.666&ref=importantcontext.news) the COVID-19 vaccine made him ill shot at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s complex in Atlanta, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that a doctor with a history of casting doubt on the safety of the mRNA shots will rejoin the Food and Drug Administration as its top vaccine regulator. Nearly two weeks ago, [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief) was headed back to California to “spend more time with his family” after being ousted from the FDA. Today, he is back at the agency at the request of Commissioner Marty Makary, resuming one of his roles as the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccines and gene therapies. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Prior to his departure, Prasad had also served as the FDA’s chief medical and scientific officer. It is not clear if he will also resume those posts as well. Prasad’s [exit](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right) had come amid a right-wing push that coincided with a conflict between his division and biotech company Sarepta over Elevidys, its treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare but fatal degenerative disorder in children. On Prasad’s watch, the FDA had attempted to pull Elevidys following the deaths of several recipients. The decision, however, was quickly reversed and the company’s shipments of the drug resumed after a voluntary freeze. Within days, Prasad was out—reportedly at Donald Trump’s behest despite pushback from his allies, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Makary. The push to remove the CBER chief had begun with far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who accused him of being a “leftist saboteur” working to undermine Trump’s deregulatory agenda. Loomer had resurfaced old tweets of Prasad’s in which the doctor, a well-known public health contrarian, had claimed to be a progressive despite his long advocacy for the laissez-faire response to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed by the political right. As *Important Context* has previously noted, these claims provided Prasad a certain amount of cover to evangelize right-wing positions, including casting doubt on the efficacy of COVID mitigation measures and the safety of the mRNA vaccines. Prasad has repeatedly hyped up concerns about rare, often self-resolving side effects of the shots, in young men in particular—namely myocarditis. He has demanded randomized controlled trials for boosters, cutting against the mainstream of public health and promising unnecessary delays in the face of a mutating virus. In October 2022, Prasad [suggested](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/the-truth-about-those-viral-tweets-questioning-the-omicron-boosters-safety/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the bivalent boosters had been insufficiently tested. During his short time at the agency, Prasad had worked with Makary to limit access to new COVID boosters. Public health advocates had celebrated his departure, but anti-vaccine voices and supporters of Kennedy, who hold conspiratorial views about the safety of pharmaceutical products, [fumed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/people-will-pay-anti-vax-voices-rage). For now, Prasad rejoining the FDA is a victory for its commissioner HHS secretary and his acolyte, Makary, but Loomer has promised to fight back. In a post on X, she vowed to heavily scrutinize HHS and FDA to expose “rot.” “In another egregious personnel decision under the Trump administration, it is now being reported that longtime progressive Marxist Vinay Prasad who referred to President Trump’s supporters as criminals and compared them to drug addicts after saying he stabbed a Trump voodoo doll to ‘curse Trump’ is apparently back at FDA after @MartyMakary advocated for him,” she [tweeted](https://x.com/lauraloomer/status/1954204298461765854?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “In the coming weeks, I will be ramping up my exposes of officials within HHS and FDA so the American people can see more of the pay for play rot themselves and how rabid Trump haters continue to be hired in the Trump administration. There are several Senate Confirmation hearings coming up and I have multiple oppo books ready for distribution! Should be a good time.” ### Another COVID Contrarian Working For the NIH Director URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/another-covid-contrarian-working/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:21.000Z National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has another public health contrarian working for his agency, *Important Context* has learned. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Kevin Bardosh, an applied medical anthropologist and [ally of Bhattacharya’s](https://x.com/kevinbardosh/status/1860820978516799693?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)—with a history of skepticism toward mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and promoting fringe views about the pandemic—has been working as a senior science strategist in the NIH’s Office of the Director since May, according to his [LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-bardosh-3a991435?ref=importantcontext.news). The Department of Health and Human Services employee directory shows that he has a .gov email address and is working as a “non-government” contractor in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which oversees the NIH Common Fund and coordinates trans-NIH initiatives and research. ![A screenshot of the HHS employee directory with Kevin Bardosh’s profile and government email.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/f22d36a9-67a5-4642-9a32-4b5122bbc6cb_2732x1635-jpeg.jpg) *Important Context* previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/promoters-of-unproven-covid-lab-leak) that several prominent proponents of the scientifically disfavored COVID-19 lab leak narrative—Bryce Nickels, Alex Washburn, and Ed Hammond—were working in the DPCPSI as contractors. Hammond is the only one with a job description: functional SME (subject matter expert). All three men had connections with a fringe nonprofit, Biosafety Now, with which Bhattacharya was previously involved. Bardosh was also affiliated with a pandemic group which formerly listed the NIH director on its team roster. Prior to joining the NIH in May 2023, the anthropologist was a director and head of research at a UK-based charity called Collateral Global. The group featured Bhattacharya on its scientific advisory and editorial boards. Collateral Global was co-founded in November 2020 by entrepreneur Alex Caccia, who had been involved in the drafting of the Great Barrington Declaration the previous month. The document, co-authored by Bhattacharya and two of his allies—biostatistician Martin Kulldorff, then of Harvard Medical School, and epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta of Oxford—outlined a COVID herd immunity strategy reliant on swift reopening and mass infection of the healthy population. Caccia was also reportedly Gupta’s partner. Since its inception, Collateral Global has worked to expose the supposed harms of government efforts to mitigate COVID. On Bardosh’s watch, the group was one of two [funders](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) of a controversial pandemic policy conference that Bhattacharya organized at Stanford University last October. The other funder, [George Tidmarsh](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fda-continues-to-recruit-from-the), now works at the Food and Drug Administration as the head of CDER and acting head of CBER. The event, held on the anniversary of the signing of the Great Barrington Declaration, took significant public criticism for featuring a number of fringe voices, including anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists. Bardosh himself participated in the event on a panel called “Pandemic Policy from a Global Perspective,” which also featured Gupta. Like his boss and fellow Collateral Global alum, Bhattacharya, Bardosh has staked out contrarian public health positions, emphasizing the harms of mitigation measures while downplaying those of the virus. In an [op-ed](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13649561/lockdown-disaster-infectious-disease-expert-Kevin-Bardosh.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for the UK-based tabloid *The Daily Mail* about the findings of that country’s COVID inquiry, he decried “the wrong-headed belief that it is the Government's job to avoid any and all untimely deaths during an outbreak and that we can in some way 'stop' pandemics in their tracks,” asserting that “neither is possible nor realistic.” In the piece, Bardosh touted Sweden’s “far more relaxed, voluntary-based response to the pandemic,” highlighting the country’s low percentage of overall excess deaths. Sweden’s numbers have long been a popular talking point among pandemic contrarians, but the reality is [more nuanced](https://prospect.org/health/2025-08-01-covid-contrarians-are-wrong-about-sweden/?ref=importantcontext.news) for a number of reasons. Notably, for example, the country abandoned its laissez-faire approach after several months due to a shockingly high death toll. The Swedish king and prime minister even [admitted that the policy was a failure](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55347021?ref=importantcontext.news), Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s former state epidemiologist, who oversaw the lax COVID response, participated in a panel discussion at the 2024 Stanford pandemic policy conference. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The contrarian Bardosh fits in well at Donald Trump’s HHS, which is headed by anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr.—and just this week [announced](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-health-agency-wind-down-mrna-vaccine-development-2025-08-05/?ref=importantcontext.news) that it was winding down mRNA vaccine development activities. In July 2023, Bardosh—then a professor at the University of Washington—[testified](https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/because-i-said-so-examining-the-science-and-impact-of-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/?ref=importantcontext.news) before the GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic as an expert to argue against vaccine mandates and attack the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, government, and “the liberal class.” Bhattacharya and Marty Makary, today the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, had [testified](https://oversight.house.gov/roundtable/preparing-for-the-future-by-learning-from-the-past-examining-covid-policy-decisions/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a GOP experts at the subcommittee’s first hearing months earlier about the supposed lessons of the pandemic, criticizing the U.S. response from the perspective that the country ought to have done less. In his opening remarks, Bardosh pointed to two papers he’d authored the previous year. The [first](https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/7/5/e008684.full.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) focused on the “unintended consequences” of COVID vaccine mandates. The other, which [received a subsequent published rebuttal](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36997309/?ref=importantcontext.news), [argued](https://x.com/KevinBardosh/status/1599866819988578304?ref=importantcontext.news) that college mandates were unethical because COVID boosters were a net clinical harm to young adults ages 18-29\. Bardosh’s co-authors on that second paper included notable mRNA skeptics—Makary, [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you), who is now his special assistant at the FDA, and Vinay Prasad, the agency’s former chief medical and science officer and head of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, who was [ousted last week](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right). ![Vinay Prasad tweet from 2/23/24 with a picture of them together at Stanford. Prasad boasts that “our paper on unethical booster mandates is literally the most downloaded paper in the journal’s history.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/5c636399-c367-42af-aacb-68fddb3aa1ab_1356x1687-jpeg.jpg) Bardosh went on to call COVID vaccine mandates “an affront to the God-given order of freedom on which American freedom is based,” “scientifically inconsistent,” “illogical,” and “an insult to our American foundation of freedom.” “May I remind everyone here about the higher law, inspired by God, in which this country divines liberty: We consider a deprivation of bodily autonomy to be fundamentally humiliating and associated with a form of mental and physical enslavement,” he said. “Inherent to human nature is the desire to have self-determination over one’s own body and mind. Notice that many Americans chose to suffer the deprivations of losing their material income rather than to be subjected to the humiliations of the forced medical treatment that would have denied their own medical privacy, physical agency, and psychological freedom.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In a piece for *UnHerd* from January 2024, Bardosh—like many on the political right—[indicated](https://unherd.com/newsroom/will-anthony-fauci-finally-face-his-reckoning/?ref=importantcontext.news) his support for a “reckoning” for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who had been called to testify before Congress about his actions during the pandemic. Bardosh took issue with Fauci’s support for COVID mitigation measures, including vaccine mandates, and allegedly working to suppress dissent against those policies through smears of scientists like Bhattacharya and his Great Barrington Declaration co-authors. Bhattacharya himself has made similar claims of having been censored, and even brought a lawsuit against key government officials over the matter. After working its way through right-wing federal judges, however, the case was [tossed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) by the Supreme Court. In the piece, Bardosh also suggested Fauci had funded “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Supporters of the unproven lab leak narrative of COVID’s origins, who [include Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes), insist that such research created the SARS-CoV-2 virus and caused the pandemic. Scientific evidence has consistently pointed toward natural origins. That April, Bardosh and Bhattacharya wrote an [editorial](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2024/04/30/the%5Fworld%5Fhealth%5Forganizations%5Fpandemic%5Ftreaty%5Fignores%5Fcovid%5Fpolicy%5Fmistakes%5F1028504.html?ref=importantcontext.news) ripping the World Health Organization’s stalled[ pandemic treaty](https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pandemic-agreement-talks-resume-global-equity-stake?ref=importantcontext.news) for “validating” lockdowns and other mitigation measures and infringing on national sovereignty and free speech. The document—an effort to create a [framework](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/is-a-pandemic-treaty-still-possible?ref=importantcontext.news) for sharing medical technologies like vaccines to address global disparities between nations, had [come under fire](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/right-wing-dark-money-pushed-for?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) from business-aligned right-wing groups. Collateral Global featured the piece on its website in a section called “in the press.” Shortly after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order to pull the nation out of the WHO. *Kevin Bardosh did not respond to our press inquiry.* ### ”People Will Pay”: Anti-Vax Voices Rage At Prasad Ouster URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/people-will-pay-anti-vax-voices-rage/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:21.000Z Anti-vaxxers are fuming in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration’s ouster of Vinay Prasad, who briefly served as director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research as well as its chief medical and science officer. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Prasad, a well-known public health contrarian with a history of casting doubt on vaccines and other pandemic control measures, joined the agency in May and rose quickly to become the top deputy of his ally Commissioner Marty Makary. But last week, Prasad abruptly resigned. Prasad’s exit—[reportedly](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-pulse/2025/07/31/why-trump-ordered-ouster-of-fda-official-00485966?ref=importantcontext.news) driven by Donald Trump—came amid a dispute between his department and biotech company Sarepta over its new treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Elevidys, and was preceded by a blitz of negative op-eds in right-wing media outlets accusing him of working to undermine the president’s agenda. Those began with a July 20 piece by pro-Trump activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer accusing him of being a “leftist saboteur." Within short order, *RealClear Health* and the *Wall Street Journal* opinion section had pieces attacking Prasad as a progressive. The latter branded him “a Bernie Sanders acolyte in MAHA drag.” Rick Santorum also got involved as did Trump ally Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. As *Important Context* noted in [our coverage](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right) of Prasad’s ouster last week, the episode highlighted a fault line inside the Make America Healthy Again movement between Trump’s laissez-faire regulatory agenda and Kennedy’s long history of criticizing the pharmaceutical industry for allegedly harming Americans. Now, in the wake of the FDA shakeup, anti-vaccine voices have been venting frustrations over loss of their ally inside the critical agency. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “This is what happens to people who try to protect the public from dangerous drugs,” [tweeted](https://x.com/stkirsch/status/1950388962004259037?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) tech entrepreneur-turned-anti-vax activist [Steve Kirsch](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/?ref=importantcontext.news), sharing a story about Prasad’s departure. “From what I understand, we will not like his replacement,” wrote Mary Talley Bowden, an ivermectin-promoting physician and fellow at the pro-MAHA [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally) who has been critical of the administration for not taking a harder line against vaccines. Even Kennedy’s former inner circle have taken notice. Another voice weighing in on the subject was Mary Holland, president of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine dark money group Kennedy founded, which is now [suing](https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/22/health/kennedy-vaccine-hhs-lawsuit?ref=importantcontext.news) HHS and the secretary for not setting up a vaccine safety task force. In a [Rumble interview](https://rumble.com/v6wxeqa-heres-the-real-reason-laura-loomer-drove-dr.-vinay-prasad-out-of-fda-w-mary.html?e9s=src%5Fv1%5Fucp%5Fa&ref=importantcontext.news) with anti-vax, post-left comedian Jimmy Dore, who has previously been critical of Prasad over his fact checks of Kennedy, Holland offered sharp criticism of Loomer’s attacks on the former official. She dubbed them “disturbing,” explaining, “I don’t care who these people vote for—what I care about is, are they committed to honest science? Are they into transparency? Are they going to put people ahead of pharmaceutical profits?” Holland was only mildly critical of the ouster, however. While she did say that she did not think “the turbulence” was helpful to the FDA or Kennedy, she also appeared to try and tamp down frustrations, calling Prasad’s brief tenure at the agency “mixed” and pushing to move beyond the controversy of his exit. ”You know, Prasad did just can a particular drug, Sareptra \[sic\], and once he’s gone now, they’ve recommenced the shipping, and apparently some of the stock prices of some of the biotech companies have gone up since his departure,” she explained, referring to the Elevidys controversy. “So it’s hard to read those tea leaves of exactly what went down—I don’t think it matters. What matters is to let’s get on with this program to make America healthy again.” Dore’s video with Holland was titled, “Here’s The REAL REASON Laura Loomer Drove Dr. Vinay Prasad Out Of FDA!” The image for the video featured the words “Forced Out By Big Pharma.” During the interview, the host said he was “suspect” of Loomer’s motives, noted Santorum had ties to Sarepta, and asked Holland if she agreed with his assessment of the situation that the company had brought about Prasad’s exit. She replied, “I think you’re probably right.” Still, when Dore asked why Kennedy would “roll over so easily,” Holland pushed back insisting, “I don’t think we know the whole story.” ”I don’t think we know what the pressures were,” she said. “And we don’t know that Kennedy rolled over either. And we don’t know who he may have as his next appointee.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Others were less sanguine on the matter of Prasad’s unceremonious departure from the FDA. The founder of the right-wing dark money group American Majority, Ned Ryun, who has promoted anti-vax talking points about the COVID vaccines, promised vengeance. “Vinay Prasad is the type of doctor we want at the FDA, the kind that can restore trust,” Ryun [wrote](https://x.com/nedryun/status/1951986210034811054?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “But for questioning the approval of Sarepta Therapeutics highly questionable gene therapy, he was taken out by hired guns like Laura Loomer. It’s sickening and gross and unconscionable. But I can assure you, people will pay for this because now you’ve royally pissed me off.” Ryun, who has previously [questioned](https://x.com/nedryun/status/1610663971937214466?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) whether multiple mRNA vaccine doses weaken the immune system, [said](https://x.com/nedryun/status/1624191734497574912?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the vaccines “hardly work” and “might not be approvable,” [called](https://x.com/nedryun/status/1839256204364644546?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) them “experimental,” and compared them to eugenics, took aim at Loomer. In a [tweet](https://x.com/nedryun/status/1951665934390706492?ref=importantcontext.news), he called her “completely nuts” and accused her of taking money from Sarepta for her anti-Prasad advocacy. ”The fact of the matter is you got funded by Sarepta Therapeutics to take Vinay out; probably thru a middle man for deniability but still pharma money funding it all,” he wrote. “The reason I find this and you so loathsome is that this behavior is the antithesis of the MAGA and MAHA movements.” ### Vinay Prasad Out At FDA Amid Right-Wing Push URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/vinay-prasad-out-at-fda-amid-right/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:22.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Vinay Prasad is out at the Food and Drug Administration after less than three months on the job and after a meteoric rise inside the agency. His departure comes after weeks of attacks from allies of President Donald Trump over decisions he’d made serving in the administration regarding biologics. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) [Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief) was tapped to lead the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) in May following the ouster of the former director, Peter Marks, by anti-vax Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and his ally, FDA Commissioner [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce). CBER oversees biological products like vaccines, gene and cell therapies, and blood products. Last month, he was also named the agency’s chief medical and science officer, which imbued him with the power to inject himself in regulatory decisions agency-wide. A hematologist-oncologist at the University of California San Francisco, Prasad had made a name for himself criticizing medical practice in the U.S. He rose to new heights with the COVID-19 pandemic as a contrarian, opposing government efforts to curb the spread of the deadly virus like school closures, shutdowns, and mask and vaccine mandates. His unique tack—arguing that mitigation policies lacked sufficient evidentiary basis for the supposed harms they were causing—earned him a vast social media audience as well as allies on the political right. Among those were Makary and current NIH Director [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless). Although Prasad sought to present himself as a voice of scientific reason, his rhetoric often betrayed an ideological bent. In one widely criticized blog post, for example, he [suggested](https://cancerletter.com/the-cancer-letter/20211008%5F4/?ref=importantcontext.news) COVID mitigations were akin to authoritarianism à la Nazi Germany. His vocal skepticism of the mRNA COVID vaccines, hyping up concerns about rare side effects, also ran against the body of research. Then of course, there was his boosting of Robert Kennedy Jr. during the 2024 presidential election cycle. Prasad made a number of posts and videos about the anti-vax conspiracy theorist in which he purported to evaluate his positions objectively. When Kennedy became Health and Human Services secretary—and Bhattacharya NIH director and Makary FDA commissioner—it was only a matter of time before Prasad’s ship came in. Announcing Prasad’s CBER appointment in May, Makary promised his ally would bring “the kind of scientific rigor, independence, and transparency we need at CBER—a significant step forward.” But on Tuesday, HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon released a statement explaining that "Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family." "We thank him for his service and the many important reforms he was able to achieve in his time at FDA,” the statement read. Prasad’s abrupt departure, first reported by STAT News, reveals the stark contradiction at the heart of the Make America Healthy Again movement—which purports to merge Trump’s deregulatory fervor with Kennedy’s skepticism toward pharmaceutical and biological products and professed commitment to more rigorous testing. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Prasad leaned heavily into the latter camp and his appointment to CBER reportedly [prompted](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/prasad-fda-gene-cell-therapy-stocks-marks/747313/?ref=importantcontext.news) a significant sell-off of biotech stocks. During his brief time at the agency, the FDA’s approval process for new vaccines and therapeutics became less predictable—and less data-driven. The agency took a much more restrictive approach to COVID vaccines than it had previously, alarming public health experts. Prasad and Makary co-authored new stricter guidelines for booster approvals that were widely criticized for their potential to limit access to the lifesaving vaccines. Prasad also thrice overruled agency experts to issue narrower approvals for COVID vaccines from Novavax and Moderna. But Prasad’s skeptical approach was not limited to just the vaccines. His departure comes on the heels of the FDA cracking down on Sarepta’s Elevidys, a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which is a rare but progressive and ultimately fatal disorder. Life expectancy for those afflicted is mid-20s. On July 17, the agency [requested](https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/sarepta-halts-elevidys-shipments-following-fda-pressure/?ref=importantcontext.news) Sarepta halt shipments of the treatment—the company’s biggest revenue source—following the deaths of some recipients. Sarepta refused and the following day, the FDA put out a [press release](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-requests-sarepta-therapeutics-suspend-distribution-elevidys-and-places-clinical-trials-hold?ref=importantcontext.news) announcing it was placing the company’s “investigational gene therapy clinical trials for limb girdle muscular dystrophy on clinical hold following three deaths potentially related to these products and new safety concerns that the study participants are or would be exposed to an unreasonable and significant risk of illness or injury.” The company said no new safety signals for the gene therapy had arisen, but four days after the FDA order, it announced it would voluntarily acquiesce, halting shipments to maintain a “positive working relationship” with the agency. A senior FDA official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reportedly [told](https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/22/fda-sarepta-elevidys-muscular-dystrophy-drug/?ref=importantcontext.news) STAT News that the drug faced an “arduous and treacherous path” back to market. On July 25, the agency announced that it was [probing](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-probes-death-patient-sareptas-elevidys-partner-roche-says-death-unrelated-2025-07-25/?ref=importantcontext.news) the death of an eight-year-old boy who had received Elevidys. On Monday, however, the FDA abruptly rescinded the suspension and Sarepta would resume selling the treatment for boys who could still walk. The episode put a target on Prasad’s back as it was CBER that was negotiating with Sarepta. Prasad had also previously [attacked](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1902819657494696402?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) his predecessor, Peter Marks, for [overruling](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/peter-marks-fda-sarepta-disagree-rift-elevidys-review/719480/?ref=importantcontext.news) reviewers to approve Elevidys use for almost all DMD patients. “This guy…Overturned 3 FDA reviewers to approve gene therapy that seems to be killing kids with Duchesne's & destroying their livers,” Prasad wrote. Three days after the FDA’s initial request to Sarepta to halt shipments of Elevidys, far-right activist, conspiracy theorist, and “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer penned a [blog post](https://loomered.com/2025/07/20/meet-vinay-prasad-the-progressive-leftist-saboteur-undermining-president-trumps-fda/?ref=importantcontext.news) on her “Loomered” website calling the Prasad a “progressive leftist saboteur undermining President Trump’s FDA.” Key to Loomer’s argument were old tweets from Prasad in which the contrarian positioned himself as a heterodox lefty who just so happened to align with the COVID-19 conspiracy theorists, contrarians, and major business interests on the political right on the issue of COVID mitigations. Prasad’s *claimed* progressivism, which included criticizing Trump, gave him access and credibility in certain corners of the internet that some of his allies could not penetrate by virtue of their longtime, open affiliations with the political right. “Far from being the reformist ally the Trump administration expected he may be, Prasad’s liberal ideology, outspoken anti-Trump rhetoric, and deliberate actions to obstruct the President’s deregulatory agenda make him a dangerous misfit in this critical position,” Loomer wrote. “His continued presence at the FDA threatens to derail the Trump administration’s mission to streamline regulations and prioritize American health.” In her piece, which was met with a variety of racist comments about Prasad, who is of Indian descent, Loomer cited the CBER heads’ calls for tougher reviews of biologics products and slow pace of approvals and dubbed his rise in the FDA “a catastrophic vetting failure.” She did not mention Elevidys. “The FDA has missed multiple Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) deadlines under Prasad,” she wrote. “Examples of these missed deadlines are GSK’s Nucala for COPD (May 7) and Stealth BioTherapeutics’ Barth syndrome treatment (April 29). More recently, Prasad has led arbitrary delays of gene and cell therapies from Ultragenyx and Capricor not based on science, but on his own left-wing agenda. These delays contradict Trump’s push for faster drug approvals, frustrating patients and industry alike.” Although Loomer reportedly has [few allies](https://www.axios.com/2024/09/13/trump-allies-far-right-activist-loomer?ref=importantcontext.news) in the White House, the president is among them. In April, Trump fired top National Security Council officials following a meeting with the far-right activist. The president adamantly [denied](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8y27dwgpo?ref=importantcontext.news) that the meeting played any role in the firings, but Loomer posted on Twitter that the officials had been fired for being “disloyal.” She subsequently refused to discuss the details of the meeting with the press. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Five days after Prasad got “Loomered,” he was the subject of a [piece](https://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2025/07/25/fdas%5Fvinay%5Fprasad%5Fstands%5Fwith%5Fprogressive%5Fhealth%5Fpolicies%5F1124943.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in RealClearHealth that elaborated on the narrative that he “Stands with Progressive Health Policies” and “Not President Trump.” RealClearHealth falls under the right-wing RealClear Media umbrella, which is also affiliated with the RealClear Foundation that [launched](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) an academy of public health and associated medical journal with Bhattacharya and Makary back in February. The anti-Prasad piece noted how the public health official was holding up potentially game-changing gene and cell therapies in the name of better research, explaining, “This is not a man who sees suffering and responds with urgency. This is a man who sees urgency and responds with contempt.” The piece cited Elevidys specifically, noting “He has dismissed Elevidys as ‘disgusting’ because of its $3.2 million price tag, decried its ‘unclear benefit,’ and labeled it a ‘useless drug.’” “He lumped it together with Sarepta’s earlier exon-skipping therapy Exondys 51, calling its approval the result of ‘shenanigans’ and ‘FDA politics’ overriding science,” the piece continues. “To Prasad, the danger isn’t a fatal disease killing your child—it’s the prospect that someone might get a new medicine he doesn’t think is worth using.” On the day the piece was published, it was [shared](https://x.com/RickSantorum/status/1948769526776025597?ref=importantcontext.news) on X by former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Santorum wrote, “More on the man destroying @POTUS legacy for helping patients.” Meanwhile, Emily Kopp, a reporter for right-wing *The Daily Caller*, [tweeted](https://x.com/emilyakopp/status/1948867147855212627?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the blitz against Prasad in right-wing media had been orchestrated by Sarepta. In an interview with *Politico* posted Saturday, July 26, Makary [responded](https://x.com/politico/status/1949138439124717808?ref=importantcontext.news) to the growing right-wing pushback against his top deputy, insisting “there’s not a political bone to his body” and calling Prasad an “impeccable scientist.” On Sunday, however, *The Wall Street Journal* got involved, publishing an [op-ed](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/vinay-prasad-is-a-bernie-sanders-acolyte-in-maha-drag-healthcare-bfc3be57?ref=importantcontext.news) by editorial board member Allysia Finley, declaring the CBER chief a “Bernie Sanders acolyte in MAHA drag.” By Tuesday, Prasad was out. UPDATE 7/30/25: STAT News [reports](https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/george-tidmarsh-fda-cber-biologics-vaccines-center-acting-director/?ref=importantcontext.news) that George Tidmarsh, who *Important Context* [covered last week](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fda-continues-to-recruit-from-the), is stepping up as acting director of CBER in the wake of Prasad’s departure. UPDATE #2: *Politico* [reports](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/30/white-house-drove-prasad-firing-despite-rfk-jr-makary-concerns-00485972?ref=importantcontext.news) that President Trump was behind Prasad’s ouster. ### FDA Continues to Recruit From the Fringes URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fda-continues-to-recruit-from-the/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:22.000Z The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has named another public health contrarian to a key role as Commissioner [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce) reshapes the agency to embrace the medical fringes. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) George Tidmarsh, a former biotech executive with an [estimated net worth](https://www.benzinga.com/sec/insider-trades/0001287235/george-f-tidmarsh?ref=importantcontext.news) of nearly $480 million and adjunct professor of pediatrics and neonatology at Stanford University, has been chosen to lead the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), which oversees over-the-counter and prescription drugs. A cancer specialist and physician, Tidmarsh will be the nation’s top drug regulator and in charge of new approvals. “Dr. Tidmarsh is an accomplished physician-scientist and leader whose experience spans the full arc of drug development—from bench to bedside,” Makary said in a statement. “His appointment to lead CDER brings exceptional scientific, regulatory, and operational expertise to the agency.” On Makary’s watch, the FDA has staked out a number of positions that run counter to the mainstream of public health and scientific data. A prolific contrarian and anti-vax ally, the commissioner has stacked the agency with acolytes, including physical medicine doctor [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you), his special assistant, and [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief), head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), both of whom have promoted misinformation about mRNA vaccines and their supposed risks. Tidmarsh is no stranger to drug approval. Throughout his time as a biotech executive, he also has experience bringing drugs to market. But like Prasad, Hoeg, and Makary himself, Tidmarsh has been active in the COVID contrarian movement—which may have helped pave the way to his new FDA position. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Last October, he helped organize and fund—and even participated in—a [controversial](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) pandemic policy conference at Stanford University that brought together anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, and future Trump administration public health appointees. The gathering was the brainchild of then-Stanford health economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), a prolific COVID misinformation spreader who is now the director of the National Institutes of Health. Makary and Prasad both participated as well. To hear Tidmarsh tell it, it was at this event that he first connected with Makary. The conference was planned for the four-year anniversary of the signing of the Great Barrington Declaration, co-authored by Bhattacharya, which called to reopen America at the height of the COVID pandemic in order to pursue herd immunity through mass infection of the healthy population. Besides Tidmarsh, the other funder of the event was a UK-based nonprofit Bhattacharya was involved with called Collateral Global, which advocated for so-called harms from the “lockdowns” argued against in the Declaration. Funding was [not initially disclosed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) by the university, but was later added to the event website. At the conference, Tidmarsh moderated a panel called “Misinformation, Censorship, and Academic freedom,” which featured prominent anti-vax writer [Alex Berenson](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news), former Trump COVID advisor and proponent of the mass infection herd immunity strategy [Scott Atlas](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.06.21%20The%20Trump%20Administration%E2%80%99s%20Embrace%20of%20a%20Dangerous%20and%20Discredited%20Herd%20Immunity%20via%20Mass%20Infection%20Strategy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), and attorney [Jenin Younes](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-hack-goes-to-congress?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) of the corporate-aligned lawfare group [New Civil Liberties Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). “The debate that should occur around scientific and medical ideas is the essence of the scientific process,” Tidmarsh opined, opening the discussion. “We have a tendency to vilify incredibly important ideas that are fringe.” The comment echoed a gripe of Bhattacharya’s who was once called a “fringe epidemiologist” by former NIH Director Francis Collins in an email about the Great Barrington Declaration—which was criticized as dangerously unscientific by the broader public health community. Tidmarsh worked with Bhattacharya to fend off criticism of the Stanford conference from public health experts and media. For example, after pediatrician, vaccine scientist, and renowned global health advocate Peter Hotez spoke out about the conference and its “full on anti-science agenda (and revisionist history),” Tidmarsh emailed him to invite him to participate in the anti-vaxxer heavy event. Tidmarsh apparently shared his emails with Bhattacharya, who [posted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1843341061428785411?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) screenshots of them on X and attacked Hotez—at one point quote tweeting him to his hundreds of thousands of followers and accusing him (and others) of having “favored destructive policies like school closures, mandates, and gain-of-function work that, in retrospect, look like they caused disaster.” ”They fear an honest appraisal of these ideas,” Bhattacharya [wrote](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1843341055913275653?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Tidmarsh also apparently shared the press inquiry he received from *Los Angeles Times* columnist Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize winner. Bhattacharya [posted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1843341070735937822?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a screenshot of Hiltzik’s email, describing him as a journalist only in scare quotes. According to screenshots obtained by *Important Context*, Hotez was not the only public health expert to criticize the event and receive combative emails from Tidmarsh. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Tidmarsh’s connection with Makary grew after the Stanford conference. In a [podcast interview](https://www.youtube.com/live/rOdAzhnSakg?si=nzD8mLb4d%5FNjujLt&ref=importantcontext.news) with the commissioner on Tuesday, Tidmarsh revealed that he had flown out to Washington, D.C., to help Bhattacharya prepare for his confirmation hearing and ended up out at dinner with him and Makary. At this dinner, Tidmarsh expressed his desire to work at the FDA. Tidmarsh also served as board chair for a new [contrarian medical journal](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) founded by Bhattacharya last year through the right-wing RealClear Foundation’s Academy of Public Health, according to the publication’s bylaws. The journal featured the FDA commissioner and NIH director on its editorial board. Tidmarsh’s son, a contributing writer to various RealClear properties, was [executive editor](https://www.realclearhealth.com/2025/03/12/bhattacharya%5Fgave%5Fa%5Fmasterclass%5Fin%5Fwhy%5Fthe%5Fnih%5Fneeds%5Freform%5F1097043.html?ref=importantcontext.news)—a fact not disclosed on the journal’s website or in any of the elder Tidmarsh’s articles for the publication as a potential conflict of interest. One of those [articles](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/perspectives/2025/04/reviewing-the-safety-of-our-foods-and-drugs-an-urgent-need-for-a-comprehensive-reevaluation-by-fda-of-talc-in-the-american-food-and-drug-supply/?ref=importantcontext.news), from April, dealt with talc as a food and drug additive. The following month, he participated in an FDA panel on the subject as an expert. According to [STAT News](https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/21/george-tidmarsh-fda-marty-makary-drug-center-director/?ref=importantcontext.news), he had not published studies on the subject before the event. Unsurprisingly, Tidmarsh has been a staunch defender of Makary’s FDA leading up to his appointment. Amid the backlash to the commissioner’s ouster of former CBER head Peter Marks, Tidmarsh joined a chorus of right-wing contrarian voices justifying the move. In an April [op-ed](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2025/04/01/why%5Fpeter%5Fmarks%5Fwas%5Fasked%5Fto%5Fleave%5Fthe%5Ffda%5F1101330.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for RealClear, he wrote that Marks was “not a hero of the resistance” and had been “subverting the scientific process at FDA for years.” More recently, he attacked *Endpoints News* after it [reported](https://endpoints.news/sources-fda-chief-makary-sought-rejection-of-kalvistas-drug/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Makary had lobbied for the FDA to issue a Complete Response Letter to KalVista Pharmaceuticals, rejecting its rare disease drug, sebetralstat, known as Ekterly, to treat hereditary angioedema. “Endpoint News is terrible,” Tidmarsh wrote in a [post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/george-f-tidmarsh-972061b%5Fendpoint-news-is-terrible-they-wrote-makary-activity-7346229154364739586-NQfM?ref=importantcontext.news) on his LinkedIn. “They wrote ‘Makary’s KalVista rejection bid sparks concerns’. Someone should tell them that even if Makary did suggest FDA issue a \[Complete Response Letter\] (there is no evidence for this), a CRL is not a rejection. One would think that a ‘journalist’ would have some basic knowledge of the industry they cover. Endpoint News should be ashamed.” The FDA ultimately approved KalVista’s drug. ### Promoters of Unproven COVID Lab Leak Narratives Join NIH URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/promoters-of-unproven-covid-lab-leak/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:23.000Z *This piece was updated from its original email version following publication. It was further updated on 7/17/25 to reflect communications from Alex Washburne.* Three public health contrarians with connections to a fringe “biosafety” group have joined the National Institutes of Health, *Important Context* has learned. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Bryce Nickels, PhD, Edward Hammond, and Alex Washburne, PhD, are all vocal proponents of the narrative that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 was developed in and leaked from a laboratory. All have affiliated with a controversial group called Biosafety Now, which is dedicated to promoting the dubious origin story, and opposing so-called “gain-of-function” research—manipulation of viruses to understand their evolution, predict potential outbreaks, and even develop treatments—which they blame for causing the pandemic. The group was co-founded by Nickels, a Rutgers University genetics professor, his colleague, Rutgers microbiologist Richard Ebright, PhD, and Justin Kinney, an associate professor at the Simons Center for Quantitative Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Hammond, who previously headed up his own group called the Sunshine Project dedicated to opposing biological warfare research through Freedom of Information Act requests, was once part of Biosafety Now’s [leadership team](https://x.com/biosafetynow/status/1630961836458639363?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Washburne, a mathematical biologist, has [written](https://biosafetynow.org/essays-by-alex-washburne/?ref=importantcontext.news) several essays that were published on the organization’s website. All three men have signed onto [open letters](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/t/letters) from the group demanding retractions of academic papers supporting COVID’s natural origins. Nevertheless, in a private message to *Important Context* post-publication, Washburne, who signed two Biosafety Now letters—one from [June 2024](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/covid-origins-proximal-origins-retraction) and another from [September](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/crits-christoph-et-al-2024-retraction)—denied having “ties” to the group. He explained that while he knew “some of the people” involved, and had co-authored one paper with them, he had not written anything *for* Biosafety Now as we had originally written. Rather, he said, anyone can republish his essays. Such open permission is not found anywhere on his Substack, however, and he clarified that people wishing to repost his content have to contact him directly—including Biosafety Now. The [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), an anti-vaccine, COVID conspiracy-promoting dark money group, has also [published](https://brownstone.org/author/alex-washburne/?ref=importantcontext.news) his work as recently as April. “This inaccuracy is particularly important to correct because the positions of Biosafety Now do not reflect my own positions on many issues, and the behavior of some people affiliated with Biosafety Now is very unlike the way I've comported myself throughout COVID, trying my best to remain respectful and professional despite the very contentious nature of many of the topics discussed,” he said. Biosafety Now has worked hand-in-hand with lab leak-supporting Republican leaders like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). Ebright [testified](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/richard-ebrights-testimony-on-the?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) in support of the lab leak theory as a guest of Paul’s last June. That September, Nickels and BioSafety Now [advocated](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/sign-the-petition-to-bring-the-risky) for Paul’s “Risky Research Review Act,” which would have established a review board to oversee research into potentially dangerous pathogens and products. Despite its prominence, the organization’s board of directors [includes](https://biosafetynow.org/team/?ref=importantcontext.news) no virologists—just Ebright, an artist, and a graduate student in applied physics. The idea that COVID came from a lab has grown in popularity since [Donald Trump](https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/18/covid-lab-leak-theory-trump-replaces-pandemic-guidance-website-with-disputed-claims-alleged-coverup/?ref=importantcontext.news) began pushing the narrative back in 2020 as his reelection chances were dwindling amid the spiraling public health crisis. While originally popular mainly on the political Right, nearly [70 percent](https://www.yahoo.com/news/7-10-americans-think-covid-120000142.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of Americans today believe the story. The Trump White House has sought to solidify the lab leak as the official account of the pandemic’s origins, painting the president as a victim of unscrupulous public health officials who misled the public. In April, the White House replaced the covid.gov website with a page advocating the lab leak claim, and the following month, Trump signed an [executive order](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5267612/trump-gain-of-function-research-funding?ref=importantcontext.news) banning gain-of-function research. Nevertheless, scientific evidence has [consistently](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8715?ref=importantcontext.news) [pointed](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337?ref=importantcontext.news) [to](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2202871119?ref=importantcontext.news) [the](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00119-23?ref=importantcontext.news) [pandemic](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8373617/?ref=importantcontext.news) [having](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38631919/?ref=importantcontext.news) [natural origins](https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2824%2900901-2?ref=importantcontext.news), with the SARS-CoV-2 virus spilling over to humans from animals. A [report](https://www.who.int/news/item/27-06-2025-who-scientific-advisory-group-issues-report-on-origins-of-covid-19?ref=importantcontext.news) released last month from the World Health Organization’s Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogen—a body of 27 independent, international, multidisciplinary experts—reaffirmed that assessment, finding no compelling evidence pointing to laboratory origins. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) According to an official employee directory for the Department of Health and Human Services, lab leak enthusiasts [Nickels](https://directory.psc.gov/hhsdir/eeKey.asp?Key=25346&ref=importantcontext.news), [Washburne](https://directory.psc.gov/hhsdir/eeKey.asp?Key=129895&ref=importantcontext.news), and [Hammond](https://directory.psc.gov/hhsdir/eeKey.asp?Key=126864&ref=importantcontext.news) are all now working in the NIH’s Office of the Director (OD), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who hundreds of agency workers [accused](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new) last month, in a public “declaration,” of politicizing and undermining science. Their profiles list them as “non-government,” meaning they are not actually federal employees, just doing work for the agency. The three men are working in the OD’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which oversees the NIH Common Fund, coordinating trans-NIH initiatives and research. While the DPCPSI does not have a direct role in overseeing biosafety, Hammond’s profile on X reads “Senior Science Policy Analyst for Biosafety at US NIH.” These three lab leak proponents all have connections to Bhattacharya, a former Brownstone Institute senior scholar who, along with now-Food and Drug Administration commissioner [Dr. Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), briefly served on the board of directors of BioSafety Now last year. The [embattled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless) NIH director has repeatedly endorsed the disfavored COVID origins story—including in last year’s [conspiracy-pushing film](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), “COVID Collateral,” and at his first agency town hall in May, which saw [a walkout](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes) by several dozen staffers. As *Important Context* has previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes), Bhattacharya only began embracing the lab leak after the public reveal of an email exchange between Dr. Francis Collins, former head of the NIH, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in which the former called for a published rebuke of his [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news). The document, co-authored by Bhattacharya in 2020, advocated for a COVID herd immunity strategy based on mass infection of the healthy population. The plan was called out as dangerous and unscientific by major public health organizations and the WHO director-general but was embraced by the business-aligned Right. Bhattacharya has worked closely with Nickels. They co-authored a lab leak-pushing [piece](https://nypost.com/2024/07/20/opinion/science-should-never-try-and-triumph-over-nature/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled “Science should never try to triumph over nature” for the right-wing *New York Post* last July. In September the pair [launched](https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/p/welcome-to-science-from-the-fringe?utm%5Fsource=profile&utm%5Fmedium=reader2) a Substack called “Science From the Fringe,” which has been co-published by BioSafety Now’s Substack on multiple occasions. They marketed their “Fringe” outlet as dedicated to “open, respectful dialogue on critical issues in science, health policy, biosafety, and bioethics.” Following the announcement of Bhattacharya’s nomination for the NIH director position, Nickels penned a [glowing tribute](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/biosafety-now-congratulates-board) to the health economist for BioSafety Now’s Substack. Washburne has also been a fan of Bhattacharya’s for some time. He published a [piece](https://alexwasburne.substack.com/p/the-grace-of-dr-jay) titled “The Grace of Dr. Jay” for his own Substack in December prior to Bhattacharya’s confirmation hearings. Washburne has praised the Great Barrington Declaration. The first [piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/why-were-they-so-obtuse-about-the-terrible-harms-they-would-inflict/?ref=importantcontext.news) of Washburne’s posted by Brownstone, from December 2021 when Bhattacharya was a senior scholar at the group, took aim at COVID mitigation measures. Washburne’s ascendence appears to be tied to a controversial pre-print he co-authored in 2022 which argued for a lab origin of SARS CoV-2\. While the paper, which has yet to be properly published, has received [significant](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-scientific-response-sars-cov-.html?ref=importantcontext.news) [criticism](https://www.bacpop.org/blog/synthetic/?ref=importantcontext.news) [from the scientific community](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9937728/?ref=importantcontext.news), it has been embraced by powerful forces on the Right. The Heritage Foundation, the far-right think tank behind Project 2025, has amplified his pre-print on multiple occasions. They cited it in their “[road map](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/forging-post-pandemic-policy-agenda-road-map-covid-19-congressional?ref=importantcontext.news)” for a congressional COVID inquiry, published in January 2023—a month ahead of the first hearing of the GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (HSSCP), which featured Bhattacharya and Makary as experts for the Republicans—and again in their July 2024 [report](https://www.heritage.org/china/report/holding-china-accountable-its-role-the-most-catastrophic-pandemic-our-time-covid-19?ref=importantcontext.news) from their own commission on China and COVID. The Heritage “road map” listed “suppression” of scientific dissent from Bhattacharya and his discredited Great Barrington Declaration co-authors alongside “veiling” of COVID origins as key weaknesses in the US pandemic response. In its final [report](https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024.12.04-SSCP-FINAL-REPORT-ANS.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), published in December 2024, HSSCP called the lab leak “likely” and claimed Fauci sought to cover it up. Claims of ‘silencing’ and ‘censorship’ have been central to the lab leak narrative and herd immunity pushers. At the same time, Bhattacharya co-[signed](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/crits-christoph-et-al-2024-retraction) [two](https://open.substack.com/pub/biosafetynow/p/covid-origins-worobey-et-al-2022?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) of Biosafety Now’s open letters unsuccessfully calling for retractions of scientific papers supporting the natural origins of COVID, including the one from September that Washburne signed. Hammond and Nickels were also on that letter. Last August, Washburne and Nickels participated in a panel discussion on COVID origins at a pandemic policy conference that Bhattacharya organized at Stanford University. The panel was [moderated](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/stanford-university-to-welcome-fringe?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) by a reporter from the pro-Trump, conspiracy-peddling *Epoch Times*. The event was widely [criticized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) for its heavy representation of fringe and anti-vaccine voices. At the time, there was some speculation among public health observers that the conference might be a proving ground for contrarians looking to get in on Trump’s second term. To wit, the [speaker list](https://healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/events/pandemic-policy-planning-future-assessing-past?ref=importantcontext.news) included a number of individuals now working in the administration. Along with Bhattacharya, Nickels, and Washburne, there were Makary and [Dr. Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), now head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Experts *Important Context* spoke with expressed alarm at the new NIH workers, explaining that they lacked the requisite experience for their roles and were ideologically extreme. Virologist and AJI scientific advisor Angela Rasmussen, PhD, for example, said that only Washburne—who earned his PhD in 2015—had done virology research, but nothing with live viruses or related to biosafety. “By putting researchers in situations where inadequate or poorly conceived biosafety policies are being enforced by regulators who are insufficiently experienced with this type of research, risk assessments will be inaccurate and risks will be insufficiently mitigated,” Rasmussen explained. “These policy advisors were chosen for their hostility toward virology and vaccine research, not their expertise or commitment to biosafety.” “This squad of hobbyists and zealots actually increases the likelihood of a lab leak resulting from NIH-funded research,” she added. Washburne told *Important Context* that he “just remembered” that he had worked with live viruses during his undergraduate research—specifically phages—and accused AJI of having “significant connections to gain of function lobbyists,” pointing at Rasmussen and Dr. Peter Daszak, who sits on AJI’s board of directors. Daszak’s former group, EcoHealth Alliance, has been the subject of lab leak conspiracy theories as the alleged funder of the pandemic-causing gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Rasmussen responded to Washburne’s remarks by questioning what a “gain of function lobbyist” is, and noted that phages are viruses that infect bacteria and are not a biosafety threat to humans. She said this experience is not relevant to the virology work Washburne is so critical of. Immunologist Gigi Gronvall, PhD, a Senior Associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and visiting faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, had similar concerns, having interacted with Nickels and having known Hammond for over two decades. She noted that she was especially surprised by the latter working at NIH, explaining he “doesn’t have the professional background one would expect for this role, even aside his opinions.” “Bryce and Ed are zealots—very anti- virology research, they see the world in black and white, they do not understand biosafety, having never been responsible for practicing it or teaching it (despite naming their group Biosafety Now), and they see all virology research as risky,” she said. “This is very dangerous because in their roles at NIH, I think they could do even more damage than is already being done by the \[executive orders\] and lack of funding. We have serious viral threats that won’t solve themselves by putting our collective heads in the sand, but these people aren’t going to help us prepare for them or understand what we are dealing with.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Nickels has [earned a reputation](https://www.science.org/content/article/lab-leak-proponents-rutgers-accused-defaming-and-intimidating-covid-19-origin?ref=importantcontext.news) for online combativeness. He has a history of attacking researchers whose work supports natural origins for COVID and was even the subject of a [formal complaint](https://www.science.org/do/10.1126/science.znoov39/full/%5F2024.03.13%5Fformalcomplainttorutgers-1734550932823.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) at Rutgers, which alleged that he and Ebright had violated the school’s free expression policies by posting “provably false” and defamatory remarks online about a dozen scientists, potentially putting their safety at risk. One of Nickels’ targets has been Fauci. He has called for the former public health official to be prosecuted for “[perjury](https://x.com/bryce%5Fnickels/status/1853917398057001009?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and lamented that President Biden pardoned him amid growing right-wing attacks. He also appeared in the [conspiracy-fueled](https://www.the-gallop.com/from-fauci-to-fiction-doc-promises-covid-origins-delivers-hiv-lies/?ref=importantcontext.news) film “Thank You, Dr. Fauci,” a Tucker Carlson Network exclusive, which suggested that COVID, HIV, Ebola, and Lyme disease were all the result of gain-of-function research and lab leaks. Nickels [boosted](https://x.com/bryce%5Fnickels/status/1860775009943237107?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the film, alleging that there was a media and government conspiracy to suppress the truth about the pandemic. Hammond was similarly outraged by the Fauci pardon, [writing](https://x.com/pricklyresearch/status/1881362221365920244?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “There have been many disgraceful pardons but the worst ones I remember relate to financial crimes. As terrible as those can be, they don't rise to the level of Fauci's potential culpability in relation to gain of function research that caused the pandemic.” Like Nickels, Hammond also has a reputation for pugilistic encounters with virologists. Shortly after AJI launched, he sent multiple emails to members of our board of directors suggesting our group had been ethically compromised due to the involvement of Daszak and several of our scientific advisors, including Rasmussen, who he said was “nothing but a mouth (and a dirty one at that).” He also left several comments on our BlueSky posts. His account has since been deleted. ### National Science Foundation Workers to Issue “Alexandria Declaration” Decrying “Catastrophic Changes” Under Trump Administration (UPDATED) URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/national-science-foundation-workers/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:23.000Z *This piece has been updated to reflect new story developments. The update is at the bottom.* In early June, hundreds of current and former workers of the National Institutes of Health published the [Bethesda Declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new) castigating their agency’s leadership under Director Jay Bhattacharya. The document, which was subsequently [endorsed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-fellows-union-endorses-bethesda) by the NIH Fellows United union, laid out a host of grievances, including research cuts and a growing politicization of science happening on his watch. Later that same month, workers at the Environmental Protection Agency followed suit with their own [Declaration of Dissent](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/epa-staffers-demand-change-in-declaration), calling out similar issues under Administrator Lee Zeldin. In the wake of the declaration, Zeldin, [declaring](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/epa-workers-face-retaliation-over) “zero tolerance,” put 139 EPA workers who signed the document on administrative leave, pending an investigation. Now, workers at the U.S. National Science Foundation, the independent federal agency that supports research and education in non-medical sciences and engineering, are planning to publish their own declaration, decrying changes they have seen inside the independent federal agency under the Trump administration. Like the previous declarations, the NSF document was organized with help from the nonprofit Stand Up for Science. According to an insider familiar with the effort, the declaration is set to be finalized over the weekend and go out on Monday to members of Congress. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Late Wednesday night, an email went out to members of the AFGE Local 3403 union representing employees at NSF collecting signatures for the so-called Alexandria Declaration, highlighting “catastrophic changes” to the agency “and the scientific enterprise of the United States over the last 6 months.” “At this critical moment in our shared history, we hope to catalyze a level of public awareness and subsequent action that will preserve NSF and the values it upholds,” the email reads, noting that the effort was inspired by the Bethesda Declaration. Named for Alexandria, Virginia, where the agency’s headquarters are located, the new declaration is addressed “To Those Who Oversee NSF’s Mission,” according to a draft obtained by *Important Context*. “In support of the bold and independent vision that accompanied the founding of the agency in the aftermath of World War II, the employees of the National Science Foundation (NSF) denounce the policies of the Administration that jeopardize the agency’s mission,” a draft of the document opens. Similar to the declarations that preceded it, the NSF draft lays out a list of eight “ongoing harms that undermine one of America’s foremost pathways to knowledge and innovation, which fosters the next generation of problem solvers – scientists, engineers, and educators.” “If left unchecked,” it warns, “these deleterious actions will dismantle NSF and the scientific infrastructure that is critical to our nation’s security and economic prosperity.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Top of the list of its “Eight Charges of Dissent” is the “Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2026 that will decimate U.S. based science, hurt our economy, and cede worldwide STEM leadership to other countries.” ”The President has proposed a 56% cut to NSF’s budget starting October 1st, which is even starker in some targeted areas, such as more than 70% reductions for the biological sciences, engineering, and STEM education,” it reads. “If enacted, these devastating cuts would cripple the agency and unnecessarily cede our longstanding competitive edge in scientific innovation to other countries…By the Administration’s own estimate, the proposed budget would eliminate NSF support for a quarter of a million scientists, educators, and students…the decimated budget will harm the colleges and universities that train America’s technical workforce and the economies of communities throughout the United States.” The document also takes aim at cuts made by the so-called Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to awards for researchers and educators in 49 states and the District of Columbia. These cuts, it says, “waste previous and ongoing investments, undermine NSF’s rigorous merit review process, hurt real people, and impede America’s scientific progress.” The declaration notes that between April and May, DOGE terminated 1,667 NSF awards “using criteria that have never been publicly shared.” “As of June 5, 2025, these terminations have undercut an investment of $1.35 billion dollars made by NSF over the last several years to 512 unique institutions,” it reads. “In doing so, DOGE and its partners in the Administration ignored multiple bipartisan laws, such as the America COMPETES Act, which provides clear directives and appropriations from Congress to broaden participation in STEM.” The declaration adds that the cancelled awards “supported training programs for graduate students, professional development for K-12 STEM teachers, research on scientific literacy, and laboratory and field sites for over 20 summer research experiences serving hundreds of undergraduate students.” It laments that “in many cases, these grants were designed to recruit the brightest minds to our scientific enterprise by providing unique opportunities to groups that often do not have access to scientific training and experiences.” The draft declaration accuses the administration of ‘corrupting’ NSF’s review process, which it notes “had long been regarded as the benchmark within the scientific research community.” The new review criteria, the declaration calls “political and ideological” and “inherently anti-science.” “An additional secretive level of political review by unqualified and untrained DOGE representatives now occurs before grants to scientists and institutions can be finalized,” it reads. “The criteria and processes underlying the late-stage interventions by DOGE are opaque to NSF’s scientists, who are required to make funding recommendations based on rigorous scientific peer review and review criteria set by the National Science Board.” The Alexandria Declaration takes aim at the White House Office of Management and Budget, headed by Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought, for withholding $2.2 billion of the $9 billion congressionally appropriated NSF budget for the fiscal year, amounting to 24 percent “of already appropriated funds, despite the bill to fully fund the government being signed into law on March 15th.” “The White House’s OMB no longer publicly shares data on this distribution of appropriated funds, contrary to law requiring disclosure...This lack of transparency is now being contested in federal court,” it reads. “These continued delays present grave threats to the mission of NSF. There are imminent fiscal year deadlines, and NSF programs cannot award grants to scientists when funds are withheld. Time is running out, as the current fiscal year ends in less than three months. To uphold core constitutional principles about federal spending, OMB must swiftly release the remaining appropriated funds.” “Congress and NSF leadership must hold the Administration accountable, ensuring that NSF can complete its mandated spending directives from Congress,” it adds. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Other grievances in the declaration have to do with the treatment of agency workers by the Trump administration. It points out, for example, that personnel reductions made by the White House included senior experts. It calls out the administration’s push to force employees back into the office, calling the mandates “chaotic and inflexible” and alleging that they have “upended the personal lives of civil servants” and lowered morale. “During the spring, NSF employees resumed commuting to the office every day, despite working effectively and efficiently in a hybrid model for the past 15 years,” it reads. “NSF leadership was either unable or unwilling to execute a sensible \[return-to-office\] process, resulting in the attrition of valuable experts while further eroding morale at an agency that previously exhibited good workplace relations,” it adds. The declaration also calls out “Coerced resignations and retirements of longtime employees and shedding of rotators,” warning that “In terms of human resources, NSF’s wealth of experience, expertise, and institutional knowledge is rapidly being depleted.” “Over the past several months, hundreds of colleagues have chosen to depart through early retirement or the ‘deferred resignation program,’ either in reaction to the threatened agency-wide RIF and restructuring or the inflexible and unpredictable RTO plan,” it reads. “These departures are largely from permanent employees who have a deep understanding of administrative systems, processes, and science priorities, and these losses are profoundly felt.” In addition to the permanent staffers being forced out, the declaration also notes that NSF plans to cut temporary Intergovernmental Personnel Act employees—researchers on loan from universities—“from 330 down to just 70 scholars who align with a narrow set of newly announced priorities (artificial intelligence, quantum information science, biotechnology, nuclear energy, and translational science).” “If NSF’s permanent staff are its lungs, then these rotators are the fresh air, helping the agency to perform at peak capacity.” The final Charge of Dissent has to do with the NSF’s eviction from its headquarters “with no advance notice, timeline, or planned relocation site.” “On June 25th, NSF staff learned that the agency would be displaced from its Headquarters in Alexandria sometime in 2026 to accommodate the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” the document reads. “NSF relocated to its current, purpose-built building of offices and meeting spaces in 2017, a process that took years of thoughtful planning and carefully choreographed logistics to minimize disruption to the agency’s work and to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars.” The declaration notes that the agency had “grown into the building” and its employees “rooted in the community,” lamenting that “Now, there is a bewildering urgency to push NSF entirely out of this space and a lack of public information on the cost-benefit analysis that justifies the decision to relocate two agencies.” “This gambit further undercuts morale while creating further uncertainty and upheaval in an already tumultuous 2025,” it laments. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The declaration closes with a “Who We Are” section, explaining that as NSF employees “We steadfastly uphold the agency’s mission to promote the progress of science, to secure the national defense, and to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare.” ”We have proudly worked to maintain our country’s global leadership in science and innovation for the benefit of all Americans,” it reads. Collectively, we hope to continue the NSF’s 75-year record of excellence and contribution to America’s economic prosperity. We are civil servants. We swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and we meant it.” As of the time of this publication, the number of declaration signers is unknown. *UPDATE 7/12/25: According to insiders, leadership at the national AFGE union has decided not to move forward with the declaration out of fear of retaliation like what happened at the EPA. Legal considerations drove the decision.* ### HHS Asks Employees To Rat Out DEI “Discrimination” In Trollable Email URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/hhs-asks-employees-to-rat-out-dei/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:24.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* The Department of Health and Human Services sent an email out Monday morning instructing employees to rat out diversity, equity, and inclusion practices inside the agency. The email comes amid a larger push by the Trump administration against such policies, which Donald Trump, who has a history of making [racist](https://extremism.gwu.edu/trump-defends-controversial-comments-about-immigrants-poisoning-nations-blood-iowa-rally?ref=importantcontext.news) and [derogatory](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-criticized-antisemitic-slur-iowa-speech/story?id=123481024&ref=importantcontext.news) remarks, framed as “[anti-white](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/05/01/donald-trump-anti-white-racism-dei/73528246007/?ref=importantcontext.news)” racism on the campaign trail. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On the day of his inauguration, the president [signed](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/?ref=importantcontext.news) an executive order to end DEI policies inside the federal government titled, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs Reporting.” “Pursuant to Executive Order 13985 and follow-on orders, nearly every Federal agency and entity submitted ‘Equity Action Plans’ to detail the ways that they have furthered DEIs infiltration of the Federal Government,” it read. “The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination. That ends today.” Monday’s HHS email stemmed from the order. It called on employees to inform on whether, in the last five years, they had witnessed any “discriminatory language” in grants, contracts, or training materials; whether they knew anyone who had been passed over for a promotion based on immutable characteristics; whether they knew any former employees who quit or faced discipline under the Biden administration for non-compliance with DEI policies. It also asks if they knew of any discriminatory DEI policies currently in place. ![Email with the subject line: DEI whistle-blower questionner Sent to all of HHS mailing list Then, text of email: Dear HHS colleagues, The US Department of Health and Human Services is committed to serving all Americans with equal dignity and respect, while ensuring that taxpayer resources are used only to improve the health, safety and well-being of the public. In accordance with Executive Order 1414, Ending the Radical and Wasteful DEI programs, we are asking for your feedback on the following questions: In the past five years: 1. Have you witnessed any grants, contracts, or training materials with discriminatory language (Please answer "yes" or "no" only} 1/ Do you know of anyone who was passed over for promotion/hiring due to race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or genetic information (please answer yes or no only) 3. Do you know of any former career employees who quit or faced discipline during the previous administration instead of carrying out DEI orders (Please share yes or no only). 4. Can you identify any DEI policies that caused discrimination against employees, contractors or members of the general public (for example discrimination in employment, in services provided or in public messaging?) Please give details about where such discrimination occurs. 5.Anything relevant you would like to share. If you would like to disclose information about specific individuals, please do not provide names. Rather, please describe circumstances surrounding the allegation, your contact information, and we will follow up on further details. Please submit your answers via this link. Note: Your response to this survey is not sufficient to initiate an Equal Employment opportunity complaint. If you feel you yourself has been discriminated or retaliated against, please utilize the relevant EEO processes available to you for these purposes.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/57c748e7-148a-45e1-9496-19e65c129cd3_2666x1451-jpeg.jpg) Speaking to *Important Context* on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from leadership, an HHS source called the email “very weird stuff” and “totally disconnected from reality.” Another email recipient inside the agency said they had a “BS folder for messages like that.” The message instructs recipients to submit their answers via a Microsoft Forms [questionnaire](https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=6t2K1VNQgEqEmbpNlEkQ3%5Fb8CyXwr61LugU5vQFXLMFUMk1PODhCRjZVTkQ3MEk3WjVNU1pXNTJUMS4u&route=shorturl&ref=importantcontext.news) that requires no verification or authentication of any kind to fill out. Already, some members of the public have begun calling to fake answers and joke responses with one BlueSky user [posting](https://bsky.app/profile/raffe.bsky.social/post/3ltfe3zflgk2a?ref=importantcontext.news), “Please do not go to [forms.office.com/g/HXGhXVdGKZ](http://forms.office.com/g/HXGhXVdGKZ?ref=importantcontext.news) and put the most weird or funny responses in there. Seriously, don't do that!” “it would suck if a bunch of people submitted responses at [forms.office.com/g/HXGhXVdGKZ](http://forms.office.com/g/HXGhXVdGKZ?ref=importantcontext.news),” another [wrote](https://bsky.app/profile/pressle54.bsky.social/post/3ltfkfhynv22p?ref=importantcontext.news). Another HHS insider who spoke to *Important Context* on the condition of anonymity, expressed delight at the prospect of the trolling. “I hope they have fun with it,” they said. “I wonder what movie script they will send.” In recent weeks, HHS—and specifically the National Institutes of Health—have come under heavy scrutiny for terminating research, including studies mid-trial, related to the anti-DEI push. Last month, hundreds of NIH workers, current and former, signed onto a “[declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new)” denouncing Director Jay Bhattacharya and his stewardship of the agency. Among the complaints was Bhattacharya’s alleged politicization of science “by halting high quality, peer reviewed grants and contracts.” ### EPA Workers Face Retaliation Over Dissent Declaration URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/epa-workers-face-retaliation-over/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:24.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version. Last update: 7/9/25.* On Monday, hundreds of workers from the Environmental Protection Agency have issued a [Declaration of Dissent](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/epa-staffers-demand-change-in-declaration) to Administrator Lee Zeldin and members of Congress, criticizing his stewardship of the agency and calling on him to defend science. Now, the EPA is placing them on administrative leave. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) "I guess in Trump's America federal employees cannot stand up for science,” said Colette Delawalla, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Stand Up for Science, which helped organize the declaration. On Thursday, notices went out to 139 declaration signers informing them that they had been placed on paid leave through July 17 pending an administrative investigation. “It is important that you understand that this is not a disciplinary action,” the emails read, according to several screenshots obtained by *Important Context*. ![This is a notice that I am placing you in a temporary, non-duty, paid status (administrative leave) through July 17, 2025, pending an administrative investigation. It is important that you understand that this is not a disciplinary action. During the time you are on administrative leave, you will not experience any loss in benefits or pay. You are required to provide a current email address and phone number so that we can contact you as part of our investigation. Please email Richard Marlinga at marlinga.richard@epa.gov to provide, your legal name, EPA email address, personal email address, personal phone number, and home address. Please verify your contact information with Richard Marlinga immediately. I expect you to be available at the phone number provided above (and/or by any additional or alternative contact information you provide) during your regular duty hours in accordance with your currently approved work schedule should the agency need to contact you. During this time, you are hereby ordered that you are not authorized to: Access or use any government equipment, including, but not limited to, computers, cell phones, access tokens, government credit cards, facility keys, and/or identification badges that you have in your possession; Access or use of any EPA government network or systems requiring use of your EPA issued log-in credentials (i.e., username and password) to access them; the restriction does not apply to websites or systems otherwise accessible to the public; Submit emails through government equipment or programs; Contact any EPA employees for access to information or facilities; and Perform any official EPA duties. Furthermore, if you believe any of the above orders require an exception, please contact Richard Marlinga immediately, via email or phone at marlinga.richard@epa.gov. (312) 886-8963 to discuss. Finally, if you fail to follow any of the provisions outlined in this notice, discipline may be imposed against you up to and including your removal from Federal service. EPA provides employees with an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP provides confidential counseling and referral services to assist employees in resolving personal or work-related problems. Participation is voluntary and the program is strictly confidential. You may access the EAP through the website https://care.espyr.com/ (the website and mobile app password is usepa) or by calling toll-free: (888) 635-3202. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Richard Marlinga. Anne Vogel Regional Administrator & Great Lakes National Program Manager US EPA Region 5](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/788f1281-c648-438a-bacd-dff454bdbab3_2732x1291-jpeg.jpg) (*A copy of email that went out the declaration signers.)* However, speaking to the right-wing Daily Caller, for an article headlined “‘Zero Tolerance’: EPA Brings Hammer Down on Bureaucrats Publicly ‘Sabotaging’ Trump Agenda,” Zeldin [made clear what was happening](https://dailycaller.com/2025/07/03/epa-bureaucrats-publicly-sabotaging-trump-agenda-put-leave-zeldin/?ref=importantcontext.news). “We have a ZERO tolerance policy for agency bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the agenda of this administration as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” he said. “The will of the American public will not be ignored at our agency. Unfortunately, a small number of employees signed onto a public letter, written as agency employees, using their official work title, that was riddled with misinformation regarding agency business.” Sent Monday morning, the [*Declaration of Dissent*](https://www.standupforscience.net/epa-declaration?utm%5Fsource=website&utm%5Fmedium=webbanner&utm%5Fcampaign=EPAdec) accused the Trump administration of implementing policies that “undermine EPA's mission and threaten the health of people and the planet.” The document was signed by 278 EPA workers—though the number has since ballooned to 620 with 233 named signers. The document accused Zeldin of politicizing the agency, using its imprimatur to spread misinformation, and of ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluting companies. As *Important Context* noted in our coverage of the declaration on Monday, Zeldin, a longtime fossil fuel ally, had spent his time as EPA administrator rolling back environmental protections. In mid-March, for example, he announced the “biggest deregulatory action [in U.S. history](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history?ref=importantcontext.news),” axing 31 climate and environment rules implemented under the Biden administration. We also noted that he expressed his[ support for reconsidering](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/trump-epa-kicks-formal-reconsideration-endangerment-finding-agency-partners?ref=importantcontext.news) the [2009 finding](https://apnews.com/article/epa-endangerment-finding-zeldin-trump-climate-change-4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9?ref=importantcontext.news) that greenhouse gas emissions drive climate change. Zeldin's EPA has also been friendly to chemical companies, working to deregulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, in line with a recommendation in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 roadmap for the Trump administration. Recently, he announced [plans](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/epa-trump-asbestos-ban-delay.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to reconsider the Biden administration’s ban on the carcinogen asbestos. The declaration also blasted Zeldin for dismantling the agency’s environmental justice program as well as its independent Office of Research and Development. It noted that “The gutting of staff and science and your proposed budget cuts for the coming year will leave ORD unable to meet its statutory requirements and will threaten the health of all Americans.” It also claimed the EPA administrator was facilitating a “culture of fear” inside the agency—an allegation Thursday’s apparent retaliation against the declaration signers appears to vindicate. "Our letter to the administration clearly outlined concerns of a culture of fear, and if they wish to investigate or retaliate against those that expressed those concerns, it is clear they do not value EPA employees and it is clear they are trying to threaten those that are trying to protect the public health of ALL American and the environment,” one declaration signer told *Important Context* on the condition of anonymity. The EPA declaration echoed a similar effort at the National Institutes of Health. Workers there published the Bethesda Declaration last month, excoriating NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and the Trump administration for cuts to staff and research as well as politicizing science. Thus far, the NIH declaration signers have not faced similar retaliation. *As more information comes out, we will update this piece.* ### CDC Vaccine Advisors Share Anti-Vax Content Days After Official Meeting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/cdc-vaccine-advisors-share-anti-vax/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:25.000Z *This post has been updated from its original email version.* Several of the members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices appointed last month by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. have been posting anti-vax content on social media in the days since the panel met. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The anti-vax Kennedy fired the original 17 ACIP members ahead of the committee’s two-day meeting last month and [replaced](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) them with seven of his allies. On Tuesday, five days after the body met, one of those allies, committee chair Martin Kulldorff, took to the right-wing social media platform X to attack the nation’s largest professional association of pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics. Kulldorff, a biostatistician popular on the political right for his advocacy against COVID-19 mitigation measures, blasted the medical association over its continued support of thimerosal as a preservative in vaccines, accusing it of being “pro-mercury.” “Mercury in vaccines creates distrust in vaccines, but the American Academy of Pediatrics is attacking CDC's ACIP after we no longer recommend mercury containing vaccines,” he [wrote](https://x.com/martinkulldorff/status/1940056788444831819?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “Astonishing that pro-mercury in kids is their battle cry!! @AmerAcadPeds.” On Thursday, the newly-minted contrarian ACIP voted to recommend only seasonal flu vaccines free of the organomercury compound, which is used as a preservative in some vaccines. Thimerosal has long been a target of Kennedy’s despite having been largely removed from inoculations for decades—and despite scientific evidence indicating that its use as a vaccine preservative poses no risk to humans. Kulldorff [moved](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-autism-research-grants-in-hands?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) into the world of anti-vaccine dark money after losing his job at Harvard Medical School over his refusal to get vaccinated against the disease. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) AAP was highly critical of Kennedy’s reshaping of ACIP, [noting](https://x.com/ameracadpeds/status/1933619069174927869?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “More than 98% of families in this country choose to vaccinate their young children…now, vaccine policy is being shaped by the small, extreme minority that doesn’t.” The medical association boycotted last week’s meetings and its official X account [posted](https://x.com/ameracadpeds/status/1938262644718190969?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a fact-check about thimerosal, decrying how “False information and faulty ‘science’” about the compound “are frequently used to mislead parents in an attempt to scare them out of vaccinating their children.” In another [post](https://x.com/ameracadpeds/status/1938293957525479735?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), it torched the advisory committee, writing, “This week's ACIP meeting was full of the same intentionally misleading fearmongering that causes vaccine hesitancy.” “Children and families deserve better — public health information grounded in science,” the post read. On Friday, the president of AAP put out a joint [statement](https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/26/vaccine-policy-us-aafp-aap-acp-acog-idsa-presidents/?ref=importantcontext.news) in STAT News with the presidents of other major medical associations, including American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Defying ACIP, the statement declared, “Our organizations will strongly continue recommending vaccines.” Paul Offit, a pediatrician and renowned vaccine authority, told *Important Context* that “as head of the ACIP, Dr. Kulldorff should be aware of the differences between ethylmercury, which is harmless and the level contained in vaccines, and methylmercury, which has a much longer half-life and can be toxic at high quantities.” “All mercury isn't the same,” Offit said. “The AAP's support of thimerosal as a harmless preservative in vaccines since the 1930s is because it virtually eliminated the cases of cellulitis, abscesses, and sepsis occasionally encountered with the inadvertent contamination of multi-dose vials.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Kulldorff isn’t the only member of Kennedy’s reimagined ACIP to post anti-vaccine content since the panel met last week. Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who spent last week’s meeting promoting anti-vax narratives and was one of two votes against recommending a new RSV vaccine for children, shared Kulldorff’s mercury post as well [another](https://x.com/sonia%5Felijah/status/1939770998003544184?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) casting doubt on the safety of mRNA COVID vaccines for pregnant people. Over the weekend, anti-vax physician and ACIP member Robert Malone [posted](https://x.com/rwmalonemd/status/1939373583823995361?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a meme on X suggesting that immunizations were unnecessary. The meme featured an image of a smiling Amish man with the caption, in all capital letters: “REMEMBER THE PLAGUE THAT WIPED OUT THE AMISH BECAUSE THEY DON’T VACCINATE THEIR CHILDREN? YEAH. ME NEITHER.” Malone has made a career out of casting doubt on vaccines—specifically the COVID mRNA shots, which he has claimed cause a form of AIDS. Malone is a [longtime](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) ally of Kennedy and has been involved with several anti-vax groups. Those include The Unity Project, which sponsored the January 2022 Defeat the Mandates rally Kennedy spoke at, as well as his own Malone Institute, and the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally), an ivermectin-focused, anti-vaccine dark money group. He also spoke at the 2024 annual gala of the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), which Kulldorff previously worked at. Malone’s post went viral. As of this writing, it had received 105,000 “likes” and 19,000 retweets. However, it left out critical context. Contrary to the meme’s implication that Amish children are fine without vaccines, most Amish have [some level of vaccination](https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-amish-covid-vaccines-cancer-diabetes-autism-356029928165?ref=importantcontext.news), according to an Associated Press fact-check. There are also significant costs to low vaccine uptake in Amish communities—namely higher prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases. A 2017 [study](https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/13905/Study-Low-vaccination-rate-in-Amish-children?autologincheck=redirected&ref=importantcontext.news), for example, found that Amish children were hospitalized with such diseases at significantly higher rates than other children outside of their communities. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Amish were [hit hard](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/28/990986056/covid-19-has-hit-the-amish-community-hard-still-vaccines-are-a-hard-sell?ref=importantcontext.news) as well. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In its post on Malone’s meme, the Vaxopedia Substack compiled a [list](https://open.substack.com/pub/stopantivaxpropaganda/p/why-is-an-acip-committee-member-posting?r=ev8g&utm%5Fmedium=ios) of notable outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Amish communities. “As usual, Malone is wrong and spreading lies,” virologist Angela Rasmussen told *Important Context*. “Communities of any faith or culture that don’t vaccinate have been subject to explosive outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases, particularly measles. I remember measles outbreaks that have disabled and killed children, including the current one raging in Mennonite communities in Texas that have claimed 2 young kids’ lives.” Rasmussen, who is on the scientific advisory board of the Accountability Journalism Institute, which *Important Context* is part of, added, “These memes may seem innocuous but they kill children.” Offit, meanwhile, recalled the [1979 polio outbreak](https://virology.ws/2009/03/09/polio-among-the-amish/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20last%20outbreak%20of%20poliomyelitis,Amish%20communities%20in%20three%20states.), which hit three states and paralyzed 13 unvaccinated children in Amish communities. ### EPA Staffers Demand Change in ‘Declaration of Dissent’ URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/epa-staffers-demand-change-in-declaration/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:25.000Z Hundreds of workers from the Environmental Protection Agency have issued a declaration to Administrator Lee Zeldin and members of Congress, criticizing his leadership and the agency's new direction under his, and President Trump's watch. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Sent Monday morning, the [*Declaration of Dissent*](https://www.standupforscience.net/epa-declaration?utm%5Fsource=website&utm%5Fmedium=webbanner&utm%5Fcampaign=EPAdec) says the Trump administration’s policies “undermine EPA's mission and threaten the health of people and the planet.” “Today, we stand together in dissent against the current administration's focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise,” the document reads. “Since January 2025, federal workers across the country have been denigrated and dismissed based on false claims of waste, fraud, and abuse. Meanwhile, Americans have witnessed the unraveling of public health and environmental protections in the pursuit of political advantage.” “Today, we come directly to you, Administrator Zeldin and our elected officials, with the five concerns outlined below,” it adds. “We expect your deliberate consideration of these concerns and look forward to working with you to restore EPA's credibility as a premier scientific institution.” The declaration, signed by 278 EPA workers—174 of whose used their names with the rest joining anonymously out of fear of retaliation—comes as Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are [poised](https://heated.world/p/the-senate-is-about-to-destroy-clean?ref=importantcontext.news) to deliver a devastating blow to clean energy, quickly phasing out green tax credits from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and imposin [new taxes on wind and solar projects](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-big-beautiful-bill-destroy-us-climate-progress-1235374622/?ref=importantcontext.news). The document echoes a similar effort by workers at the National Institutes of Health. The [Bethesda Declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new) was published earlier this month and has been signed by over 500 current and former NIH workers. Last week, it was [endorsed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-fellows-union-endorses-bethesda) by the NIH Fellows United-UAW 2750 union. The EPA workers even framed their new declaration as an act of “solidarity with employees across the federal government in opposing this administration's policies.” Similar to the EPA workers, NIH workers blasted their agency’s leadership for prioritizing “political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources.” The similarity is no coincidence. Both efforts had organizational help from the new nonprofit *Stand Up for Science*, founded in February to fight DOGE's federal research cuts. Declaration signatures have been verified with help from EPA worker unions. *Important Context* has not independently verified every signature. “Once again we have career civil servants, who have taken an oath to uphold their agency’s mission, speaking out—with nothing to gain, and their careers to lose—after being asked to do things that will harm the public and violate their moral center,” said Collette Delawalla from Stand Up for Science. “These EPA employees are normal Americans, our neighbors and friends. This type of action is unprecedented for the EPA.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The EPA workers’ declaration recalls a promise Zeldin made at his Senate confirmation hearing, “to lead the EPA in its ‘simple but essential’ mission.” It notes Zeldin had expressed gratitude for the opportunity to “do everything in our power to harness the greatness of American innovation, with greatness of American conservation and environmental stewardship” and charges that he's done the opposite. Michael Pasqua, a Wisconsin state program manager with the EPA who signed the dissent declaration, told *Important Context* that while he feared retaliation, he signed the document out of a sense of duty and patriotism. “Virtually nothing since January has been to ‘protect human health and the environment,’” Pasqua said. “Their decisions and actions to defund critical programs for our most vulnerable communities…will harm people now and in the future—let alone the environmental impacts. They do this under the guise of saving taxpayer dollars, but it's at the cost of American life that I will not stand by and allow this because I also took an oath to the Constitution and to the mission of the Agency.” Nicole Cantello, an attorney-advisor with the EPA and union representative, expressed similar sentiments. “Without EPA, our children will be drinking dirty water and breathing toxic air,” she said. “If we don’t quickly reverse the effects of climate change, the planet will become uninhabitable for many of us. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Those of us at EPA who do this work must speak out now, before the Agency abandons its mission entirely.” Cantello was sanguine about the prospect of retaliation, telling *Important Context*, “I can’t really control the actions that others take in response to mine.” “I worry instead that I do justice to what is at stake here,” she said. The Declaration of Dissent lays out five main ways the Trump administration and Zeldin are “recklessly undermining” the EPA’s mission. It alleges that Zeldin is “undermining public trust,” politicizing what has historically been a non-partisan agency. “Under this administration, the Agency's communication platforms have been used to promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.” it reads. “For example, EPA press releases and the ‘Call it a Comeback’ newsletter have referred to EPA grants as ‘green slush funds’ and praised ‘clean coal’ as ‘beautiful.’“ “The Office of the Administrator has used official EPA channels to liken climate science to a ‘religion’ and issued attacks against individual members of Congress,” it reads. The declaration calls Zeldin's official communications partisan, scientifically unsound and counterproductive to the Agency's mission. It also accuses Zeldin’s office of possibly violating the Hatch Act “by using EPA’s official website and social media to criticize former President Biden and promote political initiatives such as President Trump’s tariffs and the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The singers also accuse Zeldin of “ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters.” Throughout his political career, Zeldin—a former Congressman from Long Island, New York—has [received millions](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/as-california-burns-heres-what-you?utm%5Fcampaign=reaction&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fcontent=post) from PACs and private donors tied to the fossil fuel industry. His tenure as EPA administrator has been marked by a staggering rollback of environmental protections. In mid-March, he proudly announced the “biggest deregulatory action [in U.S. history](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history?ref=importantcontext.news),” undoing 31 climate and environment rules from the previous administration. Zeldin has also expressed[ support for reconsidering](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/trump-epa-kicks-formal-reconsideration-endangerment-finding-agency-partners?ref=importantcontext.news) the [2009 finding](https://apnews.com/article/epa-endangerment-finding-zeldin-trump-climate-change-4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9?ref=importantcontext.news) that greenhouse gases are behind global warming and its disastrous consequences—the main basis for all U.S. climate action. Zeldin's EPA has also sought to unravel new rules surrounding microplastics and “forever chemicals,” aiming to axe the first-ever legally enforceable limit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. Approved in 2024 by the Biden administration, it held the industry financially responsible for cleaning up contaminated public water systems. The move was unsurprising and echoes [suggestions](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trumps-withdrawal-of-proposed-pfas?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) in the Heritage Foundation’s notorious Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership plan Trump has been [following closely](https://www.project2025.observer/?ref=importantcontext.news), which calls to “revisit the designation of PFAS chemicals as ‘[hazardous substances](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/key-epa-actions-address-pfas?ref=importantcontext.news)’ under \[the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980\].” On day one of his new administration, President Trump issued an executive order killing a [proposal](https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202404&RIN=2040-AG10&ref=importantcontext.news) to [limit ](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg?ref=importantcontext.news)the discharge of PFAs into water sources. Zeldin’s EPA also recently announced [plans](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/epa-trump-asbestos-ban-delay.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to revisit the Biden administration’s ban on asbestos, a known carcinogen. “This administration's actions directly contradict EPA's own scientific assessments on human health risks, most notably regarding asbestos, mercury, and greenhouse gases,” the declaration reads. “Health-based regulatory standards are being repealed or reconsidered, including drinking water limits for four PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ that cause cancer.” The declaration continues on, criticizing Zeldin for “stripping away support for cleaner electric vehicles” and pushing to adopt so-called “artificial intelligence” technology while limiting telework for employees. In a [post on X](https://x.com/LeeMZeldin/status/1856068555865026956?ref=importantcontext.news) last November, Zeldin vowed to “make the US the global leader of AI.” But according to the declaration, he’s neglected the climate costs of doing so. “You are supporting new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), without addressing AI's intense consumption of environmental resources,” it reads. “The decisions of the current administration frequently contradict the peer-reviewed research and recommendations of Agency experts. Such contradiction undermines EPA's reputation as a trusted scientific authority.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) EPA staff also take aim at Zeldin for dismantling the agency’s environmental justice program, noting that minority and marginalized communities are most likely to suffer the worst fallout from cuts. In spite of a [court order](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.575287/gov.uscourts.mdd.575287.67.0%5F1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) barring the Trump administration from freezing "equity-based" grants and contracts, Zeldin cancelled over 400 environmental justice-related grants, worth US 1.7 billion. He also overhauled Biden-Harris Administration’s “Social Cost of Carbon,” the estimation of economic damage caused by each additional ton of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Another major area of contention in the document is the dismantling of the EPA’s independent Office of Research and Development (ORD), which currently leads “a separately identified program of continuing, long-term environmental research and development.” While the office’s independence is required by law, the declaration notes that Zeldin has proposed a reorganization that would ultimately fold ORD in with the agency’s rule-making and enforcement arms. The declaration warns that such a plan would open the office up to political influence and pressure while also inhibiting its ability to function. “The gutting of staff and science and your proposed budget cuts for the coming year will leave ORD unable to meet the science needs of the EPA and its partners and will threaten the health of all Americans,” the document reads. The final grievance in the EPA workers’ Declaration of Dissent is the “culture of fear” inside the EPA it alleges Zeldin has helped foster and create. The Declaration notes that Office of Management and Budget Director [Russell Vought](https://www.propublica.org/article/video-donald-trump-russ-vought-center-renewing-america-maga?ref=importantcontext.news) expressed his desire to put EPA employees “in trauma” to the point where they “do not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as villains.” “We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can’t do all of the rules against our energy industry…we want to put them in trauma,” Vought said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The declaration hits back at Zeldin over his apparent efforts to undermine the agency’s employees and ensure they have no recourse against the administration’s actions against them. “Administrator Zeldin, you have done your best to ensure that employees have no recourse to these assaults by nullifying bargaining agreements and refusing to negotiate,” it reads. Working “against the unions instead of negotiating with them,” was but one of the tools the administration has used to torment workers. In February, [over 1,000 employees](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/climate/trump-epa-workers-zeldin.html?ref=importantcontext.news) received a letter telling them they could be fired at any time, and hundreds of [environmental justice staffers were put on administrative leave](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/epa-staff-let-go-tool-shut-tumultuous-week-rcna191218?ref=importantcontext.news). They were [reinstated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/03/07/epa-environmental-justice-workers/?ref=importantcontext.news) in March and, mere days later, Zeldin ordered the immediate [closure](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/climate/epa-closure-environmental-justice-offices.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of environmental justice offices and the [elimination](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-eliminating-environmental-justice-jobs-dei/?ref=importantcontext.news) of related staff positions. Some [280 workers ](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/epa-starts-layoffs-environmental-justice-employees-rcna202287?ref=importantcontext.news)were terminated and another 175 were reassigned to new roles. The declaration notes these efforts to slash the agency workforce. “These actions directly undermine EPA's capacity to fulfill its mission,” it reads. The declaration concludes by noting that Zeldin’s “decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come,” adding that, under his leadership, the EPA “will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety.” Still, the signers believe there’s time to course-correct. They urge the EPA chief to honor his oath and serve the American people. Should he choose to do so, they pledge to “support \[his\] efforts in protecting human health and the environment for all people.” “Administrator Zeldin, we share your stated goal of wanting every child in this nation, including your own, to ‘inherit a world with clean air, clean water, and a thriving economy,’” the declaration reads. “We are civil servants who are dedicated to responsibly managing public resources to drive innovative, high-impact research to create and implement the country's environmental regulations and solve environmental challenges. We want to work together, not to power the ‘Great American Comeback,’ but to launch America into a safer, healthier, and thriving future.” ### NIH Fellows Union Endorses Bethesda Declaration Criticizing Agency Leadership URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-fellows-union-endorses-bethesda/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:26.000Z Last week, the National Institutes of Health fellows union voted to endorse a “declaration” decrying the state of the agency and demanding significant changes. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Earlier this month, hundreds of NIH workers, current and fired, sent Director Jay Bhattacharya and members of Congress the so-called Bethesda Declaration. Upon release, the document had 342 signers with 92 using their names and 250 signing anonymously. Today, the total stands at over 500 with 213 using their names, according to a count by the nonprofit *Stand Up for Science*, which helped organize and promote the declaration. The document lambasted Bhattacharya, who rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as a medical contrarian amplified by right-wing media and dark money groups. It sharply criticized changes occurring at NIH on his watch, including the termination of both agency personnel and research as well as new, arbitrary rules related to speech. The document charged that the new NIH director had been selectively applying academic freedom “based on political ideology,” noting that research terminations had been made “without input from NIH scientific staff or Congress.” It highlighted specific topics—health disparities, COVID-19, gender identity, and more—that have been targeted. It also noted that certain preferred projects appeared to be circumventing traditional review processes. The declaration was published on June 9 along with a letter of support from *Stand Up for Science*. It represented an effort by agency workers to make their voices heard by leadership they said had been ignoring them. *Important Context* had previously [covered](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless) growing frustration with Bhattacharya inside NIH. The declaration came mere weeks after the new director faced a [walkout](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes) and heckling at his first agency town hall event. That demonstration had been organized by the fellows union, NIH Fellows United-UAW 2750, which boasts that it is the largest union of federal employees to form in more than a decade and the first union of fellows ever at a federal research facility. The union had tried several times and failed to secure a meeting with Bhattacharya to discuss its members’ concerns about the agency. In his response to the Bethesda Declaration, [a thread posted on X](https://x.com/nihdirector%5Fjay/status/1932137905939431769?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), the right-wing NIH director suggested the workers behind the document had misunderstood what was happening at the NIH. “We all want @NIH to succeed and I believe that dissent in science is productive. However, the Bethesda Declaration has some fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions NIH has taken in recent months,” Bhattacharya wrote, arguing that the agency had not canceled any “legitimate” research, but was instead removing ideological influence from science. The director also reportedly arranged a roundtable with some of the declaration’s signers. Notably, however, one of its key organizers, Jenna Norton, PhD, MPH, a program officer with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, posted on BlueSky that she [had not been invited](https://bsky.app/profile/jenna-m-norton.bsky.social/post/3lshix73cws2n?ref=importantcontext.news) to participate. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) On Thursday, the NIH fellows union weighed in, voting to formally endorse the Bethesda Declaration. The vote took place after a brief discussion and was unanimous. Union members told *Important Context* that they felt compelled to step in. “I think the endorsement happened because many members of our union realize that the issues outlined in the Bethesda declaration impact not only our work at the NIH but the future of biomedical science in the U.S. in general,” postdoctoral fellow and union member Kaitlyn Hajdarovic, PhD, told *Important Context*. “I have been particularly concerned about attacks on research that’s been labeled by this administration as ‘DEI.’ I am a researcher who has focused on women’s health, specifically women’s aging, and I am deeply concerned about how that type of research will be funded going forward.” Hajdarovic said that the fellows in the union realized they needed to be able to work free from “harmful political interference” if they wanted to serve the American public. Another NIH a postdoctoral fellow and union member, Ian Morgan, PhD, who signed the Bethesda Declaration, said that the union endorsement of the document was yet another effort to get through to leadership that has been seemingly uninterested in listening. “So far, the director has been unwilling or unable to deliver on his promises,” Morgan said. “We share the Director's stated belief in transparency and open communication. Thats why we've made repeated attempts to meet with him and share these and other concerns, but, so far, we've been stonewalled. I hope that the Bethesda Declaration and this endorsement will help us work towards a better future for early career researchers, the scientific community, and global public health.” Morgan noted that under Bhattacharya’s leadership, “we've seen early career researchers at the NIH and their colleagues lose their jobs, we've seen nearly $10 billion in grants and fellowships continue to be slowed and terminated across the country, causing graduate and medical schools to rescind admissions for early career researchers, and we've seen an additional $2.6 billion in cuts to NIH contracts, a portion of which go to support essential training, equipment, and workers that early career researchers rely on.” NIH Fellows United president Emilya Ventriglia, MS, told *Important Context* that the union’s endorsement of the declaration came as “life-saving research “carried out by Fellows at the NIH and by our union siblings at universities across the nation is under attack.” “As a union, we endorsed the Bethesda Declaration because it raises urgent concerns about political interference that directly undermines public health and wastes billions in public funds,” Ventriglia said. “We’re being told to halt critical research not because it lacks merit but because of political agendas. This means taxpayer dollars are being wasted, patients are being left behind, and cures are being delayed.” ”For us, this isn’t just about our working conditions, it’s about protecting the public’s investment in public science that saves lives,” she added. Asked about Bhattacharya’s response to the declaration, Ventriglia said she had not been impressed, noting “It’s not a misconception that research is being halted and congressionally appropriated funds are going unspent.” ”This year, the NIH has held back roughly a quarter of its research funding which is shutting down clinical trials, delaying treatments, and stalling progress on cancer, chronic illness, and more,” she said. “That said, we share the directors’ belief in better communication towards a successful NIH and we’re ready to engage in open, constructive dialogue.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Haley Chatelaine, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow and vice president of the fellows union, was more blunt. “As long as we have coworkers and friends getting RIF’d, members unsure where they’ll find funding, politicization of science (especially for sexual and gender minority research), and no invitation from Dr. Bhattacharya to speak with union representatives, I’m going to be unsatisfied with his response,” she said. Chatelaine explained that because of the Trump administration, “now is a scary time to be an early career scientist in the federal government,” but noted that she and the other fellows had had success coming together. “We won our union and our contract against steep odds because we came together,” she said. “We know we can face tough fights. So our union endorsed the Bethesda Declaration because it’s an opportunity for us to keep coming together.” Chatelaine said the fellows hoped to use the declaration as a “springboard to even more action and even stronger collective power,” adding “our fight is far from finished.” ### Anti-vax Sentiment On Display At CDC Vaccine Panel URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/anti-vax-sentiment-on-display-at/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:26.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Expectations were low Wednesday heading into the first meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The body, which makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC, had recently been reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a long-time anti-vaccine activist. Earlier this month, Kennedy replaced all 17 ACIP members with eight of his contrarian allies. *Important Context* and the Center for Media and Democracy [published](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) a deep-dive rundown of the new members last week. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The shake-up sparked outrage and dissension—even within the GOP. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who voted to confirm Kennedy, noted that many of the new appointees did “not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology” and that some lacked “experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.” On X, he called for the ACIP meeting to “be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation—as required by law—including those with more direct relevant expertise.” The American Academy of Pediatrics [announced](https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/acip-new-members-meeting-june-25-26-aap-liaisons-not-participating?ref=importantcontext.news) that its liaisons would not participate in the proceedings and even one of Kennedy’s ACIP picks, former professor of obstetrics and gynecology Michael Ross, [withdrew](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/25/rfk-vaccine-advisory-panel?ref=importantcontext.news) from the panel. But the meeting was not postponed, and it played out exactly as many in public health feared it would. The newly formed panel heard from qualified CDC experts about the science and epidemiology behind certain vaccines and diseases and took turns seemingly trying to poke holes in the research—all while promoting long-discredited talking points and anti-vax narratives. The tone of the meeting was set out of the gate on Wednesday by chairman Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician who previously worked at the anti-vax [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) and co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued for a COVID mass infection herd immunity strategy. “If you have questions and concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, we want to hear them…No questions should be off limits,” he said. Any doubt as to what Kulldorff might have meant was quickly laid to rest when he approvingly quoted Kennedy’s defense of his anti-vax views. “As Secretary Kennedy has eloquently stated, ‘opposing mercury in fish does not make you anti-fish, and opposing mercury in vaccines does not make you anti-vaccine,’” Kulldorff said. “In fact, to thoroughly scrutinize and ensure the safety and efficacy of vaccines is a pro-vaccine position.” The remark was a reference to the organomercury compound thimerosal, which is used as a preservative in some vaccines, including some flu vaccines, but has largely been removed from inoculations for decades. No evidence suggests it is dangerous. Kulldorff then compared adverse vaccine reactions and safety concerns about vaccines to airplane crashes stating,”If one airline ignores safety concerns or has a plane crash, that affects the public trust and willingness to travel with all other airlines—the same is true for vaccines.” “Where there are unexpected adverse reactions or when cut-cornering \[sic\] concerning the safety of one vaccine, that affects all other vaccines reducing vaccine uptake and coverage,” he said. Kulldorff cited “the inflated promises about the COVID vaccines preventing transmission and disease and COVID vaccine mandates,” which he claimed “have decreased overall public trust in vaccines.” During ACIP’s obligatory introductions for the new members, the chairman took another dig at the mRNA vaccines, explaining that his former employer, Harvard Medical School, had fired him over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID despite his “superior immunity” from prior infection. Research has shown that vaccine-acquired immunity is far more reliable, and safer, than infection-acquired immunity while hybrid immunity is the strongest overall. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) It wasn’t just the COVID vaccine Kulldorff cast doubt on. The ACIP chairman also announced the formation of a working group to reevaluate the childhood vaccine schedule and long-approved inoculations. The group, he said, would study the “interaction effects between different vaccines, cumulative amounts of vaccine ingredients and the relative timing of different vaccines.” In particular, he singled out the hepatitis B vaccine, questioning whether it ought to be universally recommended for newborns on the false premise that the disease was really only transmitted through sexual activity and intravenous needles. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a longtime collaborator of Kulldorff’s, has also [suggested](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) that the hepatitis B vaccine is not necessary for infants. Kulldorff also suggested the MMR vaccine be kept separate from the varicella vaccine. The chairman was hardly the only ACIP member promoting false narratives about vaccines Wednesday. Following a presentation on COVID hospitalizations by epidemiologist Adam MacNeil of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, ACIP member Cody Meissner, a physician and signatory of the Great Barrington Declaration who has long opposed vaccinating or masking children against the disease, suggested that perhaps the presenter’s numbers were incorrect on the grounds that many people were hospitalized “with” COVID as opposed to “from” the disease. Highlighting the distinction became a popular talking point among COVID contrarians and minimizers at the height of the pandemic. ”You refer to the COVID hospitalization rate in numerous slides, and I assume the COVID hospitalization rate refers to a hospitalized person who has a positive RT-PCR assay for COVID. And that doesn’t mean a person is hospitalized *because* of COVID. It’s a patient who is hospitalized *with* COVID in the pharynx—and those are two very different things,” Meissner said, noting a study out of Massachusetts. “I think that many of the numbers that have been presented may not really reflect COVID hospitalization.” An expert on the COVID-NET data, however, corrected him, explaining that the issue of causality was, in fact, accounted for. Meissner’s “only response” was to note that the severity of COVID infections had decreased over time and to then ask the same question about causality about deaths. “How many simply had a positive throat swab because many hospitals have required a throat swab on anybody who’s admitted and that’s classified as SARS infection?” he asked. Again, his question was shot down. The expert noted that most hospitals had long since stopped screening all new admissions for COVID. Meissner then appeared to misinterpret CDC hospitalization rate data for children, confusing the extremely low weekly rate with the cumulative rate, which was significantly higher. Another presenter would later point out his mistake. ACIP member Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has [called](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel) for suspending mRNA vaccinations altogether, questioned the methodology of the research, asking if the CDC researchers had considered if maybe the vaccine did not work after all. He said that the data seemed to show that the vaccinated were overrepresented among the hospitalized. “Did we kind of scrutinize what are alternative explanations to the analyses \[sic\] that was conducted about the efficacy that might not point to an efficacy of the vaccine but maybe to a different direction?” he asked. The first author of the study responded, pointing out that Levi had misinterpreted the data and methodology of the research, adding ”We think that the controls here are exactly what we’d want to understand the relative impact of the vaccine.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Up next was the representative for the Food and Drug Administration, [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine), a physical medicine doctor who has spent years casting doubt on the vaccines and other COVID mitigation measures with dubious research papers. Høeg also questioned the research design, expressing her desire to see randomized controlled trials—a popular demand from contrarians and anti-vaxxers. ”If the goal is to really have comparable groups with comparable symptoms—one that happens to test positive for COVID and one that doesn’t—why exclude the patients that test positive for influenza and then those over 60 who test positive for RSV?” Høeg asked. “And are we not concerned that these may be fundamentally different groups of people that are seeking medical care but happen to test positive for COVID-19 versus something else and it’s really difficult to say their symptoms are exactly comparable?” “I think I share a lot of people on this panel’s desire to see randomized controlled trials to minimize these types of bias so we aren’t’ sitting here wondering ‘are we being misled by this data?’” Høeg added. The study author, however, explained that including controls or cases who test positive for another vaccine preventable disease would actually add bias to the study, noting there was “quite a lot of published literature” on the topic. The expert explained that vaccine status is highly correlated for preventable diseases like flu and COVID. MacNeil added randomized clinical trials would not allow for the timely collection of reliable real-world data. Following an extensive presentation on mRNA vaccine safety by vaccine safety expert Sarah Meyer, a medical officer at the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Levi suggested that the CDC needed to reevaluate the way it studied vaccine safety in the face of mRNA technology on the grounds that spike protein remained in the body for years—another anti-vax talking point. “It seems to me that that could challenge the sensitivity of most of our traditional approaches and maybe we need to adapt somewhat broader set of approaches,” he said. Robert Malone, the notorious anti-vaccine doctor who has claimed the mRNA vaccines give people a form of AIDS and have killed millions, joined in stating that the mRNA vaccines were “significantly different from traditional vaccines.” “We’re aligned on that?” he asked Meyer, seemingly rhetorically, before launching into a diatribe about the supposed immunologic risks of vaccination, including those with allegedly delayed onset. ”We started vaccination back in December 2020 so we have several years now—we are continuing to monitor in a very robust way to capture any and all adverse events even if they’re cumulative over years from different doses,” Meyer said. “If we were seeing any effects on organ systems or safety concerns of any kind, we would be well-equipped to pick those up in our safety systems.” Meyer then passed on the questions to a CDC immunologist who addressed the claims about residual spike protein from the vaccines. The final presentation on COVID vaccines dealt with coverage and revealed significant gaps in the population. Meissner asked at what point “the reception of a vaccine” ought to inform ACIP’s recommendations, declaring “I think it does need to be considered at some point.” Kulldorff agreed, calling Meissner’s question “very important” and noting that “there has been a recommendation in place, vaccinating children, and the fact that it’s so low is a reflection of the lack of trust many parents have with the COVID vaccine recommendations that the ACIP has been giving.” The panel also appeared skeptical following a presentation on RSV vaccines. Levi said he wanted to know more about “what babies are benefitting from this the most—pre-term babies, babies with co-morbidities compared to healthy babes—to see if there is any difference in the benefit of these products.” Another thing Levi wanted more information about were hospitalizations. “Hospitalization is definitely a bad outcome for babies—for everybody—but not all hospitalizations are made the same,” he said. “So some hospitalizations are longer, some of them require more intense care.” He said this extra information would paint a better picture of the “overall benefit in a more nuanced way.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) At Thursday’s meeting, it seemed that anti-vaccine sentiment might not dominate the day—at least, not at first. Early on, there was a vote to recommend a new RSV vaccine from Merck for infants and then also to include it in the Vaccines for Children program that assists low-income parents. Voting against the recommendation were Levi and Vicky Pebsworth, a registered nurse with a PhD who serves as a [regional director](https://nacn-usa.org/about/board-of-directors/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the National Association of Catholic Nurses and has affiliated with the anti-vaccine National Vaccine Information Center. But then ACIP heard from nurse practitioner Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Kennedy’s anti-vax group, Children’s Health Defense, who has reportedly been [hired](https://abcnews.go.com/US/rfk-jr-appoints-longtime-anti-vaccine-ally-lyn/story?id=123213887&ref=importantcontext.news) by the secretary for a role in HHS. Redwood gave a presentation on thimerosal. The presentation had been published days earlier on the CDC website and featured a slide that cited a [nonexistent study](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/06/24/health/cdc-vaccine-adviser-thimerosal-presentation?ref=importantcontext.news) to support its claims about the compound’s safety. A new version of the presentation was subsequently uploaded without the offending slide. Most of the ACIP panelists took turns agreeing with Redwood. Most supportive was Kulldorff, who defended her from public criticism, calling her “very knowledgeable about vaccines.” Kulldorff made the case that because mercury is a toxin that people are exposed to through multiple sources throughout their lives, so thimerosal in vaccines might pose a cumulative exposure risk. “If we care about public health we should try to minimize exposure to mercury,” he said. After a brutal public comment period, during which many callers urged the body to follow evidence-based science and not limit access to vaccines, ACIP voted to recommend that Americans receive seasonal flu vaccines only without thimerosal. Meissner was the only “no” vote on the grounds that doing so could limit access to vaccines. Pebsworth abstained. After the votes, Meissner criticized the decision by the American Academy of Pediatrics to boycott the meeting, stating he suspected it had done so to avoid defending some of its decisions.” ”I’m led to think that they didn’t want to come because they didn’t want to have to support some of their decisions that are difficult to do, but in the future, I strongly recommend the American Academy of Pediatrics to participate in these meetings as they always have,” he said. ### Kennedy Stacks Critical Vaccine Panel With Anti-Vaxxers URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/kennedy-stacks-critical-vaccine-panel/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:27.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with the* [*Center for Media and Democracy*](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* On June 9, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel that makes recommendations about vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and votes on updates to its vaccine schedule. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Now, Kennedy is replacing the advisors with medical contrarians, many of whom have expressed skepticism or spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines that have [saved millions](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news) of American lives and prevented millions of hospitalizations. Since Kennedy’s confirmation, questions have swirled about the future of ACIP, which has provided independent guidance to the CDC for over 70 years. In addition to putting this anti-vaccine activist in charge of HHS, Trump has appointed his anti-vax ally [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce) to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And Makary, in turn, has stacked his agency with fellow physician contrarians and vaccine skeptics like [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you) and [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief). Several indications earlier this spring suggested that ACIP might be facing trouble. At its April meeting, Makary’s special assistant Høeg [cast doubt](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine) on the necessity of certain vaccines. Weeks later—before ACIP could convene its next meeting on COVID vaccines—Makary announced that the FDA would no longer approve boosters for children or pregnant people without extensive (and arguably prohibitive) testing. But Kennedy’s move to purge all members of ACIP entirely—which was necessary to “restore public confidence in vaccine science,” as he claimed in a [*Wall Street Journal*](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-jr-hhs-moves-to-restore-public-trust-in-vaccines-45495112?ref=importantcontext.news)[ opinion piece](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-jr-hhs-moves-to-restore-public-trust-in-vaccines-45495112?ref=importantcontext.news)—was a significant escalation in his attack on the medical mainstream. That escalation continued last week as the secretary revealed eight of his picks to replace the former members of the panel. Typically, being accepted as an ACIP advisor is a process that requires thorough vetting and can take years, but Kennedy’s appointees were able to circumvent those hurdles by fiat. The new members include the following medical contrarians: [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Martin Kulldorff** One appointment comes as no surprise: Martin Kulldorff, who has [reportedly](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/nih-autism-research-grants-in-hands) been working with National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya on shaping the request for proposals for Kennedy’s highly anticipated and deeply controversial autism research project. A biostatistician and prolific public health contrarian, Kulldorff went from the vaunted Harvard Medical School to the medical fringes and the world of right-wing dark money during the pandemic. He has credited his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID with his being fired from Harvard. Kulldorff and Bhattacharya have been close since they co-authored the business-aligned [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) in October 2020, which argued in favor of reopening the economy at the height of the pandemic and pursuing herd immunity through widespread infection before a vaccine was available. Together, they have written op-eds arguing against COVID mitigation measures and casting doubt on the efficacy of mRNA vaccines. They [testified before Congress](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/dont-let-house-republicans-rewrite-trumps-pandemic-history/?ref=importantcontext.news) and provided pandemic responses to both the first Trump administration and Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration in Florida. They were also co-plaintiffs in a dark money-funded lawsuit against key members of the Biden administration, though the Supreme Court [ruled against](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) their allegations of online censorship for their fringe ideas. Kulldorff and Bhattacharya have also been involved in several dark money operations working to undermine mainstream public health. In 2021, the pair helped launch the [Academy of Science and Freedom](https://dc.hillsdale.edu/Academy-for-Science-and-Freedom/Overview/?ref=importantcontext.news), a D.C.-based offshoot of the far-right Hillsdale College in Michigan, as well as the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), which has become a central hub of COVID misinformation and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Although they are no longer listed as affiliated with the nonprofit, Bhattacharya was a senior scholar at Brownstone, while Kulldorff was its senior scientific director. In 2023, both men participated in Brownstone’s [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic), which crafted a “blueprint” for a congressional inquiry into the pandemic to coincide with the swearing in of the newly elected GOP majority. The 80-page document dedicated an entire section to “collateral lockdown harms.” Kulldorff’s activism against “lockdowns” has extended to several international groups that also oppose COVID mitigation efforts. Those include the UK-based [Collateral Global](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax), a group that included Bhattacharya and their Great Barrington Declaration co-author Sunetra Gupta. The three authors were also [advisors](https://pandata.org/panda-launches-scientific-advisory-board-to-buttress-global-efforts/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the South African group [Pandata](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/trump-nih-jay-bhattacharya-covid-south-africa-nick-hudson-panda/?ref=importantcontext.news) (or PANDA), which now denies that the global COVID pandemic ever happened. Working with Patrick Fagan, the former lead psychologist for Cambridge Analytica, Kulldorff also served as an advisor to an international anti-lockdown umbrella group called [COVID-19 Assembly](https://bylinetimes.com/2021/02/02/cambridge-analytica-psychologist-advising-global-covid-19-disinformation-network-linked-to-nigel-farage-and-conservative-party/?ref=importantcontext.news). In 2021, [news broke](https://www.dailydot.com/news/leaked-chats-ex-cambridge-analytica-patrick-fagan-hart-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Fagan had been secretly coordinating anti-vax disinformation campaigns on social media. More recently, Kulldorff and Bhattacharya helped launch a [contrarian medical journal](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right) from the right-wing RealClear Foundation and its new Academy of Public Health. In its first issue, Kulldorff published an article urging changes at the NIH—some that mirror Bhattacharya’s actions, like imposing a 15 percent cap on overhead costs for research grant recipients. Kulldorff’s work against public health has come with a price tag. In 2022, he raked in [over $100,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/871368060/202323199349305482/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from Brownstone, and in 2024, as an expert witness in a failed lawsuit against Merck alleging that it covered up harmful side effects of its Gardasil HPV vaccine, he [billed](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kennedys-new-vaccine-adviser-was-expert-witness-against-merck-vaccine-2025-06-12/?ref=importantcontext.news) over $300,000 for that case, according to Reuters. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Cody Meissner** Cody Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases and a professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, has been a favorite of Kennedy’s for years and is mentioned by name in the dedication of the secretary’s conspiratorial book about Anthony Fauci, former head of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Meissner previously served as a member of ACIP from 2008 to 2012\. As the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy noted in its [coverage](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/rfk-announces-new-acip-members-including-vaccine-critics?ref=importantcontext.news) of Kennedy’s new picks, previous conflict of interest [disclosures](https://www.cdc.gov/acip/disclosures/by-member.html?ref=importantcontext.news) show that Meissner received funding from pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Roche, which is at odds with the secretary’s crusade against Big Pharma. More recently, Meissner was a member of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. He also chaired the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for HHS and, as PBS noted in its [coverage](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/rfk-jr-names-8-vaccine-panel-replacements-including-a-critic-of-covid-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news), has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics. During the pandemic, however, Meissner turned toward contrarianism. In August 2020, he joined Kulldorff and Bhattacharya—along with Joseph Ladapo, an anti-vax doctor who is now Florida’s surgeon general—in an Oval Office meeting with President Trump to discuss the pandemic response and push for reopening schools and businesses. Two months later, he [signed](https://gbdeclaration.org/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) on to the Great Barrington Declaration. Meissner has a mixed record on vaccines. He has touted their usefulness in saving lives and previously even praised the COVID shots. However, Meissner emerged as a voice of dissent on the FDA committee when it came to approving the mRNA vaccines for younger age groups. In December 2020, he [abstained](https://www.npr.org/2020/12/10/945228941/fda-advisory-committee-member-on-vote-on-pfizers-coronavirus-vaccine-authorizati?ref=importantcontext.news) from the vote to grant the Pfizer vaccine emergency use authorization for teenagers as young as 16, telling NPR that the risk-benefit analysis was unclear for that age group. In the summer of 2021, Meissner [spoke out](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/06/10/health/fda-advisers-covid-vaccines-kids?ref=importantcontext.news) against clearing COVID vaccines for children under age 12, raising the same concerns. He was also an [opponent](https://www.statnews.com/2021/10/26/pfizer-covid19-vaccine-kids-vrbpac-fda/?ref=importantcontext.news) of vaccine mandates. But lockdowns and vaccines for youngsters weren’t the only mitigation measures Meissner opposed. That August, he co-authored a *Wall Street Journal* [op-ed](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/masks-children-parenting-schools-mandates-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-biden-administration-cdc-11628432716?mod=article%5Finline&ref=importantcontext.news) with Makary arguing against mask mandates for children, calling them “abusive.” The article asserts that masking is perhaps not effective at reducing the spread of the virus (even though it is) and argues that it could cause children “harm”—like fogging their glasses or exacerbating acne. More recently, Meissner spoke out in [support](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-drops-covid-vaccine-recommendations-healthy-children-pregnant-women-2025-05-27/?ref=importantcontext.news) of Kennedy curtailing vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people, despite the scientific literature—including a recent publication from Makary—in favor of continuing to recommend boosters for these populations. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Robert Malone** Perhaps the most galling addition to the CDC’s vaccine advisory group is Robert Malone, a physician and biochemist whose claim to fame is [overstating](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html?ref=importantcontext.news) his role in the development of mRNA technology and spreading [misinformation](https://www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/the-myths-promoted-by-new-cdc-vaccine-advisor-robert-malone?utm%5Fsource=post-email-title&publication%5Fid=2106147&post%5Fid=165799615&utm%5Fcampaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1NDg1NzksInBvc3RfaWQiOjE2NTc5OTYxNSwiaWF0IjoxNzQ5NzQ5NjUzLCJleHAiOjE3NTIzNDE2NTMsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMTA2MTQ3Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.PjD6kUc5kVdvYSfVb2iKi7Nz3mqMHO0DDUpjpS61eo8&r=brab&triedRedirect=true&utm%5Fmedium=email) about COVID vaccines. For example, Malone has [spread misinformation](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKxvGIXAeW%5F/?igsh=MTdtejJmOXI5emh2Yw==&ref=importantcontext.news) about the shots causing 17 million deaths worldwide. Malone suddenly surfaced in the national consciousness through an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast in December 2021\. During the interview, he compared pandemic control measures during the Biden administration to life under Nazi rule in Germany. His most memorable moment, however, was when he claimed that Americans were suffering “mass formation psychosis,” meaning that people had been “basically hypnotized” into trusting the mainstream COVID “narrative,” including that the mRNA vaccines would help save lives. An estimated [232,000](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37093505/?ref=importantcontext.news) preventable deaths occurred among unvaccinated people during COVID’s delta and initial omicron waves when Malone ramped up his media and online activity. Malone is involved with several anti-vaccine organizations including The Unity Project, which sponsored the January 2022 Defeat the Mandates rally where he and Kennedy both addressed the crowd with conspiratorial, inflammatory rhetoric. His own Malone Institute, which [purports](https://www.linkedin.com/company/rw-malone-md-llc/?ref=importantcontext.news) to be aimed at conducting research and restoring “integrity to the biological sciences and medicine,” was a sponsor of [Project 2025](https://insurrectionexposed.org/project-2025/?ref=importantcontext.news), the far-right blueprint developed by the [Heritage Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news) to jump-start Trump’s second term. Malone has been a [prominent figure](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/covid-contrarians-protest-whos-efforts-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) in a [right-wing push](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-who?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) to kill the World Health Organization’s pandemic preparedness treaty, signing on to a so-called sovereignty declaration along with The Unity Project and his own institute. More recently, Malone has been named a senior advisor to the [Independent Medical Alliance](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally) (IMA), the ivermectin-pushing, anti-vaccine dark money group previously known as the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which has strong ties to both Kennedy and Brownstone. Malone is a longtime ally of Kennedy’s and has already been running interference for him with the recent measles outbreaks cropping up across the country, which many have pinned on the secretary for his fear-mongering about the MMR vaccine. “There are statements that RFK was somehow responsible for the outbreak,” Malone has said. “This is political propaganda.” After the second death of an unvaccinated child in Texas, Malone [suggested](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/16/texas-measles-misinformation-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the disease was not really to blame. Kennedy has been equally defensive of the doctor and even named him in the dedication of his aforementioned Fauci book. Like Kulldorff, Malone has also received [payment for serving as an expert witness](https://endpoints.news/two-new-acip-picks-were-paid-experts-against-merck-in-court/?ref=importantcontext.news) in lawsuits against Merck over its vaccines. **Vicky Pebsworth** Less well known than Malone, Vicky Pebsworth, a registered nurse with a PhD, is a [regional director](https://nacn-usa.org/about/board-of-directors/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the National Association of Catholic Nurses. Like Meissner, she is a previous member of the FDA’s vaccines panel. But Pebsworth has also been affiliated with the National Vaccine Information Center, a storied anti-vax group that fights for vaccine exemptions and promotes alternatives to vaccines. In his announcement of his ACIP replacement picks, Kennedy did not mention that she has served as a board member and volunteer director of the Center. In the past, the group has received [significant funding](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2019/10/15/fdc01078-c29c-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news) from osteopathic physician and alternative medicine advocate Joseph Mercola, who hawks supplements and is known for spreading vaccine misinformation. Pebsworth has also claimed that her child was injured by vaccines and is named in Kennedy’s Fauci book as a “historic healer.” Mary Holland, CEO of the Children’s Health Defense anti-vax group Kennedy founded, released a [statement](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-taps-8-new-acip-members-offit-concedes-most-seem-reasonable/?ref=importantcontext.news) saying that she is “especially” pleased to see Pebsworth appointed as a returning member of ACIP. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Retsef Levi** Another anti-vaxxer Kennedy has added to ACIP is Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a former intelligence officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. Levi has come under fire at his school for [vilifying](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/firelevi?ref=importantcontext.news) pro-Palestine student activists. The professor has [limited experience](https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/11/rfk-jr-vaccine-advisory-panel-new-acip-members-include-mrna-skeptics-covid-critics/?ref=importantcontext.news) with vaccines, something he admitted on a podcast with Høeg, who recently worked at the MIT business school. As far as Kennedy is concerned, his relevant expertise appears to be the years he has spent casting doubt on them. Levi’s pinned post on X (from January 2023) is a clip of him calling to immediately suspend the use of mRNA vaccines. The video is an embedded clip from Kennedy and Bhattacharya ally Aseem Malhotra, a [controversial](https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/news-archive/statement-on-judicial-review-of-our-handling-of-complaints-about-dr-aseem-malhotra?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vax doctor from the UK who has been [working](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6372813094112?ref=importantcontext.news) as a chief medical advisor for MAHA Action. “The evidence is mounting and indisputable that mRNA vaccines cause serious harm including death, especially among young people,” Levi’s caption [reads](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1619945525670981632?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “We have to stop giving them immediately!” He has suggested that the vaccines may be [linked](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1746143578236096755?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to autism and [called](https://x.com/retsefl/status/1925760860435210437?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) it “incomprehensible” that they were “still recommended in pregnancy.” But COVID vaccines aren’t the only approved inoculations Levi opposes for pregnant people. In a post tagging Bhattacharya, Makary, and anti-vax, right-wing businessman Bill Ackman, he wrote that the CDC approval of “yet another Hepatitis B vaccine for use in pregnancy is outrages \[sic\] & underscores much of what is broken!” “Considering that most pregnant women in the US have close to ZERO risk to contract Hep B during pregnancy, this is gross negligence!” he wrote. “This is NOT Science or something we should trust!” Bhattacharya has also [suggested](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) that the Hep B vaccine should perhaps not be included in the childhood immunization schedule. **Other ACIP Additions** Other doctors Kennedy has picked as ACIP replacements include James Pagano, an emergency medicine doctor; Michael A. Ross, a former professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University; and James Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and nutrition scientist. Their past statements and positions on vaccines are not readily available. An X account that appears to belong to Pagano indicates that he is fiercely right-wing, posting thumbs up and double thumbs up to multiple tweets fromTrump. In 2015, he [wrote](https://x.com/jamesvpagano/status/595577161236414464?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “What’s wrong with being an islamophobe? There’s so much there not to like.” He has also spoken out against the Affordable Care Act, [declaring](https://x.com/jamesvpagano/status/590372443123945473?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “no good comes from the ACA.” Meanwhile, Ross has virtually no online presence nor experience with vaccines. Kennedy [misrepresented](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/rfk-jr-says-his-new-vaccine-panel-has-a-gw-university-professor-the-school-says-he-doesnt-work-there/3935974/?ref=importantcontext.news) his employment in announcing his selection for ACIP, erroneously saying that he was still a professor at George Washington University even though he has not taught there for eight years. His only publication in a scientific journal is an [open letter](https://jamaletter.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) pushing back against a study that showed ivermectin was not effective against COVID (Kennedy promoted the anti-parasitic as a cure). Ross’ career has primarily been limited to the world of business, where he has advised a supplements company and worked for a pharmaceutical company. He currently sits on the board of an AI-focused biotech company called Manta Pharma and works at a private equity firm called Havencrest Capital Management. Hibbeln similarly has no apparent experience with vaccines. His focus has been on the impact of fatty acids—particularly fish oils—on mental health. As a member of the Scientific Nutrition Advisory Council of the Seafood Nutrition Partnership, he is [listed](https://www.seafoodnutrition.org/about-us/science-council/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the organization’s website as “renowned Omega-3 expert and practicing psychiatrist with Barton Health” and a former “Acting Chief, Nutritional Neurosciences in the Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics & Biochemistry, NIH.” Hibbeln has [spoken](https://x.com/fabresearch/status/1655814857935945731?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) about the supposed impacts of dietary fats on the mental health of young people. “We have long been interested in whether or not dietary fats can change very fundamental and basic problematic behaviors with kids, their aggression, and their violence,” he said. “And we found a really remarkable, robust effect.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“War on Science”** Mainstream public health experts have reacted with alarm to Kennedy’s overhaul of the vaccine panel. The American Medical Association (AMA), which remained [silent](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/im-a-doctor-and-im-appalled-at-the-silence-from-the-american-medical-association/?ref=importantcontext.news) during Kennedy’s nomination process, released a statement [warning](https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-statement-advisory-committee-immunization-practices?ref=importantcontext.news) that the move “undermines…trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.” The group noted that “with an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.” This week, the recently dismissed members of ACIP released their own public [statement](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2835626?ref=importantcontext.news#google%5Fvignette)in *JAMA Network*, declaring that the “abrupt dismissal of the entire membership of the ACIP, along with its executive secretary…, the appointment of 8 new ACIP members just 2 days later, and the recent reduction of CDC staff dedicated to immunizations have left the US vaccine program critically weakened.” “These actions have stripped the program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades,” the statement points out. “Notably, the ACIP charter specifies that committee members serve overlapping terms to ensure continuity and avoid precisely the disruption that will now ensue. The termination of all members and its leadership in a single action undermines the committee’s capacity to operate effectively and efficiently, aside from raising questions about competence.” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who sits on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, [called for](https://www.help.senate.gov/dem/newsroom/press/news-sanders-calls-for-bipartisan-investigation-into-secretary-kennedys-vaccine-committee-firings-at-cdc?ref=importantcontext.news) an investigation into the “unprecedented decision that will make it harder for Americans to access safe and effective vaccines.” In a statement released on June 16, Sanders called Kennedy’s “reckless decision to fire these nonpartisan scientific experts and replace them with ideologues… deeply disappointing” but “not surprising,” noting that, “For decades, Secretary Kennedy has spread lies and dangerous conspiracy theories about safe and effective vaccines that have saved millions of lives.” “Unfortunately, since he has been confirmed I am very concerned that Secretary Kennedy is doubling down on his war on science and disinformation campaign that will lead to preventable illness and death,” Sanders warned. On the MAHA fringes, however, Kennedy’s vaccine coup has been heralded as a major step forward. The Kennedy-allied IMA, for example, put out a [press release](https://imahealth.org/ima-applauds-overhaul-of-acip/?ref=importantcontext.news) last week applauding the secretary’s “decisive action” and calling for “a complete overhaul” of the vaccine board appointment process. The following day, the group [tweeted](https://x.com/Honest%5FMedicine/status/1932923845469511913?ref=importantcontext.news) its delight at the selection of Malone, in particular. “Congrats IMA Senior Advisor Dr. Robert Malone,” the graphic reads. *CORRECTION 6/24/25: An earlier version of this article incorrectly classified Joseph Mercola as a chiropractor.* ### NIH Workers Demand Changes In New ‘Bethesda Declaration’ URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-workers-demand-changes-in-new/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:27.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version . The updates are noted at the bottom.* On Monday, hundreds of workers from the National Institutes of Health sent a public letter to Director Jay Bhattacharya decrying the state of the agency under his leadership and demanding changes. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “The Bethesda Declaration: A Call for NIH and HHS Leadership to Deliver on Promises of Academic Freedom and Scientific Excellence” was signed by over 300 current and fired NIH employees representing every one of the agency’s various institutes and centers. Signatures were collected through an Action Network intake form and all identities were later verified by a core group of organizers and signers via Signal and vouching by individuals whose identities had already been confirmed. *Important Context* did not individually verify the identity of every signer. We did review the final signed declaration prior to publication. Delivered to Bhattacharya and members of Congress early Monday morning, the three-page document charges that the current NIH leadership “prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources,” laying out a list of grievances and demands for their new director. Dissatisfaction with Bhattacharya has been growing inside NIH since he took over on April 1\. Considered the crown jewel of American public health, the agency has seen a wave of firings, drastic cuts to research, and new, politically charged rules policing language—along with other changes. At his first town hall event in May, the new director faced a [walkout](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes) and heckling from the audience. The Bethesda Declaration is the latest effort by dissatisfied insiders to make their frustrations with the new regime heard. The signers who spoke with *Important Context* said Bhattacharya has shown little appetite to engage with employee concerns. Ian Morgan, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences who signed the declaration, said that his fellows union, which organized a walkout at the town hall, had been trying without success to meet with the director for two months. “I feel like the next step has to be, if he's not going to talk with us, we have to go further,” Morgan said, explaining that “this is an extinction level event for biomedical research and for the health and well being of the American people and global public health more generally.” “I feel like we have to do something now,” he said. Sarah Kobrin, PhD, MPH, a branch chief in the National Cancer Institute who signed the declaration, also told *Important Context* that she did so to send a message to Bhattacharya. “Dr Bhattacharya knows NIH,” she said. “We’re asking him to learn about our science before he dismisses it. To be our leader and say no when he’s asked to do something that’s bad for science and bad for NIH.” The declaration calls out Bhattacharya for his unresponsiveness, explaining that “Many have raised these concerns to NIH leadership, yet we remain pressured to implement harmful measures.” “Today, we come directly to you,” it says. “We include HHS leadership and members of Congress who oversee NIH.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “I feel like we have to do something now.” Morgan and Kobrin are just two of 342 signers, and one of 92 to use their names and positions. Joining them were 250 anonymous signers “who share \[their\] concerns but who—due to a culture of fear and suppression created by this Administration—chose not to sign their names for fear of retaliation.” Beyond the administration, which has been slagging federal positions for months, Bhattacharya has a devoted social media following, which he has not shied away from directing at his critics. The named signers *Important Context* spoke with said they too were concerned about retribution for speaking up. Nevertheless, they said they felt they needed to stand up for the institution and science. An intake form for declaration signers acknowledged the risks, declaring that “Courage is contagious, so we aim to model courage for our colleagues and the country.” One of the lead organizers of the declaration, Jenna Norton, PhD, MPH, a program officer with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases who agreed to speak on the condition that it be emphasized she was doing so in her personal capacity, told *Important Context* that signing scared her “tremendously.” Nevertheless, she said, although she worried about being fired or doxxed, she wanted to model bravery for her children—and she felt the stakes were too high to stay silent. “If I don't speak up, I am complicit in the extremely harmful policies being enacted at NIH—policies that risk the health and safety of research participants who generously donate their time and bodies to help us find cures for others,” she said. “They put the public at risk by impeding the development of lifesaving research advances.” Norton said that she was alarmed by the direction the country appeared to be moving, explaining that “the attacks we are seeing on science, on the media, and on academic institutions are a classic part of the fascism playbook.” “And if our country continues to follow this path, it will only become harder to speak up,” she added. “The risks will only grow larger. And I want my kids to grow up in a country where they can speak freely without fear of retaliation from their government.” Sylvia Chou, PhD, MPH, a program officer in the National Cancer Institute, told *Important Context* she felt similarly compelled to make her voice heard, explaining, “I signed my name because the last four months have been THAT bad and the ship continues to sink. I feel that I have no choice but finding the courage to speak up.” Asked about the possibility of retribution, Chou explained that she’d made her peace with the situation, telling *Important Context*, “If they retaliate, then this is not a place I want to work in, and if they don’t retaliate and even better, engage with us meaningfully, then I have just spoken up for an institution that I believe in and will continue to serve proudly.” Morgan similarly told *Important Context* that he accepted the risks involved. The 32-year-old scientist had no illusions about how his decision might impact his future. “I have my PhD, I'm doing the research to establish my career within the next few years,” he said. “I'm going to try to set up my own lab.” Morgan also noted that his own work studying antimicrobial resistance was “unobjectionable” to the administration. Still, he said he signed the declaration out of a sense of personal responsibility. Morgan explained that doing so was “definitely scary” and “definitely something where…I don't know what they're going to do,” but added “it would be worse not to say something.” “I was in a seminar the other day, and someone was saying something along the lines of ‘to whom much is given, they're required to give much of themselves,’” he said. “And I feel the same way. My values align with speaking up when I see injustices being done, and when I see this level of destruction being done to health and well-being the American public and global public health more widely, it means something to me.” Anna Culbertson, a fired probationary employee who worked as a scientific program specialist with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said she worried about doxxing. However, her concerns were lessened, she said, by the fact that “I can’t be fired again.” “I signed to speak for those who cannot who support the mission or who support anonymously,” she said. “I also think doing anything we can to show our concern about the lives that will be lost is extremely important. I know putting a face to a name and a name to a statement is extremely helpful so I’m happy to do it if it helps people resonate with the letter and story.” Culbertson added that if her signing “encourages others to speak up, it’s worth it.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “I want my kids to grow up in a country where they can speak freely without fear of retaliation from their government.” The declaration authors crafted their letter to appeal to Bhattacharya’s better nature, choosing the name “Bethesda Declaration” deliberately to invoke the [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) he co-authored in October 2020\. That document, which called on governments to reject economically disruptive COVID-19 mitigation measures in favor of pursuing herd immunity through widespread infection and “focused protection” for the vulnerable, was widely rebuked by the scientific community. The mainstream rejection stung Bhattacharya, who subsequently declared himself as a victim of censorship—and cast himself a champion of free speech. The Bethesda Declaration, which quotes their new director several times, tests these purported commitments. “We hope you will welcome this dissent, which we modeled after your Great Barrington Declaration,” it reads. Although the language appeals to Bhattacharya’s better nature, the Bethesda Declaration blames him for the unpopular changes occurring at the agency. It notes that the Trump administration had “forced NIH, under your watch” to take the unpopular actions it highlights. Many of the complaints enumerated in the Bethesda Declaration were previously raised by NIH staffers that *Important Context* spoke with for the [investigation](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless) we published last week. Atop the authors’ and signers’ list of concerns, for example, is the politicization of research “by halting high quality, peer reviewed grants and contracts.” The document alleges that Bhattacharya has selectively applied academic freedom “based on political ideology.” It further states that “To achieve political aims, NIH has targeted multiple universities with indiscriminate grant terminations, payment freezes for ongoing research, and blanket holds on awards regardless of the quality, progress, or impact of the science.” It notes that the cuts were made “based on political preferences and without input from NIH scientific staff or Congress” and accuses the administration and Bhattacharya of censoring research and programs related to specific topics—health disparities, COVID-19, gender identity, and more. “Since January 20, 2025, NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling around $9.5 billion and $2.6 billion in contracts,” the declaration reads. “This undercuts long-standing NIH policies designed to maximize return on investment by working with grantees to address concerns and complete studies. Many terminations contradict federal regulations that mandate protections for research participants and require grant awards to specify potential termination reasons.” The declaration argues that the research cuts “throw away years of hard work and millions of dollars,” “shirk commitments to participants,” “risk participant health,” and “damage hard-earned public trust.” “We urge you as NIH Director to restore grants delayed or terminated for political reasons so that life-saving science can continue,” it reads. Another major grievance highlighted in the Bethesda Declaration is interruption of global collaboration. It notes that “dissolving foreign collaborations while we await new procedures harms research participants and slows scientific discovery, cutting American scientists off from the global scientific community, preventing access to technologies only available abroad, and eliminating critical research that crosses political borders.” The authors and signers urge the new director to “allow rigorously peer-reviewed research with vetted foreign collaborators to continue without disruption.” The declaration also takes aim at the $500 million universal flu vaccine research project led by former acting NIH Director Matthew Memoli, which made headlines recently for [bypassing the normal review process](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/covid-flu-vaccine-funding-trump-administration/?ref=importantcontext.news). The authors and signers accuse the current NIH leadership of undermining peer review—ignoring it “to cater to political whims, pulling applications prior to review and removing high-scoring grants from funding consideration.” “Without independent peer review, we risk losing scientific integrity and public trust,” it reads, citing the Memoli project. “We urge you as NIH Director to restore peer review and hold political appointees to the same standards as other scientists.” Other grievances included were the imposition of a 15 percent cap on indirect costs, which the declaration calls “arbitrary” and harmful to research and universities, and the firings of essential staff. “The cuts to talented, hardworking professionals and critical departments without thought to their purpose or need has slowed the pace of science, held up extramural grant funding, made NIH less transparent and efficient, and put Clinical Center patients at risk,” it reads. “We urge you as NIH Director to reinstate the people who make NIH work.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “We hope you will welcome this dissent, which we modeled after your Great Barrington Declaration.” The organizers of The Bethesda Declaration deliberately timed the document to have the greatest possible impact. Its publication comes one day in advance of a Senate Appropriations Committee [hearing](https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2026-budget-request-for-the-national-institutes-of-health?ref=importantcontext.news) at which Bhattacharya is slated to testify. The focus of that hearing is the Trump administration’s proposed 2026 fiscal year budget, which includes deep cuts to the NIH. In our [report](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless) last week on frustrations inside the agency, *Important Context* noted that some insiders were concerned that the staffing reductions were threatening the NIH’s ability to spend down its congressionally appropriated budget, and they suspected that the administration planned to use that possible failure to justify the proposed cuts. These concerns are reflected in the declaration, which states that the actions of the agency’s leadership highlighted therein “have resulted in an unprecedented reduction in NIH spending that **does not** reflect efficiency but rather a dramatic reduction in life-saving research.” (The emphasis on “does not” is in the original document.) It notes that “Some may use the false impression that NIH funding is not needed to justify the draconian cuts proposed in the President's Budget.” ”This spending slowdown reflects a failure of your legal duty to use congressionally-appropriated funds for critical NIH research,” it adds. “Each day that NIH continues to disrupt research, your ability to deliver on this duty narrows.” The Bethesda Declaration organizers also coordinated a showing of outside support for their pressure campaign with the nonprofit Stand Up for Science. The organization sent out a press release Monday morning announcing that it was hosting the declaration online along with an [open letter](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/add-name-bethesda-declaration/?ref=importantcontext.news) backing it that anyone could sign onto. “We commend the NIH staff who have come forward with the ‘Bethesda Declaration’ to share concerns in the spirit of academic freedom, for the good of all,” the letter reads. “We stand with these committed professionals in support of reversing the harmful actions of this administration.” The press release noted that current supporters of the declaration signers “include Nobel Laureates, prominent scientists, politicians, activists, patients, and more.” It called on members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee to seek a “commitment of support for NIH staff members signing the Bethesda Declaration” from Bhattacharya. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Some may use the false impression that NIH funding is not needed to justify the draconian cuts proposed in the President's Budget.” Despite all of the preparation and planning, The Bethesda Declaration signers who spoke with *Important Context* had varying expectations for how Bhattacharya might respond to their demands. Norton was trying to be optimistic, explaining that if the new director held true to his stated principles “then I have to believe he will listen to us.” “One of my philosophies is to try to give everyone the most \[generous\] interpretation of their actions,” she said. “And I try to extend that to Jay Bhattacharya, as well. I can't say it has been easy to do that, watching the harmful and cruel policies he is allowing at NIH under his watch. But I hope he will listen and work with us to fix NIH.” Culbertson simply said, “It would be great if he did,” when asked if she thought Bhattacharya would respond. Chou, however, was less hopeful. “I imagine Jay won’t respond well,” she said. *Important Context* sent a press inquiry to Director Bhattacharya and will update this piece if he responds. **Read the full declaration** [**here**](https://www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-declaration?utm%5Fsource=pressrel&utm%5Fcampaign=bethesdadec)**.** *UPDATE 6/9/25:* *In the wake of The Bethesda Declaration’s publication and widespread media coverage, House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Ranking MemberDiana DeGette (D-Colo.), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and all Democratic Health subcommittee members* [*called for*](https://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/degette-pallone-and-democratic-health-subcommittee-members-demand?ref=importantcontext.news) *“an urgent hearing” with Bhattacharya “amid growing concerns over sweeping disruptions to the agency since the beginning of the second Trump Administration.”* *“It is critical the Energy and Commerce Committee convene a hearing with Director Bhattacharya to examine these actions and assess whether the NIH remains equipped to serve the American people and maintain its leadership in global biomedical research,” read a letter sent by the members to Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky). “We are deeply concerned the disruption at NIH and our biomedical research enterprise will have untold costs in terms of lost innovation and treatments and cures for the American people.”* *UPDATE #2 6/9/25: Bhattacharya* [*responded*](https://x.com/nihdirector%5Fjay/status/1932137905939431769?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) *to the declaration in a thread on X, saying he appreciates dissent but denying its key assertions. The embattled director claimed that he was “working to remove ideological influence” and that no “legitimate” research had been terminated. He also denied that peer review was being undermined.* *“>300 of your staff are telling you this is not what is happening on the ground at NIH,” Norton responded, quoting the first post in Bhattacharya’s thread. “I encourage you to speak to your staff—stop repeatedly postponing meetings—and learn what your staff are seeing. We await your response to our email.”* ### “Out Of His Depth,” “Sold His Soul,” “Clueless”: NIH Staffers Speak Out About Director Bhattacharya URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/out-of-his-depth-sold-his-soul-clueless/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:28.000Z Jay Bhattacharya’s stint as director of the National Institutes of Health is off to a rocky start. At his first town hall last month, the former Stanford University health economist, who became known during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for evangelizing mass infection as the path to herd immunity, was greeted by a largely stone-faced audience. Things did not get much better from there. A joke in his opening remarks about the difficulty of the job turning his hair grayer did not land. Later, dozens [walked out](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes) after he expressed support for the speculative lab leak explanation of COVID’s origins, which is disfavored by experts. During the Q&A session, he was heckled about cuts to research impacting minority communities. ”It’s good to have free speech,” Bhattacharya remarked during the walkout. “Welcome, you guys.” But inside NIH, many are feeling unwelcome—and ready to be heard. *Important Context* spoke with a dozen people working at the agency in various roles and institutes, on both the intramural (internally funded) and extramural (grants) side. All painted a grim picture of an institution plagued by chaos, an unclear leadership structure, mismanagement, and widespread fear and demoralization due to capricious rule changes, restrictions, and research cuts. One man they blamed? Jay Bhattacharya. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Due to clear personal and professional risks associated with whistleblowing and speaking out, we have kept the identities of these individuals anonymous, allowing each to decide how they are identified in this article. One staffer wished to be identified as a program officer and is quoted multiple times throughout this article. They are initially referred to as “a program officer” and subsequently as “the program officer.” A staffer who asked to be identified as extramural is also quoted in multiple places—first as “an extramural staffer,” then as “the extramural staffer.” “It’s a total shit show,” one agency staffer told *Important Context*, explaining that Bhattacharya seemed unaware of how NIH operated when he arrived. They said he had been promising reforms that were already part of the agency’s work. “His attitude coming in has just been so condescending, and so like, ‘Oh, we're going to make NIH great’…and ‘we're going to make…science transparent, and we're going to introduce all of these programs’ that, mind you, already exist,” the staffer said. “Like, these are things we actively do…You fired people that do those things that you say you want to do.” Others we spoke to questioned Bhattacharya’s intentions, suggesting he had a dubious personal agenda. An extramural staffer described the current NIH leadership as “people settling grudges.” A scientist inside the agency said, “It’s very clear he has a vendetta against the NIH.” Another NIH scientist told *Important Context* that Bhattacharya was “basically just trying to create an environment where lies can be treated the same as scientific truth and he and his cronies can like, jam through bullshit studies and then he can try to scream academic freedom.” They said that the way things were going, it looked like the NIH was “going to collapse on itself at some point,” adding that the current administration was “trying to kill most of what we do.” “It is catastrophic,” they said. “The public should understand that \[President Donald\] Trump wants to kill U.S. science. And is succeeding.” ### “It’s very clear he has a vendetta against the NIH.” Prior to becoming NIH director, Bhattacharya had never worked in government or managed a large team. A professor and right-wing public health policy advocate, his nomination was seen by some of his allies as a sort of payback against his (and the president’s) perceived enemies. “Is this what winning looks like?” asked Bhattacharya’s longtime collaborator, [Jeffrey Tucker](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), founder of the [anti-vaccine dark money group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) [the Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute), in a [blog post](https://brownstone.org/articles/is-this-what-winning-looks-like/?ref=importantcontext.news). In particular, the choice of Bhattacharya for NIH was seen as a rebuke of the agency’s former director, Dr. Francis Collins, who stepped down from the position in 2021 and retired earlier this year. On his way out, Collins issued a statement pleading to protect his former staff against personnel cuts. In October 2020, Collins had called Bhattacharya a “fringe epidemiologist” following the publication of the latter’s Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated a COVID herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection of the general population with protections for the vulnerable only. Collins had been alarmed by the first Trump administration’s embrace of the document. In an email to Dr. Anthony Fauci, then the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he called for a “quick and devastating published takedown of its premises.” Collins was hardly the only critic of the document. The American Public Health Association and 16 other organizations put out an [open letter](https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/public-health-orgs-condemn-sars-covid2-plan?ref=importantcontext.news) rebuking it and World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the herd immunity strategy “[unethical](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/12/who-chief-says-herd-immunity-approach-to-pandemic-unethical?ref=importantcontext.news).” But his email, which came to light through a public records request, shook Bhattacharya. The health economist began attacking Collins on social media and in various interviews and declared himself a [victim](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) of government censorship. He embraced the “fringe” label as a battle scar and even launched a [Substack and podcast](https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/) called “Science From The Fringe” with collaborator Bryce Nickels. As the NIH nominee, Bhattacharya promised to protect open debate and disagreement within the agency, calling dissent “the very essence of science” during his Senate confirmation hearings. But in his brief time as director, the health economist has not lived up to his lofty pledges. His tenure at the agency has been marred by firings, research cuts, and restrictions on what can be studied and how staff can speak—all of which have rankled and disheartened longtime staff and fellows alike. Just this week, the agency [announced](https://www.science.org/content/article/devasting-nih-cancels-future-funding-plans-hiv-vaccine-consortia?ref=importantcontext.news) it was terminating research into a potential HIV vaccine. Insiders described Bhattacharya as “arrogant,” “in over his head,” “out of his league,” “out of his depth,” “clueless,” “weak,” and “full of shit.” The NIH director did not respond to our requests for comment. “In some ways, I do feel vaguely sorry for him, because he is clueless, and he clearly does not know what he's doing,” one staffer said. “But he's also arrogant, and he thinks that he can just come in and tell us how to do our jobs, when he has no idea how science actually works.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Is this what winning looks like?” The problems began on Bhattacharya’s first day on the job. His breezy introductory email on April 1 coincided with a wave of firings. Across HHS, 10,000 workers received reduction in force (RIF) notices and another 10,000 left through the deferred resignation program. Of those let go, 1,200 were from NIH. The firings came on the heels of mass layoffs in February of probationary workers. One staffer compared the email to “climbing over a pile of bodies” to say hello. Bhattacharya has claimed to have had no say in the firings, which are the subject of [ongoing litigation](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/05/this-isnt-how-a-rif-is-supposed-to-work-hhs-reinstates-some-laid-off-employees-gives-them-extra-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) and has sought to cast himself as a reformer to placate staff. At the town hall, for example, he said he would end a hated requirement that NIH workers send emails each week detailing five things they’d accomplished and pledged to fix supply shortages. But his assurances did little to assuage broader concerns inside the agency. “He's acting like his hands are tied, but he's full of shit,” one staffer said of Bhattacharya. “At best, he's feckless and spineless, but I think it's more that he has his own agenda and wants to empower/enrich himself at the expense of good research. Same with \[former acting NIH Director Matthew\] Memoli.” “Overall, he seems not to know what's going on in his own institution,” they said. “He claims that we're not canceling grants, and yet we have whole slates of grants (per grants management) that we have to cancel…He's claiming not to be responsible for the illegal RIFs, but as far as I can tell, has done nothing to help bring RIFed employees back.” Others were equally unflattering in their descriptions of Bhattacharya. A program officer told *Important Context* that the director “is in over his head but lacks the self-awareness to know that.” Another staffer said he came across like someone who “never learned how to be called out for being incorrect.” They accused him of “deflecting culpability for what is going on at NIH.” ”He wants to be liked by everyone but seems scared of those who put him in power,” they said. “He appears well out of his league (especially compared to Collins, \[former Principal Deputy Director Lawrence\] Tabak and \[former Director Monica\] Bertangnolli).” Most of the individuals we spoke with said Bhattacharya appeared to prioritize his position inside the administration over his commitments to good science and academic freedom with one staffer calling him ”a mouthpiece for the Trump administration,” explaining that despite the hopes of those inside the agency that he might stand up to Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the administration over cuts and firings, Bhattacharya had instead left them “exposed.” Another staffer said that Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was “really in charge.” *Important Context* was warned that staffing reductions at NIH have caused “chaos” inside the agency and fueled growing concern that it will be unable to spend its budget. Staffers speculated that this disastrous outcome might be intentional—a way to justify spending cuts. The Trump administration’s leaked budget [proposal](https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/trump-draft-budget-proposes-nih-consolidation-40-percent-cut/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=You%20can%20reach%20Jonathan%20on,27.&text=Anil%20Oza%20is%20STAT's%202024,a%20change%20of%20this%20magnitude.%E2%80%9D) for next year includes a staggering 44 percent cut for the NIH representing more than $20 billion. “We may be able to get our contracts done, but it’s only by court order,” the extramural staffer said, referring to the pause on RIFs. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “He’s acting like his hands are tied, but he’s full of shit.” Another major concern among NIH insiders thatspoke to *Important Context* was the way research was being handled at the agency. Some expressed concern that certain projects appeared to be skipping normal review processes—like Memoli’s [universal flu vaccine](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/covid-flu-vaccine-funding-trump-administration/?ref=importantcontext.news). Most of the consternation, however, focused on restrictions on research and the cancellation of grants. *Important Context* was told that on the extramural side, grant proposals were making their way through the entire review process only for the DOGE to reject them. We also heard of in-progress research being cut off seemingly arbitrarily or because its focus was on a topic disfavored by the administration—like studies involving specifically minority communities or gender. In April, the Trump administration [announced](https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-090.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that all NIH grant recipients would be required to certify that they do not “operate any programs that advance or promote” diversity, equity, and inclusion or Israel boycotts.” One staffer called the research cuts “appalling” and “also most likely illegal,” noting that “staff are given almost no guidance about how to handle them, and we are not allowed to be transparent with grantees.” “These cuts will kill people,” they said. “This isn't me being dramatic—lifesaving research is being stalled. We're talking about things like cancer research in Black populations, research into suicide prevention in queer youth, women's health research.” The staffer noted that even if some of the grants are reinstated, “delaying funds isn't like smoothly landing a plane for a brief pause to refuel—it's more like crashing a plane into the side of a mountain.” “If you can't pay your lab tech to come in and keep a cell culture going, for example, or keep breeding a transgenic mouse colony that took years to develop and establish, you can lose a ton of research in a matter of weeks,” they said. The program officer told *Important Context* that agency staff “are all being forced to do work that is counter to our principles,” taking specific aim at clinical trials being terminated “midstream.” “This cuts patients off from study meds in the middle of the treatment course or leaves them with implanted devices with no safety follow up,” they said. “In other cases, patients donated samples (an incredible gift!) with the understanding it would help understand their disease and help others with it. But researchers cannot follow through on that commitment and complete the research because the grant is terminated.” They said that “transparency is another fundamental principle of science,” and noted that staff were being barred from communicating with grantees about executive orders—only science. “As if they don’t bear on the science,” they said. The program officer speculated that Bhattacharya might be relying on “a lot of mental gymnastics to contort himself into believing he’s doing the right/best thing,” but said it ultimately did not matter because “either way, he is at fault.” “No matter what he tells himself to sleep at night, people will suffer and potentially die because of the policies he’s allowing at NIH under his leadership,” they said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Delaying funds isn’t like smoothly landing a plane for a brief pause to refuel—it’s more like crashing a plane into the side of a mountain.” The daylight between Bhattacharya’s rhetoric about academic freedom and his agency’s policies was a recurring theme in our discussions with NIH insiders. One staffer told *Important Context* that despite his “woe is me attitude” on “censorship,” Bhattacharya “continues to censor scientists and reduce academic freedom.” An NIH fellow, meanwhile, said, “I don’t believe he cares to preserve scientific integrity or make scientific progress.” “He contradicts himself: In his town hall he stressed the importance of supporting and developing early career scientists and fellows, but then defended the illegal firing of probationary employees, which are primarily early career scientists,” they said, explaining that they said they knew people who had moved across the country for an NIH cancer prevention fellowship program only to find out that their funding had been cut and the agency would not cover relocation costs. “He also claims to value academic freedom but then considers certain subjects ‘ideological’ and not scientific.” The fellow lamented that they had lost over a year of work because their projects related to climate change had been terminated. “Climate change research is undeniably crucial science, but \[Bhattacharya’s\] not willing to defend academic freedom if he worries it will hurt his standing within this administration.” An NIH scientist noted that before this administration, “it would have been inconceivable to reject a paper for scientific views.” One staffer, who described the state of the agency as “a horror show” with “no leadership like since January,” said they had “not been given one directive of what we should do and focus on—it's just what to terminate, ban, censor, review.” They said that as a result, the NIH had “an atmosphere of absolute fear and paralysis that's also causing a lot of people to, you know, just…be very paranoid.” “Sometimes it doesn't even feel like we should be conducting our business in American English,” they said, referring to the administration’s prohibitions on certain words and phrases. The staffer explained that if the topic is sensitive or controversial, “it has to be approved by a presidential appointee, and we don't know what that means.” They said the new administration had added several layers of review, which caused them to give up multiple speaking engagements. “I just couldn't…it was exhausting just thinking about the review that has to be done by presidential appointees,” they said. Bhattacharya’s answer to growing concerns inside his agency about academic freedom has been to [tout](https://www.limpertinentmedia.com/post/who-manipulated-science-to-promote-its-propaganda-during-the-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) a new policy eliminating manuscript review for NIH researchers. But even under normal circumstances, such policy changes take time to implement across all institutes and centers. As of the writing of this article, the publication preclearance remained in effect according to staffers. The new policy was also not reflected on the NIH’s internal policies page based on a screenshot taken Friday obtained by *Important Context*. The page, last updated last on May 21, dictates that submissions to journals must still follow “standard \[Institutes and Centers\] approval processes.” “They aren't doing a great job at updates,” the program officer said. “The communications guidance page still says to run any external comms through comms teams and pretty much every comms team was RIF'd April 1.” An NIH scientist said they recently had a letter to the editor, which they wrote in response to a published paper, get “sent above my division director for additional review.” They said that had never happened before. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “No matter what he tells himself to sleep at night, people will suffer and potentially die because of the policies he’s allowing at NIH under his leadership.” Staff frustrations came to head at the May 19 town hall, but the walkout—originally [planned](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJfhNTjMkaf/?igsh=MjU0MmV0NG1xdzc4&ref=importantcontext.news) by the NIH Fellows United union over working conditions and later triggered early by the director’s lab leak remarks—and other disruptions were just the beginning, insiders told *Important Context*. Despite his current unpopularity, Bhattacharya was not always disliked inside NIH. Several staffers said they had been tentatively hopeful about his nomination, that perhaps he would stand up for them against the administration. Some noted his involvement in the agency’s peer review panels. But the general view among those individuals we spoke to was that things were not getting better with the health economist in charge. They saw their new director as “weak”—more of a figurehead than a leader. One insider used the phrase “continuous free fall” to describe the agency on his watch. “I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I heard he was a collegial, rigorous peer reviewer in the past,” one staffer said. “He should understand the rigor of the NIH funding process (as well as its limitations). But he is trying to please overlords while saying things he must know are false.” Another said that while Bhattacharya had once been “respected,” “now he sounds like a joke, an ignorant political hack, every time he speaks…he comes across as someone who has sold his soul.” ### Senate GOP Ramps Up Attacks On COVID Vaccines Amid FDA Push URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/senate-gop-ramps-up-attacks-on-covid/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:28.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a [hearing](https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/hearings/the-corruption-of-science-and-federal-health-agencies-how-health-officials-downplayed-and-hid-myocarditis-and-other-adverse-events-associated-with-the-covid-19-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled “The Corruption of Science and Federal Health Agencies.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) While the headline perhaps suggested a critical investigation into the active dismantlement of public health institutions and scientific research by Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, the subheadline – “How health officials downplayed and hid myocarditis and other adverse events associated with the COVID-19 vaccines” – gave the game away. The timing of the event too was suggestive, coinciding with a larger push against COVID boosters by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The push came ahead of the next meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which crafts recommendations for the future use of vaccines. On Tuesday, the FDA announced new plans to greatly curtail access to the jabs for Americans under the age of 65\. The following day, the agency required Pfizer and Moderna to [expand](https://www.axios.com/2025/05/21/fda-warnings-covid-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news) the warnings about potential risks to the heart on the labels of their mRNA vaccines—a reference to myocarditis, an extremely rare side effect that is usually self-resolving and mild and occurs more commonly from the disease itself. The COVID jabs, which have undergone extensive safety monitoring and have been given billions of times, provide robust protection against severe illness and death and reduce the odds of transmission and long COVID. Although they do happen, adverse events are [exceptionally rare](https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/study-largely-confirms-known-rare-covid-19-vaccine-side-effects/?ref=importantcontext.news). All told, the vaccines are [estimated](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news) to have prevented more than 18.5 million hospitalizations and 3.2 million COVID deaths in the U.S.—as well as spared the nation well over $1 trillion in medical costs. But the jabs’ stunning success record hasn’t stopped right-wing political figures and operatives from politicizing them—nor has the impact of doing so. A 2023 [study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37093505/?ref=importantcontext.news) estimated that the vaccines could have prevented 232,000 American deaths during the delta and initial omicron waves. Wednesday’s hearing was chaired by just such a politician: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a staunch Kennedy ally who became notorious throughout the COVID pandemic for promoting misinformation about the vaccines, holding various hearings and panels with contrarians and anti-vax figures. In January 2022, at the height of the deadly omicron wave, for example, Johnson hosted a “Second Opinion” panel focused on disparaging the COVID shots that was [rebuked](https://dc.medill.northwestern.edu/blog/2022/01/26/fact-check-johnsons-covid-19-a-second-opinion-panel-criticized-as-vehicle-for-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) for promoting misinformation. Wednesday’s hearing was no different, featuring a panel of expert witnesses that included well-known anti-vaxxers and vaccine skeptics. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Chief among them was Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist known for promoting pandemic misinformation whose board certifications were [revoked](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/113624?ref=importantcontext.news) and whose former employer [disavowed](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) him. A longtime ally of Johnson’s, having appeared at multiple anti-vaccine events organized by the senator, including the “Second Opinion” panel, McCullough has published dubious and [retracted](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10897748/?ref=importantcontext.news) work on the COVID vaccines and promoted unproven treatments for the disease—namely the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine and later, the anti-parasitic ivermectin. He and Johnson were [named](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in a 2022 congressional report detailing an effort by Trump allies to save the emergency use authorization of the anti-malarial, which Donald Trump had billed as a “miracle cure” for COVID, in the summer of 2020 after it had proven ineffective for that purpose. Prior to the pandemic, McCullough was a member of the right-wing Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which also pushed hydroxychloroquine. He has been active in various pandemic-era anti-vaccine groups, including the US-based The Unity Project and Truth for Health Foundation, as well as the South Africa-based Pandata, which now denies that COVID was ever a pandemic. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya was also involved with the group. McCullough has since launched his own foundation and currently serves as the chief scientific officer for [The Wellness Company](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news), which hawks an “[Ultimate Spike Detox](https://www.twc.health/products/ultimate-spike-detox?ref=importantcontext.news),” purporting to cleanse the body of the COVID vaccines for $89.99—subscribers can save 10 percent. “This extra-strength formula is the only one designed and used by Dr. Peter McCullough, the world’s leading pandemic expert and developer of the McCullough Base Spike Detoxification Protocol,” a description of the supplement reads. Joining the former cardiologist was his colleague from The Wellness Company, obstetrician Dr. James Thorp, who serves as the group’s chief of maternal and prenatal medicine. Thorp has [spread misinformation](https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/multiple-studies-show-covid-19-vaccines-dont-cause-pregnancy-fertility-problems-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the risks of COVID vaccine risk to pregnant people. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [strongly recommends](https://www.acog.org/covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy-conversation-guide-for-clinicians?ref=importantcontext.news) vaccination given the increased risk posed by infection during pregnancy. Thorp is perhaps best known for appearing in the [widely-panned](https://www.vice.com/en/article/now-the-anti-vaccine-world-is-mad-at-died-suddenly-the-viral-anti-vax-documentary/?ref=importantcontext.news) 2022 conspiracy film “Died Suddenly” about the COVID vaccines. The film was produced by far-right internet personality Stew Peters, a failed rapper-turned-bounty hunter-turned-podcaster known for his promotion antisemitic, neo-Nazi, homophobic, transphobic, and conspiratorial content. The guests on Peters’ podcast have included a number of prominent GOP political figures including [Kash Patel](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFdW63EPcrM/?igsh=cDU0eng3ZWtkdXRi&ref=importantcontext.news), now Trump’s FBI director, and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ). On Friday, Peters [posted](https://x.com/realstewpeters/status/1925934855080030645?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) an antisemitic AI music video on X portraying Kanye West and Adolf Hitler palling around. Peters posted the caption “HH” for “Heil Hitler.” His film “Died Suddenly” falsely claimed that COVID shots were behind a massive uptick in cardiovascular deaths. Thorp has engaged in his own conspiratorial and antagonistic rhetoric surrounding the COVID vaccines, once [calling](https://x.com/jathorpmfm/status/1710119423858647381?ref=importantcontext.news) them “awesome – a suicidal therapy for the progressive mentally ill.” Another physician appearing at Wednesday’s hearing was long COVID-focused internist Dr. Jordan Vaughn, who is a senior fellow at the Independent Medical Alliance, the [rebranded](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally) pro-ivermectin, anti-vax Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. Then there was Dr. Joel Wallskog, a former orthopedic surgeon who co-founded the vaccine injury advocacy organization React-19 after allegedly being disabled by a Moderna jab. React-19 has been [promoted](https://imahealth.org/react19-vaccine-injury-symptoms-and-legal-recourse/?ref=importantcontext.news) by IMA and Wallskog’s co-chair, the allegedly vaccine-injured Brianne Dressen, [sued](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes) the Biden administration over censorship with representation from the Koch-linked lawfare group New Civil Liberties Alliance. Johnson [appeared](https://x.com/Honest%5FMedicine/status/1925217969636020517?ref=importantcontext.news) in an IMA live webinar on X with Vaughn Wednesday evening following the hearing, discussing what to expect at the FDA’s Thursday meeting. The sole non-physician on Johnson’s panel was Aaron Siri, an attorney and long-time Kennedy ally with a storied history of [attacking vaccines](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/13/rfk-jr-aaron-siri-polio?ref=importantcontext.news) who has been involved in helping select candidates for the health secretary’s transition team. Siri’s law firm has [received millions](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mississippi-anti-vaccine-religious-exemptions-school-public-health-rcna130004?ref=importantcontext.news) in funding from Informed Consent Action Network, the anti-vaccine organization run by Del Bigtree, another key Kennedy ally who has served as the communications director for his aborted presidential campaign as well as the CEO of the group MAHA Action. The sole voice on the panel supporting the vaccines was physician and democratic Governor of Hawaii Josh Green. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Unsurprisingly, given the line-up of speakers, dubious narratives about the jabs proliferated during the three-hour event. Johnson began the hearing with an apology to the vaccine-injured. Throughout the proceedings, he referred to the vaccines as “injections.” “So much of our miserably failed response to COVID made no sense,” he said, calling out “masking, devastating shutdowns, the sabotage of early treatment, rapid approval of Remdesivir, and the maniacal reliance on the COVID-19 injections...as the only way to end the pandemic.” ”I use that word purposely…injections, they’re not standard vaccines,” Johnson said. What followed was a spectacle of [dubious claims, bad science, and conspiracy mongering](https://frankhan.online/2025/05/22/how-ron-johnson-got-it-wrong-again-in-his-latest-senate-hearing-on-the-covid-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news). For example, the senator used graphics purporting to show that COVID vaccines had killed tens of thousands of Americans based on unverified data from the FDA’s Federal Adverse Event Reporting System and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System—something he has done previously and been [fact-checked](https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/vaers-and-faers-data-shown-does-not-prove-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-events-and-de-idUSL2N2OE1ZA/?ref=importantcontext.news) for. Egged on by Johnson, the anti-vax doctors, took turns suggesting that the mRNA vaccines were dangerous, should not have been approved, and perhaps ought to be discontinued. Some invoked their patients for added effect. McCullough opened his testimony by complaining that at a previous Johnson-led hearing in November 2020 focused on hydroxychloroquine, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) had deployed “an old communist propaganda technique” and “attempting to gain leverage over me” for warning viewers ahead of his testimony that the cardiologist was about to promote misinformation. McCullough used the platform Johnson gave him to warn that vaccine myocarditis was killing people. “The spike protein is the damaging part of the virus,” he said. “The spike protein is loaded into the body, and it causes tremendous damage. Tremendous damage in some.” “Until the vaccines are stopped, there will be cases of acute myocarditis and to finish, we’ve had 216 vaccine deaths alone,” he said. “So if the vaccine campaign continues, we have to look at what are we getting out of it now, four and a half years into the campaign and how many more people will die?” In his opening remarks, Vaughn, using an abundance of medical terminology, also promoted the claim that the vaccine spike protein was dangerous and warned of it spreading “uncontrollably” throughout the body. Speaking of his allegedly vaccine-injured patients, he said their “trust in public institutions has been shattered.” ”Many were coerced under the August 2021 federal mandates despite legitimate hesitations due to prior infection or personal health risks—they knew their body better than the agencies,” he said. “Now disabled, they are dismissed or ignored by the systems that mandated their compliance.” Later on in the hearing, he falsely asserted that “statistically” no children had died from COVID. After that, with McCullough nodding along, he declared that “the wrong protein” had been chosen to make the mRNA vaccines. Not to be outdone, Thorp opened by claiming pregnant women had been targeted by a “deliberate” and “calculated” vaccination campaign by the “government-controlled medical-industrial complex.” The reason for this targeting, he claimed, was that women “are the primary decision-makers of healthcare across the human lifespan—a known marketing principle” and because of their medical vulnerability. “If they could be convinced the vaccine was safe and effective, it would imply it was safe and effective for everyone,” he said. “From the outset of the pandemic, this vaccine was never grounded in biological science but rather in behavior science, specifically the manipulation of public perception through influence, fear, and persuasion.” Thorp called the federal vaccine rollout “psychological operations” and claimed pregnant women did not need the jabs because pregnancy itself was “protective” against COVID. He suggested numerous studies showing the safety of the vaccines were corrupt and demanded accountability for mainstream medical associations that endorsed the jabs. Wallskog and Siri both criticized legal protections for vaccine manufacturers. The latter suggested that “almost every childhood vaccine in this country” was insufficiently tested for safety. ### “I Believe It”: Bhattacharya Pushes Lab Leak Conspiracy At Contentious NIH Town Hall As Staffers Walk Out URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/i-believe-it-nih-director-pushes/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:29.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Monday, the National Institutes of Health director announced that he believed his agency funded research that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 1.2 million Americans. The remarks by [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) came during his first NIH town hall, laying out his vision for the future, and were met with backlash from the audience. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “It’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings, and it is also possible that the NIH partly sponsored that research,” Bhattacharya said, prompting dozens of staffers to walk out of the auditorium. The walkouts were met with applause that forced the director to pause his speech. “It’s nice to have free speech,” Bhattacharya commented amid the clapping before continuing on to state, “If it's true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic—and if you look at polls of the American people, that's what most people believe, and I’ve looked at the scientific evidence and I believe it—what we have to do is make sure that we don’t engage in research that is any risk…to human populations.” Bhattacharya touted an executive order Trump signed earlier this month with him present restricting so-called “gain-of-function” research, which lab leak theorists claim created the SARS-CoV-2 virus, stating it “will allow us to…de-risk our portfolio in a way that potentially could cause a pandemic, and we'll make the American people trust our research again.” The remarks on Monday were not the first time Bhattacharya, a Stanford health economist, endorsed the disfavored lab leak theory. He was previously part of an extreme lab leak-promoting group called BioSafety Now, which was formed to oppose gain-of-function research. As a member of the fringe organization, Bhattacharya even signed onto letters demanding that the virologists behind several notable papers suggesting the SARS-COV-2 virus emerged from nature retract their work. Evidence and the [scientific community](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20report%2C%20posted%20online%20on,lab%20studying%20or%20manipulating%20coronaviruses.) and literature consistently support natural spillover from an animal source as the most likely pandemic origin story. However, the idea that COVID came from a lab leak has become more popular over the past few years—particularly on the political right thanks to a sustained push by conservative dark money groups, political operatives, and GOP political leaders. The Trump administration has been a major promoter of the lab leak. Donald Trump has been pushing the story since 2020 when he faced widespread criticism over his COVID response. In April, the White House took down the informational COVID.gov website and replaced it with a page called, “LAB LEAK: The True Origins Of COVID-19,” which features a picture of the president standing between “LAB” and “Leak.” ### “Who says I believe it was a lab leak?” Bhattacharya did not always publicly endorse the lab leak. He rose to prominence through the pandemic as a vocal opponent of viral mitigation measures like lockdowns, arguing in favor of a strategy of pursuing herd immunity through widespread infection of the population, limiting protections to the most vulnerable only. While his embrace of the claim that the novel coronavirus leaked from a lab might seem at odds with this advocacy, the Stanford health economist has gotten mileage out of the unlikely, speculative theory as a pretext for attacking his perceived enemies. Bhattachaya was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, articulating the herd immunity strategy, which was written and signed at a conference hosted by a libertarian think tank. Aiding in the conference planning stages was Trump COVID advisor Scott Atlas. The day after the document was published, Bhattacharya and his co-authors had a publicized meeting with Atlas and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. The declaration alarmed the mainstream of public health, including officials within the first Trump administration. Days after the authors met with Azar, former NIH Director Francis Collins emailed Fauci expressing concern about the document and calling for a public rebuke of its ideas. The emails were made public in December 2021 and ever since, Bhattacharya has made them part of his personal lore, claiming to have been a victim of [censorship](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jay-bhattacharya-censored-government-nih-trump-covid-rcna183120?ref=importantcontext.news) rather than a truly fringe figure. Following the revelation, the health economist began posting about COVID origins on X. His very [first](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1481414420479635456?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) post referencing the lab leak in early January 2022, named both Collins and Fauci, questioning their motives for supporting natural origins. Three days later, he [insisted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1482352117713096705?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) they were behind “the lab leak cover-up” as well as “a smearing and propaganda campaign” against him and his declaration co-authors. Although Bhattacharya began suggesting that his personal enemies had engaged in a “cover-up” of COVID origins, he did not openly embrace the lab leak for some time. In a post from May 2022, for example, he [denied](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1524609101317083137?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that his statement ought to be read that way. “Who says I believe it was a lab leak?” Bhattacharya wrote. “I still don't know. I believe there was a cover up. That is obvious. And the tension you identify is both non existent and applies with equal force to natural origin lockdowners. Do you know how to argue in good faith? Sheesh.” Indeed, early on, the health economist’s objective appeared to be linking his grievances over the widespread rejection of his herd immunity strategy to those of lab leak proponents who similarly felt their ideas had not gotten a fair hearing. Over time, however, he became more explicit in his embrace of the lab leak. In June 2023, for example, Bhattacharya posted on X that the lab origin was “likely” and natural origins “I suppose…still a remote possibility.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “The paper may be a product of scientific misconduct” Bhattacharya joined the board of directors of BioSafety Now in August 2024, two months before Trump nominated him to lead the NIH. The group was co-founded by Rutgers University-based duo Richard Ebright and Bryce Nickels and Justin Kinney, an associate professor at the Simons Center for Quantitative Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. None are virologists. Ebright and Nickels have both called for the prosecution of public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci for his alleged funding of gain-of-function research they believe created the SARS-CoV-2 virus and for his role in what they claim has been a cover-up of its origins. While with BioSafety Now, Bhattacharya co-signed letters calling for the retractions of publications from virologists that point to the Wuhan wet market as the source of SARS-CoV-2\. In September, he co-signed the [group’s open letter](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/crits-christoph-et-al-2024-retraction) calling for the retraction of a paper published that month in *Cell* [showing](https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2824%2900901-2?ref=importantcontext.news) that genetic material from the virus and from animals that can carry the virus were present in the same swabs from the area of the Wuhan wet market where the majority of the positive samples were collected. The letter accuses the authors of “unsound” research and scientific misconduct on a previous paper from 2020, citing Slack and email communications made public through a GOP-led congressional inquiry in which one of them suggested early on the lab leak was possible. “When a paper--such as Crits-Christoph et al. 2024--has unsound premises and conclusions and has authors who committed scientific misconduct on a previous unsound paper on the same subject and may have committed scientific misconduct on subsequent unsound papers on the same subject, there is clear basis to infer the paper may be a product of scientific misconduct,” it reads. Bhattacharya also co-signed a BioSafety Now [letter](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/covid-origins-worobey-et-al-2022) last June calling for the retraction of two 2022 papers that supported a zoonotic origin of COVID. BioSafety Now wrote two other letters—one in [2023](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/covid-origins-proximal-origins-retraction) and another in [2024](https://biosafetynow.substack.com/p/covid-origins-proximal-origins-retraction-daf)—calling for the retraction of the proximal origins paper Trump’s COVID.gov site takes aim at, which was published in 2020 in *Nature*. The paper was the first major publication to point to a natural origin of the pandemic-causing virus. Bhattacharya does not appear to have been involved in either letter calling for its retraction—though the first featured a change.org [petition](https://www.change.org/p/retract-the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2?ref=importantcontext.news) and it is unclear whether he signed. While hundreds of problematic COVID papers have been [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/retracted-coronavirus-covid-19-papers/?ref=importantcontext.news), none of the papers highlighted by BioSafety Now are among them. In early 2020, Bhattacharya was himself a co-author of a paper about the seroprevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that came under widespread scrutiny for methodological problems and a whistleblower complaint [alleging](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news) the authors failed to disclose funding from the founder of JetBlue. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “My studies have been terminated” The staff walkout was not the only contentious moment of Monday’s NIH town hall. Bhattacharya, who has been [talking up](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6372544753112?ref=importantcontext.news) the importance of freedom of speech in science—another reference to his personal censorship narrative—faced interruption from the audience during a Q&A when discussing the more than [$1.8 billion](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-administration-cut-18-billion-nih-grants-rcna205568?ref=importantcontext.news) in federal research grants his agency had cut amid a larger push by the administration against diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Bhattacharya told NIH staff that “there's been a line of research supported by the NIH that I don't actually fundamentally believe is scientific—that that is ideological in nature, and that doesn't advance the health and well-being of anybody, but does diminish public trust.” The comment echoed a response he’d given at a recent appearance at the Medical College of Wisconsin when [questioned](https://biztimes.com/speaking-at-medical-college-of-wisconsin-nih-director-defends-grant-cuts-says-academic-freedom-is-a-priority/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the research cuts. The NIH director advised would-be researchers pursuing grants from his agency to “avoid political ideology,” meaning issues like systemic racism and climate change. “My promise to you is that if you put your talents to the things that actually affect American health and avoid political ideology, you’re going to be very successful,” he said. At the town hall, Bhattacharya told staffers that they ought not to worry about the anti-DEI push, explaining that studies of the impacts of specific policies like redlining affecting minority populations would not be cut. However, this remark was met with pushback from the audience. ”As the program officer who oversees this research, I will tell you my studies have been terminated,” an individual interrupted. Bhattacharya clarified that studies into the effects of structural racism would be cut, to which the individual responded, “What do you think redlining is?” The NIH, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has also been [canceling](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00954-y?ref=importantcontext.news) research into SARS-CoV-2\. The Trump administration’s [position](https://www.science.org/content/article/saying-pandemic-over-nih-institute-starts-cutting-covid-19-research?ref=importantcontext.news) is that the pandemic is over and the research is wasteful. ### Trump’s New Surgeon General Pick Took Social Darwinist View Of Pandemic URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trumps-new-surgeon-general-pick-had/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:29.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Donald Trump’s new surgeon general pick called the COVID-19 pandemic “a Darwinian moment for America” in the spring of 2020, echoing long-discredited pseudoscience. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Stanford-educated physician-turned-wellness influencer Casey Means, whose nomination for the surgeon post was announced on Wednesday, made the statement in an [op-ed](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/493127-healthy-food-the-unexpected-medicine-for-covid-19-and-national-security/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *The Hill* titled, “Healthy Food: The Unexpected Medicine for COVID-19 and National Security.” The piece was published on April 21, 2020, at the height of the pandemic’s deadly first wave. In it, Means, who a year prior had co-founded a wellness company, argued that the nation could not “continue to shut down our economy and parts of our military, and overwhelm our health care system.” Instead, she proposed a strategy of promoting “healthy living” through personal behavior changes and cuts to agricultural subsidies for “dairy, sugar, wheat, corn and soybeans.” “Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying,” wrote Means. “This means reducing or eliminating the seven deadly sins from our diet: processed foods, excess industrially-raised meats, refined sugar, dairy, refined grains, vegetable oils and excess sodium — a revolution in personal behavior and national policy.” Social epidemiologist Justin Feldman of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health & Human Rights told *Important Context* that Means was “saying the quiet part out loud,” and exposing the so-called “Make American Health Again” movement. “MAHA has always been about social Darwinism, about blaming people for their own health problems and letting vulnerable people die instead of offering them protection,” Feldman said. “As the Trump administration destroys lifesaving public health protections and defunds essential research on cancer and other diseases, MAHA serves as a smokescreen. It promotes a vision of health that is based on lies and excludes most of us.” Social Darwinism is a pseudoscientific ideology that misapplies British naturalist Charles Darwin’s biological concept of evolution by natural selection to human beings and societies. It emerged in the late 19th Century to rationalize inequities—particularly class and racial hierarchies. In the early 20th Century, it served as a justification for eugenics. Feldman noted that individual diet and exercise habits are not as simple as questions of personal choice and responsibility. Rather, he explained, they are impacted by societal and environmental factors. “People would exercise more if they lived in places where they could safely walk, roll a wheelchair, or ride a bike, or take public transit to do their errands,” Feldman said. “People would eat better if they had more time to prepare home-cooked meals and if profit-seeking food manufacturers didn’t engineer foods to be addictive. While \[Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy\] Jr. and his MAHA allies pay lip service to harmful corporate practices and environmental causes of disease, they are silent about what really matters, including the Trump administration’s weakening of corporate regulations and the harm it is trying to do to public transit.” While the overwhelming majority of those hospitalized or killed by COVID have had comorbidities, epidemiologist and Accountability Journalism Institute board member and scientific advisor Robert Morris said the focus on that fact “is a red herring.” “For any and all diseases, those most likely to die are those whose health is already compromised,” Morris said. Additionally, many of the health problems associated with increased vulnerability to the disease have causes beyond lifestyle choices. Hypertension, for example, which impacts [half of all U.S. adults](https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/data-reports/hypertension-prevalence.html/?ref=importantcontext.news), has genetic components as well. “Hypertension is well documented as having multiple complicated genetic causes based in single nucleotide polymorphisms,” said AJI scientific advisor Frank Han, MD, a pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist. “In my world a structural heart problem like aortic coarctation cannot be cured by even the best kale in the world, that problem needs a surgeon or interventional cardiologist.” At the time Means’ piece was published, COVID was killing thousands of Americans per week. In April 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported well over 50,000 deaths. To date, more than 1.2 million Americans have lost their lives to the disease and millions more have suffered long COVID. Means is not the only Trump public health pick to have advocated for reopening and letting nature take its course with the pandemic. National Institutes of Health Director [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), for example, was a fierce proponent of pursuing herd immunity through infection, allowing the virus to spread through the young and healthy population while somehow squirreling away the vulnerable. He articulated the idea in the October 2020 Great Barrington Declaration. His ally [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), a surgeon who is now Food and Drug Administration commissioner, also emphasized “natural” immunity to COVID. "Casey Means' viewpoints fits well among the eugenics beliefs espoused by the current Trump administration, which we've seen through Trump's supposed statement saying disabled people should just die and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hatred of autistic people,” *Mother Jones* disability reporter Julia Métraux told *Important Context*. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) As surgeon general, Means would be the nation’s top medical doctor and health educator, responsible for communicating the latest science to the general public. She would oversee the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps—a body of more than 6,000 uniformed officers, made up of public health professionals. Questions about Means’ qualifications have swirled since her nomination was announced along with the withdrawal of the previous nominee, Fox News medical contributor [Janette Nesheiwat](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/from-the-front-lines-to-the-fringes), who has been dogged by claims she misrepresented her credentials. But while Nesheiwat is a board-certified physician, Means is not. She dropped out of her surgical residency program in otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat) and has no active medical license. Instead, she is prolific voice in the wellness industry. Means co-founded a company called Levels, which offers a personal nutrition app and continuous glucose monitoring for metabolic optimization. She is the author of a bestselling book on metabolic health and does speaking engagements. Her [profile](https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/speakers/463271/Casey-Means?ref=importantcontext.news) on All American Speakers Bureau, which bills her as a “physician, bestselling author & tech entrepreneur,” lists her speaking fees as $30,000 to $50,000 for in-person events and $10,000 to $20,000 for virtual. Means close association with anti-vax HHS Secretary Kennedy has raised eyebrows. She and her brother, Calley, founder of another wellness company called TrueMed, rose to prominence in Kennedy’s MAHA movement. Casey was reportedly on the list of potential surgeon general nominees back in November and there was even [speculation](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/19/trump-transition-health-finalists-00190365?ref=importantcontext.news) at the time that Calley, who worked on Kennedy independent presidential campaign, might join the new secretary as chief of staff. Like the secretary, the Means siblings have, between the two of them, been vocal critics of the Food and Drug Administration and standard medical practices. They have promoted raw milk, cast doubt on fluoridated drinking water, and attacked the childhood vaccination schedule, taking particular aim at the hepatitis B vaccine, which is recommended for infants. In a [post](https://x.com/caseymeansmd/status/1820614949334589582?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X last August, boosting a video of her brother talking about the vaccine, Casey Means wrote that the shot conferred “no benefit” to children or population as a whole, falsely claiming that the disease was only transmitted through intravenous needles and sexual contact. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) NIH Director Bhattacharya made similar remarks on a podcast in September, suggesting he was open to alternative vaccine schedules, which are popular with anti-vaxxers. In our [coverage](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) of Bhattacharya’s remarks, *Important Context* spoke with pediatrician and renowned virology and immunology expert Dr. Paul Offit, who warned that hepatitis B can spread through casual contact—with deadly consequences. “If you were infected with hepatitis B in the first few months of life, you have a 90 percent chance of going on to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer,” Offit said. “That's why it needs to be given early.” Should Means be confirmed by the Senate, she will be the latest vaccine skeptic to join the Trump administration in a critical public health role. Others include Bhattacharya at NIH, Makary at the FDA, Makary’s special assistant, [Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you), and [Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief), the new head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. ### Doubt-Peddling YouTube Doctor Named FDA’s New Vaccine Chief URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/vinay-prasad-named-fda-vaccine-chief/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:30.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with* [*Canada Healthwatch*](https://canadahealthwatch.ca/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* The Food and Drug Administration has named a doctor known for cozying up to anti-vaxxers as its top vaccine regulator. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In March, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, pushed out the renowned vaccine scientist Peter Marks, MD, PhD, who led the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the division tasked with overseeing vaccines and biologics. Marks’ ouster had the sign-off of newly sworn-in FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who himself has staked out fringe positions on COVID-19 vaccines. In a scathing resignation letter, Marks criticized Kennedy, writing that it had “become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” Now, the agency is replacing Marks with University of California, San Francisco, epidemiology and biostatistics professor Vinay Prasad, a popular YouTuber who gained right-wing notoriety early in the COVID-19 pandemic for staking out [contrarian positions](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/emory-welcomes-contrarian-doctor?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) on issues like masking and closures, opposing government efforts to control the spread of the virus. A hematologist and oncologist with links to anti-vaccine dark money group, [the Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), Prasad came under fire in October 2021 for suggesting COVID mitigations were the start of a national descent into authoritarianism, invoking comparisons to Nazi Germany. “Ironic that someone who compared vaccine requirements to the Holocaust and presented this as evidence of Fauci being a public health fascist is now a loyal bootlicker and apparatchik of actual fascists,” said Angela Rasmussen, virologist and scientific advisor to the Accountability Journalism Institute (AJI). In his [post on X](https://x.com/drmakaryfda/status/1919802781466079264?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) announcing the appointment, Makary said Prasad would “the kind of scientific rigor, independence, and transparency we need at CBER—a significant step forward.” Speculation about a potential role for Prasad within the administration has been swirling since last year, when his name appeared on Kennedy’s “nominees for the people” website as a potential pick for a leadership position within the new regime. A longtime ally of Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya—and booster of Kennedy—Prasad has been a reliable supporter of the Trump administration’s cuts to science. His loyalty hasn’t gone unnoticed. In February, the White House [cited him](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-white-house-cites-fringe-doctor) in a press email attacking *The Washington Post* over a story it ran about impending cuts to the NIH. In a Substack [post](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/is-more-science-better-than-less?ref=importantcontext.news), Prasad told his readers, “The majority of science is neither true nor useful.” In his recent academic work, Prasad has adopted a conciliatory tone where COVID vaccines are concerned. A paper he co-authored from June 2024 called them “a miraculous, life-saving advance offering staggering efficacy in adults.” The vaccines are estimated to have saved up to [20 million lives](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/covid-vaccines-saved-20-million-lives-in-first-year-study-says?ref=importantcontext.news) in the first year of rollout alone. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) But on social media, Prasad has an established history of playing to an anti-vaccine, conspiratorial audience. The doctor has [promoted](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/fauci-is-pardoned?ref=importantcontext.news) the disfavored lab leak theory of COVID’s origins, suggesting Fauci could be prosecuted for his alleged role in causing the pandemic. He made a name for himself [advocating](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/randomized-trials-are-the-best-way?ref=importantcontext.news) for randomized-controlled trials for COVID mitigations at the height of the pandemic including masking and [COVID vaccine boosters](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/cdc-identities-a-potential-safety?sd=pf&ref=importantcontext.news). Amid the deadly delta wave, he [demanded](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1435753211936198666?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) RCT data to support recommending masks. During omicron, he [chastised](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1485447884841443330?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the Biden administration for not conducting RCTs. Prasad has cast doubt on the safety, efficacy, and necessity of the mRNA jabs, especially for children and young people. About 1,800 American children have died from COVID. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2022, [1.3 percent](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db479.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) of U.S. children had ever had long COVID. But Prasad disfavors inoculating youth against the disease and has repeatedly overstated the risks of rare side effects of vaccination. When the bivalent boosters became available in October 2022, Prasad was one of the medical voices [suggesting](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/the-truth-about-those-viral-tweets-questioning-the-omicron-boosters-safety/?ref=importantcontext.news) they had been insufficiently tested. Prasad has been a critic of Marks—his predecessor—for years, [stating](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1580208721078022144?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in 2022 that he “might be the worst FDA regulator in modern history” over the emergency use authorization of bivalent boosters. In the wake of Marks’ resignation, Prasad [accused](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1902821276311490716?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) him of being a “rubber stamp” for COVID boosters, which he said lacked sufficient data for approval. “This is sadly so predictable,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious diseases epidemiologist and AJI scientific advisor. She said the administration isn’t just giving a platform to figures who spent the past few years undermining science—it’s handing them the levers of power. “Prasad has mocked mask wearing, denied the reality of long COVID, misrepresented vaccine safety data, and compared public health policies to Nazi Germany. He, just like RFK Jr., is a threat to public health and the integrity of vaccine science in this country.” More recently, he called for over half a billion in Biden-era funding for Moderna's H5N1 vaccine [to be pulled](https://x.com/VPrasadMDMPH/status/1895200161871405404?ref=importantcontext.news), citing public distrust of mRNA technology. In March, Prasad publicly [reveled](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1902802884854681730?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in the company’s stock price dropping over the previous year, writing “MRNA technology is so promising and everyone wants it!! 🥳.” He also [argued](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1902752812347318756?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that mRNA vaccines ought to be deprioritized for NIH funding. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) With Prasad’s appointment, vaccine skeptics now dominate the ranks of the administration’s top health advisors. Kennedy, Bhattacharya, and Makary have all made statements casting doubt on mRNA’s safety and utility as a vaccine platform. So too has Makary’s new special assistant, Tracy Beth Høeg, a doctor and epidemiologist whose hiring was [announced](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) last month. All have ties to the anti-vaccine [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone). The dark money group cross-published posts from Prasad’s blog between November 2021 and May 2022\. The NIH director, meanwhile, was a senior scholar at the dark money group when it launched in May 2021 and he, the FDA commissioner, and the commissioner’s special assistant were part of Brownstone’s [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) in early 2023 to craft a blueprint for a congressional inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic—presumably to assist the new GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The impact of having so many vaccine critics in key public health roles is already being felt. The FDA recently delayed the full approval of Novavax’s COVID booster, with demands for new trial data that could lead to the company’s bankruptcy. The vaccine is fully approved in dozens of countries. Last month, at the first annual meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which sets recommendations for vaccine policy, Høeg, who is involved in the delay of Novavax, [cast doubt](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine) on various inoculations. As the administration loads up on mRNA vaccine skeptics, it has bafflingly put $500 million toward [outdated vaccine technology](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/trump-hhs-rfk-flu-vaccine-nih-grant-taubenberger/?ref=importantcontext.news) developed nearly a century ago. The regime’s preferred vaccine platform was abandoned in the ‘70s due to high rates of severe fever and seizures in children As the regime funnels half a billion dollars to the puzzling new vaccine initiative, [bypassing](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/05/nih-cronyism/682713/?ref=importantcontext.news) the traditional competitive funding process, the project’s architects—now installed in top posts across U.S. health agencies—stand to benefit directly. ### NIH Autism Research Grants in Hands of COVID Vaccine Doubters URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/nih-autism-research-grants-in-hands/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:30.000Z Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s forthcoming research to identify the cause or causes of autism, which many experts fear is merely a ploy to go after vaccines, is being designed with input from a prominent critic of the COVID-19 mRNA shots. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) At a press conference on April 16, Kennedy told a reporter that National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya was working with his longtime collaborator Dr. Martin Kulldorff to shape the grant proposals for this research. Kennedy said his department would issue grants to university researchers and others, removing the “taboo” to allow them to “follow the science no matter what it says without any kind of fear they’re going to be censored and they’re going to be gaslighted, that they’re going to be silenced, that they’re going to be defunded, delicensed.” “And then we’re going to open it up to the research community and we’re going to task them with certain outcomes, and we’re going to have them come and bid on how to do the research,” Kennedy said. “This is all being run by Jay Bhattacharya and by, you know I think Martin Kulldorff may be also working on this on designing the grant proposals. So it’s going to be done by credible scientists, by the most credible scientists from all over the world, and we’re going to do it very, very quickly.” *Important Context* sought clarity regarding Kennedy’s remarks to see if he meant that Bhattacharya and Kulldorff were designing the Request For Proposal for the research, meaning outlining grant opportunities. However, despite Kennedy’s promise to oversee a transparent HHS, the department would not shed any light on his meaning. In response to our email inquiry, Deputy HHS Press Secretary Emily Hillard provided a generic statement attributable to an anonymous NIH official, asserting that “the National Institutes of Health (NIH) remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing our understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder” and noting it was investing $50 million to the research effort. The statement also highlighted that the agency was “exploring partnerships with other federal agencies, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CDC, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and others.” Speculation about the purpose of the new autism research project has swirled since Kennedy announced it earlier this month. The secretary and the anti-vaccine group he founded, Children’s Health Defense, have long promoted the discredited theory— based on [fraudulent research](https://www.immunize.org/clinical/vaccine-confidence/topic/mmr-vaccine/bmj-deer-mmr-wakefield/?ref=importantcontext.news)—that ingredients in vaccines are responsible for a rise in autism diagnoses. Many experts [believe](https://abcnews.go.com/Health/rfk-jr-questioned-rising-autism-rates-experts-gets/story?id=118648320&ref=importantcontext.news) it can be largely explained by widening definitions, growing awareness of the neurodivergent condition, and people having children older. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited) a junk study from a dubious medical journal run by his allies, including high-ranking CHD personnel, linking vaccines to autism. In March, he [brought in](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/03/25/vaccine-skeptic-hhs-rfk-immunization-autism/?ref=importantcontext.news) an anti-vax ally, David Geier, to probe a potential connection to vaccines and autism. Earlier this month, he pledged to identify the cause of the condition by September, which experts were quick to note sounded optimistic—and contrived. Kennedy’s timeline announcement came just two days after Children’s Health Defense emailed its subscribers declaring, “here’s the truth…vaccines do cause autism.” At the April 16 press conference, Kennedy downplayed the idea that vaccines were the target of the forthcoming research, but he did say “medicines” would be a focus of study as a potential cause. With Kulldorff’s involvement, it is clear Kennedy’s vaccine-critical allies will be shaping the project. Bhattacharya spearheading the effort was indication enough. *Important Context* has previously reported on the NIH director’s overtures to anti-vaxxers over the years. For example, we covered a podcast appearance from before he was nominated during which he [expressed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) openness to unsupported alternative vaccine schedules and said further research into the debunked vaccine-autism theory was warranted. He has also repeatedly cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, going so far as to sign a petition calling for use of the shots to be halted. Kulldorff is no less contrarian. The biostatistician is a longtime collaborator of Bhattacharya’s. The pair co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, calling for the abandonment of COVID lockdowns in favor of pursuing herd immunity through widespread infection of the healthy population. Kulldorff too has waded into anti-vaccine territory over the years, questioning the necessity and [safety](https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/former-harvard-professor-blasts-university-over-covid-claims-truth-can-get-you-fired-martin-kulldorff-great-barrington-declaration-coronaviruspandemic-vaccines-vax-stanford-boston-cambridge-public-health-freedom?ref=importantcontext.news) of COVID vaccines. He and Bhattacharya have even [advocated](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/558757-the-ill-advised-push-to-vaccinate-the-young/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the jabs together. Previously at Harvard Medical School for over a decade, Kulldorff lost his job over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID at the height of the pandemic. He [claimed](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/16/syndicate-kennedy-pledges-to-figure-out-which-environmental-toxins-are-causing-autism-00293583?ref=importantcontext.news) to have natural immunity from prior infection and a genetic condition that put him at risk from the shot. For years, Kulldorff was listed as “on leave” on Harvard’s website in the lead-up to his departure. He did, however, he find a cushy landing as scientific director of the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), an anti-vaccine dark money group founded by one of the organizers of the Great Barrington Declaration to prevent the return of lockdowns. When Brownstone launched in 2021, Kulldorff and Bhattacharya were senior scholars there together. Per tax filings Kulldorff was paid more than $100,000 in the following year for his work with the organization. Neither he nor the NIH director are listed as members of the group today, however the latter [spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) at its 2024 annual conference in October. Brownstone and Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense are closely aligned. The organizations have rallied together, promoted some of the same narratives about “censorship” of medical dissent, and, most recently, sponsored the annual conference of the anti-vaccine Independent Medical Alliance, previously known as Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, and its president and founder, Jeffrey Tucker, gave a [keynote speech](https://imahealth.org/conference/schedule/?ref=importantcontext.news#tab-8e7ce7aa26459f22301). Unsurprisingly, Kulldorff was one of the voices advocating for Kennedy to get the top spot at HHS. In a commentary for the right-wing RealClear Health ahead of the anti-vaxxer’s Senate confirmation hearings, Kulldorff argued that “the only way to restore public trust in vaccination…is to put a well-known vaccine skeptic in charge of the vaccine research agenda.” “The ideal person for this is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” he wrote. Until recently, Kulldorff was the co-editor-in-chief of a new medical journal from the RealClear Foundation that counts Bhattacharya and Marty Makary, Trump’s Food and Drug Administration commissioner, among the members of its editorial board. The journal is part of a larger academy of public health that was launched in January with bylaws adopted [the day after](https://web.archive.org/web/20250212081848/https://www.academypublichealth.org/documents/APH%5FBylaws%5F2025.pdf) Trump’s inauguration. Kulldorff’s exit from the journal was quiet and done without fanfare. The planned autism research has already generated major controversy. NIH Director Bhattacharya announced that the agency would be creating a database using private medical records and pharmacy and smart watch data as part of the project. The plan generated significant pushback from the public over concerns about privacy and government targeting of autistic individuals. HHS subsequently [denied](https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/hhs-rolls-back-reports-national-autism-registry?ref=importantcontext.news) that it was creating an autism database. Notably, the comment *Important Context* got from HHS, attributable to the anonymous NIH official, maintained that privacy would be protected. ### The Contrarian At The CDC Vaccine Policy Meeting URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-contrarian-at-the-cdc-vaccine/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:31.000Z This week, a doctor with a reputation for spreading vaccine misinformation is participating in one of the most important public health events of the year—a meeting that will impact how certain vaccines are used in the U.S. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Tuesday marked the first day of the first annual meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations for vaccine policy. The group holds three scheduled meetings every year at which it reviews vaccine data and votes on the recommendations, which are then passed to the CDC director for final approval. The committee consists of 19 voting members—independent medical and public health experts—along with six *ex officio* members from federal agencies that run immunization programs and 30 representatives from liaison organizations. Typically, ACIP’s meetings are attended by qualified experts. This year one of the *ex officio* members is raising eyebrows, however. Normally, the Food and Drug Administration sends the director or deputy director of its Office of Vaccines Research and Review to the meeting. This year, its representative is a political appointee: [Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you), a sports medicine physician and epidemiologist with a long history of casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines based on dubious research. Høeg stands out among her ACIP peers. A right-wing favorite for her advocacy against pandemic mitigation measures, she is an ally of anti-vax activist and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. She was recently chosen to serve as a special assistant to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, a surgeon who is himself a Kennedy ally with a dubious history of promoting vaccine misinformation. Her limited background on the subject of immunizations includes co-authoring a controversial [pre-print](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/dumpster-diving-in-vaers-doctors-fall-into-the-same-trap-as-antivaxxers/?ref=importantcontext.news) on mRNA COVID jabs that used unverified data from the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System. According to an [agenda](https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/agendas/Final-posted-2025-04-11-508.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) published online ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, the committee was set to focus on a number of vaccines over the two days including those for COVID, flu, HPV, Mpox, and RSV. While *ex officio* members do not get a vote, they do get to speak. Predictably, Høeg used her voice on the first day to cast doubt on vaccines. Regarding a proposed recommendation to extend routine vaccination against mpox with Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 17, she questioned the necessity and safety of doing so. “I just want to point out from an epidemiological standpoint from the risk-benefit ratio with this proposed recommendation…this age group is at very very low risk of even having a monkey pox case—it looks like we had less than 20 in the last year,” Høeg said. “And when you consider the amount of safety data we have from the small number of people who have received the vaccine so far in this age group…I think it’s very challenging I think to say that we know that the benefits of the vaccine will outweigh the potential harms because we just have such a small denominator in terms of number of adolescents who have been vaccinated so far.” After one of the presentations on flu shots, Høeg raised concerns about bias in a vaccine effectiveness study that the presenters noted had already been accounted for in the design. Following a presentation on COVID vaccines, she took issue with a slide showing the vaccination status of children hospitalized with the disease, which revealed that most were unvaccinated. ”Just a really quick comment on the fact that 90 percent of the children hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated is not actually really going to tell us much about the effectiveness of the vaccine considering almost 90 percent of children in general are unvaccinated—I believe it’s 87 percent most recently and 86 percent the year before—and the same applies to adults, so it’s important to adjust for the baseline rate of vaccination for the population,” she said. In response to Høeg’s remarks, the presenters noted that the slide in question was not meant to reflect the efficacy of the jabs and that the design of their vaccine effectiveness study controlled for baseline coverage. Anticipation was high heading into Tuesday’s meeting with anti-vax activist Robert Kennedy Jr. heading up the Department of Health and Human Services. Observers were paying close attention to see how it would go. Since Kennedy’s nomination, speculation had been swirling for months that critical vaccines might become targets of the new administration. The concern reached fever pitch when the meeting, originally set for February, was rescheduled and a vote on the influenza vaccine was stricken from the agenda. Some public health experts see Høeg’s involvement with ACIP as a troubling sign of what is to come. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and AJI scientific adviser, called Høeg “grossly unqualified to provide expert advice on vaccination.” “Her only experience with vaccine research includes publishing scientifically unsound preprints and papers overstating risks and minimizing benefits of vaccination to children,” Rasmussen said. University of California, San Francisco, law professor Dorit Reiss, who specializes in vaccine law and policy, criticized Høeg’s performance at Tuesday’s meeting, explaining “this is not her area, and she comes in with a well-established bias, and her comments tend to reflect that.” “If her presence reflects significant loss of expertise in FDA, that's concerning; if it reflects desire to inject a bias against vaccines, that's also concerning,” Reiss said. The ACIP meeting resumed on Wednesday. ### Kennedy’s (Former) Anti-Vax Group Running Interference On Measles URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/kennedys-former-anti-vax-group-running/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:31.000Z Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is in a difficult spot following the measles deaths of several unvaccinated American children, but his former colleagues have his back. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Amid a torrent of negative press, Kennedy has been sending mixed signals in an apparent attempt to soften his image amid outbreaks of the virus, which was previously eliminated in the U.S. Earlier this month, the anti-vaccine activist-turned-public health official traveled to Texas to meet with families of two of the dead children after which he took to X with a public statement that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was, in fact, "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles." Then, in a CBS News interview, the secretary [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/health/kennedy-offers-qualified-support-for-measles-vaccination.html?ref=importantcontext.news) “people should get the measles vaccine, but the government should not be mandating those.” The remarks were the most explicit support Kennedy has offered for the MMR vaccine he spent years vilifying. After the first unvaccinated child died in February, he made a [similar remark](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/imposter-anti-vaxxers-fume-over-kennedy) but fell short of actually encouraging vaccination. At the same time, however, Kennedy has been promoting unproven treatments for measles. In another post on X, for example, he said he met with two Texas doctors—Ben Edwards, founder of the wellness company Veritas Medical, and Richard Bartlett—who he claimed had treated child measles patients with the aerosolized steroid budesonide and antibiotic clarithromycin. Kennedy has also been casting doubt on the cause of the measles deaths. In a recent Fox News [interview](https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/DIR5ItlJXQ5?xmt=AQGz2Fv0t2M08hqwvDDPLx2pr0aiJKQBfEZ0UgFRen%5FB7A&ref=importantcontext.news), he was asked if he believed the MMR vaccine would have saved 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand, who died on April 3 and had no underlying conditions according to her doctors. In response, he suggested that her health had been poor prior to infection and that perhaps the virus had not been the cause of her death after all, adding, “We need to do better at treating kids who have this disease, and not just saying the only answer is vaccination.” The secretary’s statements muddying the waters around the measles outbreaks echo messaging from Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine group he helmed for years. The group has been pushing false claims about the devolving situation for months. Kennedy joined CHD in 2015 when it was still the World Mercury Project. He served as chairman until last year and is credited as the rebranded group’s founder. With the group behind him, Kennedy became one of the most prolific spreaders of vaccine misinformation on the internet, according to the 2021 “Disinformation Dozen” [report](https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/210324-The-Disinformation-Dozen.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) With his independent presidential campaign, Kennedy allegedly went on leave from CHD, and at his Senate confirmation hearings in January, the anti-vax activist said he had severed ties with the organization. But questions have swirled about his relationship with the group ever since. CHD did not respond to our inquiry on the matter. What is known is that during his confirmation hearings, Kennedy cited a study published in an [obscure journal](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited) run by his allies including CHD contributors and key personnel like CEO Mary Holland and chief scientific officer Brian Hooker. Then last month, after the group came under fire for [briefly hosting](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/reallcdcorg-fake-cdc-website-childrens-health-defense/?ref=importantcontext.news) a website full of vaccine misinformation made to look like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s page, Kennedy’s HHS [stepped in](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/health/cdc-kennedy-vaccine-disinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and called on organization to take it down. Meanwhile, the “about” dropdown menu of the CHD website still includes a “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” link, which directs to his [bio](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/about-us/robert-f-kennedy-jr/?ref=importantcontext.news). After his time as secretary, the anti-vax activist could legally make a return to the organization. It is not uncommon for political appointees to take up jobs at nonprofits after their time in government. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/e8cc2645-a90e-4384-a51a-5057fbc23d94_2732x1652-jpeg.jpg) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) For weeks, CHD has been running interference with the measles outbreaks that have bedeviled Kennedy, downplaying the dangers and questioning the death toll. The group’s tactics echo those of [right-wing dark money groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as they worked to reopen the economy despite the mounting body count. Dorit Reiss, a law professor from the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in vaccine law and policy, said CHD’s tactics were “very much the anti-vaccine playbook.” “Any death after vaccine, even a while after, is because of vaccines with no evidence,” Reiss said. “Any death from disease can be explained away.” Following the death of a six-year-old child in Texas this February—the first child death from the virus in the U.S. in 22 years—CHD’s media outfit, The Defender, ran a [piece](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/texas-reported-death-child-tested-positive-measles/?ref=importantcontext.news) questioning the reporting. Headlined, “Texas Reports Death of Child Who Tested Positive for Measles, But Releases Few Details,” the article claimed that “Some doctors and scientists pushed back, saying too little information about the child’s health has been released so far to assume that a measles vaccine would have prevented the death.” CHD even sent representatives—Hooker and its director of programming, Polly Tommey—out to Texas to film a video conversation with the parents of the deceased child, during which they touted unproven treatments and cast more doubt on the MMR vaccine. In the video, the parents, who are Mennonites, [said](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/?ref=importantcontext.news) the media was overhyping the dangers of the virus and that they were not convinced vaccination was necessary. The group also obtained the child’s medical records and passed them to longtime Kennedy ally [Dr. Pierre Kory](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news), who reviewed them and, unsurprisingly, concluded that measles was not to blame for the death. The co-founder of the anti-vaccine group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (now rebranded as Independent Medical Alliance), Kory is known for his unrelenting promotion of ivermectin for COVID despite evidence it is not effective against the virus and for having had his board certifications [revoked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) for spreading misinformation. In a March 19 [video](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd/breaking-news-doctors-review-texas-measles-medical-records/?ref=importantcontext.news) discussion with Hooker and Tommey, the disgraced doctor insisted that the child “did not die of measles by any stretch of the imagination,” pinning the blame instead on medical error. According to Kory, the death was the [result](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/medical-error-death-6-year-old-girl-pneumonia-after-measles/?ref=importantcontext.news) of incorrect antibiotic management of a secondary bacterial pneumonia infection and that her pneumonia had “little to do with measles.” Pneumonia is a [common complication](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of measles infection, and, more generally, secondary bacterial pneumonias are well-documented occurrences with viral diseases. Per Kory’s account, the child had [mycoplasma pneumonia](https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/223609-overview?form=fpf&ref=importantcontext.news), sometimes called walking pneumonia, which is generally mild and has an extremely low mortality rate estimated at less than 0.1%. The next day, the disgraced doctor [appeared](https://rumble.com/v6qykw0-dr.-pierre-kory-details-how-6-year-old-girl-was-given-wrong-antibiotics-to-.html?ref=importantcontext.news) alongside Holland and Hooker on Steve Bannon’s [misinformation-spreadling](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/technology/podcasts-steve-bannon-war-room-misinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) podcast to push the narrative. Privately, however, Kory tells a very different story, acknowledging the role of measles in causing the death. In a recorded conversation with Dr. Alex Morozov, founder of the pro-science group Eviva Partners, Kory [suggested](https://alexmorozovny.substack.com/p/real-story-of-the-measles-case-vibrating) that the child had died from a weaponized form of measles. The conversation took place at the recent “Summit for Truth & Wellness” in Rochester, New York, which was hosted by the Christian wellness group Americans for Healthcare Alternatives. “Do you want to know the real story on this case?” Kory said. “Quite a few of us believe that they weaponized the measles virus…She got sicker from this measles probably because they monkeyed with the measles virus…Do you know how many bioweapons labs there are and what they can do?” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) With the death of the second unvaccinated child, Hildebrand, CHD claimed it has been “[confirmed](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd/second-measles-death-confirmed-not-from-measles-lessons-from-the-passage-of/?ref=importantcontext.news)” that measles was not the cause—again relying on Kory’s assessment—and that the media is lying. The group also shot a video with the father of the child in which he stated that he still would not vaccinate his children. On its website, CHD is [offering](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/ebook-sign-up/?ref=importantcontext.news) a free ebook titled, “The Measles Book: Thirty-Five Secrets the Government and the Media Aren’t Telling You about Measles and the Measles Vaccine.” “As measles outbreaks spark media fear campaigns, separating fact from fiction is harder than ever,” the description for the book reads. Later this week, CHD is holding an event for its members called “Up Close: Inside the Measles Deception,” featuring Kory and Edwards along with Hooker and Polly Tommey, the group’s director of programming. The discussion is being billed as “a deep dive into the media deception surrounding the recent measles outbreak.” “This in-depth discussion will feature the people who were on the ground and inside the community in West Texas, including treating physician Dr. Ben Edwards, CHD’s own Brian Hooker and Polly Tommey, who reported from the scene with consequential information that is not available anywhere else, and Dr. Pierre Kory, who was among the first people to expose the lie that the measles had claimed a life,” a promotional email read. ### The FDA Goes Fringe: What You Need to Know About the Agency’s New Hire URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-fda-goes-fringe-what-you/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:32.000Z The Department of Health and Human Services is rapidly becoming a haven for fringe medical voices. In what’s been called a “[bloodbath](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/01/health/staff-cuts-at-federal-health-agencies-have-begun/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news),” massive cuts hit the department this week with layoff and reassignment notices going out to [thousands](https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/hhs-april-fools-massacre-tracking-doc?ref=importantcontext.news) of employees—from those in leadership to administration to research. The changes are part of a seismic reorganization led by HHS Secretary and prominent anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr. The secretary has since said that perhaps [20 percent](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-hhs-job-cuts-doge-mistakes/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the firings could have been errors, but the trend is clear: As longtime public health veterans are forced out, HHS is welcoming fringe figures into key positions. This week [Dr. Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), a surgeon with a history of making controversial medical claims including about COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines, took over as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Makary also helped [push out](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/31/new-fda-commissioner-signed-off-on-ousting-top-vaccine-regulator-after-private-swearing-in-00260582?ref=importantcontext.news) the agency’s top vaccine official, while bringing in new blood—another contrarian doctor to serve as his special assistant: the [Ayn Rand-quoting](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1865923528501133498?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Tracy Beth Høeg. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Announcing Høeg’s involvement as a [special assistant](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/doctor-with-wish-list-more-vaccine-scrutiny-named-assistant-new-fda-chief-2025-04-02/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the commissioner, Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Sara Brenner described Høeg as having “extensive experience working in vaccine science and epidemiology.” Høeg is a sports medicine physician and research on infectious diseases and vaccines is strikingly [absent](https://www.norcalorthoassociates.com/team/hoeg.php?ref=importantcontext.news) from her biography at Northern California Orthopedic Associates, where she has worked since 2020. Although she earned a PhD in epidemiology in 2015 from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, Høeg’s limited publications prior to the pandemic were largely focused on ophthalmology and endurance athletics. Her first COVID-related publication on [PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=H%C3%B8eg%20TB&sort=date&ref=importantcontext.news), from January 2021, was a study of transmission in schools in Wood County, Wisconsin. Høeg [concluded](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33507890/?ref=importantcontext.news) that mask-wearing “likely contributed to low levels of observed disease transmission.” Despite her own findings, she would go on to write against masking in future papers that have been widely rebuffed by the epidemiology community. Høeg’s induction into the new regime is unsurprising. She fits in well with the current crop of contrarian public health leadership and is a longtime ally of Makary’s. The pair published a [paper](https://jme.bmj.com/content/50/2/126?ref=importantcontext.news) together and have co-authored [opinion](https://nypost.com/2023/09/14/the-real-data-behind-the-new-covid-vaccines-the-white-house-is-pushing/?ref=importantcontext.news) [pieces](https://nypost.com/2022/07/14/us-agencies-arent-following-the-science-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news). Like her new boss, Høeg has [promoted](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1536510838907215873?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) “natural immunity.” She also branded individuals supportive of COVID mitigation measures “[Covidian](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1621279655893553152?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” a term favored by Trump’s new National Institutes of Health director, economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about?utm%5Fsource=publication-search). Along with Makary and Bhattacharya, Høeg has allied herself with [anti-vaxxers](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1819736607122927786?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) like Kennedy, whom she [calls](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1665213647994654720?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a “friend,” and Alex Berenson. She’s also made many dubious remarks about vaccines—particularly COVID jabs, casting doubt on both their safety and the need to use them. During a post-election podcast appearance, Høeg [said](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/doctor-with-wish-list-more-vaccine-scrutiny-named-assistant-new-fda-chief-2025-04-02/?ref=importantcontext.news) she hoped to see the incoming administration craft a “revised framework for testing, approving and regulating new vaccines,” and end “unnecessary” inoculations. She also said she wants open discourse about vaccines, weighing their “pros and cons.” Unlike her new boss, who was a successful author before the pandemic, Høeg was a relative unknown in private practice. But her work attacking COVID mitigation efforts, while criticized by her peers in academia, found an audience in MAGA-world. At the time, far-right groups were working to muddy the science around COVID to weaken political support for pandemic mitigation measures like business and school closures. Høeg found new allies and her star quickly rose. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Her first taste of the spotlight came with a [September 2021 pre-print](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/dumpster-diving-in-vaers-doctors-fall-into-the-same-trap-as-antivaxxers/?ref=importantcontext.news) she authored on vaccines, using unverified data from the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System. The paper suggested COVID shots were harmful to young boys and was called out for methodological issues and a [potential conflict-of-interest](https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/sep/20/doubts-raised-over-preprint-study-regarding-myocar/?ref=importantcontext.news) with one of the authors affiliated with the group Rational Ground, which opposed COVID mitigation efforts including vaccine mandates. Nevertheless, the study went viral. Several months later, in 2022, Høeg was part of a group of doctors behind the error-ridden Urgency of Normal toolkit, which purported to give parents the facts they needed to challenge COVID mitigation measures in their children’s schools. Another member of Urgency of Normal was Dr. Vinay Prasad, yet another fringe medical voice recently [amplified](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-white-house-cites-fringe-doctor) by the Trump White House. Høeg and Prasad have published together. In July that year, Høeg was [lauded](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-best-mask-study-yet/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute for conducting “The Best Mask Study Yet.” The paper languished for years, unable to find a home, but was finally [published](https://drbobmorris.substack.com/p/the-mocking-of-the-scientific-journal-7e7?utm%5Fmedium=ios) this February in the medical journal of the RealClear Foundation’s new [Academy of Public Health](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right), which counts both Bhattacharya and Makary on its editorial board. The day after the Brownstone article about her study, Høeg [called](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1545855443578146816?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the group’s founder, Jeffrey Tucker, an anti-vaxxer and [advocate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) for child labor and youth tobacco-use, “a good friend of mine.” Tucker also has ties to Makary and Bhattacharya. One of the departments that has seen cuts at FDA is the Center for Tobacco Products, which regulates the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products. In November 2022, Høeg was one of several contrarian physicians to sue California over its now-defunct misinformation law that empowered the state medical board to revoke the licenses of doctors who spread COVID misinformation. Representing her [pro bono](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) was the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-wing lawfare group linked to Charles Koch, and dedicated to dismantling the administrative state. The following month, Høeg became part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called Public Health Integrity Committee, along with Bhattacharya. The group described itself as “a committee of expert researchers charged with assessing federal decisions, recommendations, and guidance related to public health and health care.” Its main job, however, was finding a justification to defy the Biden administration’s efforts to control the spread of COVID, like vaccine mandates. Høeg went on to work in DeSantis’s health department under his controversial Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, a former member of the pro-Trump physician group America’s Frontline Doctors that pushed hydroxychloroquine as COVID treatment despite evidence indicating it is not effective against the disease. Ladapo is best known for [discouraging](https://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2024/01/20240103-halt-use-covid19-mrna-vaccines.pr.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the use of mRNA vaccines. In April 2023, he was revealed to have [altered findings](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-00093510?ref=importantcontext.news) of a study on COVID vaccine safety to show harms to young men. Høeg defended him. Next, she was recruited along with Bhattacharya and Makary by Brownstone to be part of its [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) to craft a blueprint for congressional COVID inquiry meant to aid the incoming GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (HSSCP). The 80-page document, released in early February 2023, started from the position that contrarian perspectives on COVID were correct and mitigations did more harm than good. Makary and Bhattacharya testified as experts for the Republicans at the first HSSCP hearing weeks later. Høeg’s [appearance](https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/the-consequences-of-school-closures-intended-and-unintended/?ref=importantcontext.news) before the subcommittee followed in March of that year to discuss the impacts of school closures. During her opening statement, Høeg cited her 2021 Wood County study to argue that the low transmission levels she observed in schools indicated that closures were never necessary. She neglected, however, to mention the high levels of mask compliance that her own paper credited for those low levels. Later, she attacked teachers unions and claimed closures fueled the mental health crisis in young people that was declared by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP did not mention closures in its [declaration](https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health/?srsltid=AfmBOoonzKcF5XLernEElUrInhsIAt-taPzrR1jOWWZrRwbq3OuBH65M&ref=importantcontext.news), but it did note that “The pandemic has struck at the safety and stability of families,” explaining that “more than 140,000 children in the United States lost a primary and/or secondary caregiver, with youth of color disproportionately impacted.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Although Høeg has previously expressed [support](https://x.com/tracybethhoeg/status/1506039603756625921?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine, which is widely seen as under threat from Kennedy’s HHS. Nevertheless, experts we spoke to expressed concern about her involvement with the critical public health agency. Virologist and AJI science adviser Angela Rasmussen told *Important Context* that Høeg has “no relevant qualifications with regard to vaccinology,” noting that she has “repeatedly misrepresented safety and adverse events data to decrease public confidence in vaccination, particularly for children.” Rasmussen said she worried that Høeg was “going to target vaccines. Especially vaccines that are important for kids.” Infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera, meanwhile, worried about the impact of the administration’s Make America Health Again agenda, which she said Høeg was part of. “One of the most concerning trends with each new MAHA nomination is the claim that there are a bunch of health mysteries (i.e.chronic diseases) that they will uniquely and heroically solve, either by relitigating established science or through massive budget and personnel cuts,” Rivera said. “Høeg is no different, as she’s called some vaccines ‘unnecessary’ and challenged the current framework for safety and efficacy testing.” “All this does is further undermine vaccine confidence while wasting taxpayer dollars,” added Rivera, who is a member of the group Defend Public Health, which formed in response to the Trump administration’s public health plans. “It doesn’t make anyone in America healthier—in fact it will likely make America sicker from vaccine-preventable diseases.” There is already evidence that Rasmussen and Rivera are right to be worried about the direction the FDA is moving. This week, the agency [delayed](https://insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/agency-leadership/us-fda/highly-problematic-acting-fda-commissioner-paused-planned-ok-of-novavax-shot-GUT6LR4X6ZALRMMZAEXYZHY36Y/?ref=importantcontext.news) the full licensure of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine, which was supposed to happen on April 1, after the commissioner’s office got involved in an unusual move. Brenner has reportedly enlisted Hoeg to review the company’s application. ### Trump’s Got a New FDA Chief and NIH Director. They’ve Been Getting Public Health Wrong For Years. URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trumps-got-a-new-fda-chief-and-nih/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:32.000Z Drs. Marty Makary and Jay Bhattacharya were [recently confirmed](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-confirms-marty-makary-to-lead-fda-jay-bhattacharya-to-head-nih/?ref=importantcontext.news) to head the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, respectively. While Bhattacharya’s vote came down along party lines, three Democrats—Sens. [Dick Durbin ](https://thehill.com/people/dick-durbin/?ref=importantcontext.news)(Ill.) Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.)—crossed the aisle to back Makary along with the Republicans. Both doctors have repeatedly spread misinformation regarding COVID-19, glorifying natural immunity, prematurely declaring the pandemic over, minimizing variants, spreading fake statistics, and overhyping vaccine side effects. *Important Context* reported extensively on the pair. For example, we [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines) that Bhattacharya suggested more research into the non-existent connection between vaccines and autism was merited. We have compiled five examples of false and misleading statements the pair have made over the years about COVID—delivered in their own words. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### Dr. Marty Makary 1\. In May 2021, Dr. Makary said, “[We basically are in herd immunity right now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=2MD1uwvGk24&t=3s&ref=importantcontext.news)” and “[most of the country is at herd immunity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndCNViPfS4g&t=8s&ref=importantcontext.news).” The Delta and Omicron variants arrived before the end of the year and we still do not have herd immunity to COVID. 2\. Though the virus was just over a 1-year-old and COVID reinfections had already been reported, in the summer of 2021, [Dr. Makary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVMmX1%5FR-hY&ref=importantcontext.news) confidently said, “[Immunity is probably lifelong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgQkaue-4aU&ref=importantcontext.news).” In reality, COVID reinfections are trivially common and they are not always benign as described in the article, [Study Suggests Reinfections From The Virus That Causes COVID-19 Likely Have Similar Severity As Original Infection](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-suggests-reinfections-virus-causes-covid-19-likely-have-similar-severity-original-infection?ref=importantcontext.news). 3\. When the Omicron variant arrived,[ Dr. Makary called it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVMmX1%5FR-hY&ref=importantcontext.news)“omi-cold” and “nature’s vaccine.” When the dust settled, the headlines read,[ During the Omicron Wave, Death Rates Soared for Older People](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/health/omicron-deaths-age-65-elderly.html?ref=importantcontext.news), and[ Hospitalizations Of Young Children With The Virus Surged During The U.S. Omicron Wave](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/21/health/hospitalizations-of-young-children-with-the-virus-surged-during-the-us-omicron-wave.html?ref=importantcontext.news). 4\. In 2021, Dr. [Makary said that the](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js19ibjX9eo&ref=importantcontext.news) government was “undermining” “natural immunity” because it was superior to vaccine-immunity. In reality, natural immunity killed 1.2 million Americans and sickened millions more. The vaccine [greatly limited](https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/10/covid-19-vaccines-prevented-nearly-140000-us-deaths?ref=importantcontext.news) COVID’s harms. 5\. In 2023,[ Dr. Makary said](https://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-makary-rfk-jr-criticism-medical-industrial-complex-saying-things-people-know-true?ref=importantcontext.news), “One thing RFK Jr. did is he would post true stories of children who died immediately after the vaccine. These were otherwise healthy children.” This was false. The article [RFK Jr. Spent Years Stoking Fear And Mistrust Of Vaccines. These People Were Hurt By His Work](https://www.wric.com/news/politics/ap-rfk-jr-spent-years-stoking-fear-and-mistrust-of-vaccines-heres-who-gets-hurt-by-kennedys-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) revealed the disturbing truth: > *When 12-year-old Braden Fahey collapsed during football practice and died, it was just the beginning of his parents’ nightmare.* > > *Deep in their grief a few months later, Gina and Padrig Fahey received news that shocked them to their core: A favorite photo of their beloved son was plastered on the cover of a book that falsely argues COVID-19 vaccines caused a spike of sudden deaths among healthy young people.* > > *The book, called “Cause Unknown,” was co-published by an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, who is now running for president. Kennedy wrote the foreword and promoted the book, tweeting that it details data showing “ COVID shots are a crime against humanity.”* > > *The Faheys couldn’t understand how Braden’s face appeared on the book’s cover, or why his name appeared inside it.* > > *Braden never received the vaccine. His death in August 2022 was due to a malformed blood vessel in his brain. No one ever contacted them to ask about their son’s death, or for permission to use the photo. No one asked to confirm the date of his death — which the book misdated by a year. When the Faheys and residents of their town in California tried to contact the publisher and author to get Braden and his picture taken out of the book, no one responded.* > > *“We reached out in every way possible,” Gina Fahey told The Associated Press in an emotional interview. “We waited months and months to hear back, and nothing.”* For more on Makary, check out this [video](https://youtu.be/MqC1gpEsJaM?si=znU-oZGis8MnjE1M&ref=importantcontext.news). ### Dr. Jay Bhattacharya 1\. In October 2020, just months before vaccines arrived, Bhattacharya [said](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/89432?xid=fb%5Fo&trw=no&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1enGyWRKb3So0XOvCfj3knUdk6xbK92Z2PQ6nVu4x2h3CLE-C2pI0GCY4%5Faem%5FAfzO3snWdMObZiSG8wagdyS%5FfFkuAqwVGXQVBPEoABI-xoEfXtYNVF7joe9mSXTULr5cXMD%5FsZHqzRFCKQfbABx-&ref=importantcontext.news): > *An infection is a severe problem for older populations, and also for people who have certain chronic conditions. For younger populations under 70, it’s much milder.* The next year,[ COVID became a top 10 killer](https://wisqars.cdc.gov/lcd/?o=LCD&y1=2021&y2=2021&ct=10&cc=ALL&g=00&s=0&r=0&ry=0&e=0&ar=lcd1age&at=groups&ag=lcd1age&a1=0&a2=199&ref=importantcontext.news) for every age group except babies, and[ 2022 was even worse for children](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/11/us-child-covid-deaths-omicron-surge?ref=importantcontext.news). 2\. In November 2021, Dr. Bhattacharya gave an[ interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0zugbVKoE&embeds%5Freferring%5Feuri=https%3A%2F%2Fsciencebasedmedicine.org%2F&source%5Fve%5Fpath=Mjg2NjY&ref=importantcontext.news)where he said “we’ve had more flu deaths among children this year than COVID deaths.” This was false. The first reported COVID death in the U.S. was on 2/28/2020\. By November that year, COVID had killed at least [133 children](https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP%20and%20CHA%20-%20Children%20and%20COVID-19%20State%20Data%20Report%205.20.21%20FINAL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. During that same time frame, the flu killed [9 children](https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/pedfludeath.html?ref=importantcontext.news). The next year, the flu killed [a single child](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/02/children-flu-deaths/?ref=importantcontext.news), while over 150 children died of COVID in [January 2022 alone](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/11/us-child-covid-deaths-omicron-surge?ref=importantcontext.news). 3\. However, in April 2021, Dr. Bhattacharya had the [following exchange](https://zdoggmd.com/jay-bhattacharya-2/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Dr. Zubin Damania: > **Dr. Bhattacharya**: I mean, I think that the central problem right now I think is the fear that people still feel about COVID… > > **Dr. Damania**: Now, you and I are both vaccinated. We shook hands. We don’t wear masks. We’re about three feet apart from each other. And in the early days of the pandemic that would’ve gotten us both hung. But now I can say with confidence because I’ve looked at the data, like our chances of giving each other COVID are- > > **Dr. Bhattacharya**: Are zero. > > **Dr. Damania**: Pretty much zero… > > **Dr. Bhattacharya:** The vaccine is incredibly effective… And in many ways has defanged the epidemic, it’s taken away the the specter of death and hospitalization that comes with the disease for the older population to the extent that the older population is vaccinated… Dr. Bhattacharya would complain about “[lie that the vax stops disease transmission](https://x.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1848900855300313494?ref=importantcontext.news)” and in an article titled [The Covid Vaccine Trials: Failures in Design and Interpretation](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/history-of-public-health/2025/01/the-covid-vaccine-trials-failures-in-design-and-interpretation/?ref=importantcontext.news) he said: > *For the Covid vaccines, the fundamental goal was not to prevent mild infections but to prevent deaths, hospitalizations, and transmission. Despite this, the randomized controlled trials evaluated short-term reduction in symptomatic Covid infections while failing to address important public health issues. This result was due to badly designed trials. Despite lacking key data, public health agencies made unsubstantiated vaccine claims, published unscientific vaccine recommendations, and imposed unethical vaccine mandates. As a result, vaccine hesitance has increased while the trust in public health has deteriorated…* 4\. In May 2021, Dr. Bhattacharya discussed herd immunity and said “[we are kind of already there](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJZMw2zD3eA&ref=importantcontext.news).” He also said COVID was seasonal. On August 1st, 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis quoted Dr. Bhattacharya as saying, “[We have protected the vulnerable by vaccinating the older population](https://x.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1421919960142581782?ref=importantcontext.news).” That same day, the headlines read[ Florida Reports A Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/01/1023396466/florida-new-covid-case-record?ref=importantcontext.news). Here are some headlines that followed immediately after this: ● “[Florida Leads Nation in Number of COVID-19 Deaths of Nursing Home Residents and Staff](https://states.aarp.org/florida/florida-leads-nation-in-number-of-covid-19-deaths-of-nursing-home-residents-and-staff?ref=importantcontext.news),” August 2021. ● “[School Closures Reported In Five Florida Counties; Districts ‘Drowning’ In COVID](https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/08/20/school-closures-reported-in-five-fl-counties-districts-drowning-in-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news),” August 2021. ● “[15 Miami-Dade Public School Staff Members Die Of COVID In Just 10 Days](https://www.yahoo.com/news/15-miami-dade-public-school-021517732.html?ref=importantcontext.news),” September 2021*.* ● “[Child Covid Deaths More Than Doubled in Florida as Kids Returned to the Classroom](https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/09/09/child-covid-fatalities-nearly-double-in-florida-1390807?ref=importantcontext.news),” September 2021. 5\. In October 2020, Dr. Bhattacharya said a 1 in 500 risk of a 40-year-old dying of COVID was “very [moderate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFxQFJingrs&ref=importantcontext.news)“ and casually blew off all of COVID’s non-fatal harms. Later, he said that a 1 in 15,000 risk of vaccine-myocarditis was a “[serious side-effect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2WzPdKuK4k&t=39s&ref=importantcontext.news).” In reality, literal death is worse than a vaccine side effect that is usually[ mild and temporary](https://www.heart.org/en/news/2021/12/06/post-vaccine-myocarditis-in-young-people-is-rare-and-usually-mild-study-confirms?ref=importantcontext.news). For more misleading statements from Bhattacharya, check out this [video](https://youtu.be/2ptTBrZbrRM?si=7le2rHz%5FLh%5FhZ-V8&ref=importantcontext.news). ### “The Great Birdington Declaration”: The Origins of Kennedy’s Avian Flu Herd Immunity Plan Explained URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-great-birdington-declaration/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:33.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version. Last update 3/28/25.* In a recent interview, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. proposed a novel strategy for dealing with the H5N1 bird flu virus spreading through poultry and dairy farms across the country: let it rip for herd immunity. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Kennedy told a Fox News interviewer that farmers ought to consider “letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds that are immune to it.” It was [not the first time](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369907937112?ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy pushed the idea on the channel. He has also come out [against](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-vaccinating-poultry-bird-flu-could-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news) the use of vaccines to tackle the bird flu problem, which the administration [inherited](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-has-spread-out-of-control-after-mistakes-by-u-s-government-and/?ref=importantcontext.news), suggesting they could hasten the spread to people. Last month, Trump’s agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins put forward a similar plan, telling an interviewer that “there are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity.” Kennedy’s statements on bird flu and rejection of the use of vaccines have [drawn harsh rebuke](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-jr-wants-to-let-bird-flu-spread-on-poultry-farms-why-experts-are/?ref=importantcontext.news) from public health and medical experts, who warn that every new infection gives the H5N1 virus an opportunity to adapt to humans. Currently, it does not spread efficiently to people. Some [online](https://bsky.app/profile/lewontin.bsky.social/post/3ljqlsktzy22t?ref=importantcontext.news) have noted the similarities between the proposed strategy and the approach the first Trump White House took to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, mockingly dubbing it the “Great Birdington Declaration.” In her Substack [post](https://jenndowd.substack.com/?utm%5Fsource=navbar&utm%5Fmedium=web) using the nickname for the proposed strategy, Jenn Dowd, a professor of demography and population health at Oxford, warned that it simply would not work. “As with many highly pathogenic human infections (such as cholera, polio, tuberculosis), ‘herd immunity’ to reduce mortality doesn’t work,” she wrote. “These devastating illnesses were finally brought under control not by mass infection but through public health measures to control transmission as well as vaccines. This is the playbook that can also work for bird flu, even if the details and specific tradeoffs are still being worked out.” Indeed, the suggested plan from Kennedy and Rollins echoes the plan articulated in the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, a controversial open letter published by a libertarian think tank, American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), arguing against pandemic lockdowns in favor of reopening and allowing the virus to rip through the young, healthy population while squirreling away the vulnerable. The declaration’s authors, health economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), today a Kennedy ally and Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, biostatistician Martin Kulldorff, and epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta, all hailed from prestigious universities—Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford, respectively—which gave it an air of legitimacy. But they never did any modeling to demonstrate how their idea of “focused protection” would work. A subsequent study from 2022 [found](https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000298&ref=importantcontext.news) that such shielding strategies were not feasible. Mainstream public health organizations and officials like World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus panned the document. But the declaration found a home on the political right, particularly within the Trump White House, which was reportedly focused on the president’s reelection and [anxious](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/18/trump-reopening-economy-193885?ref=importantcontext.news) to reopen the economy. The public, however, remained [overwhelming supportive](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/03/05/a-year-of-u-s-public-opinion-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) of mitigation measures, including closures, and was increasingly skeptical of Trump’s leadership. The declaration was choreographed to change those perceptions. The day after the official-sounding document was written and signed—at a conference AIER hosted, complete with [specially invited media](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter)—the authors met with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Following the meeting with the “distinguished infectious disease experts,” Azar [tweeted](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/06/trump-herd-immunity-scientists-426911?ref=importantcontext.news), “We heard strong reinforcement of the Trump Administration’s strategy of aggressively protecting the vulnerable while opening schools and the workplace.” Azar’s “we” was a reference to another party present at the meeting: Scott Atlas, a radiologist with [no background in infectious diseases](https://www.npr.org/2020/11/30/940376041/dr-scott-atlas-special-coronavirus-adviser-to-trump-resigns?ref=importantcontext.news) who Trump brought on to advise the White House Coronavirus Task Force in August 2020\. A herd immunity advocate who was [reportedly](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/3355638/trump-possible-nominees-new-cdc-director/?ref=importantcontext.news) on Trump’s list of candidates to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlas famously [pushed](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.06.21%20The%20Trump%20Administration%E2%80%99s%20Embrace%20of%20a%20Dangerous%20and%20Discredited%20Herd%20Immunity%20via%20Mass%20Infection%20Strategy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) for the CDC to scale back testing and downplayed the dangers COVID posed to children. Atlas later revealed in his book, “A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America,” that he had been involved in the planning stages of the declaration, having arranged the meeting with Azar as a means of getting one of the authors—UK-based Gupta—to the U.S. despite travel restrictions. Atlas’ connection to the authors ran through the right-wing Hoover Institution at Stanford. Bhattacharya had previously been a research fellow at the think tank. The group’s website currently [lists](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news) him as a senior fellow (courtesy). The White House’s embrace of the mass infection herd immunity strategy alarmed key officials within the administration. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx [testified](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-subcommittee-releases-initial-findings-transcribed-interview-dr-deborah?ref=importantcontext.news) to Congress that she had repeatedly raised concerns at task force meetings about Atlas. She criticized the president for failing to do all he could to save lives. Three days after the declaration authors met with Azar and Atlas, Francis Collins, then the NIH director, emailed Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about formulating a “devastating takedown” of the declaration’s premise. By that point, Trump was [no longer attending the meetings](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/23/fauci-says-trump-hasnt-attended-white-house-coronavirus-task-force-meeting-in-several-months.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of his coronavirus task force, which both scientists were part of. The declaration was not the White House’s first attempt to use contrarian medical voices to justify its politically motivated reopening strategy, which public health leaders like Fauci refused to go along with. In late July 2020, the president [amplified](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/technology/virus-video-trump.html?ref=importantcontext.news) a video on Twitter from a fringe physician group called America’s Frontline Doctors, which was supporting his normalcy push and reelection. In the video, doctors in white lab coats gave a press conference outside the Supreme Court and advocated for the Trump-endorsed unproven COVID treatment [hydroxychloroquine](https://washingtonspectator.org/anatomy-of-deceit/?ref=importantcontext.news) and against lockdowns and masking, against the recommendations of Fauci and the CDC. The group, whose founder would later get convicted for her [participation](https://abcnews.go.com/US/dr-simone-gold-leading-anti-vax-figure-sentenced/story?id=85445732&ref=importantcontext.news) in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was [reportedly](https://time.com/6092368/americas-frontline-doctors-covid-19-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) the brainchild of the secretive, influential Christian Right group Council for National Policy. Trump campaign officials were reportedly made [aware](https://web.archive.org/web/20211207132520/https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/10/25/god-trump-closed-door-world-council-national-policy/) of its formation and mission ahead of time. The AFLDS press conference opened with an address from Jenny Beth Martin, head of Tea Party Patriots, a right-wing dark money outfit that [promoted](https://www.teapartypatriots.org/action-news/tea-party-patriots-action-supports-lockdown-protests-opposes-michigan-governor-and-others-abusing-power/?ref=importantcontext.news) early anti-lockdown demonstrations across the country and [started](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/04/22/groups-aligned-right-wing-megadonors-promoting-coronavirus-protests/?ref=importantcontext.news) the “Save Our Country” initiative with the [American Legislative Exchange Council](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American%5FLegislative%5FExchange%5FCouncil?ref=importantcontext.news) and [FreedomWorks](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedomworks?ref=importantcontext.news) to advise the White House on reopening. Trump was [criticized](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/technology/virus-video-trump.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for sharing the AFLDS video, but the following month, he [met](https://x.com/steve%5Fhanke/status/1775955677044760650?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in the Oval Office with Atlas and one of the physicians involved with the group, Joseph Ladapo, who is now Florida’s surgeon general and whose name had been [floated](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-surgeon-general-joseph-ladapo-michael-burgess-cdc-director/?ref=importantcontext.news) for CDC director. Other attendees included future declaration co-authors Bhattacharya and Kulldorff. The mass infection herd immunity strategy articulated in the declaration had actually been bubbling up on the political right long before the document was written. From the outset of the pandemic, business-aligned right-wing groups had been [pushing](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) for a return to normalcy in the face of a contracting economy and diminishing GOP electoral prospects in a critical election year. Although it did not explicitly call for pursuing herd immunity through infection, the Hoover Institution [published a commentary](https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) on March 16, 2020, by libertarian legal scholar [Richard Epstein](https://www.vox.com/2020/3/31/21195449/richard-epstein-trump-coronavirus-theory-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) that argued that public health interventions needed to be targeted “where needed,” meaning “toward high-risk populations, including older people and other people with health conditions that render them more susceptible to disease.” A week earlier, Hoover had published a [piece](https://www.hoover.org/research/playing-politics-coronavirus?ref=importantcontext.news) by Epstein warning against calls to pass progressive policies in the face of the pandemic. The next month, the Heritage Foundation published a [reopening plan](https://static.heritage.org/2020/NCRCreport%5Fphase1and2%5Frecs%5B1%5D.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) that argued, “Healthy, low-risk workers should be allowed to return to their jobs immediately, and vulnerable populations (the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions) should remain at home.” The month before Trump recruited Atlas as a White House adviser, HHS science adviser Paul Alexander, who would later go on to [call for the hanging of public health officials](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/story-developments) like Dr. Anthony Fauci, was promoting infection as the answer to the crisis. In a July 4, 2020, email to his boss, HHS assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, Alexander wrote, “There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD.” “Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk….so we use them to develop herd…we want them infected…” he argued. In a separate email, he told the CDC director that schools ought to open to allow children to get infected. Alexander’s messages came as business-aligned right-wing groups, faced with worker shortages, were [pushing](https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) to reopen schools. Two days after his email to Caputo, Trump tweeted, “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN.” The right-wing push for herd immunity was not merely U.S. phenomenon. Sunetra Gupta, for example, whose research into COVID was [bankrolled](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/tory-billionaire-bankrolled-herd-immunity-scientist-who-advised-pm-against-lockdown/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the right-wing billionaire Von Opel family in April 2020, was advocating the strategy abroad long before authoring the Great Barrington, [criticizing](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8489039/Oxford-professor-Sunetra-Gupta-says-Australia-embrace-herd-immunity.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the zero COVID approach of countries like Australia while touting Sweden, which had minimal restrictions during its first wave and as a result suffered significantly more cases and [deaths](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10904510/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Compared%20with%20its%20Nordic%20neighbors,among%20older%20and%20poorer%20residents.) than its Scandinavian neighbors. Gupta influenced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s September 2020 decision not to impose an emergency lockdown, which experts have estimated led to [1.3 million](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/48-hours-in-september-when-ministers-and-scientists-split-over-covid-lockdown-vg5xbpsfx?ref=importantcontext.news) preventable infections. At the heart of the right-wing herd immunity push was dubious science. In his March 16 Hoover Institution commentary, for example, Epstein argued that “From this available data, it seems more probable than not that the total number of cases world-wide will peak out at well under 1 million, with the total number of deaths at under 50,000.” “In the United States, the current 67 deaths should reach about 5000 (or ten percent of my estimated world total, which may also turn out to be low),” it continued. On March 24, the *Wall Street Journal* published an [op-ed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-11585088464?ref=importantcontext.news) by Bhattacharya and Stanford researcher Eran Bendavid asking the question “Is the coronavirus as deadly as they say?” and effectively answering in the negative. The future Great Barrington Declaration co-author and his colleague [suggested](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/02/dr%5Fjay%5Fbhattacharya%5Fquestioning%5Fconventional%5Fwisdom%5Fin%5Fthe%5Fcovid-19%5Fcrisis.html?ref=importantcontext.news) it was possible the virus might only kill between 20,000 and 40,000 Americans and surely did not warrant broad mitigation measures like lockdowns. Weeks later, Bendavid and Bhattacharya were [listed](https://www.salon.com/2020/04/26/scientists-feud-over-hyped-stanford-coronavirus-antibody-study-the-authors-owe-us-all-an-apology/?ref=importantcontext.news) as authors on [two studies](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/23/coronavirus-antibody-studies-california-stanford?ref=importantcontext.news) purporting to show that the disease was far less deadly than experts were projecting. One of those, a [preprint](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/coronavirus-research-misinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) out of Stanford, was [revealed](https://www.science.org/content/article/antibody-surveys-suggesting-vast-undercount-coronavirus-infections-may-be-unreliable?ref=importantcontext.news) to have serious flaws—from methodological and recruitment issues to [undisclosed](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news) funding from the founder of JetBlue, a lockdown opponent. One of its authors, Andrew Bogan, had also left science years earlier and worked as a [manager](https://www.sbsun.com/2020/05/24/coronavirus-research-stanford-scientists-accused-of-hyping-covid-19-antibody-study/?ref=importantcontext.news) of global equity funds. Two scientists who worked on the study distanced themselves from it. Nevertheless, within hours of its publication, the preprint had been picked up by the political right and shared widely. To date, COVID has killed more than 1.2 million Americans and left millions more suffering long COVID. Children have been among the casualties. According to [some estimates](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/25/better-pandemic-response-might-have-saved-hundreds-thousands-lives-trumps-presidency/?ref=importantcontext.news), a stronger government response early on in the pandemic aimed at curbing infection could have [prevented](https://www.reuters.com/article/business/us-covid-response-could-have-avoided-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths-research-idUSKBN2BH1DJ/?ref=importantcontext.news) hundreds of thousands of deaths. Although it does not yet efficiently spread to humans, bird flu is potentially serious. The case fatality rate is [high](https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai%5F20250131.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). The virus has been under [surveillance](https://www.who.int/westernpacific/wpro-emergencies/surveillance/avian-influenza?ref=importantcontext.news) by the World Health Organization for years because of its pandemic potential. The current bird flu situation is tenuous and there is no end in sight. The virus continues to spread through livestock and poultry. In defiance of Kennedy, calls are mounting to develop new vaccines across the political spectrum—from [Dr. Scott Gottlieb](https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/20/h5n1-bird-flu-egg-prices-former-fda-commissioner-scott-gottlieb-biosecurity-vaccines-new-normal/?ref=importantcontext.news), Donald Trump’s former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to Democratic [Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand](https://www.norwoodnews.org/as-bird-flu-spreads-gillibrand-calls-on-trump-administration-to-fight-spread-reduce-cost-of-eggs/?ref=importantcontext.news) of New York. Last month, Secretary Rollins announced $1 billion in funding to address the bird flu problem. At the same time, however, the administration [fired](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/27/trump-fired-bird-flu-hires-00206334?ref=importantcontext.news) workers working on the situation, including those in testing and inspection, leaving the Agriculture Department struggling to rehire them. Last week, facing rising egg prices, the administration [announced](https://www.newsweek.com/unstable-egg-prices-spur-trump-admin-funding-bird-flu-research-2048204?ref=importantcontext.news) $100 million in new funding for research into diagnostics and treatments. Beyond Kennedy and Rollins, the administration may soon have more COVID herd immunity promoters in key public health positions. Bhattacharya is awaiting a full Senate vote to confirm him as NIH director along with his ally, surgeon [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), Trump’s FDA pick. *Update 3/25/25: Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary were confirmed by the Senate.* ### Chris Rufo’s Big Right-Wing Score URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/chris-rufos-big-right-wing-score/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:33.000Z Chris Rufo just scored a major haul from one of the largest right-wing funders in the country. On Tuesday, the far-right activist was named a winner of the 2025 Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which comes with a $300,000 stipend, up from $250,000 last year. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The prize is bestowed on individuals who champion the work and mission of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation — “to restore, strengthen, and protect the principles and institutions of American exceptionalism,” the [press release](https://4152914.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/4152914/Chris%20Rufo%202025%20Prizes%20Press%20Announcement-1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) noted. The organization has been a major funder of climate change denial, islamophobia, and COVID-19 misinformation. The second Bradley Prize winner was announced on March 20 — Cornell professor and classicist Barry Strauss. The third recipient will be announced on March 25 and all three winners will be honored in Washington D.C. on May 29. Previous winners of the prize include Stanford health economist and COVID contrarian [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), who is now Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is best known for his advocacy of a pandemic herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection. Since 2020, he has worked to sow doubt in the mainstream consensus on pandemic mitigation measures and even vaccines. Rufo’s credentials within conservative scholarship are mainly linked to his work at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank that has worked to ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools, among other feats. Rufo has become known as something of a headhunter, targeting the supposed liberal establishment including journalists and academics. The Bradley Foundation has donated substantial amounts to groups Rufo is affiliated with. It gave a whopping $2.1 million to the Manhattan Institute from 2020 through 2023, where Rufo is a senior fellow and director of their Logos Initiative. He is also a contributing editor at City Journal, the Manhattan Institute’s in-house publication. The Bradley Impact Fund, a donor-advised fund associated with the foundation, funneled an additional $95,000 to the group. The right-wing, private Hillsdale College, where Rufo was named a distinguished fellow in 2023, got $58,000 through the impact fund. Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation, where Rufo was a visiting fellow in 2020, received $1 million from Bradley between 2020 and 2022 and another $371,000 through its affiliated donor-advised fund. The Claremont Institute, where Rufo also previously held a fellowship, received $400,000 from the foundation 2020 through 2023 and $60,000 through the impact fund. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “Chris has galvanized a public understanding of American exceptionalism and defends vigorously the principles that have made America a land of freedom and opportunity,” said Bradley Foundation president Rick Graber in the press release announcing the award, “He has reinvigorated conservatives by showing that it’s possible to restore vital American institutions to their intended purpose." As *Important Context* [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-big-money-behind-chris-rufos) last May, Rufo is also the founder and director of a nonprofit called American Studio, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars through donor-advised funds and right-wing foundations. His wife is the group’s treasurer. On its federal and state filings, American Studio lists its address as a [mail center in Gig Harbor](https://www.postalannex.com/location/gig-harbor/19004?ref=importantcontext.news). The group’s mission is to “advance American principles through scholarship, publication, litigation and activism.” In 2023, it paid Rufo $250,000, or 41 percent of its total expenditures that year—an amount equal to roughly 17 percent of its total fundraising haul. American Studio does not appear to have a social media presence but its [IRS Form 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/862676232/202441309349303994/full?ref=importantcontext.news) shows it paid contractors a total of $116,000 for “production,” “consulting,” and “advertising.” The group did not note any program services on it beyond “donations.” American Studio currently boasts a [One-Star rating](https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/862676232?ref=importantcontext.news) from Charity Navigator, which rates charities by their financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness and commitment to governance practices and policies. Rufo has published extensively on his Substack, where he claims to be “leading the fight against the left-wing ideological regime,” [writing](https://substack.com/home/post/p-157501462?ref=importantcontext.news) on such topics as Trump’s plan to disassemble the Department of Education, which was signed into action this week, and the supposed “ideological capture” inside the National Security Agency by a “[trans cult](https://christopherrufo.com/p/whistleblower-theres-a-trans-cult?ref=importantcontext.news).” He has also [written](http://wrote/?ref=importantcontext.news) against DEI initiatives for *The New York Times* in 2023 and against teaching critical race theory over the years. Rufo has not made any comments on how he plans to spend the prize. When *Important Context* [reached out to him](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-big-money-behind-chris-rufos) last year about his major right-wing funding, he responded simply, “I ❤️ billionaires.” It is unclear what past winners of the Bradley Prize have done with the money, although [one of last year’s winners](https://www.iwp.edu/press-releases/2024/07/12/william-b-allen-gifts-part-of-bradley-prize-award-to-iwp/?ref=importantcontext.news), William B. Allen, donated a portion of the prize to The Institute of World Politics, a secretive, conservative graduation program that teaches natural security and foreign policy. Bhattacharya claimed to have donated his awarded money to charity, but did not say which and he [did not disclose](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/oversight-trump-nih-pick-fails-to) the prize on his financial disclosure form as Trump’s NIH nominee. Rufo released a statement this week following his win: “This award reaffirms my commitment to the principles of freedom, equality, and civic engagement – values that have guided my work. I extend my heartfelt thanks to The Bradley Foundation for their support and to my colleagues, mentors, and family, whose encouragement has been invaluable.” ### Ivermectin Doctors Launch New Medical Journal URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/ivermectin-doctors-launch-new-medical/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:34.000Z Another dark money group with links to the Trump administration’s public health leadership has set up its own medical journal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The so-called [*Journal of Independent Medicine*](https://journalofindependentmedicine.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) is the latest offering from the Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), previously the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). The group’s president, [Dr. Joseph Varon](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/joseph-varon-covid-vaccine-rfk-19822203.php?ref=importantcontext.news), announced the new venture back in December, [writing](https://x.com/joevaron/status/1867726007534329979?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that as the publication’s editorial-in-chief, he was “excited to invite researchers and clinicians to submit innovative, evidence-based work that challenges the status quo and fosters open scientific dialogue.” The press release [announcing](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/independent-medical-alliance-publishes-inaugural-issue-of-the-journal-of-independent-medicine-302379162.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the new journal promised it would be “a groundbreaking peer-reviewed publication dedicated to restoring integrity, transparency, and scientific independence in medical research and education.” But FLCCC, which trademarked the slogan “Honest Medicine” in April last year, is known for its promotion of vaccine misinformation and the antiparasitic drug [ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news), which they have long held up as a treatment for a number of diseases—most notably COVID, despite multiple large, high quality studies finding it ineffective for that purpose. More recently, they have billed their I-PREVENT COVID, flu, and RSV protocol, which includes ivermectin, as [bird flu prevention](https://www.accountabilityjournalism.org/dark-money/right-wing-operatives-anti-vax-groups-already-working-to-politicize-bird-flu?ref=importantcontext.news). FLCCC co-founders, Drs. Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, had their board certifications [revoked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American Board of Internal Medicine last year for spreading COVID misinformation. Nevertheless, the IMA’s new publication appears aimed at continuing its pro-ivermectin crusade. Below its lofty promises of restoring integrity, transparency, and scientific independence, the press release noted that “the Journal of Independent Medicine is designed to challenge industry influence, prioritize ethical scientific inquiry, and provide a critical platform for research that mainstream medical journals often ignore or suppress.” ”This includes studies on repurposed medicines, alternative and integrative therapies, medical ethics, constitutional rights in healthcare, and the ongoing implications of COVID-19 and other healthcare policies,” it read. The first edition of their new journal, released late last month, includes [two](https://journalofindependentmedicine.org/articles/v01n01a07/?ref=importantcontext.news) separate papers about the anti-parasitic, one of which is [titled](https://journalofindependentmedicine.org/articles/v01n01a05/?ref=importantcontext.news), “Ivermectin, A Molecular Swiss Army Knife: A Review Of Mechanisms, Indications And Safety Concerns In Drug Repurposing.” In addition to Varon and Marik, the journal’s [editorial board](https://journalofindependentmedicine.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) includes prolific anti-vax doctors. There is Dr. Robert Malone, who has grossly overstated his role in the development of mRNA vaccines while fear mongering about the technology, and Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, who, along with Marik, [sued](https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/dont-misinterpret-fda-agreeing-to-dismiss-lawsuit-on-ivermectin/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over their public messaging countering ivermectin for COVID. Also on the journal’s board is computational biologist [Jessica Rose](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), a collaborator of notorious vaccine misinformation spreader [Dr. Peter McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news), the chief science officer of [The Wellness Company](https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/foster-coulson-1.7341713?ref=importantcontext.news), which sells vaccine “detox” supplements and, of course, ivermectin. Kory, Malone, and McCullough are all in the leadership of [The Unity Project](https://theunityproject.org/leadership/?ref=importantcontext.news), another anti-vaccine organization. Rose and McCullough authored a 2021 paper about COVID vaccines and myocarditis misusing data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). It was later [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/10/25/covid-19-vaccine-myocarditis-paper-to-be-permanently-removed-elsevier/?ref=importantcontext.news). Another VAERS-based vaccine myocarditis [paper](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38293564/?ref=importantcontext.news) they authored last year has an expression of concern attached to it. Dr. Ryan Marino, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, was not impressed by the IMA journal, telling *Important Context* that it was “an interesting rebrand” that “would almost make one believe they’ve moved on from COVID quackery.” “They claim to be ‘dedicated to advancing unbiased, multi-specialty medical research’ and yet a quick glance at their published work shows that this is primarily based in perpetuating the grievances of COVID contrarians, with multiple articles about ivermectin…rewriting the recent history of the pandemic, and plenty of complaints about perceived censorship,” Marino said. “Being told you are wrong is not ‘censorship,’ but don’t tell them that.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Problems aside, the IMA has undeniably powerful allies—key figures in the Trump administration like anti-vax Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and economist Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s nominee for director of the National Institutes of Health. Both men notably hold views that run counter to the scientific literature and medical consensus on issues like COVID and vaccines. FLCCC and Kennedy’s former anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense (CHD) have been funded by [some](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute) of the same organizations and have rallied together multiple times. They both [sponsored](https://accountable.us/report-the-conservative-groups-behind-the-defeat-the-mandates-anti-vax-dc-rally-this-weekend/?ref=importantcontext.news) the January 2022 anti-vax “Defeat the Mandates” rally in Washington, DC, which featured speeches from Kennedy, Kory, and Marik. Last year, the FLCCC and CHDthey [rallied](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) with other anti-vax groups outside of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in the case of *Murthy v. Missouri*, which centered around the Biden administration’s communications with social media companies about misinformation on their platforms. Bhattacharya was a plaintiff in the original suit, *Missouri v. Biden*. He and the anti-vax groups supporting his case alleged that the communications amounted to undue pressure and censorship. The Supreme Court tossed the case. CHD has promoted Kory and Marik on different occasions. In one [interview](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1463632437662134276?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) promoted by Kennedy on X, Marik told the group’s publication, *The Defender*, that COVID patients were dying from being denied treatments like ivermectin. In [another](https://boxcast.tv/view-embed/good-morning-chd-episode-44-let-doctors-be-doctors--dr-pierre-kory-and-dr-paul-marik-announce-new-treatment-protocol-for-vaccine-injured--more-lxbh1j92tbd0sfphphjh?ref=importantcontext.news) with CHD TV, the doctors promoted their vaccine injury protocol. More recently, Kory [appeared](https://www.vice.com/en/article/robert-f-kennedy-jr-gives-the-game-away/?ref=importantcontext.news) at a health policy roundtable with Kennedy early in his presidential campaign and [joined](https://jointheresistance.org/lineup/?ref=importantcontext.news) the anti-vaxxer at the pre-election “Rescue the Republic” rally after he suspended his campaign to launch “Make America Healthy Again” with Trump. The FLCCC [rebrand](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally) to IMA occurred amid Kennedy’s HHS nomination battle. While thousands of medical experts around the country came together to urge the Senate to reject Kennedy, IMA paid for a van which parked outside the hearings with an ad supporting the anti-vaxxer on its side. Marik appeared in a [pseudodocumentary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) last year with Bhattacharya called “COVID Collateral,” which was funded in part by a media outfit linked to the pro-Trump *Epoch Times,* which has spread misinformation about the COVID vaccines. In the film, both men promoted the conspiracy theory that ivermectin was allegedly suppressed by the powers that be in order to secure emergency authorization for the COVID vaccines. Kennedy has also [promoted](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/politics/robert-kennedy-jr-donald-trump-health-care.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the notion that the FDA, which falls under the HHS he now leads, “suppressed” ivermectin, and, at the height of the pandemic, Kennedy filed a lawsuit [seeking to ban](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/rfk-jr-covid-19-vaccinations?ref=importantcontext.news) the COVID vaccines because “effective” alternative treatments like ivermectin existed. IMA’s new journal is just the latest publication in a trend of medical contrarians with friends in high places making their own outlets to publish their controversial research. [The RealClear Foundation](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right) recently launched an “academy” of public health with its own journal helmed by COVID contrarians including Bhattacharya and Trump’s pick to head up the FDA, surgeon Marty Makary. During his Senate hearing, Kennedy cited a dubious study linking vaccines to autism from another new contrarian-led publication, [*Science, Public Health Policy, and the Law*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited). That journal’s editorial board is stacked with Kennedy allies—including the head of CHD. These new journals have emerged as Trump promises to reshape public health in America with the help of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Kennedy. Since the president took office, billions of dollars in research grants have been pulled and numerous studies canceled. In this new climate, medical contrarians are anticipating wins—and there is evidence that they may get them. Last week, Reuters reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to commission a study to investigate the long settled science that vaccines do not cause autism. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) For contrarians, the benefit of controlling a medical journal is clear. It gives them the ability to publish dubious research without the fear of correction or retraction. IMA and its founders have authored some highly questionable papers and have a long, combative history with larger medical publications. In 2020, for example, IMA (then the FLCCC) published a paper on their COVID hospital protocol, which was based on a previous [controversial](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/97865?ref=importantcontext.news) and [dubious](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9891468/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=In%20March%202022,%20the%20website,most%20likely%20fabricated%20%284%29.) vitamin C for sepsis protocol from Marik. The COVID paper was [retracted](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08850666211049062?ref=importantcontext.news) a year later after Marik’s hospital alerted the publishing journal of serious flaws in how it reported the mortality rate in the treatment arm of the study, which made the protocol appear more effective than it was. They would go on to add ivermectin to this protocol—and continue to promote the protocol on their website in spite of its retraction. Kory, meanwhile, has been involved in the publication of questionable papers touting ivermectin for COVID. His 2021 meta-analysis of ivermectin for COVID papers was marked with [an expression of concern](https://retractionwatch.com/2022/02/11/ivermectin-papers-slapped-with-expressions-of-concern/?ref=importantcontext.news) for inclusion of publications of extremely low quality. He was also a co-author on two controversial, but influential ivermectin papers published in 2022 on a COVID trial out of Brazil. One of those was [corrected](https://www.cureus.com/articles/82162-ivermectin-prophylaxis-used-for-covid-19-a-citywide-prospective-observational-study-of-223128-subjects-using-propensity-score-matching/correction/126?ref=importantcontext.news#!/) to reflect undisclosed conflicts of interest including payments from Brazilian ivermectin manufacturer Vitamedic to some of the authors. Vitamedic and the fringe Brazilian physician group run by the lead author on these papers were later [fined](https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/covid-19/brazilian-court-fines-covid-19-early-treatment-advocates-us11-million/?ref=importantcontext.news) by a Brazilian court for “collective moral damage to health” over their promotion of the drug for COVID. Independent researchers who reanalyzed the data on the Brazilian papers [found](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293924v2?ref=importantcontext.news) the reported benefits of ivermectin to be “entirely explained by statistical artefacts.” The Web of Science has since [paused indexation](https://retractionwatch.com/2024/09/30/web-of-science-puts-mega-journals-cureus-and-heliyon-on-hold/?ref=importantcontext.news) of output from the journal that published the papers over concerns about the quality of its publications. Kory, who authored the 2023 [book](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/102183?ref=importantcontext.news), “The War on Ivermectin*,”* has [accused](https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/the-last-of-the-big-seven-fraudulent?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) the large-scale studies on ivermectin that found no use for the drug against COVID of being “fraudulent.” ### “So much for MAHA”: Anti-Vaxxers Fume Over Kennedy Op-Ed Touting Measles Vaccine URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/imposter-anti-vaxxers-fume-over-kennedy/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:34.000Z Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is facing backlash from his fellow anti-vaxxers because of an [op-ed](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/robert-f-kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-call-action-all-us?ref=importantcontext.news) he wrote in response to the measles outbreak in Texas, which claimed the life of an unvaccinated child—the first U.S. measles death in decades. Published by Fox News, the piece acknowledged the benefits of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine the secretary has spent years casting doubt on. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Titled, “Measles outbreak is a call to action for all of us,” the piece noted that “Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, [especially to unvaccinated individuals](https://www.foxnews.com/health/measles-vaccines-given-long-ago-could-less-effective-now-doctors-say?ref=importantcontext.news),” and explained that “vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” “The MMR vaccine is crucial to avoiding potentially deadly disease,” the subhead read. Measles, a preventable but highly infectious disease that can cause lasting health complications and even death, has seeing a resurgence in recent years after being declared [eliminated](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Measles%20was%20declared%20eliminated%20from,History%20of%20Vaccines:%20Measles%20Timeline) in the U.S. in 2000 due to widespread vaccine skepticism. Today, there are outbreaks in no fewer than ten states. Kennedy and his allies have been major drivers of that skepticism. Once [named](https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/210324-The-Disinformation-Dozen.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of the most prolific vaccine misinformation spreaders on the internet, the secretary previously headed up the anti-vax dark money group Children’s Health Defense—and was [paid handsomely for it](https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/03/rfk-jr-maha-pay-vaccine-group-childrens-health-defense/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Chronic%20Disease%20Reporter-,Robert%20F.,president%2C%20new%20tax%20filings%20show.). He has made claims like, “[there is no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective](https://www.factcheck.org/2023/11/scicheck-rfk-jr-incorrectly-denies-past-remarks-on-vaccine-safety-and-effectiveness/?ref=importantcontext.news)” and repeatedly falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, including during his confirmation hearings at which he [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited) a deeply flawed study published in a journal run by his allies. The Fox op-ed comes amid heightened public scrutiny. At Trump’s first cabinet meeting last week, the HHS Kennedy too was notably dismissive of the measles outbreaks, declaring, “[measles outbreaks are not unusual](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/27/health/kennedy-measles-outbreaks-us/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news).” Children’s Health Defense had his back, defending the remarks and casting doubt on the official diagnosis and MMR vaccine. In an [article](https://substack.com/home/post/p-157998051?utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&ref=importantcontext.news) in its publication, The Defender, the group suggested that perhaps the cause of death could not be determined from publicly available information. “Texas health authorities today announced the death of a child who tested positive for measles, setting off a spate of media reports blaming the measles outbreaks in Texas in New Mexico on declining vaccination rates,” it read. “Some doctors and scientists pushed back, saying too little information about the child’s health has been released so far to assume that a measles vaccine would have prevented the death.” It is not clear that Kennedy‘s op-ed will quiet public frustration. Critics of the secretary have responded to the piece by noting his role in fueling vaccine hesitancy. Some observed that the op-ed is not a full-throated endorsement of vaccination. Indeed, Kennedy did not actually recommend it, maintaining that vaccination is a personal choice for parents. The piece also tacitly downplayed the need for the vaccine, claiming that “tens of thousands died with, or of, measles annually in 19th Century America” but “by 1960 -- before the vaccine’s introduction -- improvements in sanitation and nutrition had [eliminated 98% of measles deaths](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/measles-cases-and-death-rate?ref=importantcontext.news).” “Good nutrition remains a [best defense](https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/features/micronutrient-facts.html?ref=importantcontext.news) against most chronic and infectious illnesses,” he continued. “Vitamins A, C, and D, and foods rich in vitamins B12, C, and E should be part of a balanced diet.” Nevertheless, even the acknowledgment that the MMR vaccine saves lives was too much for some anti-vaxxers, who were left feeling betrayed by Kennedy. One notable critic was naturopath and holistic nutritionist Henry Ealy, the founder of a health institute in Portland, Oregon. Ealy has long been an [ally](https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/whats-your-view-with-sumayyah-simone-and-dr-sheila-ealey/real-talk-with-dr-henry-ealy/?ref=importantcontext.news) of Children’s Health Defense and medical contrarian. He once brought a [lawsuit](https://casetext.com/case/ealy-v-redfield?ref=importantcontext.news) seeking the prosecution of public health officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations, alleging that they had committed fraud against the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic by failing to ensure the accuracy of the data collected. It further alleged that they had manipulated that data. The case was [dismissed](https://casetext.com/case/ealy-v-redfield?ref=importantcontext.news) and the plaintiffs’ appeal was [denied](https://casetext.com/case/ealy-v-redfield-1?ref=importantcontext.news). “I can't tell you how much I do NOT approve of this message @SecKennedy,” Ealy [tweeted](https://x.com/drhenryealy/status/1896352071550652894?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) about Kennedy’s op-ed. “I worked my ass off Friday for this?????!!!!! Fine... We'll do it alone then.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Ealy was not alone. Another X user [asked](https://x.com/jsascension/status/1896367217102688757?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) “is RFK being threatened or has he been compromised?” Mike Adams, founder of the far-right anti-vaccine website Natural News, expressed his own disappointment and disbelief, [tweeting](https://x.com/healthranger/status/1896402625643372834?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “If RFK, Jr. actually wrote this, then he has been captured and replaced with a robot clone.” “Nearly every statement in this paragraph from a Fox News article attributed to him is blatantly false and contradicts his previous statements on vaccine risks,” he wrote. QAnon influencer [John Sabal](https://politicalresearch.org/strategy/pra-news/right-wing-macedonia-linked-site-appears-have-partnered-multiple-qanon-figures?ref=importantcontext.news), who identifies as “The Patriot Voice” on X, [called](https://x.com/tpv%5Fjohn/status/1896399112448442784?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy’s op-ed a “MASK OFF moment.” “So much for ‘MAHA’,” he wrote. Another X user [accused](https://x.com/lucielaurier/status/1896372970349892077?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy of being an “Impostor” for pushing the “dangerous” MMR vaccine. Right-wing pundit and “[licensed medical professional](https://drjaneruby.com/?ref=importantcontext.news)” Jane Ruby, who goes by “Dr. Jane Ruby” on social media and wears a stethoscope in her X profile banner photo [despite not being a medical doctor](https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/scicheck-video-spreads-bogus-claims-about-plane-crashes-and-covid-19-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news), also tore into the HHS secretary. “Another RFK Jr. flip - he's now pushing the LIVE measles vaccines, MMR-II and MMRV (ProQuad),” she [posted](https://x.com/realdrjaneruby/status/1896422593722515781?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “I was right from the beginning.” Still, not every anti-vaxxer was ready to abandon the new HHS secretary. Larry Cook, whose project Stop Mandatory Vaccination was [identified](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/13/majority-antivaxx-vaccine-ads-facebook-funded-by-two-organizations-study?ref=importantcontext.news) in a 2019 study as one of two entities buying most of the anti-vaccine Facebook ads at the time (the other was Kennedy’s World Mercury Project, which became CHD)—put out a short [statement](https://x.com/stopvaccinating/status/1896363217133375673?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) responding to the op-ed. “Though unfortunate that the vaccine is being recommended, what also was mentioned is that it should be a parent’s choice (end vax mandates), and that nutrients and raising healthy children is also an option,” he wrote. “Baby steps.” ### Trump Pick for NIH Director: Vaccines May Cause Autism, Alternative Schedules Okay URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-nih-director-pick-said-vaccines/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:35.000Z Donald Trump’s NIH director pick argued in favor of studying the debunked, fraudulent claim that vaccines may be linked to autism. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In an [appearance](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1hFgG6zJxszbkmqtGg9w5Z?si=UkgfbtCDTRWnu-ijIRAMtA&context=spotify:show:1ZNjYGjTv6NH59Lc67ljo4&nd=1&utm%5Fmedium=organic&%5Fbranch%5Freferrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA82OzW6DMBCEn8bcCgICVSqhCiWCJmpziFJVzSUyxgaD8br+KWkOffY6UfsOleYwmt1vNL21yjxEkVFgOfsKsVKh4HKMHpWG1hFbgKIyQMmCOSFOTouivyIoLVFSeV3P4R9NYPIRVdxAS72L+6qr88v2bC7NOH3YulvO2RGlleEoXb+OHWvsan3Yv0l3x4fNvnyxvjYnIC09W//yW4ySLC1ND/PNxMfd8F4Ph89895Qtn0l+LwZY3DZiIRpMxv+803Oy9UgcMIqt07QA3WHJSfCtKaNac9mdGg2zobpY9Rom+gOF/6HXpQEAAA==&product=open&$full%5Furl=https://open.spotify.com/episode/1hFgG6zJxszbkmqtGg9w5Z?si=UkgfbtCDTRWnu-ijIRAMtA&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A1ZNjYGjTv6NH59Lc67ljo4&feature=organic&%5Fbranch%5Fmatch%5Fid=1422429476999243725&ref=importantcontext.news) on the right-wing Dad Saves America podcast in September, just weeks before he was announced as the nominee for the top spot at the National Institutes of Health, Stanford health economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) was asked point blank by host John Papola, “Do vaccines cause autism?” While his winding response included a general defense of vaccines, Bhattacharya suggested that there may end up being a link between autism and the childhood vaccination schedule after all, and indicated that research into the possible connection was warranted—even if he personally did not believe it would bear fruit. “I think there is a legitimate increase in autism in the population at large and the question of why—we should be moving heaven and earth to answer it,” he said. “And I don’t think it’ll likely end up being the vaccines, but I don’t know that for a fact. So it should be part of the scientific conversation as a hypothesis that looks at—because we’re asking parents to vaccinate their children with…several vaccines; many vaccines…Each of them could have a different combination of effects.” The supposed link between vaccines and autism was popularized by a 1998 study by disgraced researcher Andrew Wakefield. The study was actually [fraudulent](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3136032/?ref=importantcontext.news) and would eventually be retracted. Nevertheless, its central premise has persisted for years and continues to be promoted by anti-vaxxers like Robert Kennedy Jr., who was recently confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary. Referencing the study in his podcast interview, Bhattacharya neglected to discuss the ethical issues with the research. Best known for his advocacy against efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in favor of a herd immunity strategy reliant on widespread infection of the supposedly healthy population, the Stanford professor is one of a slate of controversial public health picks by President Trump that includes Kennedy. His remarks about vaccines and autism are in line with Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Trust the Experts” Bhattacharya has not always catered to vaccine skepticism—though his advocacy for so-called “natural” COVID immunity made him a natural ally of those in the “medical freedom” movement. Over the years, the Stanford professor has increasingly cast doubt on the mRNA vaccines and [allied with vaccine opponents](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin). At the same time, he has taken to blaming “the experts” and government for the rise of vaccine skepticism, highlighting policies like lockdowns and mandates. He even [signed](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14174091/Covid-vaccine-faces-ban-Americans-radical-U-turn-Trump-team.html?ref=importantcontext.news) onto a petition calling for usage of the COVID vaccines to be halted for all populations. On the Dad Saves podcast, Bhattacharya claimed the COVID shots only marginally reduced the risk of death from the virus, and only for a limited time. He argued the boosters lacked adequate evidence of benefit and said the vaccines should be reserved for older populations. Beyond casting doubt on COVID shots, the professor, who has never practiced medicine himself, endorsed alternate vaccine schedules—a popular idea among anti-vaxxers—and suggested that pediatricians ought to be respectful and open to concerns about inoculations from parents. “I think that it’s also reasonable to ask questions about the particulars of the vaccines that are on the schedule one at a time,” he added. “I don’t see how, in this post-COVID era, you can just simply say ‘trust the experts.’” When host Papola told him that he and his wife had spaced the vaccines out for their children and asked for a reason not to do that, Bhattacharya responded that “there’s not great randomized trial evidence to like, answer that question, so why not just have that?” “Especially since measles isn’t really circulating at very, very high levels in the community at large, right? So you’re not actually exposing your child to a risk if you delay by a couple of months,” he said. “If it is circulating, then of course you probably want to do it earlier, right?” Measles cases are currently [surging](https://www.cnn.com/health/measles-cases-us-dg/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in the U.S. prompting concern from experts. The disease can kill and cause lasting health consequences. Bhattacharya said that if he had a young child, he would give them “many” of the vaccines on the schedule, but added that “there’s uncertainties about all of them.” He also noted, “There are ones where I’d be more skeptical.” “‘HPV is generally sexually transmitted. Why give it to a baby?’ Someone could easily ask that,” Bhattacharya said. “Do I need to give it to my son who’s not ever going to get cervical cancer? Hepatitis B is another virus that babies, unless they’re exposed from the mother in utero, are not going to get the disease until they’re an adult. Could we wait? I personally would do it, but I could totally understand a parent saying ‘no, let’s wait on this.’” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “I Don’t Know What He’s Talking About” Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and internationally recognized virology and immunology expert, took issue with Bhattacharya’s remarks on vaccines. Offit dismissed Bhattacharya’s suggestion that there may be unknown, harmful interactions between childhood vaccines leading to issues like autism, explaining that new inoculations are thoroughly tested for such reactions before being added to the schedule. “I don’t know what he’s talking about, really,” he said. Offit challenged the idea that autism is necessarily increasing, noting that since the condition was first described in the 1930s, the definition has broadened to include a spectrum, diagnostic criteria have improved, and the public is much more aware of it. He added that there are far more likely culprits behind autism like parental age, genetics, the infant microbiome, and drugs taken during pregnancy. “It'd be nice to hear \[Bhattacharya\] talk about what is much better known about the cause of autism, because these folks always think that they're helping children with autism, and actually they're hurting them by focusing on away from the far more promising lead,” he said. “So I think the anti-vaccine activists have taken autism hostage, frankly.” Offit challenged Bhattacharya’s statements about the HPV vaccine, explaining that it is given to adolescents, not babies, and provides protection to both sexes from cancers. HPV is linked to roughly 30,000 cancers per year—not just cervical, but head, neck, anal, and genital cancers as well. Roughly a third of those are in men. “We don't vaccinate boys to protect them so that they won't infect girls,” he said. “We vaccinate them so they won't get cancer.” In response to Bhattacharya’s remarks about the hepatitis B vaccine, Offit told *Important Context*,“It worries me—this is the \[likely\] head of NIH.” The virus, he explained, spreads not merely from birth canal to child but also through relatively casual contact with infected individuals, and there are serious risks. “So remember, if you were infected with hepatitis B in the first few months of life, you have a 90 percent chance of going on to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer,” Offit said. “That's why it needs to be given early.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Nothing Is Going to Be Off Limits” Earlier this month, President Trump signed an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission/?ref=importantcontext.news) to establish a MAHA commission to study the causes of chronic disease, including “medical treatments.” Shortly after being sworn in, Kennedy [told](https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5153260-new-commission-maha-childhood-vaccine-schedule/?ref=importantcontext.news) staff at HHS that the agency would be taking a look at the vaccine schedule, warning that “nothing is going to be off limits.” “Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formerly taboo or insufficiently scrutinized,” he said. “I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science.” The NIH is the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. As director, Bhattacharya would have significant influence over that funding. A *Wall Street Journal* report featuring unnamed sources [indicated](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/12/09/nih-nominee-might-base-funding-campus-academic-freedom?ref=importantcontext.news) that he may intend to prioritize institutions that support “academic freedom.” With Trump’s return to power, in seeming preparation for the MAHA push, a number of new medical journals run by anti-vaxxers and medical contrarians have cropped up. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy [cited](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited) a deeply flawed study linking vaccines to autism from one such journal run by his allies. Bhattacharya is [affiliated with](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right) another new, fringe medical publication from the right-wing RealClear Foundation. ### Oversight?: Trump NIH Pick Fails to Include Big Award From Major Right-Wing Group On Financial Disclosure URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/oversight-trump-nih-pick-fails-to/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:35.000Z Donald Trump’s NIH director pick appears to have left a considerable monetary award from a major right-wing dark money group off of his federal financial disclosures. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In 2024, Stanford health economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), a well-known COVID-19 contrarian, was one of three [recipients](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/04/24/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big-with-far-right-funding/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Bradley Prize, the annual award of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, one of the largest funders of right-wing causes in the country. Bradley is known for supporting business-aligned dark money groups like those billionaire Charles Koch has backed like the American Legislative Exchange Council, State Policy Network, American Enterprise Institute, and Independent Women’s Forum. Its annual prize comes with a $250,000 stipend. Yet, on his [Form 278e filing](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25538027/jay-bhattacharya-financial-disclosure.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Bhattacharya did not include the money. The form does show that Bhattacharya was paid $20,000 in October for a speech by the Bradley Impact Fund, a donor-advised fund affiliated with the Bradley Foundation. On October 4, 2024, Bhattacharya [claimed](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1842341663529910416?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to have donated the Bradley Prize money to charity in a tweet calling out *The Nation* for publishing a piece that noted his receipt of the high-dollar prize. That same day, Stanford hosted a health policy conference the professor had organized, which was stacked with anti-vaxxers and right-wing operatives. Stanford later revealed that the event had been [bankrolled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) in part by the UK-based anti-COVID lockdown charity Collateral Global, where Bhattacharya served as editor-in-chief and board member until December 2024. Bhattacharya did not respond to a request for clarification as to why he did not report the Bradley Prize stipend on his financial disclosure. *Important Context* [previously asked](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) the professor what charity he donated the Bradley money to after his tweet attacking *The Nation*, but received no answer. The Bradley Foundation did not respond to our inquiries either. “I really can’t figure out why Bhattacharya would not have reported the $250,000 stipend he received from the Bradley Foundation,” campaign finance attorney Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of journalism watchdog group Documented, told *Important Context*. “Even if the stipend were donated to charity, it still must be reported.” The OGE Form 278e [requires](https://www.oge.gov/web/278eGuide.nsf/Definitions?ref=importantcontext.news#%5FReporting%5FPeriods%5Fby%5FPart%5F3) executive branch nominees to disclose their employment assets and income and retirement accounts for the preceding calendar year to the filing date as well as sources of compensation exceeding $5,000 for the preceding two calendar years and the current calendar year to the filing date. “It is no secret that Bhattacharya received the $250,000 Bradley Prize last year—the Bradley Foundation and Bhattacharya’s employers put out press releases about it —so I can’t imagine that he is actively trying to hide anything,” Fischer said. “Perhaps it was an oversight or a misunderstanding of the rules. Typically, an omission on a financial disclosure report would be addressed by amending the report and adding the missing information.” Bhattacharya’s disclosure reveals $457,000 in income from Stanford University for 2024 and January and February 2025, which is well above the $246,000 [estimate](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Stanford-University-Professor-Salaries-E2989%5FD%5FKO20,29.htm?experienceLevel=ABOVE%5FFIFTEEN&location=&ref=importantcontext.news) from Glassdoor for a professor with more than 15 years experience. It also reveals nearly $12,000 from X’s profit sharing—Bhattacharya’s social media presence has grown significantly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as honoraria from the right-wing Hillsdale College ($2,200) and Global Liberty Institute ($3,500). Bhattacharya is one of several controversial public health picks by Trump. The professor emerged through the pandemic as a [leading evangelist](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity) of a herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection. Articulated in the Great Barrington Declaration, which he co-authored, the strategy was supposedly less disruptive economically and socially and would deliver the promised immunity within [three-to-six months](https://www.thelancet.com/article/S2213-2600%2820%2930555-5/fulltext?ref=importantcontext.news). Bhattacharya also suggested that COVID might be significantly less dangerous than it proved to be. Despite his incorrect predictions, over time—with the help of right-wing dark money groups—Bhattacharya’s reputation and audience grew. With greater reach, the professor waded increasingly to anti-vaccine territory to boost his arguments for “natural immunity,” casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of the mRNA shots. In a recent pseudo-documentary linked to the conspiratorial *Epoch Times*, he [promoted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) an anti-vaccine conspiracy theory that the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which evidence shows is not effective against COVID, was suppressed to secure approval of the vaccines. The UK right-wing tabloid *The Daily Mail* recently [revealed](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14174091/Covid-vaccine-faces-ban-Americans-radical-U-turn-Trump-team.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that Bhattacharya is a signatory to the so-called Hope Accord, which blames the vaccines for “an alarming rise in excess mortality and disability” throughout the pandemic—damage done by COVID itself—and calls for their pause for all age groups. The accord was also signed by Bhattacharya’s ally, Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who is reportedly under consideration for a health advisory role under Kennedy. Bhattacharya’s Senate confirmation hearings have not yet been scheduled. ### Trump’s Withdrawal of Proposed PFAS Regulation Evidences Project 2025 Influence URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trumps-withdrawal-of-proposed-pfas/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:36.000Z On his first day in office, President Trump effectively killed a [proposal](https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202404&RIN=2040-AG10&ref=importantcontext.news) to [limit ](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg?ref=importantcontext.news)the discharge of so-called “forever chemicals” into water sources. The executive order made good on a plan from the infamous [Project 2025](https://static.project2025.org/2025%5FMandateForLeadership%5FFULL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news#page=455) roadmap. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Trump’s move to stop regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was one of a slew of orders. It came as part of a regulatory [freeze on all proposals](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/regulatory-freeze-pending-review/?ref=importantcontext.news) pending White House review. The PFAS proposal was one of several removed from consideration. The move ran counter to his promise to deliver the “[cleanest](https://www.wral.com/news/local/trump-scraps-epa-rule-toxic-pfas-north-carolina/?ref=importantcontext.news) air and water.” PFAS are endocrine disruptors and are linked to serious health issues, such as cancer, [immune suppression](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg?ref=importantcontext.news) and [miscarriage](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/11/environmental-protection-agency-staff-react-trump-second-term?ref=importantcontext.news). The proposal to limit PFAS in wastewater was heavily pushed by environmentalists under the Biden Administration and was awaiting the [last step](https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2025-01-27/trump-withdraws-biden-administration-plan-to-limit-pfas-in-drinking-water-supplies?ref=importantcontext.news) before being released for public comment. The draft rule was supposed to finish review while still under the prior administration, yet it remained on the federal docket for months and was ultimately pulled from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget’s [website](https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/EO/eoDashboard.myjsp?agency%5Fcd=2000&agency%5Fnm=EPA&stage%5Fcd=6&from%5Fpage=index.jsp&sub%5Findex=0&ref=importantcontext.news) following Trump’s executive order. Project 2025 is the product of the Heritage Foundation, one of the most influential right-wing think tanks in D.C. Heritage has long been aligned with fossil fuel and chemical interests, having received funding over the years from sources like billionaire Charles Koch, owner of Koch Industries. Increasingly, it has cozied up to Trump and MAGA. In 2022, Trump declared that the Heritage Foundation would “[lay the groundwork](https://newrepublic.com/post/183712/trump-fake-electors-rnc-republican-national-convention?ref=importantcontext.news)” for his possible second mandate. Still, on the campaign trail, the President sought to distance himself from the group’s roadmap, claiming he had “[nothing to do](https://www.npr.org/2024/08/22/g-s1-19202/trump-project-2025-border-immigration?ref=importantcontext.news) with Project 2025,” and that he had no intention of [purposely reading](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/31/politics/trump-policy-project-2025-executive-orders-invs/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the document. But Project 2025’s [influence](https://fireandsafetyjournalamericas.com/pfas-regulation-rollback-under-trump-administration-sparks-legal-and-environmental-concern/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the regulatory freeze and on the PFAS proposal is not hard to see. Since taking office, Trump has closely followed Project 2025’s guidelines in his handling of the EPA. The Heritage Foundation’s policy brief thrice mentions the need for a regulatory “pause and review” for the EPA—something it recommends be done through a “Day One Executive Order”—much like the one signed by President Trump. As Project 2025 notes, “the new President’s Inauguration Day regulatory review/freeze directives should avoid exceptions for EPA actions” and should “explicitly include quasi-regulatory actions, including assessments, determinations, standards, and guidance, that have failed to go through the notice-and-comment process and may date back years.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) While Project 2025 did not suggest the withdrawal of all rules not yet signed into law, it is not uncommon for incoming administrations to pause or throw out proposals [pending review](https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/EO/eoDashboard.myjsp?agency%5Fcd=2000&agency%5Fnm=EPA&stage%5Fcd=6&from%5Fpage=index.jsp&sub%5Findex=0&ref=importantcontext.news) in the early days. However, Project 2025 does propose the removal of unfinalized rules regarding the Clean Air that have sat in the Federal Register for over one year. Project 2025 mentions PFAS twice, noting a need to “revise groundwater cleanup regulations and policies to reflect the challenges of omnipresent contaminants like PFAS.” It also calls to “revisit the designation of PFAS chemicals as ‘[hazardous substances](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/key-epa-actions-address-pfas?ref=importantcontext.news)’ under \[the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)\].” Under the Biden administration, the EPA made the decision to give PFAS the CERCLA designation, allowing industry to be held [financially responsible](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/11/environmental-protection-agency-staff-react-trump-second-term?ref=importantcontext.news) for cleaning up public water systems contaminated with the chemicals. In [April 2024](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/key-epa-actions-address-pfas?ref=importantcontext.news), the same month it handed down its CERCLA designation, the EPA set a national maximum water contaminant level and gave facilities [five years](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-first-ever-national-drinking-water-standard?ref=importantcontext.news) to implement solutions to reach new goals. The move followed [research](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/10/pfas-forever-chemicals-limits-drinking-water?ref=importantcontext.news) showing that no level of exposure to PFAS was safe for humans. The EPA also drafted a [separate proposal](https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-trump-overturn-ban-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-2022344?ref=importantcontext.news) that would set a federal limit on the discharge of PFAS in water sources. Sent in [June](https://truthout.org/articles/trump-withdraws-proposed-pfas-limitations-giving-green-light-to-polluters/?ref=importantcontext.news) 2024 for mandatory review by the White House Office of Budget and Management, it was this proposal, which had not yet been approved, that was withdrawn by President Trump. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The 2024 legally enforceable standard, on the other hand, which has already been published, is harder for the current administration to [roll back](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/biden-clean-water-rules-vulnerable-in-new-trump-administration?ref=importantcontext.news). The Clean Drinking Water Act has an “anti-backsliding provision…that prohibits rules from being weakened,” [said](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jan/27/under-new-trump-administration-could-pfas-regulati/?ref=importantcontext.news) Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Director for Health, Erik Olsen. Olsen doesn’t believe Trump’s new administration will be able to easily erode such legislation. For activists and environmentalists, the action is seen as a “dangerous message giving polluters a green light to continue poisoning our water and communities without fear of consequence,” said Melanie Benesh, Vice President for Government Affairs at the [Environmental Working Group](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg?ref=importantcontext.news). For Benesh, such a setback “delays establishing critical federal standards” and stalls actions at the state-wide level as well, since regulators wait to follow the federal government’s lead. The withdrawal of the PFAS proposal appears to be only the beginning of a coming wave of environmental setbacks from the Trump Administration, following a Project 2025 playbook, the [Heritage Foundation and ](https://www.citationneeded.news/trumps-project-2025-ghostwriters/?ref=importantcontext.news)[chemical](https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5109157-trump-epa-appointments-chemical-oil-industry-ties/?ref=importantcontext.news) and fossil fuel [lobbyists](https://fireandsafetyjournalamericas.com/pfas-regulation-rollback-under-trump-administration-sparks-legal-and-environmental-concern/?ref=importantcontext.news). A spokesperson for the EPA [noted](https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/EO/eoDashboard.myjsp?agency%5Fcd=2000&agency%5Fnm=EPA&stage%5Fcd=6&from%5Fpage=index.jsp&sub%5Findex=0&ref=importantcontext.news) that the agency under Trump “... was also the first to ever issue a comprehensive nationwide PFAS action plan.” It is unclear what plan the spokesperson was referencing. ### Trump White House Cites Fringe Doctor to Defend Research Cuts URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-white-house-cites-fringe-doctor/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:36.000Z The Trump administration announced unprecedented cuts to research funding last week. Universities, scientists and even Red-state senators [warn](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/red-state-universities-push-back-against-nih-funding-cuts/ar-AA1yUIb8?ref=importantcontext.news) that the abrupt removal of billions of science dollars will force lab-closures and mass layoffs of researchers. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) While a federal judge has [blocked the cuts](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/trump-administration-sued-22-states-funding-cuts-research-projects-rcna191529?ref=importantcontext.news) from going through, for now, the move has sparked widespread opposition from the public and academics. On the other side of the issue, among the most ardent proponents of the cuts, is [Dr. Vinay Prasad](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/emory-welcomes-contrarian-doctor). A professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, Prasad initially made a name for himself through his staunch opposition to the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Prasad has authored dozens of research and opinion articles critical of measures to control the pandemic—masks, vaccination, antiviral-use—including cross-publishing a blog with the [Brownstone Institute](https://brownstone.org/author/vinay-prasad/?ref=importantcontext.news). Brownstone is a dark money think tank that claims to defend intellectual freedoms and promote free speech, but is in truth aimed at reshaping public health along the lines of anarcho-capitalist ideology. Prasad has also taken aim at Dr. Anthony Fauci. In a post to [*X*](https://archive.is/SA1GZ?ref=importantcontext.news) last October, he said he believed Fauci had done more damage to public health than Robert Kennedy Jr., the fringe anti-vaccine [activist](https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schatz-rfk-jr-whose-dangerous-lies-fueled-measles-outbreak-in-samoa-and-caused-preventable-deaths-unqualified-to-lead-hhs?ref=importantcontext.news) who now serves as Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/d14b9fd1-fcd6-46bb-aa95-e97fbf22f79b_1276x861-jpeg.jpg) *One of many online comments Prasad has written in response to critiques of Trump’s NIH cuts.* Prasad’s [boosterism](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/nih-reduced-indirects-from-60-to?hide%5Fintro%5Fpopup=true&ref=importantcontext.news) of the government’s drastic NIH cuts has been sufficiently enthusiastic that the White House [cited his comments](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-press-release-the-washington-post-spreads-fake-news-about-common-sense-nih?ref=importantcontext.news) in an email [to its press list](https://bsky.app/profile/ddiamond.bsky.social/post/3lhpcgs7ml22j?ref=importantcontext.news) attacking *The* *Washington Post*. The email, which accused *The* *Post* of “lying to its readers,” was in response to an [article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/02/08/nih-cuts-billions-dollars-biomedical-funding-effective-immediately/?ref=importantcontext.news) describing the devastating impacts to American research, if the NIH cuts are implemented as-proposed. Since garnering a sizable social media audience in 2020, Prasad has been known for his charged [online conduct](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/phonytonepolice/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=He%20is%20full%20of%20insult%20and%20malice%20to%20those%20with%20differing%20views.)—especially toward those who disagree with him. Among [those who’ve faced Prasad’s ire](https://www.panaccindex.info/p/the-list-95-organizations-institutions?ref=importantcontext.news) is Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, who thinks Prasad appears to be vying for a Trump administration appointment. "He’s a perpetual grifter and he’s always angling for something," she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/4a88158e-b53e-44cd-8c1e-a57c0425b7c3_1298x831-jpeg.jpg) *Rasmussen and Prasad have a history of tense exchanges on X.* Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist with Wayne State University, has been highly critical of Prasad’s brand of pandemic-contrarianism. Gorski, who runs the blog [*Science-Based Medicine*](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*,* says Prasad “absolutely” seems to be angling for a leadership position in the new administration. *Important Context* reached out to Prasad via email to ask if he is indeed hoping for an appointment to a leadership role in the new administration. He did not respond by the time of publication. Last year, Prasad appeared on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s [MAHA website](https://discourse.nomineesforthepeople.com/t/vinay-prasad/1757?ref=importantcontext.news) as a nominee for a leadership position in the then-upcoming administration. Economist Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s pick to head the NIH and longtime COVID herd immunity advocate and vaccine doubter, was also a MAHA nominee. Bhattacharya had received 890 votes from site users, in addition to a ringing [endorsement](https://discourse.nomineesforthepeople.com/t/jay-bhattacharya/372/2?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=I%20hope%20%40Stanford%27s%20%40DrJBhattacharya%20will%20be%20our%20next%20%40NIHDirector.) from Prasad in early November. In a blog last week, Prasad wrote that the current model of NIH research funding contributes to bloated bureaucracies within higher education, and said Trump’s cuts “might even mean more science.” Jeffrey Gold, president of the University of Nebraska, told students and faculty in a [letter](https://t.e2ma.net/message/zj17il/btku4c8c?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=shifts%20responsibility%20for%20F%26A%20from%20NIH%20to%20Nebraska%20taxpayers) last week, that the policy won’t save any money, but will instead transfer research costs from the federal government to state taxpayers, while “intentionally \[reducing\] the scale and scope of our research programs.” Speaking with Fox news last week, [Prasad accused](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scientists-medical-breakthroughs-despite-trumps-cap-nih-research-funding?ref=importantcontext.news) universities and research institutions of benefiting from "sweetheart deals," adding, "The American people don't know where that money is going." Prasad was paid [$310,068.00](https://ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage/?ref=importantcontext.news) last year according to the University of California’s compensation directory. Other, more opaque sources of income have been enumerated in conflict of interest statements, which began appearing in his research articles as far back as 2017. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) A [conflict statement](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41571-023-00823-5?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Ethics%20declarations-,Competing%20interests,-V.P.%20receives) from an Oct., 2023 paper reads: > *"V.P. receives research funding from Arnold Ventures through a grant made to UCSF and royalties for books and writing from Johns Hopkins Press, MedPage and the Free Press; and declares consultancy roles with UnitedHealthcare and OptumRX. In addition, V.P. hosts the podcasts, Plenary Session, VPZD and Sensible Medicine; writes the newsletters, Sensible Medicine, the Drug Development Letter, and VP’s Observations and Thoughts; and runs the YouTube channel Vinay Prasad MD MPH, which collectively earn revenue on the following platforms: Patreon, YouTube and Substack."* Prasad has 250,000 subscribers across YouTube and Substack alone. His total income from paid subscriptions, in addition to his consultancy fees and royalties, isn’t known. David Fisman, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto who has also had [public disagreements](https://www.panaccindex.info/p/the-list-95-organizations-institutions?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=was%20mentally%20ill%29-,Dr.%20David%20Fisman,-%28for%20supporting%20a) with Prasad, said, “The people attacked by him are basically a who’s who of competence and decency in public health. So as far as that goes, it’s an honor to have made the list.” ### “A New Academic Publishing Model”: Right-Wing Dark Money Group Launches Fringe Medical Journal URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/a-new-academic-publishing-model-right/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:37.000Z *This piece has been updated with research assistance from the* [*Center for Media and Democracy*](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RealClear%5FMedia%5FGroup?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Last month, a prominent right-wing dark money group launched its own Academy of Public Health, complete with a new medical journal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) At first blush, the RealClear Foundation’s foray into public health research looks like a serious venture. The academy’s [webpage](https://www.academypublichealth.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) claims it is an “international association of public health scholars, researchers and practicing professionals in the field of public health and its many specialties,” and declares that “members are united in their commitment to open discourse, intellectual rigor and broad, equitable access to scientific discovery.” There is even a constitution and bylaws linked. The new journal’s website looks professional and [makes](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/publishing-philosophy/?ref=importantcontext.news) four commitments—to “open access,” “open and rigorous peer review,” “rewarding reviewers,” and “a timely and efficient publishing process.” According to the site, the journal will [cover](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/scope/?ref=importantcontext.news) “all aspects of public health, including epidemiology, environmental health, occupational health, behavioral health, pharmacoepidemiology, community health, global health, disease surveillance, biostatistics, medical informatics, health services, health policy, health economics, medical ethics and public health education.” But many of the names behind the new venture and publication have long histories of promoting COVID-19-related misinformation and contrarian medical positions, including questioning long-established pandemic mitigation strategies and the safety and efficacy of the mRNA vaccines. Several played a real role in politicizing the U.S. government’s response to the pandemic. *Important Context* has covered new right-wing groups with prestigious-sounding names that push out propaganda and launder the reputations of political operatives. In November, we [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/invisible-hand-new-group-awarding) on how the so-called American Academy of Sciences and Letters, seemingly named to echo long-established reputable organizations, was giving awards to fringe figures from the right alongside more credible academics. In our piece, we noted how the venture was backed by the foundation of an investment fund CEO who has been funding right-wing beachheads at prestigious universities. Another [backer](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/396037928/202403209349104125/full?ref=importantcontext.news) of the AASL—to the tune of $75,000–was the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a major funder of right-wing causes. Since the COVID pandemic hit, right-wing groups have been working to undermine public health institutions over their support for economically-disruptive interventions. Increasingly, medical contrarians and anti-vaccine scientists backed by right-wing money have been wading into the world of medical publishing. The anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, for example, which is a central hub for those voices, calls the blog on its website a “journal.” Over the weekend, *Important Context* [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited) that Health and Human Services nominee and anti-vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr., had cited a flawed vaccine study during his Senate confirmation hearings that was funded by an anti-vax dark money group and published in a new scientific journal from an anti-vax LLC. The strategy of creating official-sounding front groups to peddle propaganda and muddy the waters around science is not new. Corporate interests have been using this tactic for decades to undermine the science and government response to problems like climate change and, more recently, COVID and pandemics. The new RealClear journal appears to be another example of this trend. “It is a common tactic to exploit the veneer of scientific credibility to push discredited theories,” said biologist Mallory Harris, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Maryland who studies the interplay between human behavior and infectious diseases. “Unfortunately, given this group's extensive political ties, I expect to see this ‘journal’ used to justify dangerous health policy unsupported by the body of actual evidence.” Harris was not alone in her misgivings about the new journal. Evolutionary biologist Carl T. Bergstrom of the University of Washington offered a [similar](https://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3lhh7w3vco222?ref=importantcontext.news) assessment, noting on BlueSky that “the bylaws reveal a wild sort of National Academy of Sciences cosplay, dialed up to eleven and designed to exclude everybody except fellow...er...contrarians. Only members can publish, new members are brought in by existing ones, and the editor-in-chief cannot reject members' \[papers\].” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The journal’s founding editor-in-chief is none other than Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician whose career trajectory has taken him from the vaunted Harvard Medical School to the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, where he served as the scientific director in 2022, [bringing home](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/871368060/202323199349305482/full?ref=importantcontext.news) over $100,000. Kulldorff is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which articulated an unprecedented herd immunity strategy to deal with the COVID pandemic. It urged governments to “focus protection” on the elderly and vulnerable while allowing businesses and schools to remain open in order to deliberately allow the virus to mass infect the population in order to quickly achieve herd immunity with minimal disruption. The document was widely rebuked by public health experts, including the director-general of the World Health Organization, who called it “unethical.” In a January 30 [article](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/perspectives/2025/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-scientific-journals-and-a-way-forward/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the journal’s website, Kulldorff outlined the alleged need for the new publication, bemoaning the problems with traditional academia and publishing. “Scientific journals have had enormous positive impact on the development of science, but in some ways, they are now hampering rather than enhancing open scientific discourse,” he wrote, adding that he proposed “a new academic publishing model.” Joining Kulldorff on the [editorial board](https://publichealth.realclearjournals.org/about-us/editorial-board/?ref=importantcontext.news) are a number of his contrarian allies, including names affiliated with the Great Barrington Declaration. The board includes the other co-authors of the document, health economist [Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), a Brownstone alum who is now President Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, and theoretical epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta of Oxford. There is also Scott Atlas, a radiologist and COVID herd immunity advocate who, as a Trump administration science adviser, assisted with preparations for the conference out of which the Great Barrington Declaration emerged. Atlas was tapped for his administration role following a [push](https://readsludge.com/2020/10/20/billionaire-trump-megadonors-behind-group-that-promoted-scott-atlas-as-an-anti-fauci/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the billionaire-funded dark money group Job Creators Network, which Trump megadonor Bernie Marcus founded. He is credited with [selling](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/29/scott-atlas-covid-herd-immunity-strategy/?ref=importantcontext.news) the White House on herd immunity and inaction, downplaying the need for masks, lockdowns, and testing the height of the pandemic. The RealClear journal board also includes [declaration signatories](https://gbdeclaration.org/?ref=importantcontext.news#read) Günter Kampf is an associate professor of hygiene and environmental health at the University of Greifswald, Germany and Helen Colhoun, a professor of medical informatics and epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Bhattacharya is not the only Trump appointee represented on the editorial board. [Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), a surgeon turned medical critique and wellness influencer, was chosen by Trump to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Like Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, and Atlas, Makary has cast doubt on the safety of COVID vaccines and downplayed the need for pandemic mitigation measures. Makary has ties to Brownstone too, joining Kulldorff and Bhattacharya, both of whom have had official roles at the institute, on a team of [contrarian medical voices](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) the group organized to advise a potential GOP-led congressional inquiry into the pandemic. Another Brownstone-affiliated journal editorial board member is Tom Jefferson, a UK epidemiologist who is a [contributor](https://brownstone.org/author/tom-jefferson/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the conspiracy-promoting dark money group where he has written on topics like vaccine injury. Jefferson was the lead author of the controversial Cochrane review of the efficacy of masking against COVID. While Cochrane reviews are generally regarded as the gold standard, the 2023 mask review was [marred](https://www.factcheck.org/2023/03/scicheck-what-the-cochrane-review-says-about-masks-for-covid-19-and-what-it-doesnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) by controversy due to Jefferson declaring that “there is just no evidence that \[masks\] make any difference”—a statement not supported by his own research. The Cochrane Library’s editorial-in-chief, Dr. Karla Soares-Weiser, even came out and rebutted the claim in a [statement](https://perma.cc/Z764-9ZTH?ref=importantcontext.news). “Many commentators have claimed that a recently-updated Cochrane Review shows that ‘masks don’t work’, which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” she said. Another notable name on the RealClear public health journal’s editorial board is Dr. John Ioannidis, a physician scientist and Stanford professor who famously co-authored an influential COVID seroprevalence study with Bhattacharya that was later revealed to have [significant flaws](https://drbobmorris.substack.com/p/why-jay-bhattacharya-does-not-belong-e4b), from methodological issues to [undisclosed funding](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news) from the anti-lockdown founder of JetBlue. The journal’s other editor-in-chief is Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of Population Health & Disease Prevention at UC Irvine. Noymer has supported and defended COVID mitigation measures but advocated the lab leak explanation for the SARS-CoV-2 virus’ origins. Zoonosis [remains](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03982-2?ref=importantcontext.news) the [most likely](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240920/New-research-strengthens-the-case-for-a-zoonotic-origin-of-COVID-19.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) and [expert-favored](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news) pandemic origin story. In October, Noymer participated in a controversial health policy symposium organized by Bhattacharya, whose nomination he has supported, at which he [suggested](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) that Fauci had embraced premature reopening in order to cover up his involvement in gain-of-function research that allegedly created the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Another connection between the editorial board and the Stanford public health conference runs through David Livermore, a semi-retired honorary professor of medical microbiology at the University of East Anglia. Livermore is on the [editorial board](https://collateralglobal.org/about/our-team/?ref=importantcontext.news) of [Collateral Global](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax), a UK-based anti-lockdown group Bhattacharya and Gupta were affiliated with as recently as last year that also has ties to anti-vaccine groups. The organization funded the Stanford health policy conference Bhattacharya organized this past fall. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Harris told *Important Context* that despite the website’s sleek design, the journal and the individuals behind it “are making a mockery of the scientific process.” “As far as I can tell, many of the people involved with this project are close ideological allies operating far outside of the scientific community,” she said. “They complain about censorship and gatekeeping but it is also the case that it is sometimes hard to publish shoddy work based on bad ideas. Most of us don't create a fake journal to cope with that.” That sleekness cost money—something the right-wing RealClear Foundation has in spades. The foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the RealClear Media Group, has long been [backed](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RealClear%5FMedia%5FGroup?ref=importantcontext.news) by a number of groups affiliated with major right-wing families like Uihlein, Koch, and Mellon. Important Context has previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-pays-for-conservative-media?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) on its funding. Last year, the foundation brought in more than $8.5 million in contributions and grants. Major backers included the Bradley Foundation ([$250,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/396037928/202403209349104125/full?ref=importantcontext.news)) and its affiliated donor-advised fund, the Bradley Impact Fund ([$110,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/454678325/202403199349311950/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news)). The Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the private foundation of hedge fund manager and right-wing mega-funder Thomas W. Smith of Prescott Investors, gave [$500,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473862135/202411349349102346/full?ref=importantcontext.news). Meanwhile, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Allegheny Foundation, both [affiliated](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaife%5FFoundations?ref=importantcontext.news) with the old Mellon family, gave [$300,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/251113452/202403209349104590/full?ref=importantcontext.news) and [$200,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/256012303/202433209349104633/full?ref=importantcontext.news), respectively. The Searle Freedom Trust, of the Searle pharmaceutical family, donated [$200,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/367244615/202433209349102098/full?ref=importantcontext.news). Smaller contributions came from the Robert and Ardis James Foundation ([$50,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463298762/202423209349107097/full?ref=importantcontext.news)), begun by the prolific quilter Ardis James and her husband, the [State Policy Network](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State%5FPolicy%5FNetwork?ref=importantcontext.news) ([$50,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/570952531/202441789349301504/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news)), which supports a right-wing dark money network across America, and the Dunn Foundation ([$19,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/650415977/202402849349101300/full?ref=importantcontext.news)). Founded by William A. Dunn, former founder and head of the investment firm Dunn Capital Management, the Dunn Foundation has been a major funder of groups in billionaire Charles Koch’s political influence network. RealClear also received a significant portion its fundraising haul in untraceable donations through DonorsTrust, a right-wing donor-advised fund popular among Koch network donors. The fund funneled more than [$5.8 million](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522166327/202423189349304787/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) to the foundation. The board chair of DonorsTrust, Kimberly Dennis, is also the executive director of Searle. Last year, the RealClear Foundation gave Bhattacharya its inaugural Samizdat Prize, an official-sounded annual award reserved for “for journalists, scholars, and public figures who have resisted censorship and stood for truth.” In 2022, represented by a Koch-funded lawfare dark money outfit, Bhattacharya and Kulldorff sued the Biden administration, alleging that it had coerced social media companies into censoring their content. The case [failed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) at the Supreme Court last June. ### About that Vaccine Study RFK Cited At His Confirmation Hearing URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/about-that-vaccine-study-rfk-cited/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:37.000Z *This piece has been updated as of 2/2/25.* Confirmation hearings for Robert Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, were held this week. The hearings generated many buzzy moments, including open clashes with senators over Kennedy’s storied history of spreading medical misinformation, his role in the 2019 Samoan measles tragedy, and his outlandish claims about Black Americans and the vaccine schedule. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) While Kennedy didn’t deny some of his more controversial past statements, he did try to reintroduce himself to the public after years in the spotlight as one of the nation’s leading anti-science voices. To this end, Kennedy attempted to market himself as not anti-vaccine, but “pro-safety.” At the same time though, during his Thursday hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, he defended the long-discredited claim that vaccines are linked to autism when confronted about his past statements on the matter by physician and GOP Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy. Kennedy tried to back this up with a recent study from an obscure publication, insisting “there are other studies out there” and adding, “I just want to follow the science.” But the paper he cited is dubious at best—and his influence network’s fingerprints are all over it. Earlier this week, Important Context reported on the rebrand of Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a Kennedy-affiliated anti-vaccine dark money group known for its dogmatic promotion of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as treatment for COVID (and [other medical maladies](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally)). In that report, we noted that FLCCC founders Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, doctors whose board certifications were [revoked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) for spreading COVID misinformation, were on the editorial board of a new [medical journal](https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) called *Science, Public Health Policy, and the Law* (SPHPL). The study Kennedy cited in Thursday’s hearing came from this journal. First published just over a week ago, it was authored by Anthony R. Mawson, who is the principal officer of a 501(c)(3) charity called the Chalfont Research Institute, founded in 2014\. The address listed on the group’s [2021 IRS Form 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/471079598/202320379349200242/full?ref=importantcontext.news) appears to be a residential home in Jackson, Mississippi. Three years before founding his nonprofit, Mawson unsuccessfully [sued](https://casetext.com/case/mawson-v-miss-state-dept-of-health?ref=importantcontext.news) the Mississippi State Department of Health, alleging that his contract at the University of Mississippi Medical Center was not renewed due to the interference of a state officer after he called for more studies on vaccine safety. Mawson is no stranger to Kennedy, who cited his work in a 2017 article for his anti-vaccine dark money group Children’s Health Defense. Kennedy [referred](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/unvaccinated-children-much-lower-rates-chronic-illness-jackson-state-study-finds/?ref=importantcontext.news) to Mawson as a “renowned epidemiologist,” noting he had “more than fifty published studies.” Mawson’s work on vaccines and autism, however, has come under scrutiny. An abstract he worked on was pulled after [receiving criticism](https://retractionwatch.com/2016/11/28/study-linking-vaccines-autism-pulled-frontiers-following-heavy-criticism/?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2016\. The paper was published elsewhere and subsequently [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2017/05/08/retracted-vaccine-autism-study-republished/?ref=importantcontext.news) a year later. The [study](https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/vaccination-and-neurodevelopmental-disorders-a-study-of-nine-year-old-children-enrolled-in-medicaid/?ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy amplified during his confirmation hearing has been [criticized](https://theunbiasedscipod.substack.com/p/anatomy-of-a-failure-why-this-latest) for its [flawed methodology](https://www.factcheck.org/2025/01/rfk-jr-cites-flawed-paper-claiming-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-in-hhs-confirmation-hearing/?ref=importantcontext.news) and funding from the National Vaccine Information Center, an anti-vax group that organized an in-person action [at Kennedy’s urging](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rfk-jr-tries-distance-anti-vaccine-movement-rcna189858?ref=importantcontext.news) to pack the Senate hearing room in support his nomination. NBC reported that the group directed supporters to wear merchandise purchased from Kennedy’s official online store. The SPHPL journal itself is a project of an LLC called IPAK-EDU. Launched in 2020, IPAK purports to be an advanced learning platform, offering courses on topics like vaccines. The [syllabus](https://ipak-edu.org/vaccine-course/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the vaccine course includes a section on autism and “autism recovery” from “vaccine-induced autism.” The faculty page for IPAK appears incomplete with a generic placeholder for an employee listed as “Employee name” who holds “Position.” “Tell site visitors about this employee, detailing their expertise, education, or passion,” the description reads. “To edit this paragraph, click on the text and replace it with your own content.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/a5b95a99-a80d-4105-935d-bfb723dce299_2732x1714-jpeg.jpg) The owner and founder of IPAK-EDU is James Lyons-Weiler, a long-time ally and vocal defender of Kennedy’s, who serves as the editor-in-chief of SPHPL as well as the section editor for the sections on Science and Public Health, Public Health, and Diagnostics. IPAK-EDU’s “Resident Complex Systems Theorist” VN Alexander is the Ethics section editor. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) On its website, SPHPL calls the editorial board “a consortium of international, multidisciplinary experts united by a shared focus on enhancing human health and reducing human pain and suffering,” and claims members were “selected for their profound contributions and comprehension of their fields.” But in truth, it’s a group of anti-vaccine advocates, many of whom are boosters of Kennedy and have contributed writing to CHD. The CHD Press Team told *Important Context* that the group had not funded either Mawson’s research or the SPHPL journal. Kennedy formally stepped down as chairman from CHD in December in anticipation of his Senate confirmation and claimed to have no ties to the group during his first hearing. The CHD website [describes](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/robert-f-kennedy-jr/?ref=importantcontext.news) him as the organization’s “founder, former chairman and chief litigation counsel.” The SPHPL editorial board includes Mary Holland, [president and general counsel of CHD](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/conference-bios/mary-holland-j-d/?ref=importantcontext.news). Editor-in-chief Lyons-Wieler has [written 26 articles](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/james-lyons-weiler-phd/?ref=importantcontext.news) for CHD since 2017\. One of those [pieces](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/measles-outbreak-vaccine-efficacy-unvaccinated/?ref=importantcontext.news), from July 2023, argues that the unvaccinated were not responsible for recent measles outbreaks. Then there is anti-vax star [Dr. Peter McCullough](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/peter-a-mccullough-m-d-mph/?ref=importantcontext.news), who serves as the chief scientific officer of the MAGA-aligned outfit “[The Wellness Company](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/about-those-ivermectin-ads-on-trump-rally-broadcasts/?ref=importantcontext.news),” which hawks ivermectin and vaccine detox supplements. Like Kory and Marik, McCullough had his certifications from the American Board of Internal Medicine revoked for pushing COVID misinformation. He edits the journal’s Clinical section and has written multiple pieces for CHD. Another editorial board member is Paul Thomas, an Oregon anti-vaxxer whose story has been [covered](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/store/the-war-on-informed-consent-the-persecution-of-dr-paul-thomas-by-the-oregon-medical-board/?ref=importantcontext.news) by CHD. Thomas, who voluntarily surrendered his medical license after the Oregon medical board found he had engaged in gross negligence, was a [signatory](https://fox59.com/news/health/ap-health/ap-pro-rfk-jr-letter-to-the-senate-includes-names-of-doctors-whose-licenses-were-revoked-or-suspended/?ref=importantcontext.news) on a letter to the Senate in support of Kennedy. Thomas has published papers with Lyons-Weiler, including one in 2020 that purported to show a link between vaccines and pediatric behavioral problems and was later [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/08/11/authors-blame-a-ghoul-for-retraction-of-paper-claiming-vaccines-lead-to-health-and-behavioral-issues/?ref=importantcontext.news). CHD’s chief science officer, [Brian Hooker](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/speakers-bureau/brian-hooker/?ref=importantcontext.news), is also on the editorial board. A biologist and chemist known for promoting vaccine-autism junk science, Hooker co-authored a book with Kennedy, *Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak*, and spoke at the 2023 CHD conference. Editorial board member [Dr. Aseem Malhotra](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-conference/aseem-malholtra-m-d/?lang=it&ref=importantcontext.news), a UK-based anti-vax cardiologist, spoke at the conference as well. Malhotra is a staunch ally of Kennedy and health economist Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s NIH pick. He made the pseudo-documentary, [*First Do No Pharm*](https://nopharmfilm.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), which [featured](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) Bhattacharya. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Hooker is not the only editorial board member to have published with Kennedy. Christopher Shaw wrote a book through CHD titled, *Dispatches from the Vaccine Wars: Fighting for Human Freedom During the Great Reset*, with a forward from Kennedy. Attorney Jim Moody, who edits the SPHPL journal’s Law section, [appeared](https://youtu.be/J6OTKHIK9Uo?si=%5FdX8APgUQ1gBnhiH&ref=importantcontext.news) in the pseudo-documentary *Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe*, which was directed by disgraced academic and former physician Andrew Wakefield, progenitor of the [fraudulent](https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09zhlch/the-origins-of-one-of-the-biggest-frauds-in-the-world-?ref=importantcontext.news) vaccine-autism narrative. Despite his fall from grace back home, Wakefield has been an inspiration and ally to Kennedy. Producing the film was anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree, who worked for Kennedy’s presidential campaign and is a close ally of the HHS nominee. Through the pandemic, Kennedy and CHD [expanded their reach](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/what-senators-should-know-about-hhs-nominee-rfk-jr-s-ties-to-german-far-right/?ref=importantcontext.news) into Europe and the UK, and some of their allies from across the Atlantic are reflected in the SPHPL editorial board as well. SPHPL’s managing editor, Harald Walach, founded the German anti-vax group Change Health Science Institute. Walach, who co-authored a paper claiming COVID vaccines cause nearly as many deaths as they prevent, has been a [source](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-side-effects-german-survey/?ref=importantcontext.news) for CHD in its “reporting.” Irish scientist turned anti-vaxxer Dolores Cahill, meanwhile, founded the World Doctors Alliance (later the World Freedom Alliance), which [partnered](https://worldfreedomalliance.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) with CHD. There is also Tess Lawrie, a close ally of Kory’s and leader of various anti-science groups in the UK. Her group World Council for Health lists CHD, FLCCC, and The Wellness Company as [coalition partners](https://www.worldcouncilforhealth.org/coalition-partner/?e-filter-bf034ca-country=united-states&ref=importantcontext.news). According to [leaked chat logs](https://openhart.github.io/app/?ref=importantcontext.news#/channel/all), Lawrie was also involved with members of UK-based anti-vax group Health Advisory and Recovery Team, which [coordinated](https://www.dailydot.com/debug/leaked-chats-ex-cambridge-analytica-patrick-fagan-hart-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vax influence campaigns on social media. There are other notable connections to pandemic misinformation-spreading groups that run through the SPHPL journal as well. Editorial board member Andreas Sönnichsen is part of the team at the UK-based anti-lockdown charity Collateral Global, which is [affiliated](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) with Bhattacharya. Richard Urso is an original [member](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/940264?form=fpf&ref=importantcontext.news) of the pro-Trump doctor group America’s Front Line Doctors. The journal itself has [featured](https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/video-hans-hermann-hoppe-on-the-real-milei/?ref=importantcontext.news) content from sources like the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a think tank [founded](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trumps-acting-nih-director-cast-doubt?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) by anarcho-capitalist and former John Bircher Lew Rockwell which the Southern Poverty Law Center included in a report on neo-Confederates. ### A Canadian Province Released a COVID Report Full of Pseudoscience. Who Wrote It, and Why? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/a-canadian-province-released-a-covid/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:38.000Z *This article has been updated from its original email version.* Last week the province of Alberta published a [report](https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/88bbf80e-f8c8-4355-b751-c2086e204b34/resource/33d1d7d5-2596-4e57-a1ad-d93c10920069/download/hlth-albertas-covid-19-pandemic-response-2025-01.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) on its pandemic-response calling for COVID vaccines to be restricted to “high-risk groups” and to stop “their use in healthy children and teenagers.” A mix of vaccine skeptics, fringe academics, and a Trump-appointee were behind it. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The report also recommends regulators, namely the province’s medical licensing body, be stripped of powers to discipline doctors who promote risky and ineffective off-label treatments. The report has garnered nationwide criticism from the scientific and medical communities, with dozens of experts calling on the government to [officially dismiss](https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-covid-report-letter-experts?ref=importantcontext.news) the report in an open [letter](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-doctors-scientists-oppose-covid-report-1.7445487?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=READ%20%7C%C2%A0The%20entire%20letter%3A). [Dr. Joss Reimer](https://bsky.app/profile/jossreimer.bsky.social/post/3lgr4x7bris2e?ref=importantcontext.news), president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the report was “an unfortunate use of public dollars” that funneled CAD$2,000,000 into furthering misinformation. She said it will cause harm globally, as it will be referenced in jurisdictions outside of Canada. Premier Danielle Smith, who commissioned the report, has a fraught history with medical misinformation. In 2020, two years before becoming leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), Smith [tweeted](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/coronavirus-cure-claim-1.5506187?ref=importantcontext.news) about a debunked study, saying it showed that hydroxychloroquine cured “100% of coronavirus patients within six days of treatment.” She soon apologized and deleted the tweet. While still a talk-radio host in 2021, Smith raised over CAD$100,000 through a [gofundme page](https://www.gofundme.com/f/right-to-try-treatments-for-covid?ref=importantcontext.news) to mount a legal action that, if successful, would have let Alberta doctors freely prescribe hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID. It’s unclear what the outcome was, or what happened to the money she raised. Since 2020, Canada’s federal government took charge of vaccine distribution under emergency pandemic measures, which recently expired. With COVID vaccine funding now in provincial hands, Alberta’s government [won’t say](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-future-covid-vaccinations-1.7430822?ref=importantcontext.news) whether shots will stay free for all residents. [13.1 per cent of Albertans have been vaccinated](https://www.alberta.ca/stats/dashboard/respiratory-virus-dashboard.htm?data=immunizations&ref=importantcontext.news#immunizations:~:text=COVID%2D19%20vaccine%20coverage%20by%20week%20and%20age%20group%20in%20Alberta%2C%202024%2D2025) in the last 6 months. The task force behind the report includes economist Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the National Institutes of Health and co-author of the [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/organisers-of-anti-lockdown-declaration-have-track-record-of-promoting-denial-of-health-and-environmental-risks/?ref=importantcontext.news). Bhattacharya’s links to dark money groups in the U.S. and abroad are [well-documented](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/f2845e4e-2ff6-44de-a1b1-6d041f41d858_720x593.png) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Dr. Joe Vipond, co-chair of the [Canadian Covid Society](https://covidsociety.ca/?ref=importantcontext.news), said of the report’s link to the new administration, “The space between Trump and Danielle Smith is almost nonexistent,” and that much like Trump, Alberta’s government makes decisions based on ideology, not evidence. Vipond also says the government plays to an ardently anti-vax voter-base, noting that Premier Smith’s UCP has hosted at least two [anti-vax townhalls](https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/ucp-removes-covid-19-vaccine-child-death-references-takes-over-ticket-sales-to-controversial-event/?ref=importantcontext.news) that were well-attended, including by [its own politicians](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ucp-speakers-covid-vaccines-injection-1.7200703?ref=importantcontext.news). Dr. Gary Davidson was handpicked by Smith to chair the task force behind the report. “Any errors or omissions in this report are solely ours,” he wrote in the foreword. [Davidson accused](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-covid-doctor-misinformation-1.6187391?ref=importantcontext.news) the previous government in 2021 of implementing lockdown-type restrictions on false pretenses. Despite sharp criticism from regulators at the time, there are no disciplinary decisions noted on his medical college register. Davidson [tried to](https://rdnewsnow.com/2019/02/13/emergency-medical-chief-enters-nomination-race-in-ucp-red-deer-south/?ref=importantcontext.news) become a candidate for the UCP in 2019 and is set to speak at an [upcoming party event](https://aninjectionoftruth.ca/?ref=importantcontext.news). The group behind the report includes: \- A doctor [who sued](https://www.jccf.ca/four-alberta-doctors-sue-ahs-over-vaccine-mandate/?ref=importantcontext.news) Alberta Health Services over vaccine mandates. \- A [UCP candidate](https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/angela-wood-will-be-running-as-ucp-candidate-in-next-election-6172114?ref=importantcontext.news) who lost an election bid in 2023. \- A veterinary virologist [who sued](https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/u-of-g-asks-court-to-dismiss-professor-byram-bridles-frivolous-lawsuit-8144648?ref=importantcontext.news) the University of Guelph in Ontario, alleging workplace harassment over his views on COVID vaccines. He dropped it after being met with two anti-SLAPP motions. \- A doctor who was fired for his comments on COVID vaccines and reinstated after an appeal. \- A vaccine-opposing virologist who is also a candidate for Canada’s far-right [fringe party](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsGAdIeEKMs&ref=importantcontext.news). Mark Bell is listed as a contributor. His blurb characterizes him as an energy sector entrepreneur. Bell is an [RV resort](https://archive.is/eVISI?ref=importantcontext.news) owner with no apparent qualifications to steer health policy. “Dr. Davidson has really summarized well the point of view of the report,” Bell said in a phone call. Asked about how he became involved with the task force and the nature of the work he did for it, Bell said “That’s a fair question,” but declined to comment further. It isn’t known how much the government paid task force members for their time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/7269b9e8-4cd8-4768-9e89-8c148846c96d_1026x572.png) > *Task force member David Speicher, PhD, seen here on a video podcast using a lab-themed zoom background, is a candidate for the People’s Party of Canada.* [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Dr. John Conly, a former advisor to the WHO, was listed among the report’s authors—initially. Conly drew criticism from experts in 2021 when he enthusiastically [denied](https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-doctor-world-health-organization-airborne-1.5994889?ref=importantcontext.news) aerosol transmission as a primary route of spread for COVID, and claimed N95 face masks were harmful. He is a senior author on [many](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as%5Fsdt=0%2C5&as%5Fylo=2020&as%5Fyhi=2025&q=john+conly+mask%2A&btnG=&ref=importantcontext.news) research articles which have been used to [argue against](https://slate.com/technology/2023/02/masks-effectiveness-cochrane-review.html?ref=importantcontext.news) using masks in [healthcare settings](https://www.niagarahealth.on.ca/site/news/2022/12/07/niagara-health-contributes-to-study-comparing-masks-in-preventing-covid-19-transmission-among-healthcare-workers?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMasking%20is%20about%20filtering%2C%E2%80%9D%20says%20Dr.%20Ali%2C%20also%20Director%2C%20Division%20of%20Infectious%20Disease.%20%E2%80%9CYes%2C%20N95%20masks%20filter%20better%20but%20does%20that%20equate%20to%20a%20reduction%20in%20transmission%20of%20infection%3F%20It%20doesn%E2%80%99t.%E2%80%9D). His [influence](https://bylinetimes.com/2021/04/21/scientist-linked-to-great-barrington-declaration-embroiled-in-world-health-organization-conflict-of-interest/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Professor%20John%20Conly) at the WHO in 2020 and 2021 was consequential in shaping pandemic policies worldwide. Conly publicly disavowed the report’s findings this week and demanded his name be removed. The Alberta government [took him off](https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/prairies%5Fbc/alberta/alberta-covid-panel-strikes-the-name-of-contributor-from-report-issues-correction/article%5F58fa318e-fa56-5a8a-b67b-09364ff6e795.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the list of contributors the next day and has since re-uploaded the report. Six of the remaining 12 contributors have confirmed their participation since the report’s release. A final contributor, Dr. Kevin Bardosh, is the director of Collateral Global, a UK-based charity with known [funding ties](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) to billionaires and anti-lockdown advocates, and links to multiple anti-vax groups. Collateral is “dedicated to researching, understanding, and communicating the effectiveness and *collateral* impacts” of measures taken to mitigate the pandemic in its first years, per a statement on its website. Positioned as detached, methodologically rigorous expertise, the research and [media commentaries](https://archive.is/t6lT0?ref=importantcontext.news) from Collateral affiliates have been used as advocacy tools to steer governments and institutions away from adopting science-backed infection control policies. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/6ec5881a-8d11-4648-94d5-849f980ff605_1238x918.png) > *Collateral Global showcases its earned media on its website.* [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The organization struck a [Canadian working group](https://collateralglobal.org/canadian-covid-evaluation-and-pandemic-policy-working-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) early last year, which another report author, [David Vickers](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/david-vickers-b331898%5Fnearly-an-hour-ago-the-government-of-alberta-activity-7288705548634505216-2QEE?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop), is on. Last August elected UCP member Eric Bouchard said [“the wheels are in motion”](https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1enjibe/ucp%5Fmla%5Feric%5Fbouchard%5Fclaims%5Fthe%5Fwheels%5Fare%5Fin/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the removal of COVID vaccines in Alberta. Bouchard quickly [walked back](https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-ucp-mla-sparks-outrage-with-claim-that-a-ban-on-covid-vaccines-is-in-the-works?ref=importantcontext.news) his comments, and a swift denial of any such plan was issued by Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s Minister of Health. On Friday Smith’s government posted its report, which it says it has been reviewing since August. But [the wheels may already be in motion](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-covid-19-task-force-report-reaction-1.7443283?ref=importantcontext.news)—for vaccine restrictions, regulatory rollbacks, and an accelerated shift away from evidence-based health policy. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/d91feba5-9c0a-456b-a176-35e2ad6ec7d8_930x596.png) *CORRECTION 2/3/25: This article originally said “five of the remaining 12 contributors have confirmed their participation since the report’s release.” The number is six.* ### Mike Pence’s Dark Money Group and Leonard Leo’s Baffling Strategy to Tank Kennedy Confirmation Over Abortion URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/mike-pences-dark-money-group-and/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:39.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* The Senate confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services hopeful Robert Kennedy Jr. began on Wednesday. Perhaps Trump’s most controversial pick, Kennedy is known for his anti-vaccine and conspiratorial views about science and public health. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The nomination by President Trump has been met with firm opposition from medical and public health experts concerned with Kennedy’s unscientific views since it was announced in November. A staggering [seventy-five Noble laureates](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/health/kennedy-hhs-nobel-laureates.html?ref=importantcontext.news) wrote an open letter against Kennedy last month while over [17,000 doctors](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doctors-senate-rfk-jr-health-secretary/?ref=importantcontext.news) have signed a similar letter from the Committee to Protect Health Care. Another coalition of doctors and scientists called Defending Public Health submitted over 3,500 letters urging senators to block the conspiracy theorist’s ascension to the nation’s top public health job. Not all of the opposition Kennedy faces comes from medical experts. Another group affiliated with Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, has also been pushing back against the nomination. Pence’s dark money group, Advancing American Freedom, is trying to undermine Kennedy—and do so with the help of conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, known as Donald Trump’s judge whisperer. Last week, *Politico* reported that Leo’s group, CRC Advisors was helping publicize a $250,000 campaign by AAF to convince GOP senators to vote against Kennedy. An anti-Kennedy ad was [posted](https://advancingamericanfreedom.com/aafs-ad-push-on-rfk-jr/?utm%5Fcampaign=20250131%5FZA-EP.100863%5Ft1599780-2606&ex%5Ftid=20250131%5FZA-EP.100863%5Ft1599780-2606&tuid=a0V5x00000URxSMEA1&ref=importantcontext.news) by Pence’s group this week on its website. It is just a video of Donald Trump from the 2024 campaign calling Robert Kennedy Jr. a “Democrat plant; a radical left liberal,” and accusing him of being more liberal than any Democrat running. Trump called Kennedy “totally anti-gun” and an “environmentalist,” “anti-military,” and “anti-vet,” declaring, “I’d even take Biden over Junior.” The ad concludes with a fade to black and big white text reading, “President Trump was right the first time. Vote NO on RFK Jr.” Earlier this month, AAF put out a [letter](https://advancingamericanfreedom.com/aaf-rfk-life-letter/?utm%5Fcampaign=20250117%5FII-BA.100863%5Ft1595480-2606&ex%5Ftid=20250117%5FII-BA.100863%5Ft1595480-2606&tuid=a0V5x00000URxSMEA1&ref=importantcontext.news) opposing the conspiracy theorist’s nomination, citing his past stances on abortion. “We strongly encourage you to reject the nomination of any pro-abortion nominees to serve at HHS. RFK Jr., as well as any other nominated HHS Secretary, must be able to provide satisfactory answers to the list of important pro-life questions attached to this letter,” AAF’s anti-Kennedy letter concluded. “The pro-life movement has a strong bench of courageous pro-life leaders who are willing to serve the American people as the head of HHS.” Pence founded AAF as a 501(c)(4) social welfare group in the spring of 2021, several months after his term as vice president ended. At the time, there was [speculation](https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/07/politics/mike-pence-political-group-advancing-american-freedom/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that he might have presidential ambitions. The group’s [aim](https://advancingamericanfreedom.com/mike-pence-launches-advancing-american-freedom/?ref=importantcontext.news) was to “promote the pro-freedom policies of the last four years that created unprecedented prosperity at home and restored respect for America abroad, to defend those policies from liberal attacks and media distortions, and to prevent the radical Left from enacting its policy agenda that would threaten America’s freedoms.” AAF’s position on abortion is hardly surprising. Pence is a Catholic-turned-evangelical, has been a staunch opponent of abortion rights for years, and the organization itself, according to the Center for Media and Democracy’s [SourceWatch](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Advancing%5FAmerican%5FFreedom&ref=importantcontext.news) database, is connected to the secretive Christian Right group, Council for National Policy. AAF’s board members and advisory board members are linked to CNP as “guest speakers, members, board members, or executive committee members.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Pence’s organization also has ties to Leo, who is also an abortion opponent. Leo’s Concord Fund gave AAF [$2 million](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Advancing%5FAmerican%5FFreedom&ref=importantcontext.news) between 2020 and 2022. But the decision by to work with Pence has journalists like David Armiak confused. Armiak, who works for the Center for Media and Democracy, called the alliance “one of the weirdest things that has happened since Trump came into office.” “You have $1.6 billion,” Armiak said of Leo. “You could pay everyone. You could make your own group, and you give it to one of Trump’s enemies to influence Trump?” Armiak noted that Trump’s relationship with his former vice president has chilled significantly since January 2021 when Pence refused to reject the electoral college vote indicating Biden had won the 2020 election. Trump and his team had a plan to overturn the results that [hinged on Pence](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/politics/trump-pence-election-memo/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news). The defeated president had put pressure on his running mate during a speech on January 6, [calling](https://www.live5news.com/2021/01/06/trump-supporters-rally-columbia-washington-ahead-congress-certifying-election-results/?ref=importantcontext.news) on him to “do the right thing” before his supporters had stormed the U.S. Capitol. During the insurrection, some called to [hang](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/25/trump-expressed-support-hanging-pence-capitol-riot-jan-6-00035117?ref=importantcontext.news) the vice president. The tension between Trump and his former VP has been palpable over the last month. Pence’s wife [remained seated](https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/09/karen-pence-declines-to-greet-trumps-at-jimmy-carters-funeral-mike-pence-first-lady-vice-president/77577987007/?ref=importantcontext.news) while her husband greeted Trump at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service and did not attend his inauguration. Trump also [pledged](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5088560-trump-says-he-wont-hire-anyone-associated-with-haley-cheneys-other-gop-critics/?ref=importantcontext.news) not to hire anyone tied to Pence. Armiak questioned why Leo would ally himself with someone Trump has animosity towards when he has other avenues of influence available to him. “Leo worked with Trump,” Armiak told *Important Context*. “He was in charge of choosing appointments for the Supreme Court and federal judges. He could just call Trump himself. He could buy a bunch of Trump coin. Withdraw your nominee.” “I just don’t get why Pence’s group is the group,” said Armiak. Abortion access is a critical public health issue. Studies [have](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2022/dec/us-maternal-health-divide-limited-services-worse-outcomes?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=To%20compare%20maternal%20death%20rates,Hispanic%20people%20%28Exhibit%205%29.) [shown](https://sph.tulane.edu/study-finds-higher-maternal-mortality-rates-states-more-abortion-restrictions?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20researchers%20found%20that%20states,all%20women%20in%20the%20US.%E2%80%9D) that states with restrictive abortion policies have higher maternal mortality rates and [worse health outcomes](https://www.ajmc.com/view/new-report-shows-worsening-health-outcomes-for-women-in-states-with-abortion-bans?ref=importantcontext.news) for women. Additionally, in the months after the United States Supreme Court struck down the landmark ruling in *Roe v. Wade*, which guaranteed a right to abortion under the auspices of constitutional privacy protections, [hundreds more](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/22/baby-deaths-roe-wade-abortion-bans?ref=importantcontext.news) infants died per month than expected. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Kennedy’s position on abortion has been [fluid](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2023/presidential-candidates-2024-policies-issues/robert-kennedy-jr-abortion/?ref=importantcontext.news). In 2023, as an independent presidential candidate, he said he would support a 15-week abortion ban only to then turn around and claim he misspoke. His campaign told the Washington Post that “Mr. Kennedy supports a woman's right to choose” and that “he believes the issue of late-term abortions is being used to artificially divide the American public.” As a presidential candidate, RFK Jr. expressed support for abortion on-demand up until birth, a position completely out of step with the strong, pro-life record of the first Trump Administration,” read the January 14 letter. “While RFK Jr. has made certain overtures to pro-life leaders that he would be mindful of their concerns at HHS, there is little reason for confidence at this time.” ”Practically speaking, these are exceedingly rare, and almost always done in situations of medical emergency,” the campaign’s email read. “While they are both tragic and disturbing, Mr. Kennedy believes it is not up to the government to intervene in these difficult medical and moral choices. That should be left up to the woman and her doctor.” During his confirmation hearings, however, Kennedy [pledged](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-opponents-praise-rfk-jr-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) to implement “whatever” policy Trump wants on the abortion pill, mifepristone. Kennedy has drifted rightward over the years. His independent campaign was bolstered by his [alliances with right-wing political operatives](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), including Steve Bannon and Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker. His eventual team-up with Donald Trump in apparent exchange for a cabinet position atop the Department of Health and Human Services was a natural progression. Last May, for example, he came out against gender-affirming care and hormone therapy for minors—a contentious issue for the political right. He was named HHS pick several months later, in November. ### Ivermectin Doctors Rebrand and Rally for Kennedy Confirmation URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/ivermectin-doctors-rebrand-and-rally/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:39.000Z The highly anticipated Senate confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services begin this week. The president’s choice of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. has been perhaps his most controversial cabinet pick. Doctors and scientists have been organizing to sink his confirmation since the announcement was made back in November. A group of [seventy-five Noble laureates](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/health/kennedy-hhs-nobel-laureates.html?ref=importantcontext.news) wrote an open letter urging the senate not to confirm his nomination last month. Over [17,000 doctors](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doctors-senate-rfk-jr-health-secretary/?ref=importantcontext.news) signed the Committee to Protect Health Care’s letter arguing the same. Defend Public Health, a coalition of healthcare workers and scientists, have sent [3,500 letters to senators](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-public-health-secretary.html?ref=importantcontext.news) ahead of Kennedy’s confirmation hearings. However, not everyone is alarmed. One fringe medical group is rallying support for Kennedy—and doing so under a new, less recognizable name. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a contrarian group known for promoting ineffective COVID treatments and casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines, [announced](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/frontline-covid-docs-flccc-gear-up-for-kennedy-confirmation-battle-announce-new-name--expanded-focus-302353615.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that it was rebranding as “Independent Medical Alliance” (IMA). The change comes as the organization gears up to fight for Kennedy and expand their scope beyond the pandemic. But it is skin deep. The group’s press release announcing the rebrand maintains that ivermectin is effective against COVID, despite multiple high-quality studies indicating it is not (see [here](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801827?ref=importantcontext.news), [here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35179551/?ref=importantcontext.news), [here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38431155/?ref=importantcontext.news)) and many pro-ivermectin papers having been [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/retracted-coronavirus-covid-19-papers/?ref=importantcontext.news). The IMA is currently [organizing signatures](https://imahealth.org/urgent-action-rfk-jr-needs-your-help-right-now/?ref=importantcontext.news) for a [letter](https://ima-action.revv.co/rfk-letter?ref=importantcontext.news) from its “action” arm to senators in support of Kennedy’s confirmation. The group’s origin story, rise to political prominence, and involvement in a concerning international network of misinformation-peddling groups spanning from the UK to Brazil was detailed in [*WhoWhatWhy*](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news)[ reporting](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) early last year. FLCCC co-founder Dr. Pierre Kory co-authored two [dubious](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293924v2?ref=importantcontext.news) but influential ivermectin papers in 2022, both dealing with a politically-motivated 2020 city-wide [ivermectin experiment](https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/brazil-covid19-ivermectin/?ref=importantcontext.news) in Itajai, Brazil. One paper was [corrected](https://www.cureus.com/articles/82162-ivermectin-prophylaxis-used-for-covid-19-a-citywide-prospective-observational-study-of-223128-subjects-using-propensity-score-matching/correction/126?ref=importantcontext.news#!/) to show undisclosed conflicts of interests like payments from a Brazilian ivermectin manufacturer to two of its authors, including the lead on the paper. While Kory was not among the recipients, his affiliation with FLCCC was nevertheless cited as a conflict. The papers were published in a low-tier journal that has since been [paused from indexation](https://retractionwatch.com/2024/09/30/web-of-science-puts-mega-journals-cureus-and-heliyon-on-hold/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Web of Science owing to concern over the quality of its output. Key to the group’s rise have been its ties to right-wing politicians and political figures. For example, FLCCC has had a close relationship with MAGA loyalist Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who hosted Kory at a December 2020 [Senate hearing](https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Kory-2020-12-08.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) discussing ivermectin. At the hearing, the FLCCC co-founder called ivermectin a “miracle drug.” Johnson has continued to [promote](https://x.com/senronjohnson/status/1884359078522040542?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the group—and its action arm—on social media since its rebrand. The group has also become increasingly tied in with Kennedy, who has promoted both ivermectin for COVID and its predecessor MAGA miracle cure, [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/hcq-the-maga-fools-gold-that-turned-rfk-jr-from-gadfly-to-global-threat/?ref=importantcontext.news), which similarly does not work against the disease. As FLCCC members have dug their heels in on ivermectin, they have taken anti-vaccine positions, not just on the COVID shots but increasingly against other vaccines as well, in line with Kennedy. FLCCC and Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense (CHD) both [sponsored](https://accountable.us/report-the-conservative-groups-behind-the-defeat-the-mandates-anti-vax-dc-rally-this-weekend/?ref=importantcontext.news) the January 2022 “Defeat the Mandates” rally in Washington, at which Kennedy, Kory, and Marik spoke. Last March, FLCCC was one of the anti-vaccine groups [rallying](https://www.importantcontext.news/publish/post/142713210) with CHD outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments for *Murthy v. Missouri*, a case aimed at blocking the government from combating misinformation on social media. As with CHD, the spread of COVID misinformation has proven lucrative for the FLCCC, [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/?itid=ap%5Flaurenweber&ref=importantcontext.news)[ analysis](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/?itid=ap%5Flaurenweber&ref=importantcontext.news) of tax records revealed. As *WaPo* reported, the group “went from receiving$1 million combined when they formed in 2020 to collecting more than $21 millioncombined in 2022.” *Important Context* has [previously revealed](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-jr-anti-vax-orgs-funding-major-charities-1234857214/?ref=importantcontext.news) that FLCCC and CHD receive money through major donor-advised funds and have [also shared donors](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute) like the Crary Social Ecology Fund. The groups both promote the same narratives. Kennedy has claimed that the “early treatment” drugs were “suppressed” and that those promoting them, despite their proven lack of efficacy, were “censored.” In the recent [pseudo-documentary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) *Covid Collateral: Where Do We Go For Truth?*, Marik made a similar claim, calling ivermectin “a big threat,” wrongly claiming if it “proved to be an effective drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, the vaccination program would have been deemed null-and-void.” The documentary was funded by a company tied to the pro-Trump *Epoch Times* and the Falun Gong Chinese cult. While the FLCCC founders have paid a price professionally for their advocacy—the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) finally [revoked their board certifications](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) last summer for the spread of COVID misinformation—the political right has provided a soft landing pad. Today, Kory and Marik, who portray themselves as victims of unjust medical board retaliation, are part of a [lawsuit](https://aapsonline.org/judicial/aaps-v-abim-amended-complaint-10-21-2024.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) against ABIM brought by the right-wing, anti-vax physician group American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, which was deeply involved in the promotion of [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/as-maha-looms-a-look-back-on-magas-big-hcq-lie/?ref=importantcontext.news) for COVID. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Kennedy himself has gone to bat legally to protect his “early treatment” physician allies from accountability. He served as legal counsel in [*Kory v. Bonta*](https://casetext.com/case/kory-v-bonta-6?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Plaintiffs%2DAppellants%20are%20California%20physicians,the%20medical%20profession%20in%20California.), a case brought by Kory and other misinformation-peddling doctors against the California Attorney General and executives of the state’s medical boards regarding state law [AB2098](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202120220AB2098&ref=importantcontext.news). Signed in 2022 and repealed the following year, AB2098 sought to put pressure on [stagnant medical boards](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07/26/covid-misinformation-doctor-discipline/?ref=importantcontext.news) to take action against licensees spreading dangerous COVID misinformation. Kennedy has [referred](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-trump-health-secretary-anti-vaccine-rcna167588?ref=importantcontext.news) to Kory as “a brave dissident doctor” and CHD has [promoted](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/i-watched-weeks-worth-rfk-jrs-fear-inducing-tv-channel?ref=importantcontext.news) Kory’s book, *The War on Ivermectin*. In turn, Kory [supported](https://www.vice.com/en/article/robert-f-kennedy-jr-gives-the-game-away/?ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy’s presidential run, appearing at a health policy round table Zoom call early on in the campaign. Kory and Marik became increasingly active in MAGA world in the lead up to November’s election once Kennedy had dropped out to support Trump. Kory shared the stage with Kennedy and Johnson at the pre-election “[Rescue the Republic](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/2022-defeat-the-mandates-rally-returns-now-rescue-the-republic/?ref=importantcontext.news)” rally in Washington shortly after Kennedy launched his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement with Trump. The weekend ahead of the election, Marik appeared at the [conference and gala](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) for the Brownstone Institute, a dark money anti-public health group that has supported Kennedy and lists the FLCCC as a “friend” on its website. Brownstone has also received Crary money, and the institute’s founder Jeffrey Tucker appeared in *Covid Collateral*. The FLCCC has undergone some restructuring over the past year, notably with Kory [stepping down](https://imahealth.org/honoring-dr-pierre-kory/?ref=importantcontext.news) as leader of the group for the role of President Emeritus last May and founding member [Dr. Joseph Varon](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/joseph-varon-covid-vaccine-rfk-19822203.php?ref=importantcontext.news) stepping up to fill his vacancy. Varon was a co-author on the FLCCC’s first COVID-19 paper in 2020 regarding a hospital protocol which was [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/11/09/bad-math-covid-treatment-paper-by-pierre-kory-retracted-for-flawed-results/?ref=importantcontext.news) the following year. Marik’s hospital had alerted the journal that he had massively underreported the mortality rate in the treatment group, making the protocol appear more effective than it actually was. This protocol would later go on to contain ivermectin. The FLCCC [still promotes it](https://imahealth.org/?s=MATH%2B&id=6377&ref=importantcontext.news) on its website despite the retraction of the original paper. Last month, Varon [announced](https://x.com/joevaron/status/1867726007534329979?ref=importantcontext.news) the group was launching its own medical journal. Kory and Marik sit on the [editorial board](https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/editorial-board/?ref=importantcontext.news) for a new Wordpress blog masquerading as a medical journal, “[Science, Public Health Policy and the Law](https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/?ref=importantcontext.news),” which has [promoted](https://theunbiasedscipod.substack.com/p/anatomy-of-a-failure-why-this-latest) the false claim that vaccines are linked to autism. This debunked claim originated from disgraced former physician and Kennedy ally Andrew Wakefield. The Editor-in-Chief of the new “journal” is James Lyons-Weiler, a long-time colleague of Kennedy’s. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The FLCCC also recently launched an international [fellowship program](https://imahealth.org/about/senior-fellows/?ref=importantcontext.news). One of their fellows is Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, who has been one the more extreme end of the MAHA movement. Bowden previously [sued the Food and Drug Administration](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/ivermectin-doctors-take-to-the-courts/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Marik over the agency’s social media posts advising against the use of ivermectin for COVID and launched a super PAC to support political candidates who vowed to pull the COVID vaccines from the market. She recently had a contentious discussion with MAHA insider and wellness influencer Calley Means on a [recent podcast appearance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjj2EoElFg&ref=importantcontext.news), criticizing him and his sister, Dr. Casey Means, for not being sufficiently anti-vax. While the FLCCC’s leadership is in lockstep with Kennedy, the rebranding as IMA also serves to help the group expand its focus beyond the COVID pandemic from which they emerged prominent on the right but nowhere else. Having previously promoted ivermectin for [RSV and flu](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/02/26/ivermectin-use-covid-flu-rsv/?ref=importantcontext.news), in addition to COVID and [long COVID](https://www.statnews.com/2022/07/26/ivermectin-has-become-a-popular-treatment-for-long-covid-with-a-push-from-doctors-with-ties-to-right-wing-political-groups/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=FLCCC%20does%20not%20cite%20specific,experts%2C%E2%80%9D%20reads%20the%20website.), FLCCC leadership has now been pitching the anti-parasitic [as a cancer treatment](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/covid-19-antivax-quacks-are-now-repurposing-ivermectin-for-cancer/?ref=importantcontext.news). Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist, has [raised alarms](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/paul-marik-disparaging-chemotherapy-in-order-to-sell-cancer-quackery/?ref=importantcontext.news) about Marik’s disparaging of established cancer treatments in his promotion of the drug for yet another condition without sufficient scientific evidence. And they plan to expand further. The FLCCC has [claimed](https://imahealth.org/honest-medicine-has-arrived/?ref=importantcontext.news) the group will be working on treatments for “diabetes, early dementia and Alzheimer’s, Women’s Health, and other pressing healthcare issues.” ### Trump’s Acting NIH Director Cast Doubt On COVID Vaccines At Event Full Of Corporate Allies URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trumps-acting-nih-director-cast-doubt/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:40.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Donald Trump’s acting director of the National Institutes of Health cast doubt on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines during a panel discussion this summer with the president’s pick to ultimately lead the agency. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On January 22, the Trump administration named Dr. Matthew Memoli as acting director of the NIH. A veteran of the agency and researcher whose focus has been on influenza and other infectious diseases, Memoli was a vocal opponent of COVID vaccine mandates and a proponent of “natural immunity” to the disease, meaning immunity arising from infection. In 2021, Memoli famously clashed with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling him over email that mandates were “extraordinarily problematic” and explaining, “I think the way we are using the vaccines is wrong.” Memoli himself [applied for vaccine exemptions](https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/580557-senior-nih-expert-pushes-back-on-growing-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news) and argued that blanket vaccination policies would be harmful, possibly preventing more robust immunity from infection at the population level. Instead, he suggested vaccination be for the vulnerable only. The COVID vaccines have [saved](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives?ref=importantcontext.news) millions of American lives and prevented more than $1 trillion in economic damages according to research from the Commonwealth Fund. At the symposium, which was stacked with corporate allies, Memoli reiterated his skepticism of the mRNA COVID jabs criticizing the U.S. vaccination campaign, mitigation measures more broadly, and the NIH itself. The focus of the symposium, which occurred last June, was “ideological capture of universities and institutions.” The event was hosted by the New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college in Sarasota that Gov. Ron DeSantis has sought to [transform](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/us/new-college-florida-desantis.html?ref=importantcontext.news) into a conservative stronghold. Opening remarks were given by Richard Corcoran, the school’s president who was chosen by a board of trustees stacked with DeSantis appointees. The governor had previously appointed Cocoran commissioner of education in 2018\. Before that, he was the GOP speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. The event sponsor was the Global Liberty Institute, a dark money outfit headed up by two senior fellows at the right-wing Hoover Institution at Stanford University: former Trump adviser and radiologist Dr. Scott Atlas, who was cited in a House report for playing an instrumental role in getting the White House to scale down COVID testing early on in the pandemic, and economist Joshua Rauh. Atlas spoke at the event on a panel with Memoli. A number of the other panelists were affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, a business-aligned right-wing think tank founded in 1938 by a number of executives from companies like Chrysler, Eli Lilly, and General Mills. AEI has become a force in American politics fighting for corporate interests with financial backing from ultra-wealthy individuals and families. For example, Stand Together Trust, a dark money funding outfit affiliated with petrochemical billionaire Charles Koch, gave the group $750,000 in 2023. AEI’s board of directors, meanwhile, is made up of leading business and financial executives—overwhelmingly white men. They include the CEO of Dell, the CEO of State Farm, a top investment asset management executive, a packaging company CEO, a real estate developer, a private equity CEO, and others. Peter H. Coors, of the Coors brewing family, is the board chairman. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The [panel](https://cosm.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Syposium-Proceedings.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) Memoli spoke on, which was led by Atlas, was focused on “science & public health.” They were joined by [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), a health economist from Stanford and the Hoover Institution. Bhattacharya, who advised the president during his first term, is Trump’s pick to ultimately lead the NIH and has been one of the most prolific advocates of a right-wing COVID herd immunity strategy based on mass infection of the population for the sake of economic normalcy. Atlas and Bhattacharya have cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines. The former called the shots “[experimental](https://x.com/scottatlas%5Fit/status/1828797936685183301?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and [suggested](https://x.com/scottatlas%5Fit/status/1748018838673789168?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) they ought not have been given to children. The latter, meanwhile, has been an ally of Robert Kennedy Jr. and other anti-vaxxers. As *The Globe and Mail* reported, he was recently [part of a task force](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-alberta-releases-secret-report-into-the-provinces-covid-response/?ref=importantcontext.news) organized by the right-wing premier of Alberta, Canada, Danielle Smith, which, among other things, [advised](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/a-canadian-province-released-a-covid) the government restricting the use of mRNA vaccines. The report, which the president of the Alberta Medical Association [called](https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-doctors-slam-government-covid-19-report-misinformation?ref=importantcontext.news) “anti-science” and “anti-evidence” also defended the use of ivermectin as a COVID treatment despite a body of research indicating it is not effective against the disease, and cast doubt on the efficacy of proven measures like masking. Both men were also involved in the planning and execution of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document written and signed at a conference hosted by a Koch-supported libertarian think tank, American Institute for Economic Research, which articulated the herd immunity plan. Atlas provided organizational help from within the Trump administration, securing travel arrangements for one of the co-authors, while Bhattacharya co-authored the document. On the panel, Memoli praised his contrarian counterparts, telling the audience he felt “honored sharing the stage with these two gentlemen” and adding “It really is an honor to be up here with them.” “I know you’re probably looking at them and saying, who is this? What am I doing up here with them?” he said. Memoli expressed his misgivings about the proven mRNA COVID vaccines, describing an interaction he’d had with a Moderna scientist to cast support for the widespread use of the shots—and pandemic control efforts generally—as a mistake. “I explained to this person some of the concerns I had regarding safety, and we were talking about how, you really don’t have control of the mRNA—it can go anywhere in the body, it could go to the heart and cause inflammation,” Memoli said. “And this person, who I think is a very good scientist and a very smart person, acted like they had never even thought about this, or that this was completely new information that they had never heard before.” “I was sort of shocked, but then I started thinking about it,” he continued. “This person has a very particular specialty in science and just doesn’t think about anything else other than that particular thing. So they’re not thinking about, you know, the whole person or what the consequences are.” Memoli called the incident a “microcosm of the whole reaction to the pandemic,” claiming that the U.S. “did a bunch of things with tunnel vision, looking solely at, we’re trying to stop the spread, or we’re trying to do this or that, but not thinking about all the consequences.” “This is not what a good physician scientist should be doing or a good scientist for that matter,” he said. At another point in the discussion, Memoli criticized the NIH, claiming that it would pick a “winner,” meaning a theory or direction to funnel money toward. While he did acknowledge that he was “not involved in funding decisions,” he suggested there may be ulterior motives beyond public health. “During the pandemic, it was all mRNA, right? And to some degree, we’re still talking about that,” he said. “So there’s like, a direction, and everything goes that direction. And what I don’t understand about that is, is that just somebody’s arbitrary decision? Is that some sort of financial decision that’s being made?” Later, Memoli again praised Bhattacharya after he claimed that the Great Barrington Declaration’s strategy of deliberately pursuing mass infection of the “healthy” population to achieve herd immunity rapidly—a strategy slammed by public health groups and the World Health Organization’s director-general—was an “old pandemic plan.” **“**What you’re really getting at is that for every recommendation a doctor makes, a free human being needs to make a decision if that’s right for them,” he said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Memoli has long been a favorite of anti-vaxxers despite his long tenure in government for his vocal opposition to vaccine mandates in 2021 and views about the COVID vaccines. For example, Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense, which [hailed](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/nih-matthew-memoli-vaccine-mandates-ethics/?ref=importantcontext.news) him as “Top NIH Unvaxxed Scientist Willing to Lose Job and License.” The piece was republished on the [website](https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/11/no%5Fauthor/top-nih-unvaxxed-scientist-willing-to-lose-job-and-license-will-argue-against-vaccine-mandates-in-livestreamed-ethics-review/?ref=importantcontext.news) of anarcho-capitalist and former John Bircher Lew Rockewell. Rockewell is famous for founding the Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, which the Southern Poverty Law Center included in a 2000 [report](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/neo-confederates/?ref=importantcontext.news) called “The Neo-Confederates.” The report notes that Rockwell was listed as a “founding member” on the website of the white supremacist, neo-Confederate group League of the South. The anarcho-capitalist is also known for his work for former Texas Congressman Ron Paul—specifically, as the founder and vice president of Ron Paul & Associates, which published infamously racist and homophobic newsletters. Memoli’s ascension to acting NIH director was celebrated by Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker, who [worked as an assistant to Rockwell](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) in the 1980s and who is also named in the SPLC report as a founding member of League of the South. In a [piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-big-freeze-at-hhs-cdc-and-nih/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the Trump administration’s communications freeze at critical public health agencies, Tucker, who has previously [called](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) the COVID vaccines Bill Gates’ “potions,” wrote that the doctor “remains in that position until the man once called a ‘fringe epidemiologist’ by the previous head of NIH takes full control.” “This is as close to revolution and counterrevolution as you will find in a democratic society,” Tucker wrote. ### Right-Wing Dark Money Pushed For Trump’s WHO Exit URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/right-wing-dark-money-pushed-for/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:40.000Z Donald Trump had barely been sworn in when he put pen to paper and announced the U.S. [withdrawal](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-the-worldhealth-organization/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN agency charged with overseeing global health. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The move was part of a suite of day-one executive orders by the returning president and came as no surprise. Not only did it mark the fulfillment of a campaign promise, it represented the resumption of an unfinished plan from his first term. In July 2020, with his reelection prospects faltering over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump had turned his ire on the international body, accusing it of mismanagement and announcing that the U.S. would withdraw. However, thanks to a 1948 U.S. resolution mandating a year’s notice and the payment of whatever outstanding funds are owed before exiting the WHO, it was never completed, and President Biden reversed course. But now back in the White House, Trump is finishing what he started. “The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states,” the White House announcement read. “In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments.” As much the order represented a personal victory for Trump, it was also a win for business-aligned right-wing dark money groups, which have long been mobilizing against the WHO as the agency has been hammering out details of a [pandemic preparedness treaty](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/covid-contrarians-protest-whos-efforts-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) meant to enable better international cooperation in the face of infectious disease threats. One of the major organizations working to undermine the treaty was the Heritage Foundation, arguably the most influential right-wing think tank in America, which once boasted of its influence on Trump’s COVID response in its 2020 annual [report](https://www.heritage.org/annual-report-2020/fighting-for-lives-and-livelihoods/?ref=importantcontext.news). Heritage, which was founded in the early 1970s with funding from beer magnate Joseph Coors and has long received contributions from major corporate interests and the ultra-wealthy like billionaire Charles Koch, opposed public health efforts to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To that end, it amplified misinformation and contrarian voices and even published a reopening plan early in 2020 before vaccines were available. “Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the atrocious World Health Organization 🔥,” the official Heritage X account [posted](https://x.com/heritage/status/1881517024192405597?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) along with a video of the signing. Heritage has been churning out anti-WHO reports and commentary for years. In February 2023, the group published a [report](https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/report/why-the-us-should-oppose-the-new-draft-who-pandemic-treaty?ref=importantcontext.news) detailing why the U.S. should oppose the zero draft of the pandemic treaty, noting that it would “trampl\[e\] intellectual property rights” and give the WHO unfettered access to 20 percent of the production of pandemic-preparedness goods such as vaccines and PPE. In actuality, however, the World Trade Organization will [continue](https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/28/wto-covid-pandemic-treaty-vaccines-patents-intellectual-property/?ref=importantcontext.news) to [govern](https://www.wto.org/english/tratop%5Fe/trips%5Fe/pharmpatent%5Fe.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) intellectual property rights. Moreover, the pandemic access and benefit-sharing (PABS) system in the draft treaty would not have given the WHO unfettered access to pandemic-related goods. While it did reserve 20 percent of pandemic-related products arising from the PABS system for the WHO, just 10 percent would have been in the form of a donation to the organization. The other 10 percent would have been at “affordable” prices. The Heritage report also claimed that the draft treaty constituted an assault on free speech partially due to language about tackling mis- and disinformation. The zero draft called for educational and awareness programs on pandemics and the effects as well as effective risk communication and management of “infodemics” through “effective channels, including social media.” Heritage also attacked the treaty’s emphasis on “equity”and called the document, as a whole, “significantly flawed.” In June, Heritage published a [piece](https://www.heritage.org/public-health/commentary/who-provided-lesson-how-not-prevent-future-pandemics?ref=importantcontext.news) dubbing the treaty “a WHO-provided lesson in how not to prevent future pandemics.” It excoriated the international agency for failing to ensure transparency from countries like China and instead focusing “on resource and technology transfers to developing countries (including China), encouraging overriding intellectual-property rights, and creating a new WHO bureaucracy to oversee distribution and manufacturing of pandemic-related materials such as vaccines.” Heritage’s infamous [Project 2025](https://static.project2025.org/2025%5FMandateForLeadership%5FFULL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) roadmap for a second Trump term, “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” also took aim at the WHO, accusing the international agency of “corruption” throughout the COVID pandemic and citing it as an example of the “danger that international organizations pose to U.S. citizens and interests.” While “Mandate for Leadership” did not immediately call for withdrawal from the WHO, it did demand that the U.S. “end blind support for international organizations” and add that “serious consideration should also be given to withdrawal from organizations that no longer have value, quietly undermine U.S. interests or goals, or disproportionately rely on U.S. financial contributions to survive.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Heritage is not the only dark money outfit that has been targeting the WHO. In February 2024, Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been [designated](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/alliance-defending-freedom/?ref=importantcontext.news) as an anti-LGBTQIA+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, also [highlighted](https://adfinternational.org/news/who-pandemic-treaty-censorship-infodemic?ref=importantcontext.news) language in the zero draft of the treaty related to misinformation and disinformation as a threat to “freedom of expression.” “The current draft of the WHO Pandemic Agreement implies that people must be protected from ‘information’ that could subjectively be labelled ‘misleading’ or simply considered ‘too much’ by authorities,” said Giorgio Mazzoli, the group’s director of UN advocacy. Like Heritage, ADF is backed by major wealthy interests. In 2023, for example, Stand Together Trust, one of the dark money funding vehicles affiliated with Koch, gave it [$895,000](https://standtogethertrust.org/app/uploads/2024/12/Stand-Together-Trust-2023-Form-990-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). Meanwhile, a coalition of right-wing and conspiracy-promoting anti-vaccine dark money groups and individuals signed onto a “declaration” demanding the U.S. withdraw from the WHO over the pandemic treaty. The so-called American Sovereignty Declaration lambasted the agency for allegedly covering up COVID’s origins (zoonosis remains the favored explanation by experts) and accused it of being “underwritten and malignly influenced by other hostile special interests, including Bill Gates and Big Pharma.” “Their efforts to expand the WHO’s supranational control align with Beijing’s,” it read. The declaration claimed that the treaty would empower the agency to impose “vaccine passports” adding that “Once combined with an interoperable, global Central Bank Digital Currencies (also under development and backed by the Chinese Communist Party, the Biden administration, the World Economic Forum, World Bank, G20, and other supranational globalist organizations), the WHO could enforce its medical tyranny by severing unvaccinated individuals from their bank accounts and credit cards.” Behind the declaration was the so-called Sovereignty Coalition, which was formed in June 2023 by the Center for Security Policy, an anti-Muslim think tank that authored guidelines the Trump administration referenced when it proposed its “Muslim ban,” and Women's Rights Without Frontiers, a group that campaigns against forced sterilization and abortion in China as it relates to the now-defunct “One Child Policy.” The Center for Security Policy has received funding from major right-wing groups sources including [$275,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/251113452/202403209349104590/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Sarah Scaife Foundation, which also gave $200,000 to Heritage. The private foundation—one of the Scaife foundations affiliated with the Mellon family and the late billionaire industrialist Richard Mellon Scaife—is headed up by [Michael Gleba](https://www.heritage.org/staff/michael-w-gleba?ref=importantcontext.news), who is also a Heritage trustee. It has been a major funder of causes like climate change denial and of pro-business, right-wing groups. Among the declaration’s [signatories](https://web.archive.org/web/20241223102302/https://sovereigntycoalition.org/) were a number of well-funded right-wing dark money groups. For example, there was Tea Party Patriots Action, the social welfare arm of Tea Party Patriots, which was organized by FreedomWorks, a group that spun out of the Koch political influence network. TPP Action helped fuel anti-COVID lockdown demonstrations across the U.S. in early 2020 and [provided funding](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tea%5FParty%5FPatriots?ref=importantcontext.news) for the misinformation-spreading, pro-Trump doctor group America’s Frontline Doctors. In the summer of 2021, TTP Action published a parents’ [how-to guide](https://www.teapartypatriots.org/stop-medical-mandates-how-to-guide/?ref=importantcontext.news) to “stop medical mandates”—mask and vaccine requirements and school closures. Another signatory was the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, a dark money group established to undermine and politicize pandemic control measures. The group has ties to key appointees in the Trump administration, including Robert Kennedy Jr. (Health and Human Services), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (National Institutes of Health), and Dr. Marty Makary (Food and Drug Administration). Brownstone’s funding is opaque, but *Important Context* has previously [revealed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute) several of the sources. The group was founded in 2021 by anarcho-capitalist Jeffrey Tucker, a longtime veteran of the world of right-wing dark money. Tucker was previously the editorial director of the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank that has received some funding from Koch’s foundation and got $100,000 from the Sarah Scaife Foundation in 2023. Like Heritage, Brownstone has sought to undermine the WHO. In August 2023, it launched a project called “Re-Evaluating the Pandemic Preparedness And REsponse agenda,” or [REPPARE](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), with the University of Leeds in the UK and the University of Ghent in Belgium. The project aims to rework the global framework for future pandemic responses from international organizations like the WHO. The REPPARE group published a report last February devaluing the risk of pandemic spread and stating, “The urgency involved in the pandemic preparedness agenda is either contrary to evidence or poorly supported by it.” The report goes on to note that the WHO, the G20 and the World Bank conducts analyses that are “disappointing in terms of scholarship and balance” and that such data and reporting is overemphasized for fiscal gain. Negotiations for the WHO treaty began in 2021 with the aim of creating a legally binding framework for member states’ role in pandemic preparedness, prevention and response that builds upon the existing International Health Regulations. The proposals have included taking a One Health approach to future pandemics, meaning studying how animal, human, and environmental health intersect. But multiple rounds of negotiations have [failed](https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pandemic-agreement-fractures-latest-negotiations?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20global%20COVID-19%20disaster%20prompted%20proposals%20for,instrument%20on%20pandemic%20prevention,%20preparedness%20and%20response) to produce consensus and many uncertainties remain. Right-wing dark money groups have made the difficult negotiations even more fraught, riling people up. Last January, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [lamented](https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q243?ref=importantcontext.news) the “torrent of fake news, lies, and conspiracy theories” directed toward the treaty and the agency. This past May, all 49 Senate Republicans sent a [letter](https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-johnson-senate-gop-demand-biden-reject-unacceptable-who-agreements/?ref=importantcontext.news) to then-President Biden calling the WHO “dysfunctional” and for a withdrawal of his administration’s support of the draft pandemic treaty. A final vote on the treaty is expected before May 2025, after a lack of consensus delayed the timeline from May of last year. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In the wake of Trump’s order, public health experts took to social media to express their alarm at the prospect of a U.S. withdrawal from the WHO. The agency has played a key role in providing support for countries facing diseases like Ebola, Zika, polio and, of course, COVID-19. Dr. Martin McKee, a professor of public health and former president of the European Public Health Association, [warned](https://bsky.app/profile/martinmckee.bsky.social/post/3lgahl4t4c22o?ref=importantcontext.news) that Trump’s decision threatened to “weaken WHO, isolate the US, and undermine global health diplomacy when unity is most needed.” Vaccine scientist and pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez, meanwhile, [tweeted](https://x.com/peterhotez/status/1881519549322834183?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that he expected the exit to “weaken our nation’s biosecurity/pandemic preparedness at a time when pathogens like H5N1, SARS-like CoVs, dengue/arboviruses accelerating bc climate change/urbanization.” The coming U.S. exit from the WHO will not only hurt the agency, costing it its largest donor and approximately [16 percent](https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-the-world-health-organization/?ref=importantcontext.news) of its funding—well over $1 billion in 2022 and 2023 combined. It will also mean the severing of ties between the WHO and the FDA and CDC at a critical time when the U.S. is facing spiraling avian flu outbreaks among livestock across the nation. In 2020, ProPublica [reported](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-trump-administrations-decision-to-leave-the-world-health-organization?ref=importantcontext.news) that former Trump administration officials worried that leaving the WHO would impact the near-eradication of wild-type polio, which has since seen a resurgence in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite global efforts. In 2022, an adult in New York City was diagnosed with polio—the first case in the U.S. in almost a decade. The same year, the polio virus was found in the wastewater in counties in the New York area. The WHO exit is not the only controversial public health decision Trump has made in the first days of his presidency. The president [issued](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/health/hhs-cdc-fda-trump-pause-communication/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) a directive to pause all public communications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. The directive will be in place until February 1, according to a follow-up memo, and require all communications to be approved by a political appointee. ### Biden Administration Pandemic Roadmap Reflects Right-Wing Pressure URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/biden-administration-pandemic-roadmap/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:41.000Z With all eyes focused on Trump administration confirmation hearings, the Biden White House released its “roadmap” for combating infectious diseases. The 16-page document released Tuesday represents a public version of a 300-page report the outgoing administration is providing its successor. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The [document](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/14/report-the-biden-harris-administration-roadmap-for-pandemic-preparedness-and-response/?ref=importantcontext.news), which comes as the U.S. enters its fifth year of living with COVID-19 and amid [warnings](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-america-lost-control-of-the-bird-flu-and-raised-the-risk-of-another-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) from experts that the country is not doing enough to combat avian flu, touts the efforts of the administration to counter infectious disease threats. The report discusses efforts to contain threats like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, monkeypox, and H5N1\. For example, it boasts that the Biden White House oversaw the creation of the largest free vaccine distribution program in U.S. history with the pandemic. “In President Biden’s first year of office, the Biden-Harris Administration worked hand-in-hand with doctors, nurses, businesses, unions, community organizations, governors, mayors, and citizens across every state, Tribe, and territory to put vaccines at the center of the United States’ COVID-19 response,” it reads. “These vaccines still remain the best tools available to lower the risk of hospitalization and death.” The roadmap is organized by headings like “Supporting Community-Based Organizations in Vaccine Outreach to High-Risk Communities” and “Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery.” But what the document does not include is telling and reflective of the pressure the White House faced from the political right. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Political Pressure The COVID pandemic hit the U.S. harder than its peer nations, killing more than 1.2 million Americans to date and leaving millions more suffering long COVID. Most of the deaths—at least 800,000–occurred after Biden was sworn into office in late January 2021\. Yet, the roadmap the administration released does not include an acknowledgment of that staggering loss of life on the president’s watch, nor does it include an analysis of how those deaths could have been prevented. There is no mention, for example, of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which had the power to create emergency safety rules for workplaces—something Biden promised to do on the campaign trail but ultimately abandoned. When the president did finally utilize OSHA it was to create a vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses which was struck down in court. The mandate also does not make an appearance in the roadmap. Similarly, there is no mention of air filtration or upgrading ventilation to address airborne disease threats in schools or workplaces. There is just one mention of paid sick leave in the context of partnering with local Chambers of Commerce to encourage employers to provide it to their workers. Quarantine measures are totally absent and there is exploration of the efficacy of closures, which are mentioned in the beginning of the report as a negative. The most notable omission, however, is the lack of discussion about combatting misinformation. The roadmap only includes one reference to misinformation in the context of measles. Pediatric measles vaccination has plummeted since the onset of the pandemic, but the issue runs much deeper. The COVID pandemic saw the deliberate proliferation of vaccine misinformation for political reasons. The results were devastating: hundreds of thousands of preventable American deaths. Business-aligned right-wing dark money groups like the [Heritage Foundation](https://www.heritage.org/press/national-coronavirus-recovery-commission-announces-five-phase-plan-reopening-america?ref=importantcontext.news), allied media, and Republican politicians, were [already working to politicize public health](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) efforts to combat the spread of COVID when Biden took office. Measures like lockdowns and [school closures](https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) were seen as simply too economically disruptive to justify the benefits. These organizations and individuals worked to muddy the waters around the threat of the virus, downplaying the seriousness of the disease it caused and promoting an untested herd immunity strategy based on mass infection and “natural immunity.” They also cast doubt on the death numbers and politicized the origins of the virus to undermine faith in experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Evidence [still points](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03982-2?ref=importantcontext.news) to natural spillover and that explanation has [long been favored](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news) by virologists and epidemiologists. While early on in the pandemic, support for mitigation measures was strong across the board, over time, COVID cautiousness became a partisan indicator, putting pressure on political leaders looking to protect their constituents. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for example, faced angry, armed right-wing crowds outside her home and at the state capital demanding normalcy and was even targeted in a kidnapping plot. Although opponents of mitigation measures never constituted anything near a majority, their demeanor and aggressiveness made up the difference. Biden rode a promise to control the pandemic into the White House. But with victory came the fraught political landscape. It was not just right-wing groups opposing COVID mitigation measures, it was [major industries](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/lobbied-by-impacted-industries-white). Between that opposition and an increasingly radicalized contingent of Americans demanding normalcy, the pressure was on. But promising early data about the efficacy of the new vaccines developed through Operation Warp Speed against transmission offered a potential easy solution—one seemingly everyone could get behind. As one administration staffer told *The Washington Post*, the plan quickly became “vaccine our way out” of the crisis. The new president quickly pivoted away from closures, even announcing before taking office that school reopening would be a first 100-day priority. The focus became inoculation—getting shots in arms as quickly as possible. For a time, the virus and the public seemed to cooperate. Deaths were already dropping by Inauguration Day and the trend would largely continue until early summer. It wasn’t long, however, before the same forces that had politicized pandemic closures came after the vaccines too, casting doubt on their safety and efficacy. Over time, the alignment between the mainstream political right and the so-called medical “freedom” movement would become clearer, culminating in Robert Kennedy Jr.’s pro-Trump Make America Healthy Again movement. Partisanship became a risk factor for COVID death and hospitalization as skepticism toward the vaccines became widespread, particularly on the right. By late summer 2021, COVID was roaring back thanks to the delta variant. In the face of the rising death toll, the Biden administration took two key steps: mobilizing OSHA to implement a vaccine mandate for large businesses and attempting to work with social media companies to address misinformation on their platforms. The latter effort involved private content moderation requests and, when that failed, public shaming of companies like Facebook. The administration’s limited efforts faced right-wing backlash—and legal challenges. The vaccine-or-test mandate was struck down in court in January 2022\. Several months later, two GOP attorneys general launched a lawsuit alleging that the administration had engaged in unconstitutional censorship of dissenting voices through communications with social media giants. The *Missouri v. Biden* suit—later *Murthy v. Missouri—was* later joined by private plaintiffs, including prominent COVID misinformation spreaders who were popular on the right represented by a lawfare group funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. Although the case [ultimately failed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) at the highest level with the Supreme Court ruling 6-3 that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the government had actually harmed them—a majority opinion authored by conservative Amy Coney Barrett—the lawfare worked to cow the administration. The new, public pandemic roadmap does not include anything about working with or pressuring social media companies into doing more to protect their users against dangerous misinformation. In a recent [interview](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/01/12/xavier-becerra-hhs-secretary/?ref=importantcontext.news), outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who oversaw the effort to combat online misinformation, admitted, “I can’t go toe to toe with social media,” citing the *Murthy* case and other litigation. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Unreceptive Audience The release of the roadmap comes at a critical time. With avian flu spreading across the country, the need for cooperation between the outgoing and incoming administrations is clear. It is unclear, however, the impact the Biden White House’s roadmap will have on the incoming Trump administration. The president-elect, who is promising to slash government waste, has named a number of individuals to top public health positions who were instrumental in politicizing the COVID pandemic. Some of those individuals, like [Dr. Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), the pick for Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, and [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), who is set to lead the National Institutes of Health, were opponents of measures touted in the Biden White House report, like COVID testing. In May 2022, for example, Makary took to Twitter to [decry](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1523445226223808512?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) how the administration was trying to fund “the testing-industrial complex to over-test immune students.” Bhattacharya, meanwhile, who was also a plaintiff in the *Murthy* case, suing the administration for allegedly censoring him, suggested there may be ulterior motives for the testing push. “As the Biden Administration spends billions more on "free" covid tests, a reminder from @unherd that there are politically well-connected experts who head up testing companies who stand to gain financially from the decision,” he [tweeted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1706718758629523735?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in September 2023. ### As California Burns, Here’s What You Need to Know About Trump EPA Pick URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/as-california-burns-heres-what-you/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T19:56:22.000Z Southern California is ablaze with devastating wildfires ripping through communities, destroying homes and lives. The fires have caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, displaced about 180,000 individuals, and killed at least five in the Los Angeles area. The largest, in the Pacific Palisades, has grown to nearly 20,000 acres. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Behind the conflagration, experts agree, is human-driven climate change, which fuels extreme weather. In California, a deadly combination of high winds and what the *Association Press* [*called*](https://apnews.com/article/fire-devastation-climate-change-santa-ana-winds-a46e2bb6785b1e325f6076fb22c8fcc5?ref=importantcontext.news) “weather whiplash”—a period of heavy rainfall which saw significant plant growth followed by extreme drought—set the stage for the destruction currently unfolding. What is happening in California is a sign of the times. Experts have been [warning](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c?ref=importantcontext.news) about the devolving climate crisis for decades, and humanity is fast approaching a tipping point. Without significant, coordinated government action and international cooperation, the crisis will inevitably get worse, affecting communities nationwide and billions of people around the world. The state of the crisis is a testament to the success of the fossil fuel industry and its allies in delaying action. The incoming Trump administration among them has signaled that it intends to ignore and deny the crisis. Donald Trump has [promised](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/texas-environment-trump-biden-climate-change/?ref=importantcontext.news) to roll back the Biden administration’s climate policies and to “[drill, baby, drill](https://youtu.be/XuzIuclViaU?si=x2qDuxyG8JssNt0T&ref=importantcontext.news).” The president-elect used the California fires as an opportunity to [lambast](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-bashes-newsom-worthless-fish-los-angeles-wildfires-1235229278/?ref=importantcontext.news) the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, blaming his water and environmental policies rather than acknowledging the underlying cause. There is perhaps no better indication of Trump’s climate intentions than his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Announced less than a week after the election, former New York congressman and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin has not said anything on X (Twitter) about the fires. In fact, Zeldin’s only tweet about climate change is a [post](https://x.com/leezeldin/status/1501297146997399559?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) from March 2022 attacking two Democratic New York senators as “sick” for “comparing climate change to 9/11 to woo support for their far-left Green New Deal agenda.” “There's NO comparison,” he wrote. “To think these are the people running the show with Hochul is all the more reason to TOSS THEM ALL OUT on Nov 8!” In his announcement, the president-elect called Zeldin “a [true fighter](https://newrepublic.com/post/188268/trump-epa-head-lee-zeldin-destroy-environment?ref=importantcontext.news) for America First policies” who will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions.” [In a post on X](https://x.com/LeeMZeldin/status/1856068555865026956?ref=importantcontext.news), the former congressman replied it would be an honor to join Trump’s cabinet, and added: “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.” Unlike Trump’s first EPA pick, Scott Pruitt, who had a long history of [suing the EPA](https://newrepublic.com/post/188369/lee-zeldin-epa-trump?ref=importantcontext.news) during his time as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Zeldin is not known for his experience in climate and environmental policy. But he does have one attribute Trump looks for in his picks: [loyalty](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/trump-s-defender-how-little-known-gop-lawmaker-became-point-n1076046?ref=importantcontext.news). Zeldin was one of the first Republicans to [endorse](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/12/06/lee-zeldin-evolution-epa-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) Trump’s presidential candidacy in 2016, and he hasn’t left his side ever since. He served as part of the former president’s [defense team](https://jacobin.com/2024/11/trump-epa-zeldin-deregulation-environment?ref=importantcontext.news) during his first impeachment trial. He [voted against](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/climate/trump-chooses-lee-zeldin-to-run-epa.html?ref=importantcontext.news) certifying the results of the 2020 election and even [texted](https://www.easthamptonstar.com/government/20221019/zeldin-text-shows-effort-election-claims?ref=importantcontext.news) the president’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with suggestions as to how to discredit them the day before the race was called for Joe Biden. On January 6, 2021, the day a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, he [gave a speech](https://www.easthamptonstar.com/government/202116/zeldin-house-representatives-protestors-entered-capitol?ref=importantcontext.news) stressing already debunked claims that poll watchers were denied access to vote-counting. Zeldin stuck with Trump despite his [88 indictments](https://project2025admin.com/personnel/lee-zeldin/?ref=importantcontext.news). If he ascends to the top spot at the EPA, Zeldin, who voted to slash the agency’s budget by [25 percent](https://climatepower.us/news/trump-taps-lee-zeldin-who-promises-to-gut-pollution-protections-to-lead-the-epa/?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2017 and has only ever managed a dozen people, will be responsible for its roughly [$10 billion](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-04/fy24-cj-00-overview.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) budget and its [15,000 employees](https://www.eenews.net/articles/ferocious-competitor-what-lee-zeldins-former-colleagues-say-about-him/?ref=importantcontext.news)—as well as the future of the nation’s climate policy. He has already [pledged](https://newrepublic.com/post/188268/trump-epa-head-lee-zeldin-destroy-environment?ref=importantcontext.news) in a Fox News interview to roll back landmark climate regulations starting on day one—regulations that the president-elect has [given](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/who-is-lee-zeldin-donald-trump-epa-nominee/?ref=importantcontext.news) him on a long list. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Breaking Bad** Zeldin has had friends in the fossil fuel industry for years, even if the industry has not always been able to rely on him. According to the watchdog group OpenSecrets, throughout his congressional career, oil and gas represented one of the top industries giving him money—though the contributions came from both political action committees and individuals. Zeldin received over $167,000 from PACs affiliated with the energy and natural resources sector. The PAC for Koch Industries, the petrochemical conglomerate owned by billionaire right-wing powerbroker Charles Koch, [gave](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/koch-industries/C00236489/candidate-recipients/2020?ref=importantcontext.news) him $45,000 between the 2014 and 2020 election cycles. Despite these ties, Zeldin has, on a number of occasions, voted in favor of environmentally friendly policies. As a state senator, before he was in the House, Zeldin supported renewable energy credit tracking. As a Congressman, he backed offshore wind, and when Trump wanted to expand offshore drilling on the east coast, he participated in a hearing with a number of concerned citizens and groups, ultimately voting in favor of a ban on such exploration. Zeldin also backed measures to make coastal areas [more resilient](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/climate/trump-cabinet-stefanik-zeldin-wright.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and voted for a bill to require the EPA to set [limits on PFAS](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/climate/trump-chooses-lee-zeldin-to-run-epa.html?ref=importantcontext.news), known as “forever chemicals.” Despite supporting a cut to the agency’s funding in 2017, in 2021, Zeldin reversed course, voting against an appropriations act amendment to cut the EPA. He [also](https://www.citizenscampaign.org/whats-new-at-cce/2025/1/5/heres-what-lee-zeldins-voting-record-may-mean-for-the-epa?ref=importantcontext.news) voted against an amendment to a different appropriations bill that would have barred the agency from using money to go after greenhouse gas emissions. But his overall record does reflect his alliances with the fossil fuel industry, including earning a [14 percent](https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/lee-zeldin?ref=importantcontext.news) lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters and reportedly voting against the environmental bills [85 percent](https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/trump-cabinet-maga-climate-change-policy-b2649227.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of the time. Even early on, there were indications that he would shift right on climate. In a [2014](https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/lee-zeldin-environmental-protection-agency-donald-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) interview, Zeldin said he was “not sold yet on the whole argument that we have a serious problem” concerning climate change. He served as a [Congressman](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/who-lee-zeldin?ref=importantcontext.news) representing Long Island from 2015 to 2023—a time when the region was home to the state’s [most contaminated](https://jacobin.com/2024/11/trump-epa-zeldin-deregulation-environment?ref=importantcontext.news) drinking water and poorest air quality. Yet, he voted [against](https://www.leezeldinrecord.com/environment?ref=importantcontext.news) clean water rules and voted multiple times to end Clean Air Act standards. Along with his 2017 vote to cut EPA funding, Zeldin voted [against](https://dccc.org/dccc-launches-ad-blitz-zeldin-vote-harvey-relief/?ref=importantcontext.news) disaster relief funds for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The list of Zeldin’s anti-environment moves is long and includes setbacks to all his positive choices. For example, in 2020, on the very same day he voted for PFAS regulation, he also voted against closing a loophole in the Clean Water Act that, in practice, allowed companies to unload unlimited amounts of these chemicals in waterways. All told, Zeldin endorsed [17 bills](https://www.ewgaction.org/protectyourhealth/billsummaries.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that hindered the government's ability to inform the public about toxic chemical risks. As a gubernatorial candidate, he positioned himself even more on the side of fossil fuel interests. He ran on [overturning](https://www.news10.com/news/ny-news/reviewing-trump-epa-admin-nominee-zeldins-environmental-record/?ref=importantcontext.news) New York’s ban on hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, on the grounds that it would bring jobs. He called for the construction of new natural gas pipelines, opposed zero-emission requirements and efforts to transition away from gas stoves. He also vocally opposed congestion pricing. With the election around the corner, Zeldin—still in Congress—voted [against Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act](https://earthjustice.org/feature/trump-nominees-environment?ref=importantcontext.news), which included historic funding for the fight against climate change. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Pathway to 2025** There are other reasons to be skeptical of Zeldin’s potential environmental stewardship as well. He joined the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a right-wing think tank [founded in 2021](https://www.desmog.com/america-first-policy-institute-afpi/?ref=importantcontext.news) by senior advisors to Donald Trump with the goal of promoting his political agenda after he left the White House, including fracking billionaire Tim Dunn. In August 2023, Zeldin was named the group’s Chair of Pathway to 2025 initiative. AFPI received Trump’s blessing from the get go. The group received [$1 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign-america-first-policy-institute.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in donations from his leadership PAC in 2021 alone. All three of its annual fund-raiser galas were hosted in Mar-a-Lago. While AFPI itself is a [501(c)(3) nonprofit](https://web.archive.org/web/20240728091645/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/22/trump-alumni-think-tank-joins-forces-with-america-first-works-dark-money-group.html), its advocacy arm, America First Works, a [501(c)(4) organization](https://web.archive.org/web/20241204203630/https://www.monitoringinfluence.org/org/america-first-works/), is engaged in partisan politics. These groups are well-funded, bringing in [$23.6 million](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/trump-transition-plan-afpi-00176674?ref=importantcontext.news) in revenue in 2022 alone. Neither discloses its donors. During Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, AFPI became one of his primary partners. The group’s Pathway to 2025 initiative produced The America First Agenda policy document, which is a slimmer but equally conservative version of the notorious Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation. Ahead of the election, it had already prepared nearly [300 executive orders](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign-america-first-policy-institute.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for Trump to sign, starting day one. In one of its [chapters](https://agenda.americafirstpolicy.com/assets/uploads/Pillar%5F7%5F-%5FMake%5FAmerica%5FEnergy%5FIndependent.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), the document refers to the Paris Agreement as a “lop-sided, unenforceable, America-last international agreement,” and calls for the U.S. to rescind it—something Zeldin had already backed in a [2022 vote](https://scorecard.lcv.org/roll-call-vote/2022-27-attacking-international-climate-collaboration-1?ref=importantcontext.news). The document also champions an increase in fossil fuel production by “removing undue regulatory constraints.” Unlike its Heritage Foundation counterpart, which AFPI [didn’t sign onto](https://medium.com/3streams/project-2025-has-been-getting-all-the-headlines-its-rival-is-who-i-want-to-hear-from-at-the-rnc-4190bf5f20e5?ref=importantcontext.news), Pathway to 2025 only released the [outline](https://americafirstpolicy.com/assets/uploads/files/AFTP%5F-%5F2-Pager%5F-%5FOpt%5F2.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) of its plans. Given its more discrete approach, the document was never publicly rejected by the president-elect. **Mixed Reactions** News of Zeldin’s appointment drew mixed negative reactions from environmental advocates. Some were wary, noting his past support for environmental policies as well as his turn against them and loyalty to Trump. Adrienne Esposito, the executive director of the Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, whose group has had dealings with Zeldin, [noted](https://www.citizenscampaign.org/whats-new-at-cce/2025/1/5/heres-what-lee-zeldins-voting-record-may-mean-for-the-epa?ref=importantcontext.news) that “Whenever we met with Lee Zeldin on a critical environmental issue, he did respond positively.” ”I wouldn’t say he’s a climate change champion, but I certainly would say that he understands that it’s real, and it’s devastating, and it needs to be addressed,” Epsosito said. However, she did note that congressional representatives are accountable to the people in ways that the EPA administrator is not. Other advocacy groups condemned the choice of Zeldin in no uncertain terms. The Sierra Club, for example, put out a [statement](https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2024/11/lee-zeldin-unqualified-anti-american-worker-nominee-who-will-sell-out-our?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “Lee Zeldin Is an Unqualified, Anti-American Worker Nominee Who Will Sell Out Our Clean Air and Water.” “Naming an unqualified, anti-American worker nominee who opposes efforts to safeguard our clean air and water lays bare Donald Trump’s intentions to, once again, sell our health, our communities, our jobs, and our future out to corporate polluters. Our lives, our livelihoods, and our collective future cannot afford Lee Zeldin – or anyone who seeks to carry out a mission antithetical to the EPA’s mission,” Sierra Club’s executive director Ben Jealous said in the statement. Lori Lodes, the executive director of Climate Power put out her own [statement](https://climatepower.us/news/trump-taps-lee-zeldin-who-promises-to-gut-pollution-protections-to-lead-the-epa/?ref=importantcontext.news). “Big Oil spent millions of dollars propping up Donald Trump’s campaign—and he’s not wasting any time giving them a good return on their investment,” she said. “Lee Zeldin is already promising to slash critical protections as head of the EPA. During Donald Trump’s first term in office, he slashed over 125 environmental protections and let polluters off the hook for putting harmful chemicals into our air and water. Trump’s second term agenda will make our air and water dirtier just to make billionaires and big corporations richer—and Americans will pay the price.” ### Right-Wing Operatives, Anti-Vax Groups Already Working to Politicize Bird Flu URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/right-wing-operatives-anti-vax-groups/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:41.000Z Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the outbreak of avian flu in his state. Two days later, *Kaiser Family Foundation Health* News published an [exposé](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-has-spread-out-of-control-after-mistakes-by-u-s-government-and/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the state of the outbreak. Relying on interviews with “nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, and researchers with expertise in virology, pandemics, veterinary medicine, and more,” the piece concluded that the U.S. had missed a critical window for action. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) For years, the avian flu has been under [surveillance](https://www.who.int/westernpacific/wpro-emergencies/surveillance/avian-influenza?ref=importantcontext.news) by the World Health Organization thanks to its pandemic potential. Now, the disease, which has a [high case fatality rate](https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai%5F20241025.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in humans, is spreading rapidly across the U.S., primarily among dairy cows and chickens though cases have been identified in other animals as well—even [zoo animals](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/19/bird-flu-zoos-endangered-animals-captive-species-lions-tigers-cheetahs-virus?ref=importantcontext.news). To date, there have been 61 identified human cases, including one requiring hospitalization. Although there is no evidence yet of person-to-person transmission, a recent study found that the virus [could mutate](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-virus-is-one-mutation-away-from-adapting-to-human-cells/?ref=importantcontext.news) to attach better to human cells. The *KFF* report blamed the devolving situation on weak governmental responses. Federal authorities, it noted, have thus far treated H5N1 as an agricultural problem (as opposed to a public health issue) and given the uncooperative dairy industry wide latitude. Local officials, meanwhile, have been restrained in their dealings with dairy farmers, who have been withholding information and access to their facilities. That reluctance, *KFF* noted, has been rooted in fear of backlash like what followed COVID-19 mitigation measures. Indeed, pushback against pandemic restrictions was loud and sometimes accompanied by the threat of violence. It was fueled and encouraged by well-funded, business-aligned right-wing dark money groups that saw efforts to contain the SARS-COV-2 virus as too economically disruptive and politically costly. These groups created wedges out of “lockdowns,” school closures, and COVID’s origins (evidence points to natural spillover), using misinformation and innuendo as weapons to undermine faith in government and science. They found natural allies in anti-vaccine groups, which eventually spawned the pro-Trump Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. As of today, the COVID pandemic has killed more than 1.2 million Americans and left millions more suffering lingering health issues. But the U.S. has made no major systemic changes. Although it is not clear if bird flu will actually become a pandemic, some experts [fear the death toll could be even worse](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20241220/How-America-lost-control-of-the-bird-flu-setting-the-stage-for-another-pandemic.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) if it were to do so. In anticipation of such an outcome, some of the prominent individuals and organizations involved in politicizing the COVID response are gearing up to deploy their playbook again. They are laying the foundations for sowing widespread mistrust of experts and government again. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Take Jeffrey Tucker, for example, an organizer of the anti-lockdown [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) and founder of the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), a conspiracy-fueled dark money group dedicated to fighting COVID mitigation measures. Tucker has been downplaying concerns about H5N1 for years, including amid the recent outbreaks. In August 2021, the anarcho-capitalist and [veteran political operative](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) wrote a [piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/half-the-population-could-die-the-great-disease-panic-of-2005-06/?ref=importantcontext.news) published through his institute titled, “‘Half the Population Could Die!’: The Great Disease Panic of 2005-06,” which cast COVID lockdowns as the latest example of governments overstating the threat of viruses. The other example he used was the Bush administration’s plans to combat a potential bird flu pandemic in the mid-aughts. “By January 2006, H5N1 had been blamed for several child deaths in Turkey,” the piece read. “The alarm machine kicked in. The tone was perfectly set by a media apparatus that had only recently discovered the capacity for pandemic threats to drive ratings.” Tucker has gotten new mileage out of his article with the recent U.S. bird flu outbreaks, sharing it several times over the last few months in an apparent effort to downplay the seriousness of the emerging situation. “It's been now 20 years since Anthony Fauci warned that half the population could die from the bird flu!” Tucker [tweeted](https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1865799232591921561?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) earlier this month, sharing the piece. “And yet here we are still, with media freaking out about the same damn thing again!” Brownstone has followed its founder’s lead. The group, which has become a player in the pro-Trump MAHA movement thanks to Tucker’s ties to multiple Trump public health appointees including [Robert Kennedy Jr.](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/right-wing-and-medical-fringe-celebrates) (Health and Human Services), [Dr. Jay Bhattacahrya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) (National Institutes of Health), and [Dr. Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce) (Food and Drug Administration). It has published multiple dismissive and conspiratorial articles about the H5N1 outbreaks. For example, “Is ‘Avian Flu’ Anything to Fear?” was published two months after the [first detection](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/avian-timeline/2020s.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of H5N1 in dairy cows in the U.S. and the first reported case of cow-to-human transmission. The article suggests the concern of public health experts is not merely unwarranted but nefarious. Written by philosophy researcher Bert Olivier of the University of the Free State, a South African public university, and published in May, the piece argued that the emergence of bird flu was a conspiracy by “those who would wield power over us to achieve their goals.” “The growing hype around avian influenza (‘bird flu’) suggests that ‘they’ are priming the rest of us again for something unsettling, something they are probably planning to do – in this case, releasing a virus that is usually only found among animals, mainly (but not exclusively) birds; hence the name,” it claimed. “Remember how, in the months leading up to 2020, hints were dropped intermittently about a pandemic being in the offing, and how ‘[Event 201](https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/tabletop-exercises/event-201-pandemic-tabletop-exercise?ref=importantcontext.news),’ arranged by Bill Gates (in New York during October 2019) in the name of ‘pandemic preparedness,’ coincidentally adumbrated the actual ‘pandemic’ that materialised a few months later?” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Brownstone’s posture is unsurprising. The group has been [trying to weaken](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) global efforts to craft a pandemic preparedness plan with its “Re-Evaluating the Pandemic Preparedness And REsponse agenda” ([REPPARE](https://brownstone.org/articles/reevaluation-pandemic-preparedness-response-agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news)) project, which is a partnership with the University of Leeds in the UK. In May, REPPARE published a [paper](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.13390?ref=importantcontext.news), which was subsequently [shared](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1853279515088499023?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) by Bhattacharya, arguing that the WHO and the World Bank were overstating the threat of future pandemics. It specifically noted that “mortality from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) types H5 and H7 has greatly declined over the past century.” Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, meanwhile, has been politicizing bird flu on his *War Room* broadcast on the right-wing Real America’s Voice television network. Early on in the pandemic, Bannon and his business partner, [Chinese billionaire fraudster Guo Wengui](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2024/08/miles-guo-wengui-fredericks-rav/?ref=importantcontext.news), were critical in [spreading](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory. Early on in the pandemic, the claim was used by right-wing media to provide cover for the flailing Trump White House. With the bird flu outbreaks, *War Room* has engaged in similar activity, pushing conspiracy theories about the virus—its origins and the expert concern over its outbreaks. In July, *War Room* published a [piece](https://warroom.org/biden-pandemic-firm-backed-ukraine-bird-flu-researc/?ref=importantcontext.news) on its website tying bird flu to Hunter Biden, Ukrainian laboratories, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Obama’s Department of Defense. “An investment firm directed by President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was a leading financial backer of a pandemic tracking and response firm that collaborated on bird flu research in Ukrainian laboratories, receiving funds from the Obama administration’s Department of Defense in the process,” it read. The piece was written by Natalie Winters, who was identified by *Important Context* as having been part of a [reputation-laundering writing scheme](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/chinese-dissident-secretly-recruited) for Guo organized by the fraudster billionaire’s operatives. Winters [teased](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bannon-s-war-room/id1485351658?i=1000663855447&ref=importantcontext.news) her article on the *War Room* podcast that day, suggesting that Fauci had been manipulating the bird flu virus through “gain-of-function” research, like he supposedly had with SARS-CoV-2. “Anthony Fauci in concert with NGO organizations, oftentimes led by Bill Gates, have been funding bird flu research in the same vein, in the same style of COVID-19, the sort of gain of function manipulation, learning how to insert whether it's cleavage sites or certain proteins to make this virus more lethal to humans,” she said. The following day’s podcast [episode](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bannon-s-war-room/id1485351658?i=1000663979889&ref=importantcontext.news) was titled, “Major Border Security Win; Bird Flu Is New Psychological War.” In it, Winters claimed “they are already pushing what seems to be another pandemic despite, what is it, less than like a dozen bird flu cases or something like that, despite the fact that Anthony Fauci had been manipulating that virus for years to become more lethal to humans.” The guest for the episode was prominent anti-vaxxer [Dr. Robert Malone](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone). Malone made another [appearance](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-4097-the-hunter-pardon-psyop-dr-malone-on/id1485351658?i=1000678984699&ref=importantcontext.news) on the *War Room* pod this month to discuss “bird flu pandemic lies.” During the episode, Winters called bird flu “the next pandemic that they’re trying to push on us” and suggested vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, who developed a patent-free COVID vaccine and has been warning about the lack of U.S. preparedness in the face of H5N1, was promoting fear to help Pfizer—a company he is not affiliated with. For his part, Malone said, “Peter never fails to buy into any alarmism that would promote the vaccine industry and promote sales of the vaccine industry,” adding that “this is another round of bird flu fear porn.” The anti-vaccine doctor then accused Hotez of “psychological bioterrorism.” [Days later](https://rumble.com/v5wswvh-dr.-naomi-wolf-whenever-they-need-a-distraction-they-trot-out-the-bird-flu.html?ref=importantcontext.news), the podcast played host to another [COVID conspiracy theorist](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/09/11/naomi-klein-naomi-wolf-doppelganger/?ref=importantcontext.news), Naomi Wolf, who said bird flu was a “distraction.” ”Remember, we’ve been hearing about bird flu as the next big thing for a couple of years now,” she told Bannon, responding to a question about whether people should be worried. “And whenever they need a distraction or to scare people, they trot out bird flu and a couple of other things.” Wolf claimed that the investigation into raw milk CEO Mark McAffee, whose products [have been recalled](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/05/mark-mcafee-raw-milk-bird-flu-rfk?ref=importantcontext.news) for bird flu contamination, was politically motivated. She called it “the same kind of thing they did with the COVID scare,” and dismissed research linking raw milk and bird flu on the basis that it had been conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, “who produced all of the fake data about COVID.” Wolf went on to state that McAffee was being “targeted,” suggesting it may have had something to do with the fact that he claimed Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s former running mate, asked him to apply for a job overseeing raw milk under his potential administration. Kennedy, who allegedly drinks unpasteurized milk, which is notorious for containing high loads of bacteria and viruses, had promised to deregulate its sale. “That last thing I want to tell people is that raw milk is a threat because it’s a threat to Giant Milk,” Wolf said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Shanahan herself [echoed](https://x.com/nicoleshanahan/status/1870530616380506569?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) this conspiracy theory about the alleged targeting of McAffee in a tweet over the weekend. “The real crisis is fear-based narratives and billion-dollar Big Pharma deals for vaccine manufacturers making up fabricated threats,” she wrote. “Farmers like Mark are standing strong, and innovation is keeping shelves stocked, but it’s time to ask the question: Why suppress raw milk when science and history prove its safety?” Predictably, Kennedy’s well-funded anti-vaccine dark money group Children’s Health Defense (CHD), which has worked to undermine public confidence in the COVID jabs, has also been pumping out content downplaying the bird flu threat—especially through its media outlet, The Defender. One [article](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/bird-flu-panic-ramps-up-california-declares-state-of-emergency/?ref=importantcontext.news), published last week, just one day before the CDC [confirmed](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/m1218-h5n1-flu.html?ref=importantcontext.news) the first severe bird flu case, criticized Newsom’s state of emergency declaration. Titled, “Bird Flu Panic Ramps Up as California Declares State of Emergency,” the piece cited a Substack post by CHD contributor Dr. Meryl Nass, an [anti-vaccine doctor who spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) at Brownstone’s 2024 annual conference, which noted there had been no identified cases of person-to-person transmission and downplayed the link between human cases and raw milk and eggs. “Gruesome Newsom had to get into the act, despite no serious cases in CA, and no one who has caught bird flu from milk,” wrote Nass, whose medical license has been [suspended](https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/health/maine-medical-licensure-board-extends-suspension-dr-meryl-nass-covid-vaccine-skeptic-10000-fine/97-54c61f43-4a7d-45d8-9a91-3be3d2afe2f9?ref=importantcontext.news) since January 2022 for failing to meet standards of care in treating COVID patients. She claimed that the virus had lost virulence over the years. The Defender piece also cited CHD senior research scientist Karl Jablonowski, a Ph.D. in biomedical and health informatics, who accused government officials of manipulating the public with fear to justify culling chickens. Jablonowski claimed the virus had been “a few mutations away from finding the right combination to become communicable between humans…for as long as there have been humans” and claimed that the cases in humans up to that point had been “mild.” In an [op-ed](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/former-fda-commissioner-david-kessler-bird-flu-fear-what-he-gets-wrong/?ref=importantcontext.news) published weeks earlier, the CHD researcher blamed factory farming for the spread of the H5N1 virus, which he asserted “does exist in the wild,” because “a sick bird in that setting can spread it to a few others.” He then argued against vaccines, claiming the existing jabs were too few in number and too ineffective to make a difference while mRNA vaccines would be dangerous. He then warned against the potential for “gain-of-function” research. Another group that spread misinformation about the COVID vaccines turning its focus to bird flu is [Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-jr-anti-vax-orgs-funding-major-charities-1234857214/?ref=importantcontext.news) (FLCCC), which Brownstone [lists](https://brownstone.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a “friend” organization on its website. The group has long promoted ivermectin as a treatment for COVID despite the body of research indicating it is not effective against the disease. With H5N1, FLCCC has turned to hyping up fears about pharmaceutical products. For example, it has [suggested](https://x.com/honest%5Fmedicine/status/1823121372652212662?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the government is using bird flu as cover to give more money for emergency mRNA vaccines and [warned](https://x.com/honest%5Fmedicine/status/1857580768471691730?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) about “self-amplifying RNA-LNP-based products.” “Currently, there have been 14 human cases \[of bird flu\]... the cases have been mild... there was no human-to-human transmission,” FLCCC Senior Fellow Dr. Kat Lindley said in a video the group shared on X this August. “The Health and Human Services Secretary, Xavier Becerra, has expanded the bird flu to be considered an emergency as well, which gives the US FDA commissioner authority to issue a potential EUA (emergency use authorization) for bird flu products and potential vaccines." FLCCC has also begun promoting supplements and ivermectin for bird flu. The group’s website has an [informational page](https://covid19criticalcare.com/bird-flu/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the disease with a section on “how to stay healthy,” that includes the FLCCC I-PREVENT protocol for COVID, RSV, and flu. Among other things, the protocol recommends vitamin C, vitamin D, melatonin, and the anti-parasitic, as daily prophylactics. In July, Dr. Pierre Kory, who co-founded FLCCC but has since [stepped down](https://covid19criticalcare.com/honoring-dr-pierre-kory/?ref=importantcontext.news) from his leadership role with the group, [shared](https://x.com/pierrekory/status/1808549253679079892?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a Substack [piece](https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/pumping-and-dumping-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news) suggesting the focus on bird flu was driven by a desire to push vaccines. “A common scam is creating a panic around a minor illness to attract investors and lying about how ‘safe and effective’ a new vaccine is so the public keeps taking it and the stock inflates,” he wrote. “This brilliant article describes the tragedy that always follows.“ ### Trump NIH Pick Pushed Ivermectin Conspiracy Theory in Documentary Linked to Chinese Cult URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:42.000Z Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health promoted the long discredited COVID-19 treatment ivermectin in a conspiracy-filled documentary on the pandemic. The film, which was released earlier this year, was funded by a company linked to a Chinese cult. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Stanford University health economist [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about), who was announced last month as the president-elect’s choice to head up the NIH, appeared in a pseudo documentary that received funding from a company linked to the Chinese Falun Gong cult called *Covid Collateral: Where Do We Go For Truth?* In it, he appeared to endorse not only the use of ivermectin as a therapeutic for COVID, but an anti-vaccine [conspiracy theory](https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-vaccines-emergency-use-873264912929?ref=importantcontext.news) that its rejection by public health authorities was driven not by science, but instead by a desire to fast-track vaccine authorization. Bhattacharya, who has advised both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on COVID policy, earned a reputation throughout the pandemic as a vocal contrarian, opposing mitigation measures while downplaying the dangers of infection and evangelizing “natural immunity” as the path to herd immunity. A favorite of right-wing media, dark money groups, and GOP politicians, he is best known for co-authoring the October 2020 pro-business, anti-lockdown [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news), which outlined his strategy. The document, published by a libertarian think tank, was widely derided for [not being viable](https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000298&ref=importantcontext.news). Spurned by the mainstream of public health, Bhattacharya has painted himself as [a victim](https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rcna183120?ref=importantcontext.news) of government censorship. The professor’s controversial views and background have made his selection to lead the NIH controversial. Critics have noted that his anti-mitigation stances have led him to forge alliances with anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists. He himself has [questioned](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) the safety and necessity of the COVID vaccines, particularly for young people and the previously infected, and suggested that [the NIH](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1848365631281762696?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, [covered up](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1778833527943180452?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) COVID’s supposed laboratory origins. But in *Covid Collateral*, the professor, who may soon head up the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, took his contrarianism into new territory. While the film rehashes ground he has extensively covered, such as his declaration and supposed silencing by the government, Bhattacharya’s commentary on ivermectin stands out as does the project’s funding—especially ahead of his potential confirmation hearing. ### Bizarro History *Covid Collateral*, released in May of this year, presents a bizarro history of the pandemic in which the government response was worse than the virus itself. The film suggests that the Chinese Community Party was the driving force behind lockdowns all over the world, fooling gullible or corrupt international health authorities with falsified data about China’s success in containing the virus. It makes the case that incurious scientists and a complicit media enabled devastating, unsupported lockdowns as well as the crushing of dissent by a malicious scientific establishment and power-hungry public health officials. The narratives presented in *Covid Collateral* are familiar. The film is less a hard-hitting investigative review of the worst public health crisis in a century and more a Gish gallop of popular, dubious positions embraced by the political right throughout the pandemic. Sometimes, the narratives are even contradictory. For example, the film promotes the idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was a dangerous laboratory experiment that leaked (evidence has consistently pointed to natural spillover, the explanation favored by a [majority](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news) of epidemiologists and virologists) while also suggesting that most people never had anything to fear from it. But the ultimate message is simple: the contrarians were right. *Covid Collateral* is best understood in the context of a years-long right-wing campaign to undermine the U.S. and global public health establishment—first to defeat pandemic mitigation measures seen as economically disruptive and ideologically threatening, and then to paper over the damage caused by the virus that was generally [dismissed](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-nih-pick-jay-bhattacharya-covid-contrarians-reckoning?ref=importantcontext.news) by right-wing contrarians like Bhattacharya as well as the continued threat. To date, COVID has killed more than 1.2 million Americans, including caregivers of [hundreds of thousands](https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/covid-deaths-left-orphans-to-their-loss-add-lifelong-health-risks/?ref=importantcontext.news) of children. The disease has been a top killer [of young people](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us?ref=importantcontext.news) and long COVID is estimated to affect millions of people—of all ages. Studies have linked the virus to a host of serious complications as well including [heart](https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/01/16/how-covid-19-affects-your-heart-brain-and-other-organs?ref=importantcontext.news), [kidney](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-kidney-damage-caused-by-covid19?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Some%20people%20suffering%20with%20severe,urine%20and%20abnormal%20blood%20work.), and [neurological](https://www.ninds.nih.gov/current-research/coronavirus-and-ninds/covid-19-and-nervous-system?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Since%20COVID-19%20can%20affect,twitching%20or%20jerking%20%28myoclonus%29.) problems and [diabetes](https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/verified-covid-19-infection-increases-diabetes-risk/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20combined%20risk%20of%20Type,prior%20to%20COVID-19%20exposure.). Despite the damage and still-circulating virus, the U.S. has changed little in response to the crisis. COVID relief programs have all but expired and the country still lacks a national healthcare system, universal paid leave, and universal workplace safety rules to mitigate the risk of airborne transmission. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Unproven Treatment One of *Covid Collateral*’s misleading storylines is that viable early treatments—specifically anti-parasitic drug ivermectin—were suppressed in order to get the emergency use authorizations for COVID vaccines. While the claim is popular on the right, an Associated Press [fact check](https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-vaccines-emergency-use-873264912929?ref=importantcontext.news) from December 2022 noted that it was baseless. There is nothing in federal law preventing emergency use authorization for a vaccine when a treatment is available. Presenting the false narrative in the documentary are Bhattacharya and Dr. Paul Marik, co-founder of the ivermectin-promoting group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. Marik’s FLCCC co-founder Dr. Pierre Kory [helped popularize ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) after Trump’s “game changer” [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/how-musk-sold-maga-on-hcq-and-opened-the-covid-19-disinformation-floodgates/?ref=importantcontext.news) proved to be a dud (the original paper behind the hydroxychloroquine craze has finally been [retracted](https://www.science.org/content/article/infamous-paper-popularized-unproven-covid-19-treatment-finally-retracted?utm%5Fcampaign=Science&utm%5Fmedium=ownedSocial&utm%5Fsource=Bluesky) on ethical and scientific grounds). At a Senate hearing chaired by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Kory called ivermectin a “[miracle drug](https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Kory-2020-12-08.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news).” In the wake of the hearing, the anti-parasitic exploded in popularity, especially [in MAGA World](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/about-those-ivermectin-ads-on-trump-rally-broadcasts/?ref=importantcontext.news), resulting in a [surge of poisonings](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-20/ivermectin-poisonings-rise-as-unproven-use-for-covid-soars?ref=importantcontext.news) as people began taking doses preemptively. These stories prompted the FDA to put out social media posts warning against the drug’s use. The posts seized on ivermectin’s use as a dewormer for livestock. One viral tweet read, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” The posts outraged right-wing believers and anti-vaxxers, who took offense at the suggestion that ivermectin had no approved uses in humans. A number of contrarian doctors, including Marik, even sued the FDA. The agency eventually [deleted](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-16/fda-deletes-viral-ivermectin-not-a-horse-tweet-opens-door-for-misinformation?ref=importantcontext.news) the posts but admitted no wrongdoing. High quality studies have repeatedly demonstrated that ivermectin is [not effective](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924857924001663?ref=importantcontext.news) against COVID. However, that did not stop Bhattacharya and Marik from criticizing public health authorities for discouraging its use in 2024’s *Covid Collateral*. (*The above video is featured in reliance of Fair Use.)* “There were a lot of doctors who work at the front line that were treating patients with drugs like ivermectin,” Bhattacharya told the off-camera interviewer. “From whatever reason, the powers that be decided that anyone who thought that inexpensive drugs like ivermectin might be effective were doing tremendous damage to patients by recommending this therapy.” The professor went on to note how the press had published stories about people overdosing on veterinary ivermectin—ostensibly as part of the campaign against the drug by those “powers that be.” Later, he claimed that ivermectin’s use as a COVID treatment posed a threat to the vaccines. “It makes it more difficult to get the vaccine approved in a regulatory way because if there’s a known effective treatment, you can’t just do an emergency use,” he said. (*The above video is featured in reliance of Fair Use.)* Marik, meanwhile, called ivermectin “a big threat,” incorrectly declaring that had the drug “proved to be an effective drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, the vaccination program would have been deemed null-and-void.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dark Money *Covid Collateral* is the most recent project of Canadian producer and filmmaker Vanessa Dylyn, who runs the company Matter of Fact Media. According to its [website](https://covidcollateral.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), funding for the feature came from two notable sources: the Canada Media Fund, a Canadian public-private partnership, and [NTD Television](https://ntdca.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), which stands for New Tang Dynasty, an American broadcasting outfit. NTD is part of Epoch Media Group, which is also behind *The Epoch Times*, a far-right, pro-Trump, conspiracy-peddling newspaper started by followers of the Chinese Falun Gong [cult](https://columbusfreepress.com/article/right-wing-cult-behind-shen-yun?ref=importantcontext.news). Earlier this year, the paper, which has become a favorite of the anti-vaccine movement, was marred by [money laundering](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/13/nx-s1-5005297/epoch-times-turmoil-money-laundering?ref=importantcontext.news) charges against its top executives. Multiple “[key experts](https://covidcollateral.com/key-experts/?ref=importantcontext.news)” in *Covid Collateral* have ties to *The* *Epoch Times*. Bhattacharya, for example, is a [contributor](https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/jayanta-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news) to the publication. In October, he hosted one of its senior editors, Jan Jekialek, at a [controversial pandemic policy conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) he organized at Stanford. Jekielek hosts an *Epoch Times* television program called *American Thought Leaders*, which has featured prominent figures in the anti-vax movement. He was recently in the news for co-hosting a separate *Epoch Times* show with conspiracy theorist [Kash Patel](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trumps-fbi-pick-co-hosted-show-conspiracy-filled-far-right-media-organ-rcna182823?ref=importantcontext.news), who Trump picked to run the Federal Bureau of Investigation in his next administration. Other *Epoch Times* contributors who appear in *Covid Collateral* as key expertsinclude [Marik](https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/paul-marik?ref=importantcontext.news), veteran right-wing political operative [Jeffrey Tucker](https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/jeffrey-a-tucker?ref=importantcontext.news), former Trump administration COVID adviser [Dr. Scott Atlas](https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/scott-atlas?ref=importantcontext.news), and attorney [Jenin Younes](https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/jenin-younes?utm%5Fmedium=GoogleAds&utm%5Fsource=PerfmaxM&utm%5Fcampaign=PM%5Fmax%5FRussiahelpchina%5FTest36%5F20241204&gad%5Fsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAACvurP%5FmHEMefJNd%5FVfUgQCG7VSOI&gclid=CjwKCAiApY-7BhBjEiwAQMrrEXCuRSvX13dLcJDVh%5FrDbq4jeO%5FZt4ueFp8s6-9nK71jZZZRPsakFhoC4qsQAvD%5FBwE). Through these individuals, the film is also linked to various right-wing dark money groups (besides The Epoch Times Association, which is affiliated with the media company). Tucker, for example, was one of the organizers of the Great Barrington Declaration while working as editorial director of the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank that has received funding from right-wing powerbroker Charles Koch. He is also the founder of the Brownstone Institute, which he founded to prevent the return of lockdowns and wage an information war on public health. Brownstone [lists](https://brownstone.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) *The Epoch Times*, NTD, and Marik’s FLCCC as “friends” on its website. Atlas, meanwhile, who also assisted in the planning stages of the declaration, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a think tank housed at Stanford. Younes, [present](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1595382524213084164?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) at the declaration’s signing, is a litigation counsel at New Civil Liberties Alliance, a dark money, anti-regulation [lawfare group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes) that has received [significant funding](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) from Koch. Notably, she represented Bhattacharya in his [failed lawsuit](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) against the Biden administration for allegedly orchestrating his social media censorship. Two months after *Covid Collateral*’s release, the right-wing Cato Institute, which was co-founded by Koch and has received funding from groups in his orbit for years, [hosted](https://www.cato.org/events/covid-collateral-where-do-we-go-truth?ref=importantcontext.news) a screening of the documentary in Washington. The showing was accompanied by a panel discussion featuring Dylyn, Bhattacharya, and Trump’s former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Dr. Robert Redfield. ### Here’s How Much UnitedHealth Group and Other Major Insurers Spent Influencing Both Parties This Cycle URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/heres-how-much-unitedhealth-group/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:42.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Last week, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down in midtown Manhattan. The shell casings recovered at the scene had the words [“Deny,” “Defend,” “Depose”](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2024/12/05/deny-defend-depose-what-to-know-about-words-reportedly-on-shell-casings-tied-to-unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting/?ref=importantcontext.news) etched onto them in an apparent reference to the “delay, deny, defend” strategy healthcare giants deploy to avoid covering claims by patients. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In the wake of the killing, the online world erupted, [largely in celebration](https://www.usermag.co/p/yes-we-want-insurance-executives?ref=importantcontext.news)—much to the horror of pundits, right-wing media, and politicians on both sides of the aisle. But cutting through the noise has been an emerging dialogue about the inadequacies of America’s for-profit healthcare system. Americans pay more for healthcare than people in other wealthy nations. In 2021, the U.S. [spent](https://www.americashealthrankings.org/learn/reports/2023-annual-report/international-comparison?ref=importantcontext.news) roughly 3.8 times the average of nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That cost is not reflected in health outcomes. The U.S. ranked 32nd out of 38 OECD countries in terms of average life expectancy and 33 out of 38 OECD countries in terms of infant mortality. In 2022, the U.S. had [22 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/jun/insights-us-maternal-mortality-crisis-international-comparison?ref=importantcontext.news), which is roughly double the OECD [average](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/7a7afb35-en/1/3/3/9/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/7a7afb35-en&%5Fcsp%5F=6cf33e24b6584414b81774026d82a571&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book&ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=In%20OECD%20countries,%20the%20maternal,by%20the%20Sustainable%20Development%20Goals.). Meanwhile, wages have [not kept up](https://familiesusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/VAL2023-174%5FIncomeInequality%5Fv4.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) healthcare premiums and medical debt is the [leading cause](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/health-insurance-costs-inflation-denials-luigi-mangione-united-healthcare/?ref=sunshine.optout.news) of bankruptcy in the U.S. Americans [routinely skip](https://news.gallup.com/poll/468053/record-high-put-off-medical-care-due-cost-2022.aspx?ref=sunshine.optout.news#:~:text=Record%20High%20in%20U.S.%20Put%20Off%20Medical%20Care%20Due%20to%20Cost%20in%202022&text=How%20Does%20CliftonStrengths%20Work?,What%20Are%20the%204%20Domains?) doctor visits due to cost. Research from 2020 published in The Lancet found that [68,000](https://www.newsweek.com/medicare-all-would-save-450-billion-annually-while-preventing-68000-deaths-new-study-shows-1487862?ref=sunshine.optout.news) American deaths could be prevented annually by the implementation of a Medicare for all system. Unsurprisingly, the U.S., with its lack of a universal healthcare system, was hit [harder](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/?ref=sunshine.optout.news) by the COVID-19 pandemic than its peer nations. A Yale study from 2022 [found](https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-more-than-335000-lives-could-have-been-saved-during-pandemic-if-us-had-universal-health-care/?ref=importantcontext.news) that hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved had the country had a single-payer system. The real beneficiaries of the current system are insurance giants, who have been raking in staggering profits for years. As *The Lever* recently [reported](https://www.levernews.com/health-insurers-371-billion-windfall/?ref=importantcontext.news), profits have risen 230 percent since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The biggest beneficiary was UnitedHealth Group, which owns UnitedHealthcare and Optum. The company made [$22 billion](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2024/01/12/unitedhealth-group-profits-hit-23-billion-in-2023/?ref=importantcontext.news) in profits in 2023–up from $20.6 billion in 2020 and 17.3 billion in 2021. Yet, the issue of healthcare reform barely came up during the 2024 presidential cycle and despite the discourse sparked by the shooting, neither major party has sought to capitalize on the moment and make the case for the establishment of a national healthcare system. *Important Context* looked at one reason for the silence: money. Using data compiled by the group OpenSecrets, we found that major insurers spent millions on politics this past election cycle (2023-2024), including donations to candidates from their political action committees and lobbying. The details are below. The spending covered in this article represents only part of the health insurance industry’s political activities. **UnitedHealth Group** The nation’s largest health insurer spread its wealth around. According to [OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/unitedhealth-group/C00274431/candidate-recipients/2024?ref=importantcontext.news), in the 2024 cycle, UnitedHealth Group’s PAC gave more than $371,000 to Republican House candidates and $276,000 to Democratic House candidates. The top recipients were nine Republicans and five Democrats. Among them was ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal (D-Mass.). From the database: > Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)—$10,000 > > Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.)—$10,000 > > Angie Craig (D-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Virginia Foxx (R-NC)—$10,000 > > Andrew Garbarino (R-NY)—$10,000 > > Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.)—$10,000 > > Steven Horsford (D-Nev.)—$10,000 > > Darin LaHood (R-Ill.)—$10,000 > > Nick Langworthy (R-NY)—$10,000 > > Blake Moore (R-Utah)—$10,000 > > Richard Neal (D-Mass.)—$10,000 > > Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)—$10,000 > > Haley Stevens (D-Mich.)—$10,000 > > Tim Walberg (R-Mich.)—$10,000 The PAC also gave $34,000 to GOP Senate candidates and $49,000 to Democrats. Democrat Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who lost, was the top recipient with $10,000, followed by Democrat Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) at $7,500, and Republican Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) at $6,500. It spent $873,000 backing state and local candidates and $192,000 on state and local parties. The PAC donated $30,000 a piece to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Beyond its PAC’s activities, UnitedHealth Group [spent](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/unitedhealth-group/summary?id=D000000348&ref=importantcontext.news) $16.6 million on lobbying in the 2024 cycle. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Cigna Corp.** The PAC affiliated with Cigna Corp. spent $763,000 on donations to federal candidates. Of that, 48 percent went to Republicans and 51 percent went to Democrats. The PAC [gave](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/cigna-corp/C00085316/candidate-recipients/2024?ref=importantcontext.news) over $313,000 to Republican House candidates and more than $334,000 to Democratic House candidates. Among the top recipients were House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Neal with $10,000 each. From the OpenSecrets database: > Pete Aguilar (D-Calif)—$10,000 > > Don Bacon (R-Neb)—$10,000 > > Brendan Boyle (D-Pa)—$10,000 > > Eric Burlison (R-Mo)—$10,000 > > Joe Courtney (D-Conn)—$10,000 > > Angie Craig (D-Minn)—$10,000 > > Sharice Davids (D-Kan)—$10,000 > > Tom Emmer (R-Minn)—$10,000 > > Drew Ferguson (R-Ga)—$10,000 > > Kevin Hern (R-Okla)—$10,000 > > Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—$10,000 > > John Larson (D-Conn)—$10,000 > > Richard Neal (D-Mass)—$10,000 > > Steve Scalise (R-La)—$10,000 > > Jason Smith (R-Mo)—$10,000 > > Darren Soto (D-Fla)—$10,000 > > Ann Wagner (R-Mo)—$10,000 The PAC gave generously to Senate candidates from both parties as well—$54,000 for Republicans and $57,000 for Democrats. The top recipients were Rick Scott (R-Fla) with $10,000 and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo) with $8,500. Cigna’s PAC gave nearly $112,000 to state and local parties and nearly $739,000 to state and local candidates. The national parties were major recipients of Cigna cash, receiving more than $107,000\. The NRCC, NRSC, DCCC, and DSCC each got $30,000. Outside of PAC contributions, the insurance giant [spent](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/cigna-corp/summary?id=D000000222&ref=importantcontext.news) roughly $17.3 million on lobbying. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Blue Cross Blue Shield Association** The OpenSecrets data showed that Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the provider federation consisting of dozens of independent and locally operated BCBS companies, was another prolific spender. Its PAC was a donor to both major parties. It gave $203,000 to Republican House candidates and $127,000 to Democrats. The [top recipients](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/blue-cross-blue-shield-assn/C00194746/candidate-recipients/2024?ref=importantcontext.news) were: > Alma Adams (D-NC)—$10,000 > > Angie Craig (D-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Claudia Tenney (R-NY)—$9,000 > > Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)—$8,000 > > Robin Kelly (D-Ill.)—$8,000 > > Steve Womack (R-Ark.)—$8,000 The PAC gave $43,000 to GOP Senate candidates and $38,000 to Democrats. The top recipients were Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tester. Brown also lost his seat. Both major parties were direct recipients of PAC money from Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee each received $15,000\. The NRCC got $28,000 while the NRSC got $15,000\. The DCCC and the DSCC received $36,000 and roughly $48,000 respectively. The Blue Dog PAC, representing the conservative Blue Dog Democrats also received $10,000. Blue Cross Blue Shield spent a [total](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/blue-cross-blue-shield/summary?all=2024&id=D000000109&ref=importantcontext.news) of $49.5 million on lobbying in the 2024 cycle. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Elevance Health** Formerly known as Anthem, Inc., Elevance Health gave [big money](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/elevance-health/C00197228/expenditures/2024?ref=importantcontext.news) to both political parties through its PAC according to OpenSecrets. It spent $1 million on federal candidates, split roughly evenly between Republicans (\~$528,000) and Democrats (\~$513,000). It gave roughly $435,000 to Republican House candidates and $452,000 to Democrats. Among the top recipients were Scalise, Jeffries, and Neal. > Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)—$10,000 > > Andre Carson (D-Ind.)—$10,000 > > Katherine Clark (D-Mass.)—$10,000 > > Angie Craig (D-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.)—$10,000 > > Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Virginia Foxx (R-NC)—$10,000 > > Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)—$10,000 > > Brett Guthrie (R-Ky)—$10,000 > > Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)—$10,000 > > Steven Horsford (D-Nev.)—$10,000 > > Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—$10,000 > > Susie Lee (D-Nev)—$10,000 > > Frank Mrvan Jr (D-Ind.)—$10,000 > > Richard E Neal (D-Mass.)—$10,000 > > Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)—$10,000 > > Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.)—$10,000 > > Steve Scalise (R-La.)—$10,000 > > Terri Sewell (D-Ala.)—$10,000 > > Jason Smith (R-Mo.)—$10,000 > > Darren Soto (D-Fla.)—$10,000 > > Claudia Tenney (R-NY)—$10,000 Elevance’s PAC gave $93,000 to Republican Senate candidates and $61,000 to Democrats. Among the top six recipients, each getting $10,000, only two were Democrats. > Jim Banks (R-Ind.)—$10,000 > > John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)—$10,000 > > John Curtis (R-Utah)—$10,000 > > Martin Heinrich (D-NM)—$10,000 > > Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)—$10,000 > > Rick Scott (R-Fla.)—$10,000 The PAC gave $60,000 to the NRSC, $30,000 to the NRCC, $70,000 to the DSCC, and more than $42,000 to the DCCC. It gave nearly $651,000 to state and local candidates and more than $122,000 to state and local parties. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Kaiser Permanente** OpenSecrets did not have any PAC donations listed for Kaiser Permanente. The company did, however, [spend](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/kaiser-permanente/summary?id=D000034986&ref=importantcontext.news) $7.6 million on lobbying. **CVS Health** CVS Health, which owns the insurance company Aetna, [gave](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/cvs-health/C00384818/candidate-recipients/2024?ref=importantcontext.news) $461,000 to federal candidates, including more than $228,000 to Republicans and $227,000 to Democrats according to OpenSecrets. It spent over $205,000 on Republican House candidates and $209,000 on Democratic House candidates. Among the recipients receiving $10,000 donations were six Republicans and four Democrats including Jeffries and Neal. > Eric Burlison (R-Mo.)—$10,000 > > Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)—$10,000 > > Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.)—$10,000 > > Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)—$10,000 > > Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—$10,000 > > John Larson (D-Conn.)—$10,000 > > Richard Neal (D-Mass.)—$10,000 > > Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)—$10,000 > > David Schweikert (R-Ariz.)—$10,000 > > Terri Sewell (D-Ala.)—$10,000 > > Jason Smith (R-Mo.)—$10,000 CVS Health’s PAC gave $23,000 to GOP Senate candidates and $18,000 to Democrats. Bob Casey (D-Pa) was the top recipient. The PAC gave $125,000 to national parties. It spent $30,000 a piece on the NRSC, the NRCC, the DSCC, and the DCCC. It donated $87,000 to state and local parties, and more than $330,000 to state and local candidates. CVS Health itself [spent](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/cvs-health/summary?id=D000025214&ref=importantcontext.news) $19.8 million on lobbying. **America’s Health Insurance Plans** America’s Health Insurance Plans is an industry trade group representing the health insurance industry. Its [members](https://www.ahip.org/members?ref=importantcontext.news) include Aetna, several Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, CVS Health, Elevance, Kaiser Permanente, and many other companies. According to OpenSecrets, its PAC spent over $139,000 on federal candidates, including more than $67,000 that went to Republicans and $72,000 to Democrats. For House candidates, the spending breakdown was $52,000 for the GOP and more than $45,000 for Democrats. The top recipient was Katherine Clark. The AHIP PAC’s Senate spending broke the other way with more than $26,000 going to Democrats as opposed to over $15,000 to Republicans. The group itself [spent](https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2024&id=D000021819&ref=importantcontext.news) $9 million on lobbying. ### From the Front Lines to the Fringes: What You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s Surgeon General Pick URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/from-the-front-lines-to-the-fringes/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:43.000Z Donald Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General has cast doubt on the COVID-19 vaccines and promoted anti-masking narratives along with the unproven COVID treatment, hydroxychloroquine. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Trump’s public health picks have drawn heat for their contrarian advocacy on subjects like COVID and vaccines. For example, much ink has been spilled focusing on the president-elect’s selection of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, however, has not raised alarm bells the way Trump’s other picks have. In his statement announcing her nomination on November 22, Trump lauded the doctor’s work in medical relief campaigns in the US and abroad and her work during the pandemic in NYC. “Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health,” the statement read.“She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives.” But Nesheiwat has become a reliable contrarian voice for America’s political right as it has sought to politicize the pandemic and undermine public health. Since 2022, the doctor has been publicly against vaccinating children against COVID and masking them. Should she become surgeon general, she will be the nation’s top medical doctor and health educator, tasked with providing the most current scientific information to the public. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/0b8f1821-a467-4b5d-87b1-d4f03da0cf63_2213x953-jpeg.jpg) Nesheiwat is one of CityMD’s medical directors in New York City and during early waves of the pandemic, worked in New York City hospitals—some of the hardest hit in the nation. Back then, she frequently appeared on Fox News as one of their medical contributors, as well as on CBS News, Good Morning America and MSNBC. In her appearances, her advice was generally consistent with public health authorities on topics like [masking](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1339699896115445763?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [social distancing](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1243269222622547974?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). But even back then, there were indications of a rightward drift, like her embrace of hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump had latched onto as a potential game-changer in his push to reopen the country ahead of the election. In a May 2020 Fox News interview, she [said](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6157533867001?ref=importantcontext.news) it was “very smart” for President Trump to take the drug as a prophylactic to protect against a potential COVID infection. At the time, the Mayo Clinic was warning those in healthcare to not use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on people outside of hospitals or clinical trials. Nesheiwat went on to tell host Neil Cavuto that she herself, as a doctor “on the front lines of this pandemic here in New York City,” had prescribed the drug to some of her patients for COVID. “And for some of them, they said it helped tremendously,” she said. “Some of them, it didn’t make much of a change.” Weeks later, the FDA ended the emergency use of the medication. Nesheiwat stood by her advocacy as recently as June 2021, chiming in on a tweet by Fox News host Laura Ingraham attacking a *Washington Post* article critical of Trump’s promotion of the drug. “I prescribed hydroxychloroquine to some of my covid patients in New York and it helped them,” she [wrote](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1403171249560432643?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Nesheiwat also got on board with school reopening in the summer of 2020 before vaccines were available but just as right-wing dark money groups and Trump were [pushing the issue](https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news), vilifying teachers unions as holdouts. In a July 2020 appearance on Fox News, she downplayed concerns about children getting and spreading COVID. “The benefits of having children in the classroom far outweigh the risk of coronavirus,” she claimed, citing a study showing lower risk of death for that age group compared to older Americans. As it turned out, COVID would be [a leading cause of death](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us?ref=importantcontext.news) in U.S. children—and kids played a [key role](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-kids-covid-no-symptoms-play-key-role-household-spread?ref=importantcontext.news) in spreading the virus in their households. Hundreds of thousands are [estimated to have lost](https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood%5FUSA/?ref=importantcontext.news) a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID. Still, Nesheiwat’s public health takes remained mostly [consistent](https://x.com/DoctorJanette/status/1450307713301364737/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1450307713301364737¤tTweetUser=DoctorJanette&ref=importantcontext.news) with the mainstream through 2021\. She encouraged masking, testing, social distancing, and vaccination. In February of that year, she even called the COVID jabs a “gift from God” and “our path out of the pandemic” in a Fox News [op-ed](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-vaccines-future-pandemic-janette-neshweiat.amp?ref=importantcontext.news). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/6ee497a9-c50f-491f-90ee-9bc4ee9cb428_1256x1423-jpeg.jpg) Yet, when she launched her vitamin brand, BC Boost, in late 2022, she began propping up the use of [vitamins to fight illnesses like COVID](https://x.com/DoctorJanette/status/1600267878124515328?ref=importantcontext.news). By then, she had also become decidedly less bullish on vaccinations—particularly for young people. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/329b3232-e4d8-481b-9591-e51be78e1769_1614x1277-jpeg.jpg) In a Fox News interview in September 2022, for example, Nesheiwat suggested that the new bivalent boosters were [not sufficiently tested](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1565478650149064706?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for her to recommend them to young “healthy people” with “natural immunity.” “I don’t want a 19-year-old, young, healthy person who’s already had COVID and has natural immunity to go rush out and get this booster,” she told Cavuto. “That would be inappropriate—premature to get it at this time.” Nesheiwat’s comments ran counter to the [guidance](https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which had begun recommending COVID vaccination for young people ages 12 and up earlier that month. The following month on the day [news broke](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/kids-covid-vaccine-cdc-group-says-add-vaccine-routine-immunization-sch-rcna53129?ref=importantcontext.news) that a CDC group recommended adding COVID shots to the childhood vaccines schedules, she came out against the idea, [declaring](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1583128053542051842?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in a tweet that “If CDC approves a covid vaccine addition to the routine schedule of vax for kids, it will mark the most egregious unethical & harmful decision to children.” “No mandates,” she wrote. “Especially for a vax that can’t prevent disease. May God give them the wisdom & courage to vote appropriately.” In an interview the next month on Tucker Carlson, Nesheiwat suggested that the CDC was recommending children get the vaccine because “maybe profit.” “There’s no good reason to have a vaccine that can’t stop disease, can’t stop transmission of disease on this schedule vaccination,” she said. Although imperfect, the COVID vaccines have been shown to [reduce transmission](https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-vaccine-effectiveness.html?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Nesheiwat was also a vocal opponent of masking children, coinciding with [a larger push](https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) by right-wing dark money groups and their Republican allies. For example, in August 2022, responding to a *New York Post* article about a Philadelphia school district requiring children ages 3 to 5 to mask for the school year, Nesheiwat [tweeted](https://x.com/doctorjanette/status/1558872616995274752?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), “This is wrong. Do not mask toddlers. Who is making these illogical decisions?” ”It’s more harmful than helpful to mask a 3 year old all day & all year long,” Nesheiwat claimed. “Speech, facial expression, social & emotional development, communication etc all negatively impacted.” There is little evidence of developmental harm to children from masking. In fact, three months after Nesheiwat’s tweet, Diane Paul, a doctor, audiologist and senior director of Clinical Issues in Speech-Language Pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [told](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Center for Media and Democracy that while more research was needed, her organization was “not aware of studies that directly assessed the long-term impact on speech and language development when young children interact with adults who are wearing facemasks.” “However, there are studies demonstrating children can tune into different communication clues and gestures when an adult’s mouth is not visible,” she explained. A [study](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1386937/full?ref=importantcontext.news) published this July found that after a year of masking, toddlers were able to overcome initial limitations and even exhibited “an enhanced ability to interpret emotions from masked facial expressions.” More recently, Nesheiwat has embraced the right-wing narrative that the cost of government efforts to control the pandemic were possibly worse than the virus itself, which has killed 1.2 million Americans to date. That position has brought her in line with more controversial Trump public health picks like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary—set to lead the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, respectively. In April 2023, for example, Nesheiwat [penned](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/i-treated-20000-covid-patients-3-years-lockdown-heres-we-better?ref=importantcontext.news) a Fox News opinion piece claiming that “For most Americans, the collateral damage was worse than the pandemic.” “The mandate intentions had deleterious impacts – it reduced our military personnel, we lost good firefighters, police officers, teachers, healthcare providers and even athletes who refused to capitulate to the out-of-date, CDC regulations,” she wrote. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Medical professionals we spoke to expressed reservations about Trump’s selection of Nesheiwat for surgeon general. Dr. Robert Morris, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health, told *Important Context* that Trump’s choice of the doctor “fits with his pattern of picking candidates based on their conventional and social media reach and their support for fringe viewpoints rather than their demonstrated expertise and experience in the field.” Dr. Natalia Solenkova, a Florida-based intensivist affiliated with the [American Medical Association](https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/international-medical-graduates/natalia-solenkova-md-phd?ref=importantcontext.news), noted that “while Dr. Nesheiwat supported some beneficial approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic, her refusal to advocate for measures like masking and vaccinating children, while pushing for early school reopenings, highlights an inconsistent application of evidence-based medicine.” “We cannot selectively choose the evidence we support when presenting ourselves as advocates for science,” Solenkova said. A frontline doctor at the height of the pandemic, Solenkova took issue with Nesheiwat’s supplement business as well, telling *Important Context*, “I remain cautious about trusting physicians who promote and sell self-created supplements under the guise of improving immunity.” “It raises serious ethical concerns when unsubstantiated claims are made to market such products,” she explained. “Does the supplement do what is claimed? Is there data to support its effectiveness? In my opinion, the answers are clear, and it is unethical to make unsupported claims in order to profit." Despite her evolution from COVID vaccine champion to skeptic, Nesheiwat was not Robert Kennedy Jr.’s pick for surgeon general. According to *The* *Financial Times*, the nomination was a surprise to the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and HHS nominee. Shortly after the announcement, Kennedy allies, fellow anti-vaxxers Del Bigtree of Informed Consent Action Network and vaccine injury attorney Aaron Siri invited Nesheiwat to a meeting at Kennedy’s home in Florida that was described as a “[re-education camp](https://www.ft.com/content/06f68990-fcde-44cf-a7f9-eea4c8c7423a?ref=importantcontext.news)” on vaccines. ### The Climate Disinformation Machine at Work at COP29 URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-climate-disinformation-machine/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:43.000Z Over the course of the past two weeks, representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the annual United Nation’s annual climate conference. The purpose of COP29 was to negotiate the next steps in addressing the climate crisis, with a special focus on reaching an agreement on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) This year’s event had more than [65,000](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-which-countries-have-sent-the-most-delegates-to-cop29/?ref=importantcontext.news) registered attendees, making it the second largest COP on record. Yet, key world leaders, including President Joe Biden, Brazil’s Lula da Silva, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and the president of the European Commission, [did not make an appearance](https://gasoutlook.com/opinion/global-leaders-climate-commitments-in-doubt-on-cusp-of-cop29/?ref=importantcontext.news). However, 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to the conference. The number, while smaller than last year’s—there were [over 2.000](https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-corporate-lobbyists-are-at-the-un-climate-summit-in-baku-but-what-exactly-is-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work-242639?utm%5Fsource=cbnewsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=2024-11-14&utm%5Fcampaign=Daily+Briefing+14+11+2024) at COP28–is larger than the sum of delegations from the ten most climate vulnerable nations, who have a combined [1,033](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/15/coal-oil-and-gas-lobbyists-granted-access-to-cop29-says-report?ref=importantcontext.news) delegates. If they were its own delegation, fossil fuel lobbyists would only be [outnumbered](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/COP29FossilFuelLobbyists?ref=importantcontext.news) by Azerbaijan (2,229), Brazil (1,914) and Türkiye (1,862). Fossil fuel lobbyists, however, are not the only attendees committed to hindering climate action. *Important Context* investigated the [climate disinformation organizations](https://www.desmog.com/climate-disinformation-database/?ref=importantcontext.news) present at COP29\. Based on the UNFCCC’s [Provisional list of registered participants](https://unfccc.int/documents/643064?ref=importantcontext.news), we were able to identify the presence of at least 17 organizations that have worked to delay and divert attention from necessary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming. Combined, they have over 130 delegates, who hold badges across all levels at the summit. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) At the top of the list, with 48 representatives is the [International Emissions Trading Association (IETA](https://www.desmog.com/international-emissions-trading-association-ieta/?ref=importantcontext.news)). Founded in 1999, the Swiss-based trade association says it is dedicated to “achiev\[ing\] climate objectives with minimal economic harm.” Its members include some of the world's largest fossil fuel and energy distribution companies. BP is one of its founding members. IETA focuses primarily on influencing global emissions trading and pricing policies—it has wielded significant influence over carbon market mechanisms for years, including in the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocols. At COP29, the organization has [its own pavilion](https://www.desmog.com/2024/11/12/fossil-fuel-giants-paying-thousands-to-sponsor-cop29-events-baku/?ref=importantcontext.news), [sponsored by Chevron](https://x.com/maxtropiero%5F/status/1857925753553261030?s=46&ref=importantcontext.news), in the Blue Zone, where the formal conference and the negotiations take place. IETA’s delegates, however, are not exclusively registered under the association’s name. As often happens with lobbyists at COPs, some of them are under [unexpected delegations](https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-corporate-lobbyists-are-at-the-un-climate-summit-in-baku-but-what-exactly-is-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work-242639?utm%5Fsource=cbnewsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=2024-11-14&utm%5Fcampaign=Daily+Briefing+14+11+2024), making it harder to map their participation. Indeed, IETA is the entity nominating 43 of its delegates, registered under the category of [non-governmental organizations](https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/parties-non-party-stakeholders/non-party-stakeholders/overview/admitted-ngos?ref=importantcontext.news), meaning they have observer status at the conference. However, there are other five delegates related to IETA with different credentials. One managing director was registered as a guest from Ukraine’s party overflow—a category that represents additional participants a given country can register who are not part of the official delegation, meaning they are granted access to the Blue Zone but do not take part in negotiations. Two other IETA members appear as “partner/sponsorship” of Singapore's party overflow. One conference manager and one conference and operations manager appear with different NGO’s as their nominating entities—the first is an affiliated member of the International Chamber of Commerce and the second is a guest of Winrock International. With 22 delegates, the second largest delegation is from [Teneo](https://www.desmog.com/teneo/?ref=importantcontext.news), a New York-based public relations company that signed a $5 million contract with Azerbaijan in May, and has since been promoting the country as a “[climate champion](https://www.desmog.com/2024/11/08/meet-teneo-the-global-pr-firm-promoting-cop29-host-azerbaijan-as-a-climate-champion/?ref=importantcontext.news).” Teneo describes itself as a CEO advisory firm that provides its clients with strategy and communications advice, management consultancy, financial, risk, and people advice. Besides a number of fossil fuel companies, Teneo’s client list includes other polluting sectors like the steel, chemical, food, and transport industries. Twenty of the company’s delegates have a “paid relationship/contract” with Azerbaijan’s official party, which is also their nominating entity. One of them appears as a host country guest, and another as a guest of New Zealand’s party overflow. [McKinsey & Company](https://www.desmog.com/mckinsey-company/?ref=importantcontext.news) is probably the organization with the most wide-spread delegation. Headquartered in New York City, the global management consulting firm publicly takes climate change seriously. The company has previously claimed to “\[inform\] the climate-change debate by publishing the first global greenhouse-gas cost curve to rigorously compare the costs and abatement potential of hundreds of possible actions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.” However, over the past 50 years, McKinsey & Company has advised [at least 43](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/business/mckinsey-climate-change.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of the world’s 100 biggest corporate polluters, including BP, Exxon Mobil, Gazprom and Saudi Aramco. At COP29, McKinsey & Company’s 17 delegates have the highest variety of credentials. They appear as guests or partner/sponsorship for the party overflow of countries like Singapore, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Brazil. With NGOs as nominating entities, a senior partner appears as partner/sponsorship of the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry while another partner appears as a guest of Sustainable Energy for All. McKinsey & Company’s delegates are also registered under the categories of host country guest and UN Secretariat’s units and bodies overflow. Also registered across different categories are APCO’s five delegates. Described as “[one of the world’s most powerful PR firms](http://everything-pr.com/apco-worldwide-billboard/2614/?ref=importantcontext.news),” APCO has offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its clients include “large multinational companies, trade associations, governments, NGOs and educational institutions.” APCO was behind the launch of [Friends of Science](https://www.desmog.com/friends-of-science?ref=importantcontext.news), a group of well known “science skeptics” and helped form The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, who casts doubt over the relationship between CO2 emissions and climate change. APCO’s delegates appear as having a non-disclosed relationship with the UAE’s party overflow, as partner/sponsorship of the UK’s party overflow, as guest of NGO Global Philanthropy Foundation, and as partner/sponsorship of UN Secretariat’s units and bodies overflow. Also present at the event is infamous U.S. organization [Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)](https://www.desmog.com/committee-constructive-tomorrow/?ref=importantcontext.news), which [SourceWatch](http://web.archive.org/web/20150921223638/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Committee%5Ffor%5Fa%5FConstructive%5FTomorrow) describes as the conservative answer progressive organizations lobbying for environmental issues. [CFACT describes its mission](http://web.archive.org/web/20170501174719/http://www.cfact.org/about/) as “relentlessly infusing the environmental debate with a balanced perspective on environmental stewardship.” In the past, the organization has received funds from ExxonMobil and the petrochemical billionaire Koch family. It is part of the [climate counter-movement](http://desmogblog.com/2016/01/11/chart-shows-why-co2-good-climate-science-denial-groups-funded-exxon-and-kochs?ref=importantcontext.news) and was highlighted in a 2015 academic paper called “[Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change](http://www.pnas.org/content/113/1/92.full?ref=importantcontext.news).” Representing CFACT are co-founder and executive director [Craig Rucker](https://www.desmog.com/craig-rucker/?ref=importantcontext.news), [Marc Morano](https://www.desmog.com/marc-morano/?ref=importantcontext.news), the executive director and chief correspondent of [ClimateDepot.com](http://www.climatedepot.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), a project of the [Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow](https://www.desmog.com/committee-constructive-tomorrow?ref=importantcontext.news), which is dedicated to questioning human responsibility for climate change and senior fellow Peter Murphy. Other entities with delegations registered under the category of “Non-governmental Organizations” include the [American Petroleum Institute](https://www.desmog.com/american-petroleum-institute/?ref=importantcontext.news) with two delegates, [Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers](https://www.desmog.com/canadian-association-petroleum-producers-capp/?ref=importantcontext.news) with one delegate, [Edison Electric Institute](https://www.desmog.com/edison-electric-institute/?ref=importantcontext.news) with two delegates, and the [Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America](https://www.desmog.com/us-chamber-commerce/?ref=importantcontext.news) with ten delegates. A delegate from the [U.S. Grains Council](https://www.desmog.com/us-grains-council/?ref=importantcontext.news) appears as a guest from the Organization of American States under the category of “Intergovernmental Organizations.” Meanwhile, as party overflow, [Pathways Alliance](https://www.desmog.com/pathways-alliance/?ref=importantcontext.news) has two guests of Canada, the conservative [George Mason University](https://www.desmog.com/george-mason-university/?ref=importantcontext.news) has a delegate with an undisclosed relationship with Republic of Korea, fossil-fuel-friendly PR giant [FleishmanHillard](https://www.desmog.com/fleishmanhillard/?ref=importantcontext.news) has a guest of Brazil, and different organizations related to the [Dentsu](https://www.desmog.com/dentsu/?ref=importantcontext.news) Network have seven guests of Japan. As was to be expected, media organizations are also among the climate disinformation entities present at COP29\. [Reuters Plus](https://www.desmog.com/reuters-plus-reuters-events/?ref=importantcontext.news), Reuters’s in-house advertising studio whose client list includes Aramco, Shell and BP, has two delegates attending the summit. [Spiked](https://www.desmog.com/spiked/?ref=importantcontext.news), a UK-based online magazine that frequently publishes anti-environmental and climate science denial stories has one delegate acting as a photographer and videographer. And [GB News](https://www.desmog.com/gb-news/?ref=importantcontext.news), a UK-based TV and radio outlet which, since its foundation in 2021, has often given a platform to climate science denial groups under the guise of not shying “away from controversial issues,” has two members in the UK’s party overflow and five media delegates. Climate denialists from the [U.S. 118th Congress](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/climate-deniers-of-the-118th-congress/?ref=importantcontext.news) are also represented in the country’s party overflow. Congressman Morgan Griffith, who has received nearly $600,000.00 from fossil fuel contributions is himself registered to attend the conference. While not personally attending, Reps. Tim Walberg, Buddy Carter, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer—who received $481,646, $284,620.00, and $98,539.00 respectively from fossil fuel contributions, have representatives at the event. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Even before it began, COP29 was plagued by controversy. Secretary [recordings](https://www.desmog.com/2024/11/12/fossil-fuel-giants-paying-thousands-to-sponsor-cop29-events-baku/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the event’s CEO, Elnur Soltanov, discussing “investment opportunities” for the country’s state oil company were leaked. Azerbaijan has also given special guest badges to at least [132](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/15/fossil-fuel-bosses-get-the-red-carpet-at-cop29-despite-concerns-over-influence?ref=importantcontext.news) oil and gas executives, which critics say is the equivalent to a “red-carpet” treatment at the convention. Azerbaijan is not alone. One of the sponsors of the UK’s pavilion, [software company AVEVA](https://www.desmog.com/2024/11/07/uk-cop29-partners-baku-include-aveva-firm-with-hundreds-of-fossil-fuel-clients/?ref=importantcontext.news), has had over 600 oil and gas clients, including Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron. As one of the country’s sponsors, AVEVA is among the UK’s “official COP29 partners,” meaning they get to host events featuring their own spokespeople. Meanwhile, countries that represent almost 70% of the world’s population are [demanding more accountability](https://kickbigpollutersout.org/COP29FossilFuelLobbyists?ref=importantcontext.news) at the climate summit, and influential climate policy experts are [calling for a reform of COPs](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/15/cop-summits-no-longer-fit-for-purpose-say-leading-climate-policy-experts?ref=importantcontext.news) that prevents nations that are against the phasing out of fossil fuels from hosting the event. On Tuesday (19/11), the G20 launched the [Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/page/g20-leaders%E2%80%99-summit-brazil-un-and-unesco-launch-global-initiative-information?ref=importantcontext.news), aimed at addressing disinformation campaigns that are delaying and derailing climate action. Those pushes come in the wake of a 2022 [report](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-ii/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which, for the first time, acknowledged the negative impacts of climate disinformation in advancing climate policy. ### How Dr. Oz Hyped Trump’s COVID Snake Oil URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/how-dr-oz-hyped-trumps-covid-snake/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:44.000Z On the heels of nominating anti-vax conspiracist and former presidential candidate [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/right-wing-and-medical-fringe-celebrates) as Department of Health and Human Services secretary, President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated fellow showman and failed 2022 Senate candidate [Dr. Mehmet Oz](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/well/dr-oz-health-medicare-record.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In his [announcement](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113511606000227032?ref=importantcontext.news) on Truth Social, Trump highlighted Oz’s Daytime Emmy wins and proclaimed the doctor to have given “a strong voice to key pillars of the MAHA movement.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) While the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, spearheaded by Kennedy, has marketed itself as a fight against chronic disease, the true MAHA agenda appears to be gutting public health institutions, per the Project 2025 plan, in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Trump and his allies are [reportedly](https://truthout.org/articles/trump-and-allies-plot-cuts-to-medicaid-food-stamps-to-fund-tax-cuts-for-wealthy/?ref=importantcontext.news) eyeing major slashes to Medicaid in order to carry out tax cuts for the wealthy elite. Oz has [previously said](https://www.yahoo.com/news/dr-oz-says-uninsured-americans-180511104.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that uninsured Americans have no “right to health” and [has been paid](https://www.levernews.com/dr-oz-can-now-pull-off-his-medicare-privatization-scheme-2/?ref=importantcontext.news) to promote Medicare privatization. Beyond his plans for the critical agency he has been chosen to run, Oz was also implicated in one of Trump’s major public health blunders in 2020\. During the first year of the pandemic, Oz was part of Team Trump’s promotion of a failed COVID-19 miracle cure, hydroxychloroquine. [So was Kennedy](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/hcq-the-maga-fools-gold-that-turned-rfk-jr-from-gadfly-to-global-threat/?ref=importantcontext.news), who promoted the drug in the summer of 2020 alongside future insurrectionist and leader of the pro-Trump group America’s Frontline Doctors Dr. Simone Gold after it had been disproven against the virus in [a major US study](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2016638?ref=importantcontext.news). The drug also carries known cardiac risks, and AFLDS now faces a hydroxychloroquine-for-COVID [wrongful death lawsuit](https://theintercept.com/2023/08/21/americas-frontline-doctors-hydroxychloroquine-wrongful-death/?ref=importantcontext.news). Oz appears in the 2022 House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (HSSCC) [report](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) “A Knife-Fight with the FDA” about the Trump administration’s relentless promotion of the anti-malarial drug for COVID throughout 2020 by MAGA loyalists including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Former Director of the White House National Trade Council Peter Navarro. A March 23, 2020 [email](https://x.com/ddiamond/status/1562478315725762567?ref=importantcontext.news) obtained by the subcommittee showed Oz messaging Trump’s son-in-law and former advisor Jared Kushner, urging him to rush the drug: > *I am funding our study at Columbia but know this is a plodding process which will take a month before we have results. We must make completion of this study a national priority and insist on immediate enrollment. It has been almost a week since we learned of the French data and over a month since the Chinese data and we still have no patients in trials. Doctors and nurses are already struggling to find pills for off-label use, but at least we have a potential pandemic solution at our finger tips (sic).* The French research into hydroxychloroquine for COVID was from [Dr. Didier Raoult](https://retractionwatch.com/2024/06/19/elsevier-reopens-investigation-into-controversial-hydroxychloroquine-covid-paper/?ref=importantcontext.news), whose work [raised alarms](https://www.science.org/content/article/failure-every-level-how-science-sleuths-exposed-massive-ethics-violations-famed-french?ref=importantcontext.news) within the scientific community and who has since faced a slew of retractions and revelations of past research ethics issues. A week before Oz’s email to Kushner, Elon Musk [posted](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1239650597906898947?ref=importantcontext.news) a Google Doc “white paper” to Twitter that cited Raoult, stating, “Maybe worth considering chloroquine for C19” and “This paper matches what I’m hearing from a lot of smart people.” As [reporting](https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/how-musk-sold-maga-on-hcq-and-opened-the-covid-19-disinformation-floodgates/?ref=importantcontext.news) from *WhoWhatWhy* earlier this year detailed, this public boost from Musk–whose [own foundation](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036408/silicon-valley-millionaire-steve-kirsch-covid-vaccine-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) was backing hydroxychloroquine research–kicked off a right-wing media frenzy about the drug leading to Trump promoting it, despite a lack of strong evidence for its efficacy. Oz got in on the hydroxychloroquine media hullabaloo as well. The same day he emailed Kushner, the television doctor appeared on Fox News’s [*Fox and Friends*](https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3860701?ref=importantcontext.news) and [*The Ingraham Angle*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12014206/?ref=importantcontext.news) to discuss the French research as well as his own trial at Columbia University. Like Oz, Laura Ingraham would [personally lobby](https://americanoversight.org/emails-from-spring-2020-show-prominent-tv-personalities-sending-requests-about-hydroxychloroquine-trials/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Trump White House to push hydroxychloroquine for COVID. Also in March 2020, Oz reportedly personally [spent thousands](https://nypost.com/2022/04/23/dr-oz-bought-2070-doses-of-hydroxychloroquine-during-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) of dollars buying up hydroxychloroquine doses amid a rush on the drug that [caused shortages](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/donald-trump-elon-musk-covid-hcq-hydroxychloroquine/?ref=importantcontext.news) for people with chronic conditions who require it for daily use. Additionally, Oz [owned shares](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/07/dr-oz-has-ties-to-hydroxychloroquine-companies-as-he-backs-covid-treatment.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of companies that make the drug while he was promoting its use for COVID. Of course, hydroxychloroquine was not nearly the first time the cardiothoracic surgeon-turned-celebrity over-promised on a quick health fix – or promoted [questionable](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/10/how-dr-mehmet-oz-boosted-joseph-mercola-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) [scientists](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2015/01/marketer-who-promoted-green-coffee-bean-weight-loss-supplement-agrees-settle-ftc-charges?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Oz is best known for his lucrative television work promising miracle health/diet cures [often lacking supporting evidence](https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7346?ref=importantcontext.news), which eventually got him in trouble with Congress. The doctor [appeared](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/01/dr-oz-senate-campaign-523562?ref=importantcontext.news) before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance in 2014 for a hearing on false advertising in the weight loss industry. One member of the subcommittee went so far as to tell Oz that “the scientific community is almost monolithic against you.” Columbia [quietly cut ties](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/98539?ref=importantcontext.news) with Oz in 2022. The 2014 hearing was brought up during his Senate run in 2022, with various scientists [calling him](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-oz-shouldnt-be-a-senator-or-a-doctor/?ref=importantcontext.news) both unfit for office and to be a doctor. Oz’s involvement in the hydroxychloroquine debacle, and appearance in the HSSCC’s 2022 report, should be brought up in light of his CMS nomination. [Posting to X](https://x.com/LawrenceGostin/status/1858988742347997520?ref=importantcontext.news), Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, wrote: “Dr Oz is unfit to run CMS.” “He peddles conspiracy theories on vaccines & fake cures,” Gostin wrote. “He profits from fringe medical ideas. By nominating RFK Jr & Mehmet Oz, Trump is giving his middle finger to science. Having worked for 40 years in public health, it's utterly disheartening.” Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, which has [launched an effort](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/18/congress/health-groups-aim-to-stop-rfk-00190215?ref=importantcontext.news) to stop Kennedy’s HHS nomination, had similarly [strong words](https://www.protectourcare.org/breaking-donald-trump-nominates-deeply-unqualified-tv-personality-and-scam-artist-dr-oz-to-administer-vital-programs-medicare-medicaid-chip-and-aca-marketplace/?ref=importantcontext.news) in an official statement about Oz’s nomination to head the CMS, accusing the television star of having “exploited the public’s trust in him as a doctor to push quack medical cures, such as fad diets and the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, in order to line his own pockets.” “He is a grifter and a threat to public health,” the statement read. “Dr. Oz and RFK Jr. at the helm of our country’s health care administration will only lead us into a disaster unlike any other. The American people deserve better than this clown show running American health care.” ### Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s FDA Pick URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:44.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version. Last update 11/22/24.* Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is a prominent medical contrarian who has cast doubt on the COVID-19 vaccines. Wednesday evening, *Bloomberg* [reported](https://www.google.com/search?q=Bloomberg+marty+makary&rlz=1C9BKJA%5FenUS1081US1081&oq=Bloomberg+marty+makary&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDUxMTZqMGo0qAICsAIB4gMEGAEgXw&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&ref=importantcontext.news) that Johns Hopkins professor, pancreatic surgeon, and author Marty Makary was seen as the “leading candidate” for the role. The nomination was made official on Friday. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Trump’s public health picks have been controversial. Last Thursday, he named anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. to head up his Department of Health and Human Services. With the appointment, it was all but guaranteed that top public health agencies would be run by fringe medical figures. Sure enough, on Saturday, *The Washington Post* reported that Stanford Professor and co-author of the pro-COVID infection Great Barrington Declaration Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was [a top contender](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about) for director of the National Institutes of Health. Then, on Tuesday, Trump named television personality and former GOP Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The choice of Dr. Marty Makary to head up the FDA, with its $7.2 billion budget and role overseeing the safety of the U.S. food supply, medical devices and technology, and tobacco products, continues the trend. The résumé on Makary’s [website](https://www.martymd.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) shows no experience in government or managing bureaucracy, and the surgeon has spent years working to undermine confidence in the very agency he is reportedly a top contender to lead. ## Right-Wing Attention Makary, who serves as the [chief medical adviser](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nava-appoints-health-policy-expert-surgeon-and-bestselling-author-dr-marty-makary-as-chief-medical-advisor-301259257.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of a health benefits brokerage company Nava, has long been a critic of American healthcare, positioning himself as a sober voice for reform. He has authored multiple books on the subject including 2019’s “The Price We Pay,” which [argued](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/22/767376340/the-price-we-pay-argues-rising-health-care-costs-undermine-public-trust-in-medic?ref=importantcontext.news) that costs were simply too high. With the pandemic, he has emerged as a popular figure on the political right for his particular brand of contrarianism, which has included [falsely](https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731?ref=importantcontext.news) asserting in a February 2021 op-ed that the U.S. would achieve COVID herd immunity by April of that year. Even before COVID, Makary was controversial. In 2016, he was behind a [widely](https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2023/07/medical-errors-are-the-third-leading-cause-of-death-and-other-statistics-you-should-question/?ref=importantcontext.news) [rebuked](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-health/medical-error-not-third-leading-cause-death?ref=importantcontext.news) [study](https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the British Medical Journal purporting to find that medical error was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Shortly after publication, the editors-in chief of *BMJ Quality and Safety* [debunked](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/917696?form=fpf&ref=importantcontext.news) the findings. Makary’s pandemic advocacy has alienated him from the mainstream of public health, but it has been a boon to him in other ways. For example, he has made influential [allies](https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/p/conversations-with-jay-bhattacharya-cc3) like Bhattacharya and become a favorite of right-wing media. In 2021, he was included on a [list](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/dishonest-doctors-who-were-fox-news-most-frequent-medical-guests-2021-0?ref=importantcontext.news) of “The dishonest doctors who were Fox News’ most frequent medical guests in 2021” by watchdog group Media Matters. The surgeon has similarly been embraced by right-wing dark money groups. He is an [adviser](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-could-be-running-trumps-health-team-2024-11-14/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Paragon Health Institute, a health policy-focused conservative think tank that has received millions in grant funding from the Stand Together Trust, a funding vehicle [affiliated](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Stand%5FTogether%5FTrust?ref=importantcontext.news) with billionaire Charles Koch. His most recent book, “Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health,” which blames doctors for various problems—from peanut allergies to the opioid epidemic and drug-resistant bacteria—was [promoted](https://www.youtube.com/live/-bImGym4icU?si=UmfJPqmM0e0EO4ao&ref=importantcontext.news) by the Koch-backed Cato Institute. Makary has also ties to the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), a right-wing dark money outfit founded to oppose government interventions amid the COVID pandemic. The group, which was founded by an anarcho-capitalist [child labor advocate and supporter of youth tobacco use](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), has become a central hub for public health-related misinformation, including vaccine misinformation. Makary served as a member of Brownstone’s so-called Norfolk Group, a team of contrarian medical voices organized to compile a [roadmap](https://www.norfolkgroup.org/table-of-contents?ref=importantcontext.news) for a congressional inquiry into the U.S. pandemic response to assist the incoming GOP-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (HSSCP). The group’s recommendations echoed those from a Heritage Foundation [report](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/forging-post-pandemic-policy-agenda-road-map-covid-19-congressional?ref=importantcontext.news) released weeks earlier, namely focusing on the harms of mitigation measures. Then, of course, there are speaking engagements. Makary’s rising profile has afforded him the ability to charge significant fees for appearances—both in-person and virtual. His profile on the booking website Big Speak reveals that he [charges](https://www.bigspeak.com/speakers/marty-makary-m-d?ref=importantcontext.news) $20,000 to $30,000 per engagement. The site Key Speakers, meanwhile, [estimates](https://keyspeakers.com/bio.php?3023-marty-makary-md&ref=importantcontext.news) $12,000-$15,000 per appearance with the low-end representing his virtual fee. AAE Speakers has his [range](https://www.aaespeakers.com/keynote-speakers/marty-makary-m-d?ref=importantcontext.news) as $10,000 to $20,000. Makary has also found allies in Republican politicians. He was was one the three panelists chosen to by GOP representatives to speak at the inaugural hearing of the HSSCP in February 2023\. He has also participated in the wellness roundtable organized by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) that featured right-wing psychologist and anti-woke activist Dr. Jordan Peterson as well as chronic disease entrepreneurs Calley and [Dr. Casey Means](https://x.com/caseymeansmd/status/1820614949334589582?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), who are part of Kennedy’s pro-Trump Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. The Means siblings are prolific [anti-vaxxers](https://x.com/calleymeans/status/1838401870433247368?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) but reject the label—both for themselves and for [Kennedy](https://x.com/caseymeansmd/status/1852415154706956775?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), preferring vaccine safety advocates instead. However, Calley Means has [called](https://x.com/calleymeans/status/1852107791584158146?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) COVID vaccine mandates a “war crime” while his sister, who was also [reportedly](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-could-be-running-trumps-health-team-2024-11-14/?ref=importantcontext.news) under consideration for the top FDA role, has [called](https://x.com/caseymeansmd/status/1852405755246264342?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) vaccine mandates “criminal.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## Undermining Government Like other medical contrarians promoted by the political right, the professor has spent years sowing doubt in America’s leading public health institutions and casting COVID mitigation efforts as grievous wrongs against the public. For example, Makary has [asserted](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1701976215421153472?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the COVID pandemic was the result of a lab leak and accused public health authorities of engaging in an “extensive” cover-up. Evidence points to natural spillover, the explanation [favored](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news) by most virologists and epidemiologists. Earlier this month, Makary joined the advisory board of the controversial, lab leak-promoting group BioSafety Now, which Bhattacharya is [also affiliated with](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about). In his opening remarks, testifying before the HSSCP, Makary alleged that "public health officials have made many tragic mistakes during the pandemic.” His examples included “ignoring natural immunity”—a common talking point among advocates of the mass infection-based herd immunity strategy outlined in the Great Barrington Declaration, which was co-authored by Bhattacharya, Makary’s fellow panelist at the hearing. Vaccines are a significantly safer way to acquire protection from COVID than contracting the disease. Other examples Makary cited in his opening statement included dismissing the unsupported lab leak claim about COVID origins as a conspiracy theory, closing schools, masking children, boosting young people with the COVID-vaccines, and authorizing the bivalent boosters, which he claimed were insufficiently tested. Makary called the U.S. government “the greatest perpetrator of misinformation” of the pandemic, citing as evidence its promotion of masking as a means of cutting down infection, [wrongly](https://sph.umd.edu/news/study-shows-n95-masks-near-perfect-blocking-escape-airborne-covid-19?ref=importantcontext.news) claiming that they were ineffective. Later in his testimony, he referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as “King Fauci.” In recent months, Makary has cozied up to Kennedy. When the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist was named as the pick for HHS secretary, the surgeon retweeted a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “God Bless America & the new Secretary of Health & Human Services! #MAHA.” As *Important Context* previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/right-wing-and-medical-fringe-celebrates), Makary has also been using the “MAHA” hashtag in [posts](https://x.com/MartyMakary/status/1856849215143432396?ref=importantcontext.news) promoting “Blind Spots.” Makary’s critiques of public health officials and government have echoed Kennedy’s. For example, speaking at the October Stanford health policy symposium Bhattacharya organized with a wide range of fringe panelists, including anti-vaxxers, he blamed the U.S.’s poor pandemic performance on obesity and food quality. “We are running the largest uncontrolled clinical trial in world history,” he said. “We have poisoned the food supply with ultra processed foods and thousands of chemicals in the American food supply that are banned in Europe and Canada and then we’ve added toxins and chemicals and pesticides.” He went on to say that the U.S. had a one-size fits all approach to COVID risk that treated the elderly the same as children—again echoing the Great Barrington Declaration. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## Stoking Vaccine Fears Makary’s focus on vaccination as a harmful act of the federal government and public health authorities during the HSSCP hearing was unsurprising. He had long been promoting fear toward the mRNA COVID shots, which have saved millions of lives to date, overhyping concerns about rare, often self-resolving side effects while [advocating](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1629118122899668994?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for infection-acquired immunity as stronger and preferable. In his testimony, Makary [falsely](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/09/teresa-sperry-girl-virginia-class-nurse-died-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) suggested that no healthy children had died from COVID in the U.S. and argued that the vaccines posed a greater risk to that age group than the virus itself. It was a familiar drum beat for the surgeon, who had [tweeted](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1617939215198846978?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a month earlier that “After myocarditis comes the risk of perm scaring & poss arrhythmias.” He followed up by asking his followers, “Anyone know how many HEALTHY teens have died of Covid, if any? The CDC director didn't when asked by Senators, so I doubt any 'expert' does.” In a June 2022 [op-ed](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/cdc-recommends-covid-19-vaccines-babies-kids-under-5-6-things-parents-need-know?ref=importantcontext.news) for Fox News, meanwhile, Makary had challenged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that children ages 6 months to five-years-old be vaccinated against COVID, arguing, among other things, that the guidance “lacked humility.” He claimed most children had “natural immunity.” That fall, he argued the [bivalent boosters](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1582723245471518720?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) were unnecessary and declared the White House had “[gone rogue](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1580612235675594754?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” in approving them without adequate testing. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## “A Terrible Pick” Public health experts told *Important Context* that they were alarmed at the prospect of Makary serving in such a prominent government role, where he could go after the vaccines he has cast doubt on. “Marty Makary, like his prospective future boss, claims that he is pro-vaccine and yet has repeatedly spread disinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness,” said [Dr. Angela Rasmussen](https://www.vido.org/team/project-leaders-veterinarians/angela-rasmussen?ref=importantcontext.news), a virologist who teaches at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and Stony Brook University in New York. “He has opposed vaccines for some vulnerable populations and advocated for so-called ‘natural immunity,’ which is a euphemism for mass infection. Anyone who opposes essential medicines and evidence-based public health policy has no business regulating them.” Dr. David Gorski, an oncologist and surgery professor at Wayne State University who runs the New England Skeptical Society’s blog, *Science-Based Medicine*, called Makary “a terrible pick for FDA,” explaining that “he’s never shown evidence that he understands the drug approval process, and thinking of him in charge of approving new vaccines is terrifying.” “In 2016, Dr. Makary was the originator of a factoid that is not true, specifically the claim that medical errors are responsible for 250K deaths per year, making them the third leading cause of death in the US,” Gorski said. “It was an estimate based on overly broad definitions and unjustifiable extrapolation from small studies. Four years later, he continued promoting dubious science with his claims about COVID-19 and then later COVID-19 vaccines, in particular his minimizing how dangerous COVID-19 is, attacking public health interventions such as masks, and then exaggerating the risks of the vaccines while downplaying their effectiveness.” ### Right-Wing and Medical Fringe Celebrate Kennedy HHS Nomination URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/right-wing-and-medical-fringe-celebrates/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:45.000Z President-elect Donald Trump has [announced](https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1857170020427595797?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/11/rfk-jr-hhs-sanewashing/680663/?utm%5Fcampaign=the-atlantic&utm%5Fcontent=true-anthem&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=twitter) as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees federal public health institutions like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Kennedy for HHS is just the latest in a growing list of loyalists chosen by Trump for his second administration. Other controversial nominations include Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Last month, Gabbard appeared at the “[Rescue the Republic](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/2022-defeat-the-mandates-rally-returns-now-rescue-the-republic/?ref=importantcontext.news)” rally also featuring Kennedy and a slew of right-wing conspiracists. She also campaigned for Trump with Kennedy on their “[Reclaim America](https://event.donaldjtrump.com/events/team-trumps-reclaim-america-tour-featuring-robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-former-us-representative-tulsi-gabbard-hi-02-in-madison-wisconsin?ref=importantcontext.news)” tour in the lead up to election day. A former environmental attorney, Kennedy has no background in public health or medicine, but has made a [lucrative](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/?itid=ap%5Flaurenweber&ref=importantcontext.news) career spreading dangerous, discredited misinformation about vaccines. His anti-vax crusade has been absorbed into MAGA’s war on science during the COVID-19 pandemic and he has subsequently become a central figure in Trump world. Immediately after dropping his spoiler presidential bid, which polls showed to be [hurting Trump](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/deep-in-maga-pandemic-politics-rfk-jr-morphs-from-asset-to-risk-for-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) more than helping him by the spring, Kennedy endorsed the former president’s candidacy. Trump, in turn, announced on the campaign trail that he would let Kennedy “go wild on health” in his next administration. In the final weeks of the campaign, Kennedy announced his “Make America Healthy Again” venture to overhaul federal public health agencies, and appeared at a [much derided](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/rfk-trump-health-maga/680011/?ref=importantcontext.news) “MAHA” hearing hosted by MAGA loyalist Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). At an anti-vaccine conference in Georgia last year, then-presidential candidate Kennedy [outlined his plan](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/rfk-jr-comes-home-anti-vaccine-group-commits-break-us-infectious-disea-rcna123551?ref=importantcontext.news) to overhaul health agencies: “I’m gonna say to NIH scientists, God bless you all. Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” Prior to the nomination announcement, Kennedy [stated](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/robert-f-kennedy-jr-national-institutes-of-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) his desire to fire and replace 600 workers from the NIH. Just before the election, Kennedy said he wished to remove [fluoride](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fluoride-in-water-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the water systems and [posted](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1849925311586238737?ref=importantcontext.news): > FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can't be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1\. Preserve your records, and 2\. Pack your bags. While public health experts [expressed their alarm](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/robert-f-kennedy-jr-donald-trump-health-and-human-services/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Kennedy appointment and healthcare workers [launched a petition](https://committeetoprotect.org/stop-rfk-jr/?ref=importantcontext.news), [cranks](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-robert-f-kennedy-jr-hhs-secretary-anti-vaccine-activists-rcna180243?ref=importantcontext.news) and fringe medical voices—some of whom have, themselves, been discussed for leadership positions under the HHS umbrella—welcomed the news that the anti-vaccine conspiracy monger could soon lead arguably the most influential public health agency in the world. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Dr. Jay Bhattacharya** Stanford health economist Jay Bhattacharya, who spoke at the Kennedy campaign event announcing his former running mate, lashed out at doctors criticizing the nomination. In a [post on X](https://x.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1857409438409273547?ref=importantcontext.news), Bhattacharya said, “It's ironic that the loudest cheer leaders of lockdowns, toddler masking, and mandates in academic medicine during the covid era are now smearing @RobertKennedyJr as bad for public health. Physician, heal thyself.” Bhattacharya advised Trump on a “[dangerous and discredited](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/reports/new-select-subcommittee-report-reveals-full-scope-trump-administration-s-embrace?ref=importantcontext.news)” herd immunity COVID strategy and co-authored the widely rebuked, pro-business, anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration. Since then, he’s become [a darling of the right](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/invisible-hand-new-group-awarding), has embraced contrarian views on topics like COVID vaccines and the [pandemic’s origins](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/great-barrington-declaration-author-joins-covid-19-lab-leak-pushing-group/?ref=importantcontext.news). He is now reportedly a top choice to head up Donald Trump’s [NIH](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/11/16/nih-director-jay-bhattacharya-covid-great-barrington-declaration/?ref=importantcontext.news), an agency about which he has previously [promoted](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2022/05/03/nih-funding-lies-as-disinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) conspiracy theories. **Dr. Martin Kulldorff** Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a former Harvard biostatistician, [hailed](https://x.com/MartinKulldorff/status/1857161549456212339?ref=importantcontext.news) the news of Kennedy’s HHS appointment as a potential “return” of “evidence-based medicine” on X. He has also [previously posted](https://x.com/MartinKulldorff/status/1854193165172985932?ref=importantcontext.news) in support of Bhattacharya as the head of the NIH to “restore integrity and strength to medical research and science.” A Great Barrington Declaration co-author, Kulldorff has worked closely with Bhattacharya over the years, including advising the Trump White House, serving on Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s public health integrity committee, as a member of the [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) created to send right-wing “experts” to the GOP’s [House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/dont-let-house-republicans-rewrite-trumps-pandemic-history/?ref=importantcontext.news) (HSSCP), and as a founding fellow of far-right Hillsdale College’s Academy for Science and Freedom. Kulldorff is now the scientific director of the Brownstone Institute, an off-shoot of the Great Barrington Declaration which has become a hub for public health misinformation and anti-vaccine voices. Brownstone organized the Norfolk Group. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Jeffrey Tucker** Jeffrey Tucker, founder of Brownstone, quote-tweeted Donald Trump’s post announcing Kennedy’s nomination, joyously [adding](https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1857173587637023178?ref=importantcontext.news), “It’s all happening, fulfilling the greatest realignment in American politics in two hundred years.” Tucker, an anarchocapitalist and far-right Catholic whose raison d'etre became opposition COVID mitigation measures, was an organizer of the Great Barrington Declaration while working for the American Institute for Economic Research. Tucker and his group have long been supportive of Kennedy. When he entered the presidential race as a Democrat, Tucker penned an [article](https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/the-rfk-potential-for-political-disruption-5209458?ref=importantcontext.news) for the pro-Trump, conspiracy-promoting [Epoch Times](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/13/nx-s1-5005297/epoch-times-turmoil-money-laundering?ref=importantcontext.news)—listed as a “friend” of Brownstone—titled, “The RFK Jr. Potential for Political Disruption.” Last month, Brownstone hosted its [annual conference and gala](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), featuring a host of contrarians, anti-vaxxers, wellness influencers, and conspiracy promoters from the U.S. and abroad. Among the speakers was a contributor to Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense. **Dr. Marty Makary** Following the announcement of Kennedy for HHS, Dr. Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgical oncologist whose name has been thrown around for a [potential leadership position](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-could-be-running-trumps-health-team-2024-11-14/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the FDA, re-shared a post on X saying, “God Bless America & the new Secretary of Health & Human Services! #MAHA.” He has also been using the “MAHA” hashtag in [posts](https://x.com/MartyMakary/status/1856849215143432396?ref=importantcontext.news) promoting his new book “Blind Spots.” Makary, previously best known for a [debunked study](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-health/medical-error-not-third-leading-cause-death?ref=importantcontext.news) claiming medical error to be the third leading cause of death in the US, has routinely minimized COVID. Like Bhattacharya, he made [frequent appearances](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/dishonest-doctors-who-were-fox-news-most-frequent-medical-guests-2021-0?ref=importantcontext.news) on Fox News during the height of the pandemic. He also [infamously](https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731?ref=importantcontext.news) promised in a February 2021 *Wall Street Journal* opinion piece that the nation would achieve herd immunity by April of that year despite having no background in infectious disease or epidemiology. Makary—an [advisor](https://paragoninstitute.org/profile/marty-makary/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the right-wing think tank Paragon Health Institute, which is run by a former Trump administration economic adviser and has [promoted](https://paragoninstitute.org/public-health/injecting-politics-into-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) vaccine skepticism—[testified](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuzzeoZ5dw&t=3678s&ref=importantcontext.news) alongside Bhattacharya and Kulldorff before the HSSCP last year, offering his non-expert takes on topics like vaccine safety. The surgeon has appeared alongside Bhattacharya at academic [contrarian](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/hopkins-business-school-to-platform-covid-19-contrarians-at-health-policy-symposium/?ref=importantcontext.news) [conferences](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) this fall, and participated in Johnson’s “MAHA” hearing with Kennedy last month. More recently, he published a book about winning back public trust in public health. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Dr. Aseem Malhotra** Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist from the UK, also celebrated the Kennedy nomination, [posting](https://x.com/DrAseemMalhotra/status/1857305019092992227?ref=importantcontext.news) “Not just great for America, this is great for the world” on his X account. Last month he [tweeted](https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1849514037119537257?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that Kennedy getting to “change health policy to make America healthy again” was one of his birthday wishes. The British physician gained notoriety by spreading fear about the [life-saving](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?fbclid=IwAR354ga2S7dnoFgNBNtZAcxYME1cPCy4qgmMxL8x8pu5c3xtOrRDShzTygE&ref=importantcontext.news) COVID-19 vaccines, once [calling](https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1813969581305950278?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the mRNA shots “the single most horrific medical product in history.” He has similarly stoked fear of cholesterol-lowering medications (statins) and is behind a recent documentary called “First Do No Pharm,” capitalizing on existing and understandable fear of the pharmaceutical industry. Malhotra has been working in right-wing US media circles (Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, etc.) and with American anti-vaxxers – like fellow cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, who he appeared with on [an Epoch TImes show](https://www.everand.com/podcast/618034292/EXCLUSIVE-Dr-Peter-McCullough-and-Dr-Aseem-Malhotra-How-the-COVID-19-Vaccines-Impact-the-Heart?ref=importantcontext.news) and who has [taken massive sums](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the pharmaceutical industry. Malhotra, whose lack of medical board consequences for his rampant spread of misinformation inspired [legal action](https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q433?ref=importantcontext.news) back home, has [claimed](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14069719/doctor-donald-trump-advisor-role-plan-heart-disease.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to be in talks about a potential Trump administration advisor. **Calley Means and Dr. Casey Means** The Means siblings, Calley and Casey, controversial wellness influencers who have [rocketed into Trump’s orbit](https://www.statnews.com/2024/10/07/calley-means-casey-means-conservative-voices-of-chronic-disease-crisis/?ref=importantcontext.news), also welcomed the idea of Kennedy for HHS. Casey [appeared](https://podcasts.apple.com/tc/podcast/ep-679-dr-casey-means-chris-cuomo-mary-katharine-ham/id98746009?i=1000677155920&ref=importantcontext.news) on Bill Maher’s show and voiced support for the nomination. Calley, an [adviser](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/15/nx-s1-5191947/trump-rfk-health-hhs?ref=importantcontext.news) to Kennedy and Trump’s transition team, [posted](https://x.com/calleymeans/status/1857644817242603738?ref=importantcontext.news) to X, “There is a generational opportunity for American thriving right now.” In addition to appearing on right-wing media programs from the likes of Joe Rogan, Glenn Beck, and Tucker Carlson, the Means duo appeared at the Johnson MAHA event. During his appearance on Rogan, Calley boldly [said](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1845927964271325244?ref=importantcontext.news) of 34-time convicted felon Trump, “the foundation of his existence is taking on corruption.” During an impassioned speech on the Tucker Carlson Live tour, Calley [proclaimed](https://x.com/EndTribalism/status/1852361561307771121?ref=importantcontext.news) “When Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump joined together, it represented a historic realignment in U.S. politics.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Sen. Ron Johnson** Sen. Johnson celebrated the nomination on X, [saying](https://x.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1857180495383076926?ref=importantcontext.news), “I could not be happier that @realDonaldTrump has selected @RobertKennedyJr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He’s a brilliant, courageous truth-teller whose unwavering commitment to transparency will make America a healthier nation.” Like Kennedy, Johnson has been a [prolific spreader of misinformation](https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/98771?ref=importantcontext.news) throughout the pandemic and amplified many fringe medical voices throughout the COVID pandemic who have gone on to work with Kennedy and Children’s Health Defense. Johnson himself has encouraged fear of the vaccines and, like Kennedy, has promoted “miracle cures” like [hydroxychloroquine](https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/how-musk-sold-maga-on-hcq-and-opened-the-covid-19-disinformation-floodgates/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [ivermectin](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news). Kennedy has accused the FDA of “suppressing” these drugs, despite studies showing neither are effective against COVID and a current [wrongful death lawsuit](https://theintercept.com/2023/08/21/americas-frontline-doctors-hydroxychloroquine-wrongful-death/?ref=importantcontext.news) over the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID. ### Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s NIH Pick URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/everything-you-need-to-know-about/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:45.000Z *This piece has been edited from its original email version. Last update 12/23/24.* Donald Trump has named Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist known for his pro-infection advocacy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as his pick for director of the National Institutes of Health. The announcement, which came on Tuesday, was no surprise. On Saturday, November 16, *The Washington Post* [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/11/16/nih-director-jay-bhattacharya-covid-great-barrington-declaration/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the controversial professor was a top contender for the position. If confirmed, Bhattacharya will oversee the largest funder of biomedical and behavioral research on the planet. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) As the new Trump administration takes shape, each appointment has been more fraught than the last. The president-elect wanted Matt Gaetz, who had previously been caught up in a Department of Justice sex trafficking [investigation](https://apnews.com/article/trump-attorney-general-matt-gaetz-justice-department-9d51501fb6ad5c04b5b4113d3a6a584b?ref=importantcontext.news), for Attorney General. Under scrutiny, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. Trump chose anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. to head up the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, who has mused that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was genetically engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews, [suggested](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/13/politics/robert-kennedy-jr-chemicals-water-children-frogs/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that chemicals in water are turning children gay or transgender, and falsely claimed vaccines cause autism, is an ally of Bhattacharya. So too is [Dr. Marty Makary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce), Trump’s pick for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, himself a critic of COVID mitigation efforts. Bhattacharya is possibly the most extreme of the lot. While, as *The Post* noted, the professor has never held a position managing any position overseeing a large bureaucratic organization like the NIH with its $47 billion budget, he has been a central figure in an [organized, well-funded](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) [campaign by the political right](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) to undermine public health in America that has been raging since the onset of the COVID pandemic. Bhattacharya has spent years leveraging his credentials to argue in favor of the position of GOP politicians and business-aligned right-wing dark money groups that the government response to the crisis was worse than the virus itself. The professor is one of the architects of a discredited herd immunity strategy reliant on so-called “natural immunity,” meaning infection-acquired. He has long claimed that the danger the virus poses to non-senior citizens is minimal despite COVID having been [a top killer](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us?ref=importantcontext.news) among young people. He has cast doubt on the safety and necessity of vaccinating that demographic and opposed government efforts to control the worst public health crisis in a century. The professor even spread conspiracy [theories](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2022/05/03/nih-funding-lies-as-disinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) about the very agency he is on the verge of leading, alleging that a small number of top bureaucrats have been using funding to stifle dissenting views like his. Should he assume the role, Bhattacharya would be in a position to inject unscientific right-wing ideology into the very heart of the agency responsible for leading the fight against infectious diseases. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Infection Advocate Bhattacharya first taste of the national spotlight came in the spring of 2020\. In March that year, he co-authored a *Wall Street Journal* [*editorial*](https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-11585088464?ref=importantcontext.news) arguing against lockdowns and making the case that COVID was less dangerous than public health authorities were predicting. “If it’s true that the novel coronavirus would kill millions without shelter-in-place orders and quarantines, then the extraordinary measures being carried out in cities and states around the country are surely justified,” it read. “But there’s little evidence to confirm that premise—and projections of the death toll could plausibly be orders of magnitude too high.” That article, which suggested the pandemic might only amount to an epidemic that kills 20,000 to 40,000 Americans, preceded the release of pre-print study Bhattacharya co-authored purporting to show that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was far more infectious—and less deadly—than the global scientific community was warning. The study’s flaws, from [methodological issues](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-study-bhattacharya-email?ref=importantcontext.news) to [undisclosed funding](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news) from the founder of JetBlue, a vocal critic of COVID lockdowns, were quickly revealed. Nevertheless, the paper was [hugely influential](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/coronavirus-research-misinformation.html?ref=importantcontext.news) on the political right and its findings not only impacted policy in the U.S. but abroad as well in countries like the UK. Several months later, Bhattacharya co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, a widely rebuked, discredited document calling on governments and scientists to reject large-scale COVID mitigation policies in favor of “focused protection” for the elderly. The idea was that by allowing widespread infection of the rest of the population, herd immunity could be achieved quickly and with minimal disruption to the economy. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the plan “unethical” and 14 major public health organizations published an open letter denouncing it. The document itself was written and signed at a conference hosted by a libertarian think tank called the American Institute for Economic Research, a month ahead of the 2020 election. The group’s editorial director Jeffrey Tucker, [a child labor and tobacco use enthusiast](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails) and [opponent of anti-discrimination laws](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone), was a key organizer. The document added a scientific veneer to the public health approach preferred by the Trump administration and right-wing groups like The Heritage Foundation, which saw lockdowns as a greater threat than the virus itself. Planning for the event had taken place over the summer and involved the Trump administration directly through health policy adviser Dr. Scott Atlas, who, like Bhattacharya, was affiliated with the Hoover Institution. Atlas helped secure passage to the U.S. for UK-based declaration co-author Dr. Sunetra Gupta under the pretext of a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. While the declaration did little to help Trump’s 2020 prospects, it did propel Bhattacharya to right-wing stardom. He has used his megaphone to continue to evangelize the benefits of mass infection and the harms of government efforts to curb the spread of a deadly virus. Despite the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would ultimately go on to kill more than 1.2 million Americans and leave millions more suffering long COVID, Bhattacharya has never changed his position on lockdowns and other mitigations. His false and misleading statements about government efforts to curb the spread of the virus are too numerous to list here, though Bhattacharya has blamed “lockdowns” for all manner of ills, including [possibly even Russia’s invasion of Ukraine](https://x.com/tryangregory/status/1573469603623206921?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). He has also asserted that masks do not work and harm child development without an expertise on the matter and was an early advocate to reopen schools with no mitigation measures in place. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Conspiracy Theories While the Great Barrington Declaration was not itself explicitly anti-vaccine, its central premise—that reopening could safely occur without them—has made Bhattacharya a natural ally of the anti-vax movement. Over time, the professor has moved steadily in their direction. He has repeatedly [promoted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1435725382569844741?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the idea that the [small risks](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1716249588938809651?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) associated with COVID vaccines [outweigh](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1703620873893396848?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the benefits for young people, [especially boys](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1435725382569844741?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [young men](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1788198668077535627?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). In a particularly ill-timed [op-ed](https://theprint.in/opinion/majority-indians-have-natural-immunity-vaccinating-entire-population-can-cause-great-harm/582174/?ref=importantcontext.news), he called universal vaccination in India “unethical” on the grounds that a majority of Indians had natural immunity, writing that “for recovered Covid patients…the vaccines provide no benefit and some harm.” Incredibly, several months later, in a piece making the same case for the U.S., he [argued](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/558757-the-ill-advised-push-to-vaccinate-the-young/?ref=importantcontext.news) that mandating vaccines here would deny doses to countries in need of them, including India. In September 2022, Bhattacharya misleadingly [claimed](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1570121907718205441?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the new bivalent boosters were insufficiently tested and alleged that the CDC and FDA were “flying blind.” The professor has also spoken at events with anti-vaxxers like millionaire [Steve Kirsch](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/?ref=importantcontext.news), who asserts that the shots are responsible for millions of deaths. In March, Bhattacharya [spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial) at the vice presidential announcement event for Kennedy’s independent presidential campaign. Bhattacharya recently appeared in the documentary *First Do No Pharm* by anti-vaxxer and Kennedy ally Aseem Malhotra. *Important Context* readers will also recall that Bhattacharya was the [organizer](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) of a recent health policy symposium at Stanford seemingly aimed at rewriting pandemic history to vindicate fringe positions adopted by the political right. The event was stacked with conspiracy mongers and anti-vaccine voices like Alex Berenson. Beyond his promotion of anti-vaccine narratives, Bhattacharya has pushed the unsupported claim that COVID emerged from a lab leak and [claimed](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6294435199001?ref=importantcontext.news) that Dr. Fauci was involved in a cover-up. The professor [recently joined](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/great-barrington-declaration-author-joins-covid-19-lab-leak-pushing-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) the board of directors of BioSafety Now, a [controversial](https://www.science.org/content/article/lab-leak-proponents-rutgers-accused-defaming-and-intimidating-covid-19-origin?ref=importantcontext.news) [scientist group](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-20/leading-scientists-accuse-two-rutgers-professors-of-poisoning-the-debate-over-covids-origins-heres-why?ref=importantcontext.news) pushing the lab leak origin story for COVID despite evidence consistently pointing to zoonosis. Makary is on its advisory board. Makary appears in the new conspiratorial documentary, *Thank You, Dr. Fauci*, seeking “answers” from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A description of the film on its [website](https://tydfmovie.com/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) reads, “AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARIAN JENNER FURST SEEKS ANSWERS FROM DR. FAUCI ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF COVID-19, A BIO-ARMS RACE WITH CHINA AND WHAT COULD BE THE LARGEST COVERUP IN MODERN HISTORY.” In a [recent](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/trump-nih-pick-pushed-ivermectin) documentary, *Covid Collateral*, funded in part by New Tang Dynasty Television, which is connected to Falun Gong-linked *The Epoch Times*, Bhattacharya promoted ivermectin as a COVID treatment. The body of research has demonstrated that the anti-parasitic is not effective at treating the disease. Bhattacharya has long held that the mainstream rejection of his ideas is not a reflection of their scientific merit, but rather the result of “censorship” by key public health officials including Fauci and former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, who communicated privately over email about rebutting the Great Barrington Declaration. He has baselessly claimed that academics self-censor to get NIH funding for their research, suggesting that top bureaucrats like Collins used their positions to enforce their personal beliefs. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Political Operative Bhattacharya’s contrarian views and pro-infection advocacy may have alienated him from the mainstream of public health, but they have earned him powerful allies, including, as *The Post* noted, billionaires Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, who has supported his censorship claims. Bhattacharya has also been a favorite in the world of right-wing dark money, having [written](https://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank with ties to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, been cited by the Heritage Foundation, and spoken before the secretive, influential Christian Right group Council for National Policy, which connects activists with big money. Conservative legal activist Leonard Leo’s Teneo Network once [featured](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/bhattacharya-for-the-cdc/?ref=importantcontext.news) Bhattacharya in a fundraising video. The professor holds titles at organizations like the Hoover Institution, where he is a senior fellow (courtesy). He occupies [various roles](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax) at Collateral Global, a UK-based charity focused on opposing lockdowns, including editor-in-chief and scientific adviser. He is a contributing author to the Australia-based Australians for Science and Freedom. In the past, Bhattacharya was a senior scholar at the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute) when it was formed in 2021 by Jeffrey Tucker. He was [part](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) of the institute’s Norfolk Group, which put together a roadmap for a congressional COVID inquiry that mirrored a similar document produced by Heritage weeks earlier. This month, he was a speaker at Brownstone’s recent annual conference. When the Trump-allied Hillsdale College launched its Academy for Science and Freedom, Bhattacharya [was one of the first scholars](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) named. The professor was similarly on the scientific advisory board of the international pandemic denial group PANDA. Although he has long denied receiving financial benefits for his work, Bhattacharya has been awarded with various honors for his work by dark money groups. In April, for example, he [won the $250,000 Bradley Prize](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/04/24/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big-with-far-right-funding/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a major funder of right-wing groups and causes. Last month, a [new group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/invisible-hand-new-group-awarding) called the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, which is tied to a larger organization working to establish conservative beachheads on college campuses, gave him an intellectual freedom medal. He has even had the opportunity to spread his message around the world, including doing a [speaking tour of Australia](https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/international-expert-dr-jay-bhattacharya-welcomes-ipa-covid-reponse-research?ref=importantcontext.news) in fall 2022 to promote his work with Collateral Global. Republican politicians have unsurprisingly gravitated to Bhattacharya. The professor personally advised Trump in the summer of 2020 and has been a close adviser and ally of Ron DeSantis. Despite his advocacy for “focused protection,” Bhattacharya stood with the Florida governor as he defended a policy of excluding elderly incarcerated from vaccine prioritization, [claiming](https://www.cltampa.com/news/gov-desantis-defends-denying-florida-inmates-coronavirus-vaccine-12443198?ref=importantcontext.news) that vaccinating the population would be pointless given that the virus had already spread through the prisons. “If someone who is older has already had an infection, I don’t think the vaccine would help them,” Bhattacharya said. The professor has been an expert witness for Republican lawmakers in Congress as well. When the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held its first hearing in February 2023, he was one of the first expert witnesses called. He has also leant his expertise to GOP-led states in cases over their lack of COVID protections, particularly in schools. In those cases, Bhattacharya’s testimony served as a counter to the parents of medically vulnerable children, who argued the lack of safety measures put their kids’ lives at risk. Notably, [several judges](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity) have questioned the reliability of Bhattacharya’s expert testimony. In his decision temporarily blocking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates, U.S. District Court Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw observed that Bhattacharya “offered opinions regarding the pediatric effects of masks on children, a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak,” adding that “his demeanor and tone while testifying suggest that he is advancing a personal agenda.” “At this stage of the proceedings, the Court is simply unwilling to trust Dr. Bhattacharya,” Crenshaw wrote. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Pursuing Grudges Fueled by his support on the right, Bhattacharya has built up a massive online audience. He has over 544,000 followers on X alone as of the writing of this writing. Seemingly emboldened by this support, he has fired back at his critics, including scientists and journalists, asserting that they have misrepresented his positions. For example, Bhattacharya has [denied](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1472773173720469507?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the Great Barrington Declaration was a herd immunity strategy even though the words “herd immunity” appear five times in the document, including in the sentence, “The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk.” After *Mother Jones* reporter Kiera Butler published an [article](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/the-truth-about-those-viral-tweets-questioning-the-omicron-boosters-safety/?ref=importantcontext.news) documenting his misleading statements about the bivalent boosters, the professor went after her on X, encouraging his supporters by [liking tweets](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) suggesting she had ties to the pharmaceutical industry. With pro bono representation from New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a dark money lawfare group that has received funding from Koch to wage a war on the administrative state, Bhattacharya and several other private plaintiffs joined a [lawsuit](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) against key officials and agencies within the Biden administration for allegedly coercing social media companies into suppressing their content. The case, *Missouri v. Biden*—later renamed *Murthy v. Missouri*—made its way up to the Supreme Court which held 6-3 that the plaintiffs [lacked standing](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer), having failed to prove they had actually been harmed by the government. NCLA is [currently trying](https://nclalegal.org/press%5Frelease/ncla-wins-further-discovery-in-historic-suit-against-governments-censorship-industrial-complex/?ref=importantcontext.news) to revive the lawsuit. As director of NIH, Bhattacharya would have an opportunity to lead an organization he has claimed censored and attacked him. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “What Could Go Wrong?” Public health professionals expressed grave concerns about the prospect of Bhattacharya leading a national public health agency. For example, in response to *The Post* story announcing him as a top contender for the role, Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves [skeeted](https://bsky.app/profile/gregggonsalves.bsky.social/post/3lb32uxo7zs2y?ref=importantcontext.news), “This is all just getting worse.” Mallory Harris, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, earned her PhD in biology from Stanford in 2024, had a similar take. “His scientific judgment is questionable at best,” she told Important Context. “As an expert witness in multiple Covid court cases he consistently misconstrued scientific evidence—even going so far as to knowingly cite a retracted study.” Harris, who led a student group at Stanford to combat science misinformation, has long had Bhattacharya on her radar. “He has been spreading conspiracy theories about this particular agency for years,” Harris said. “This \[likely appointment\] is a tremendous blow to independent, rigorous, publicly funded scientific research.” Frank Han, an adult congenital and pediatric cardiologist, told *Important Context* that “while hearing a conservative viewpoint is not inherently dangerous to scientific institutions, Bhattacharya has shown through his actions, that he is entirely unsuited for any job at the NIH.” “Science even at the highest levels of government, places a high value on humility and realizing when you should change course,” he explained, noting that Bhattacharya never acknowledged the hundreds of thousands of COVID deaths he said would justice mitigation measures in his March 2020 *Wall Street Journal* op-ed. Han accused Bhattacharya of trying instead to “cover his tracks.” “Bhattacharya has never honestly engaged with his prior self, rather now consistently holding the viewpoint that COVID restrictions should have ended sooner and schools should have opened sooner,” Han said. Robert Morris, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist who has taught at Tufts University and the Medical College of Wisconsin, noted that Bhattacharya would be “the first director in the history of the NIH with no clinical experience and minimal biomedical research experience.” “He is a health economist who would run an agency with no budget line for health economics,” Morris said, adding that the professor “has repeatedly shown disdain for serious biomedical scientists.” “What could go wrong?” Morris said. *Correction 12/23/24: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Bhattacharya was in the documentary Thank You, Dr. Fauci along with Makary. While he was discussed in the film, he did not appear in it.* ### The Invisible Hand: How Dark Money Is Inventing Prestige for Right-Wing Academics URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/invisible-hand-new-group-awarding/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:46.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with* [*The Skeptical Scientist*](https://drbobmorris.substack.com/p/the-invisible-hand-how-dark-money) *newsletter and has been updated from its original email version.* On[ October 24](https://academysciencesletters.org/awards/?ref=importantcontext.news), an organization called the American Academy of Sciences and Letters (AASL) honored Stanford University Professor and health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya with its [Robert J. Zimmer Medal](https://x.com/AASL%5FAcademy/status/1849493370789405027?ref=importantcontext.news) for Intellectual Freedom. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Announcing the award, the group praised the professor for “resolutely” resisting “enormous pressure to compromise his scientific findings” and risking “his own personal and professional self-interest, repeatedly, without hesitation, to take a stand for the public’s right to unrestricted scientific discussion and debate.” A few days later, *The New York Post* [picked up](https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/opinion/scientist-who-battled-for-covid-common-sense-over-media-and-government-censors-wins-top-award/?ref=importantcontext.news) the story, running it with the headline, “Scientist who battled for COVID common sense over media and government censors wins top award.” “Few in the media seemed eager to attend a ceremony last week in Washington, D.C., where the prestigious American Academy of Sciences and Letters was awarding its top intellectual freedom award,” the article began. “The problem may have been the recipient: Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.” It is true that Bhattacharya is a controversial figure for his contrarian stance on the COVID-19 pandemic. He first burst onto the national scene in 2020 as the co-author of an [inaccurate](http://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140673621028671/pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) and [bias-prone](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news), but influential, seroprevalence study that significantly underestimated the dangers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Later, he was one of three authors of The Great Barrington Declaration, a[ widely rebuked](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10021579/?ref=importantcontext.news) document that outlined the failed pandemic herd immunity strategy embraced by the Trump administration. Since then, the professor has been a go-to expert for Republican politicians and right-wing groups working to politicize public health and government efforts to control COVID. He has taken to claiming that he was censored by the federal government for his views and even [unsuccessfully sued](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) the Biden administration over his claims. Bhattacharya has also cultivated alliances with anti-vaxxers. Last month, a health policy symposium he organized at Stanford [came under fire](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-29/with-conference-on-pandemic-stanford-gives-platform-to-purveyors-of-misinformation-and-disinformation?ref=importantcontext.news) for [featuring](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) a number of them along with minimizers and lab leak enthusiasts. He [spoke](https://www.illusionconsensus.com/p/live-jay-speaks-at-rfk-jrs-vice-president?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Robert Kennedy Jr. campaign’s vice presidential announcement, has been [proposed](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1845927964271325244?ref=importantcontext.news) by RFK Jr. for a leadership role in CDC, and is currently [listed](https://nominees.mahanow.org/t/jay-bhattacharya/372/2?ref=importantcontext.news) on Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again website as a potential pick for director of the National Institutes of Health. But Bhattacharya’s reputation is not the only explanation for the lack of media attention given to the award ceremony, which took place in the vaunted Library of Congress. Another is the fact that the AASL is largely unknown. The group only emerged in 2022, fueled by the private family foundation of an investment fund CEO. A closer look at AASL and its origins and activities provides a disturbing window into how wealthy business interests are working to reshape academia in support of their agenda. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/746114df-656e-4bab-86f7-bee31a979429_886x770.png) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **What is the AASL?** The [AASL website](https://academysciencesletters.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) features an impressive picture of the Library of Congress, a Board of Trustees hailing from elite academic institutions, and almost nothing about the organization or its origins. That’s because, despite its name suggesting a long, storied history—echoing esteemed institutions such as the [National Academy of Sciences](https://www.nasonline.org/?ref=importantcontext.news),[the American Academy of Arts and Sciences](https://www.amacad.org/?ref=importantcontext.news), and the[ American Academy of Arts and Letters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%5FAcademy%5Fof%5FArts%5Fand%5FLetters?ref=importantcontext.news)—the AASL did not exist until 2022\. At the time of this writing, the group has no Wikipedia page and its official X account, created in November 2023, has 318 followers and has posted a total of 38 times as of this report. The donor list on AASL’s IRS Form 990 is “restricted,” so the exact source of the $1.5 million fundraising haul 2023 is unknown. However, some digging reveals that at least [a third](https://irs-efile-renderer.instrumentl.com/render?object%5Fid=202432289349100143&ref=importantcontext.news) of the money came from the John and Dania Barry Family Foundation. AASL’s annual award, which it started giving out in 2023, is called the Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/9c8e1d94-3bcf-4eb4-a6bb-dfce316e45eb_936x428.png) John F. Barry III is [the CEO](https://www.barryfamilyfoundation.org/john-f-barry?ref=importantcontext.news) of the investment fund [Prospect Capital Corporation](https://www.barryfamilyfoundation.org/john-f-barry?ref=importantcontext.news). He originally launched his foundation in 2014 as The Invisible Hand Foundation before changing the name to the less sinister-sounding John and Daria Barry Family Foundation. A major focus of the organization is establishing a foothold for conservatism in the highest echelons of academia. To that end, the group offers a “[John & Daria Barry Scholarship](https://www.barryscholarship.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)” seemingly for conservative students at Oxford. Recipients have graduated from right-wing schools like Brigham Young University and Hillsdale College. One interned at the conservative think tank the Hudson Institute. Another interned in the Office of Condoleezza Rice “where her research on school choice was used to create an interactive map for the Hoover Institution.” By far the largest chunk of the money the Barry Foundation has distributed in grants—[more than $20 million starting in 2014](https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/john-and-daria-barry-foundation?ref=importantcontext.news)—has gone to a single organization, The Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education (FEHE). FEHE’s stated mission is advancing “[academic and cultural renewal](https://excellenceinhighered.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news),” but the group’s real work appears to be creating[ beachheads for conservative ideology](https://excellenceinhighered.org/network/?ref=importantcontext.news) at elite universities like Yale, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, and more. Right-wing groups have long sought to carve out conservative influence pockets in academia, going back to the 1970s. The beachhead strategy was originally pioneered in the early 1980s by the late John M. Olin and his now defunct personal foundation. FEHE was launched in 2013\. Its original trustees included religious right leader and Princeton University Professor Robert P. George, who is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and one of the first Barry Prize recipients, as well as Luis Tellez, who is now the group’s president. Both men are connected to another beachhead operation, the conservative Witherspoon Institute at Princeton—George is its founder while Tellez serves as president. Witherspoon has received funding over the years from right-wing power brokers like Trump ‘judge whisperer’ [Leonard Leo](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/202466871/202313199349307191/full?ref=importantcontext.news) and billionaire industrialist [Charles Koch](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch%5FFamily%5FFoundations&ref=importantcontext.news). FEHE sponsors programs like the Civil Discourse Project at Duke University, which purports to be aimed at creating intellectually diverse communities through “freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression for faculty and students alike.” What the program really does is create safe spaces for students to discuss the conservative position on major issues. The program’s webpage features a *Wall Street Journal* [editorial](https://static.friendsforduke.org/How%20I%20Liberated%20My%20College%20Classroom%20-%20WSJ.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) by one of its professors titled, “How I Liberated My College Classroom,” boasting about how after January 6, they were able to humanize Trump supporters for their class and dispel the idea that they were motivated by sexism or racism. The James Madison Program at Princeton, which George is director of, is also FEHE. Aside from programs, the organization lists other dark money groups as part of its network, including AASL, Witherspoon, and the Zephyr Institute, which serves conservative students, scholars, and professionals at Stanford. Noted vaccine skeptic Dr. [Aaron Kheriaty](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) is a senior fellow and program director at Zephyr. AASL’s board of trustees is drawn from the many of the same institutions FEHE has been seeding with support for conservative ideology. Although it is not clear how the prize recipients are selected, 16 of 20 have been faculty members at the same institutions supported by FEHE. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/90a2bae0-2d98-4bc9-88cb-b94e2464f09b_936x466.png) **Other Connections** Beyond FEHE AASL is linked to a number of other right-wing groups as well. In particular, the group has ties to the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank housed in the tower that looms over Stanford’s campus. Eight of nine AASL members affiliated with the school are from Hoover. [AASL trustee](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/brandice-canes-wrone?ref=importantcontext.news) Brandice Canes-Wrone is a senior fellow at the think tank and director of its Center for Revitalizing American Institutions. [2023 Barry Prize recipients](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/steven-koonin?ref=importantcontext.news) Steven Koonin, a physicist who wrote a [climate change denial](https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/05/a-critical-review-of-steven-koonins-unsettled/?ref=importantcontext.news) book, and [Josiah Ober](https://academysciencesletters.org/member/josiah-ober/?ref=importantcontext.news) are Hoover senior fellows. So too are [newly invested](https://www.texaschildrens.org/content/news/dr-huda-zoghbi-invested-american-academy-sciences-and-letters?ref=importantcontext.news) AASL members Sir [Niall Ferguson](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/niall-ferguson?ref=importantcontext.news), a colonialism-defending Stanford historian who came under scrutiny for [targeting a liberal student](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/1/17417042/niall-ferguson-stanford-emails?ref=importantcontext.news) at the school, [Bhattacharya](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news), [Barry Stuart Strauss](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/barry-strauss?ref=importantcontext.news), [Caroline Hoxby](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/caroline-m-hoxby?ref=importantcontext.news), and [Peter Berkowitz](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/peter-berkowitz?ref=importantcontext.news), who served in the Trump administration’s State Department as Policy Planning Director. Through Ferguson and Bhattacharya, AASL connects to other right-wing groups as well. The former is on the [advisory board](https://www.arcforum.com/advisory-board?ref=importantcontext.news) of the international right-wing Alliance for Responsible Citizenship along with Jordan Peterson, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Vivek Ramaswamy, and others. The latter, meanwhile, is [tied to a number of groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone) like the UK-based anti-lockdown charity Collateral Global, the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, the Australia-based contrarian think tank Australians for Science and Freedom, and the COVID denial group PANDA. He has also participated in at least one event for the [Council for National Policy](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news), a shadowy and influential Christian right group. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **A Familiar Strategy** When asked for his assessment of AASL, Bruce Alberts, UCSF biochemist and former President of the National Academy of Sciences told *Important Context* he had “never heard of them.” Neither had Angela Rasmussen, a virologist who has taught at Columbia and the University of Washington. Rasmussen expressed alarm at the growing association of far-right organizations with elite academic institutions, explaining that while such alliances are often justified on the grounds of academic freedom, the true agenda of the groups is suppressing dissent and skimming institutional credibility for their views. “To put it more bluntly, they are laundering lying extremist bullshit in institutional reputations to make them more palatable to a broad audience, at the expense of the entire academic and scientific enterprise,” she said. Indeed, while AASL [claims](https://www.yahoo.com/news/organization-enters-battle-over-academic-074300076.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to be neither right nor left-wing, its honorees tell a different story. The group is laundering the reputations of fringe voices favored by the political right by giving those individuals awards alongside more mainstream academics. The presence of the latter gives the former and the group an appearance of legitimacy. In its inaugural year, just a year before honoring Bhattacharya, AASL gave its intellectual freedom medal to Sir. Salman Rushdie. This year’s Barry Prizes went to renowned political scientist and law professor Akhil Reed Amar of Yale, renowned historian William Chester Jordan of Princeton, and Emmy and Peabody award winner Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. The tactic of manufacturing synthetic prestige through association, pretense, and ceremony are hardly novel. The Federalist Society, for example, which has previously [hosted](https://www.law.uchicago.edu/events/federalist-society-presents-dr-jay-bhattacharya-big-gov-big-tech-censorship?ref=importantcontext.news) Bhattacharya, cozies up to mainstream academics along with right-wing figures. It has previously given Amar its annual [Bator Award](https://fedsoc.org/paul-m-bator-award-recipients?ref=importantcontext.news), the predecessor to the Story Award. The [Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lynde%5Fand%5FHarry%5FBradley%5FFoundation?ref=importantcontext.news), a major funder of right-wing causes, also gives out annual awards—Bhattacharya received the $250,000 Bradley Prize in May. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/729ad9e0-15ad-441e-bda5-d6906858b494_1456x1423-jpeg.jpg) Another example of manufactured prestige is Bhattacharya’s Great Barrington Declaration itself, which was [organized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) through a libertarian think tank, the American Institute for Economic Research, with help from Trump’s health care policy adviser, Scott Atlas. The document provided an academic veneer to the laissez-faire COVID response favored by the Trump administration and right-wing dark money groups. While none of its authors had been on the clinical or public health front lines for the pandemic, their affiliations with Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford offered credibility by association. The day after the signing, they were booked for a [meeting](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/06/trump-herd-immunity-scientists-426911?ref=importantcontext.news) with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar—Atlas was also in attendance—to draw even more attention to the declaration. The institutions that provide academic homes to those honored by the AASL have shown little inclination to look this particular gift horse in the mouth. [Stanford](https://healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/news/bhattacharya-awarded-robert-j-zimmer-medal-intellectual-freedom?ref=importantcontext.news)’s Health Policy Department, [Yale](https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/professor-akhil-reed-amar-awarded-2024-barry-prize?ref=importantcontext.news), and [Notre Dame](https://news.nd.edu/news/theologian-gary-anderson-awarded-2024-barry-prize-paolo-carozza-richard-garnett-and-christian-smith-also-honored/?ref=importantcontext.news), for example, released boastful announcements of the accolades, adding another layer of apparent legitimacy to the organization. None noted its age or origins. Stanford’s announcement stated that the “The American Academy of Sciences & Letters has awarded SHP’s Jay Bhattacharya its highest honor for intellectual freedom for his ‘extraordinary courage’ in voicing his views and challenging some government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Following the lead of the AASL they noted at the bottom that “the honor went to the writer Salman Rushdie last year.” AASL did not respond to our request for comment. ### Who’s Speaking At the 2024 Brownstone Institute Conference? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/who-is-speaking-the-2024-brownstone/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:47.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version. Last edit: 6/13/2025* Mere days before the presidential election, the Omni William Penn hotel in Pittsburgh will play host to a gathering of prolific anti-vaccine conspiracy mongers, public health contrarians, and right-wing operatives. Among them will be the organizer of the recent controversial [Stanford University health policy symposium](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) and a founder of Moms for Liberty. The occasion is the annual gala and conference of the Brownstone Institute, a small but influential right-wing dark money group known for promoting pandemic conspiracy theories and misinformation. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The [event](https://brownstone.org/resistance/?ref=importantcontext.news), called “The New Resistance,” promises to bring together “scientists, medical professionals, economists, attorneys, intrepid journalists, and knowledgeable activists who want to restore the free and humane social order that respects dignity, freedom, and truth.” In reality, the conference will be a celebration of fringe perspectives and misinformation. Tickets for the affair range from $540 for general admission to the conference to $1,500 per couple for the VIP black/white tie dinner. Brownstone was founded in May 2021 to be the “spiritual child” of the [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news), a manifesto advocating a COVID herd immunity strategy based on mass infection to minimize economic losses. The group’s founder, anarcho-capitalist Jeffrey Tucker, was one of the declaration’s organizers and wanted to prevent the recurrence of lockdowns. In its short existence, his Brownstone Institute has catapulted to the forefront of a years-long war on public health waged by the business-aligned political right, becoming a central hub for contrarian thought. Behind that rise has been [big money](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute)—much of it anonymous. Today, the group wields real influence. When the GOP-controlled [House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/dont-let-house-republicans-rewrite-trumps-pandemic-history/?ref=importantcontext.news) held its first [hearing](https://oversight.house.gov/roundtable/preparing-for-the-future-by-learning-from-the-past-examining-covid-policy-decisions/?ref=importantcontext.news) in February 2023, the Republican expert witnesses were all members of a scientist team called The Norfolk Group, [organized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) by Brownstone to aid the governmental body. The panel lineup of the 2024 Pittsburgh conference not only illustrates how wide Brownstone’s influence web has become, but how unifying—and animating—public health denialism is to the global right today. Represented by the speakers are different countries, various universities and other institutions, including not a small number of dark money groups. The vast majority of the panelists are public health contrarians who have expressed skepticism of the COVID vaccines and espoused anti-trans sentiments. # Day 1 **Keynote** The festivities will begin with a keynote speech delivered by Tucker himself. Tucker has worn many hats throughout his career—Bitcoin advocate; [managing partner](https://web.archive.org/web/20190308090422/https://sites.rmit.edu.au/blockchain-innovation-hub/research-affiliates/jeffrey-tucker/) at a crypto investment fund; [neo-Confederate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy); right-wing political operative. He has a reputation for his extreme free market beliefs, which include [support for child labor](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [youth tobacco use](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), and [opposition](https://fee.org/articles/gays-need-the-freedom-to-discriminate/?ref=importantcontext.news) to anti-discrimination laws. Conversely, Tucker lives in the rigid world of Traditionalist Catholicism and has written for various publications with a focus on liturgical music. In 2009, he [promoted](https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/08/?ref=importantcontext.news) his book “Sing Like a Catholic” at the D.C.-based Catholic Information Center run by the secretive, radical sect [Opus Dei](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/23/opus-dei-book-gore-review/?ref=importantcontext.news), known for [patriarchal](https://www.vice.com/en/article/living-with-opus-dei-student-390/?ref=importantcontext.news) teachings and extreme practices like [self-flagellation](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk%5Fnews/magazine/8375174.stm?ref=importantcontext.news). With the outbreak of the pandemic, Tucker’s focus shifted to opposing economically disruptive government efforts to control the spread of the virus. He has embraced fringe perspectives and promoted misinformation, including about the COVID jabs, which he [called](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) Bill Gates’s “potions.” The panels at the Brownstone conference represent the range of Tucker’s interests and the contrarian speaker choices are reflective of his own extreme politics. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Panel 1: The Psychology of Tyranny** Following Tucker’s opening keynote speech, the first panel, “The Psychology of Tyranny,” features two academics who have drawn the ire of their home institutions for their COVID rhetoric and behavior. Mattias Desmet is a professor of psychology at Ghent University in Belgium and the author of “Psychology of Totalitarianism” about COVID mitigation measures, who [bills himself](https://books.google.com/books/about/The%5FPsychology%5Fof%5FTotalitarianism.html?id=8orP0AEACAAJ&source=kp%5Fauthor%5Fdescription) as “the world's leading expert on the theory of mass formation as it applies to the COVID-19 pandemic.” He rails against “[globalist censors](https://x.com/desmetmattias/status/1834495666111864921?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” calls the vaccines a risky “[experiment](https://x.com/desmetmattias/status/1820080377077059828?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” and has appeared on the programs of Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones where he made false and misleading claims. While Desmet has maintained his position at Ghent, the school launched an [investigation](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2023/02/07/ghent-uni-bans-prof-from-using-his-own-book/?ref=importantcontext.news) into his conduct and took action against him, banning the use of his book in lectures and handing responsibility for his course over to a colleague in his department. The university’s Committee for Scientific Integrity [found](https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2023/04/28/controversial-professor-goes-to-the-council-of-state-after-ghent/?ref=importantcontext.news) that his work was sloppy and partly based on outdated science. Aaron Kheriaty is a psychiatrist who lost his position at the University of California, Irvine, over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID per the institutional mandate. Despite unsuccessfully suing his former employer, Kheriaty has found a soft landing thanks to right-wing dark money. He is listed as a senior counselor at Brownstone and is a member of The Unity Project, a California-based group focused on medical freedom and parents’ rights which is stacked with anti-vaccine physicians. He is also a senior fellow and director of the Health and Human Flourishing Program at the Zephyr Institute, an off-campus conservative operation working to serve Stanford students, scholars, and young professionals. Additionally, Kheriaty serves as a fellow and director of the Program in Bioethics and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The D.C.-based think tank dedicated to Judeo-Christian traditions received [$1.3 million](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/202466871/202313199349307191/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from right-wing legal activist Leonard Leo’s The 85 Fund and is on the [advisory board](https://www.project2025.org/about/advisory-board/?ref=importantcontext.news) of Project 2025, a series of extreme proposals crafted by the Heritage Foundation for a second Donald Trump presidential term. In August 2022, Kheriaty was one of several fringe doctors represented by a business-aligned, dark money [lawfare group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes) in litigation against the Biden administration for allegedly strong-arming social media companies into “censoring” dissenting medical voices. The case made its way to the Supreme Court where it was [tossed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer). On the day of oral arguments, Kheriaty (and Tucker) [spoke](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) outside the court at a rally organized by Children’s Health Defense, the dark money outfit of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump is [entrusting](https://x.com/atrupar/status/1850691310056800353?ref=importantcontext.news) to take over public health institutions in a second administration. **Panel 2: Public Health** The next panel of the day will focus on public health and features speakers who have cast doubt on the [life-saving](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?fbclid=IwAR354ga2S7dnoFgNBNtZAcxYME1cPCy4qgmMxL8x8pu5c3xtOrRDShzTygE&ref=importantcontext.news) COVID vaccines. Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill is a Canadian pediatrician who, after receiving criticism for her anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown views in 2020, filed a $12 million [libel lawsuit](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/vaccine-doubting-doctor-to-pay-1-million-in-legal-costs-libel-suit?ref=importantcontext.news) against 23 of her detractors, including “doctors, a former president of the Ontario Medical Association, university professors, media outlets and newspaper journalists.” Her case was struck down in 2022 and she was ordered to pay the defendants $1.1 million for the legal costs they had accrued. Gill’s case [caught](https://www.illusionconsensus.com/p/urgent-episode-37-dr-kulvinder-kaur?ref=importantcontext.news) the attention of COVID contrarians including Elon Musk, who [announced](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-doctor-legal-bills-1.7154325?ref=importantcontext.news) that he would pay her legal bills. With Gill will be Brownstone Senior Scholar Steve Templeton, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Indiana University School of Medicine and former member of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's [Public Health Integrity Committee](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news) and Brownstone’s Norfolk Group. He authored a book published by the institute called “Fear of a Microbial World,” which casts COVID mitigations as mass hysteria and argues that pandemic “maximizers” [were maybe even more “wrong](https://brownstone.org/articles/fall-of-the-experts/?ref=importantcontext.news)” than minimizers. The book also claims that the benefits of COVID jabs were exaggerated and suggests the CDC recommendation that children be vaccinated is [attributable](https://brownstone.org/articles/ten-examples-where-experts-were-wrong/?ref=importantcontext.news) to pharmaceutical industry money. The last panelist will be Dr. Scott Jensen, a Minnesota family medicine physician and former state senator who was [defeated by Gov. Tim Walz](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/walz-beat-doctor-from-pro-trump-group-in-2022-gubernatorial-election/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the 2022 gubernatorial election after running on an anti-vax and anti-abortion platform. He has [since](https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/scott-jensen-accuses-state-of-targeting-his-medical-license-to-crush-dissenting-voices/?ref=importantcontext.news) been [embroiled in a battle](https://www.umlc.org/dr-scott-jensen-files-amended-complaint-in-case-against-minnesota-board-of-medical-practice/?ref=importantcontext.news) with his state board over his medical license–which he has been able to maintain. In April 2020, Jensen appeared on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show and made [the false claim](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/dec/16/lie-year-coronavirus-downplay-and-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news) that COVID case counts were artificially inflated due to hospitals being paid a higher rate for patients with the diagnosis—something then-President Trump would later [parrot](https://www.factcheck.org/2020/10/trump-baselessly-suggests-covid-19-deaths-inflated-for-profit/?ref=importantcontext.news). Jensen has previously [identified himself](https://www.twincities.com/2022/06/12/scott-jensen-covid-vaccination-mandate-status-explainer/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a member of the pro-Trump group America’s Frontline Doctors, which anti-vax Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo was also involved with, and has been a member of the international contrarian group [World Doctors Alliance](https://www.factcheck.org/2020/10/trump-baselessly-suggests-covid-19-deaths-inflated-for-profit/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Panel 3: Science** The third panel, focused on “science,” will host right-wing stars known for spreading misinformation about COVID and health. Brownstone Fellow Bret Weinstein is a former evolutionary biology professor-turned-podcaster who has promoted ivermectin for COVID, [said](https://x.com/bretweinstein/status/1666681795889487874?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that mRNA vaccines are “experimental,” touting the superiority of “natural immunity” and “natural selection,” and even dabbled in [HIV/AIDS denialism](https://www.vice.com/en/article/joe-rogan-and-bret-weinstein-promote-aids-denialism-to-an-audience-of-millions/?ref=importantcontext.news). He was an organizer of the recent [Rescue the Republic rally](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/2022-defeat-the-mandates-rally-returns-now-rescue-the-republic/?ref=importantcontext.news) in Washington DC, which hosted Kennedy, his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, and a slew of far-right media personalities. Weinsten has also spoken out against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) planned pandemic preparedness treaty, which seeks to create a framework for responding to future public health crises. The document has been targeted by right-wing groups and politicians. In January, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [warned](https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/22/global-pandemic-agreement-at-risk-of-falling-apart-who-warns?ref=importantcontext.news) that momentum in the negotiations was slowing partly due to “a torrent of fake news, lies, and conspiracy theories.” Weinstein has contributed with false claims that the treaty would [infringe](https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/world-health-organization-ending-first-amendment/?ref=importantcontext.news) on free speech and national sovereignty. Brownstone itself is a [signatory](https://sovereigntycoalition.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the so-called American Sovereignty Declaration, demanding the U.S. exit the WHO over the treaty. The declaration is a project of the Sovereignty Coalition—a joint project of the [Center for Security Policy](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center%5Ffor%5FSecurity%5FPolicy?ref=importantcontext.news), which the Southern Poverty Law Center [designated](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/center-security-policy?ref=importantcontext.news) an anti-Muslim hate group, and Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an organization focused on human rights abuses in China. The group’s founder, Catholic activist Reggie Littlejohn, has spoken at the [Opus Dei-run Catholic Information Center](https://cicdc.org/event/forced-abortion-and-chinas-continuing-war-against-women/?ref=importantcontext.news). Alongside Weinstein will be Dr. Robert Malone, who is best known for [overstating](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html?ref=importantcontext.news) his role in the development of the mRNA vaccine technology while fear mongering about vaccine harms. Malone saw his star rise after a December 2021 appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast where he compared pandemic mitigation efforts to Nazi Germany and claimed the country was in the midst of “mass formation psychosis.” Malone has spawned various fringe groups. He is a leader of The Unity Project and founder of The Malone Institute, a new dark money outfit which [claims](https://www.linkedin.com/company/rw-malone-md-llc/?ref=importantcontext.news) to want to “bring back integrity to the biological sciences and medicine” and conduct research. As of this writing, the institute’s LinkedIn page promotes a [video](https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/fallout-with-robert-malone-are-you-being-manipulated-5573074?ref=importantcontext.news) Malone did with the conspiracy-laden Epoch Times about the Chinese “lab leak cover-up.” Like Weinstein, Malone has leant his voice to the broader right-wing effort to kill the WHO pandemic treaty. He, the Unity Project, and the Malone institute are signatories of the sovereignty declaration. **Panel 4: Pharma** The penultimate panel of the day will deal with “pharma.” Panelist Toby Rogers is a Brownstone fellow and [advocate](https://x.com/utobian/status/1140811472970252288?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of the [debunked](https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/autism-vaccine-link-debunked?ref=importantcontext.news) narrative that vaccines cause autism. He has suggested that the COVID vaccines are “[toxic substances](https://x.com/utobian/status/1849657019156004961?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and pushed conspiracy theories about them—like that they killed baseball legend [Fernando Valenzuela](https://x.com/utobian/status/1848960738129547457?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Like many other Brownstone panelists, Rogers’s conspiratorial and contrarian views extend beyond vaccines and COVID into other medical care—particularly related to transgender individuals. He has [claimed](https://x.com/utobian/status/1847337696303468784?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), for example, that “gender theorists got played by the sex change industry.” Joining Rogers is Dr. Clayton Baker, an internal medicine physician who is part of the medical freedom movement. Baker has written extensively for Brownstone, attacking COVID mitigation policies like lockdowns, masking, and travel restricts—what he [dubbed](https://brownstone.org/articles/pharmacological-path-to-soft-core-totalitarianism/?ref=importantcontext.news) “soft-core totalitarianism”—and spewing unsupported theories about the pandemic. In a [single co-authored piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/pandemic-preparedness-arsonists-run-the-fire-department/?ref=importantcontext.news), for example, he argued that the pandemic was caused by “a lab-developed, leaked pathogen,” that the global vaccination effort was “the most outrageous, coercive campaign to enforce medical treatment in history,” that the “experimental,” “gene therapy” vaccines were “rushed-to-market,” and “devastating.” Baker has also [claimed](https://brownstone.org/articles/pandemic-preparedness-arsonists-run-the-fire-department/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was funding “bioweapons research” through universities, making them complicit. Rounding out the discussion will be Jessica Rose, a computational biologist and researcher who has a vaccine skeptical Substack called “Unacceptable Jessica” and has called the mRNA vaccines “[experimental](https://x.com/jesslovesmjk/status/1536635228734869507?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” Rose has notably co-authored papers about the jabs with cardiologist [Peter McCullough](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/?ref=importantcontext.news), who has earned a reputation for spreading vaccine misinformation and serves as the chief science officer of [The Wellness Company](https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/foster-coulson-1.7341713?ref=importantcontext.news), which hawks disproven COVID early treatment drugs and vaccine “detox” supplements. A 2021 paper they wrote claiming, based on data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), that myocarditis cases surged in teens after the rollout of the jabs—“injectable biological products”—was [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/10/25/covid-19-vaccine-myocarditis-paper-to-be-permanently-removed-elsevier/?ref=importantcontext.news). Another VAERS-based [paper](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38293564/?ref=importantcontext.news) they partnered on from this year about vaccine-induced myocarditis already has an expression of concern attached to it. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Panel 5: Medicine** Closing out the first day will be a discussion about medicine. Slated for that panel is [Dr. Kat Lindley](https://www.lindleymedical.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), a Texas family medicine doctor who serves as the president of the Texas branch of the right-wing [American Academy of Physicians and Surgeons](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/us/politics/rand-paul-linked-to-association-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons.html?ref=importantcontext.news), which has long espoused anti-vaccine sentiments. Lindley is also the president and co-founder of the “health freedom” [Global Health Project](https://globalhealthproject.org/who-we-are?ref=importantcontext.news) and has been [adamantly against](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPCjn0uybw&ref=importantcontext.news) the WHO pandemic treaty. Lindley is additionally [listed as part ](https://covid19criticalcare.com/about-the-flccc/founders-and-clinical-team/?ref=importantcontext.news)of the clinical team for the ivermectin-promoting Frontline Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). Her co-panelist, Dr. Paul Marik is a critical care physician formerly of Eastern Virginia Medical School and a co-founder of FLCCC, which Brownstone [lists](https://brownstone.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a “friend” organization along with The Epoch Times. FLCCC has pulled in [massive sums of money](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/?ref=importantcontext.news) including via shadowy [donor advised funds](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-jr-anti-vax-orgs-funding-major-charities-1234857214/?ref=importantcontext.news). Prior to promoting ivermectin to treat COVID, FLCCC pushed a hospital protocol for the virus, but their paper on it was [retracted](https://retractionwatch.com/2021/11/09/bad-math-covid-treatment-paper-by-pierre-kory-retracted-for-flawed-results/?ref=importantcontext.news) after Marik’s former hospital alerted the publishing journal he had inaccurately reported mortality data. FLCCC members promote COVID vaccine skepticism along with [ineffective](https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58170809?ref=importantcontext.news) treatment. Marik and his FLCCC co-founder Dr. Pierre Kory did an interview with Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense [to discuss](https://boxcast.tv/view-embed/good-morning-chd-episode-44-let-doctors-be-doctors--dr-pierre-kory-and-dr-paul-marik-announce-new-treatment-protocol-for-vaccine-injured--more-lxbh1j92tbd0sfphphjh?ref=importantcontext.news) a new protocol for the COVID “vaccine injured.” Vaccine injuries have been documented but they are [extremely rare](https://www.epidemiologistkat.com/post/new-99-million-patient-covid-19-vaccine-safety-study-is-it-really-the-bombshell-the-headlines-make?ref=importantcontext.news), while [over 200,000](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37093505/?ref=importantcontext.news) Americans died preventable unvaccinated COVID deaths. Both Marik and Kory have recently had their board certifications [revoked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American Board of Internal Medicine for spreading COVID misinformation. Alongside Lindley and Marik will be Dr. Meryl Nass, a Maine-based internal medicine physician who [sued](https://casetext.com/case/nass-v-me-bd-of-licensure-in-med-1?ref=importantcontext.news) her state’s medical board for suspending her medical license in January 2022 over unprofessional conduct and spreading COVID-related misinformation online. The board also [recommended](https://organicconsumers.org/dr-meryl-nass-sues-maine-medical-board-over-suspension-alleges-board-violated-her-first-amendment-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) a neuropsychological evaluation. The [allegations](https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/health/maine-medical-licensure-board-extends-suspension-dr-meryl-nass-covid-vaccine-skeptic-10000-fine/97-54c61f43-4a7d-45d8-9a91-3be3d2afe2f9?ref=importantcontext.news) against her included prescribing the unproven COVID treatments ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to patients, lying to obtain a hydroxychloroquine prescription, and not keeping proper records. In July, a Trump-appointed federal judge [dismissed](https://casetext.com/case/nass-v-me-bd-of-licensure-in-med-1?ref=importantcontext.news) Nass’s claims in part, without prejudice. Nass is a vaccine skeptic and contributor to Children’s Health Defense (the group has [aided](https://whowhatwhy.org/justice/rights-liberties/the-rights-selective-free-speech-crusade-for-doctors/?ref=importantcontext.news) her in the lawsuit). She has claimed that the shots were “[evidence-free](https://x.com/nassmeryl/status/1487196524912259076?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” “[experimental](https://x.com/nassmeryl/status/1490519653365555205?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” and “[unlicensed](https://x.com/nassmeryl/status/1499434171579748352?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” Nass has also called the COVID tests “[experimental](https://x.com/nassmeryl/status/1459953220512538635?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news),” and repeatedly referred to the COVID pandemic as a “plandemic,” including as recently as [earlier](https://x.com/nassmeryl/status/1841919642283147640?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) this month. Rounding out the discussion will be Petra Beuskens, a libertarian psychotherapist, academic, and freelance writer. She is [listed](https://beyondtrans.org/therapists/directory/dr-petra-bueskens/?ref=importantcontext.news) in a [directory](http://directory/?ref=importantcontext.news) of therapists on the website of the detransition support group Beyond Trans—a project of Genspect, an international organization that opposes gender-affirming care. In a [piece](https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/articles/what-is-a-woman-tickle-v-giggle/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the [Australians for Science and Freedom](https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) (ASF), an Australia-based nonprofit with a significant amount of personnel [overlap](https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/contributing-authors/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Brownstone, Beuskens lamented a landmark decision by the Federal Court of Australia that the social networking app Giggle for Girls—originally set up for cisgender women—discriminated against transgender women. “The landmark case has answered the question: ‘What is a woman?’ And come down categorically on the side of gender-identity, paradoxically discriminating against natal women in the process,” she wrote. Beusken also identifies as a member of the anti-vaccine “medical freedom” movement. She has [decried](https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/rfks-bid-for-the-presidency?ref=importantcontext.news) lockdowns and the “biomedical surveillance state,” and made a number of false claims about the vaccines, including calling them “novel gene therapy.” # Day 2 **Panel 1: Economics** The second day of the Brownstone 2024 conference will begin with a panel on economics featuring Jeffrey Tucker in conversation with Aaron Day, a former [chairman](https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/yes-aaron-day-probably-cost-kelly-ayotte-re-election/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the [Free State Project](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Free%5FState%5FProject?ref=importantcontext.news) who has run multiple unsuccessful [races](https://ballotpedia.org/Aaron%5FDay?ref=importantcontext.news) for federal office, including a write-in 2024 presidential campaign as a Republican. Day has since [endorsed](https://x.com/aaronrday/status/1848833667000619202?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Trump despite previously criticizing him for “lockdowns” and the COVID vaccines. Economist Matt Kibbe will also participate on the panel. The president of the libertarian dark money group Free the People Fight the Power Foundation, Kibbe has called both COVID [lockdowns](https://x.com/mkibbe/status/1523303513324883969?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [vaccines](https://x.com/aaronrday/status/1815126468436881763?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) “experimental.” Preventable unvaccinated COVID hospitalizations [cost the US healthcare system billions](https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/unvaccinated-covid-patients-cost-the-u-s-health-system-billions-of-dollars/?ref=importantcontext.news). Long COVID, meanwhile, which the jabs provide protection against, has been [estimated](https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-vaccines-reduce-long-covid-risk-new-study-shows?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Long%20COVID%20afflicts%20400%20million,a%20recent%20review%20including%20Dr.) to cost the global economy $1 trillion per year. **Panel 2: Public Culture and Censorship** Next will be a panel on ”public culture and censorship” between Brownstone writers Andrew Lowenthal, Tom Harrington, and Rebekah Barnett. Lowenthal is a Brownstone Institute [fellow](https://brownstone.org/author/andrew-lowenthal/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [ASF contributor](https://www.scienceandfreedom.org/contributing-authors/?ref=importantcontext.news) who has made apocalyptic claims about the pandemic response, including the [declaration](https://networkaffects.substack.com/p/launching-liber-net-a-digital-civil) that the “Covid crisis…ushered in a new level of authoritarianism, much of it made possible by digital technologies, but also by a new ‘progressive’ culture that craves the hammer of state power.” He is the founder of a website called Liber-Net, which purports to use “journalism, research, media-making, events and network building” to fight back against encroaching public health tyranny and censorship arising from a sordid alliance between “governments, NGOs, academics, and Big Tech.” Lowenthal has suggested that moderation of anti-vaccine content on social media [was done to protect](https://brownstone.org/articles/censorship-masquerades-and-disinformation-control/?ref=importantcontext.news) “Big Pharma” and “quite possibly criminal.” Harrington is a Hispanic studies professor at Trinity College and a Brownstone senior scholar. He authored “The Treason of the Experts: Covid and the Credentialed Class,” which Brownstone published. An Amazon [summary](https://www.amazon.com/Treason-Experts-Covid-Credentialed-Class/dp/B0CYDDVPB1/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aBC9Z1d3jbx1i6J8wu04YGJEpypgVqpKcK-dDS4hRY2ywuof-o35BlaOCbjgwBXZJnmvq5Kv5D79Nx6RaJ0MnwQ7QJ%5F--Jql2g3XP1W1OmSrSE1eGrq-OCc36KAu1W%5FBp3R-Tvu3gQeJC4b8A6CFJA.BJ0%5F3ufUr3ST5Qo%5FQ21YdSSjUiXWWkNUFOJaOScP714&dib%5Ftag=se&hvadid=694388468364&hvdev=t&hvexpln=67&hvlocphy=9004828&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=13073700032414581715--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13073700032414581715&hvtargid=kwd-2063849482523&hydadcr=22165%5F13517535&keywords=treason+of+the+experts&qid=1729880497&sr=8-1&ref=importantcontext.news) of the book shouts out the “great reset” [conspiracy theory](https://www.visionofhumanity.org/the-spread-of-the-great-reset-conspiracy-in-the-netherlands/?ref=importantcontext.news). Barnett is a Brownstone fellow and also a contributor to ASF. Her focus has been bringing the right-wing war on public health to Australia. Her Brownstone [bio](https://brownstone.org/author/rebekah-barnett/?ref=importantcontext.news) calls her an “advocate for Australians injured by the Covid vaccines.” Like other panelists, she opposes [lockdowns](https://brownstone.org/articles/australias-covid-honour-roll-is-absurd/?ref=importantcontext.news), [vaccine mandates](https://brownstone.org/author/rebekah-barnett/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [“censorship”](https://brownstone.org/articles/musk-wins-latest-censorship-battle-in-australia/?ref=importantcontext.news) [on social media](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-face-behind-australias-censorship-push/?ref=importantcontext.news). She has also called the jabs “[experimental](https://x.com/dystopian%5Fdu/status/1839094570183016557?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” and vaccination an “[experimental medical procedure](https://x.com/dystopian%5Fdu/status/1629428971518713856?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news).” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Panel 3: State and Law** Discussing “state and law” will be Debbie Lerman, listed on Brownstone’s website as a 2023 fellow. Like other speakers at the conference, she has made conspiratorial statements including about COVID mitigation measures. She has [claimed](https://brownstone.org/articles/cia-agent-cloaks-lockdown-propaganda-in-concern-for-china/?ref=importantcontext.news), for example, that “lockdowns” were a plot from a “biosecurity cabal” and [called](https://brownstone.org/articles/vaccine-harms-are-biodefense-plans-collateral-damage/?ref=importantcontext.news) mRNA jabs “genetic vaccines” and [suggesting they are ineffective. ](https://brownstone.org/articles/cia-agent-cloaks-lockdown-propaganda-in-concern-for-china/?ref=importantcontext.news)In a leaked [email](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails) to Tucker about changes to his Wikipedia page, she said he was being targeted by “THE NATIONAL SECURITY/BIOSECURITY NETWORK.” She has also accused *Important Context* of working on behalf of “the Censorship industrial complex.” Joining Lerman will be Brownstone fellow and attorney Bobbie Anne Flower Cox. Cox represented three New York Republican lawmakers and a citizens' group in a lawsuit against the NY Department of Health over quarantine and isolation protocols it adopted at the height of the pandemic. A favorable lower court ruling was reversed on appeal. Cox is currently [focused](https://x.com/attorney%5Fcox/status/1848397584592679368?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on defeating Prop 1 in New York, which proposes to [add new protected classes](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/what-is-proposition-1-in-new-york/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Equal Rights Amendment in the state’s constitution including gender identity and sexual orientation. Also joining is vaccine skeptical attorney Warner Mendenhall, who brought a lawsuit against Pfizer and contractor Ventavia on behalf of a purported whistleblower claiming to have exposed serious protocol violations in the COVID vaccine safety trials which amounted to fraud. Last spring, the fraud claims were [dismissed with prejudice](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/pfizer-defeats-whistleblower-suit-over-covid-19-clinical-trial-2?ref=importantcontext.news) on the grounds that the plaintiff “had not demonstrated that the companies made false statements or engaged in a fraudulent course of conduct, or that their alleged misrepresentations were material.” Mendenhall frequently posts on X about [vaccine injury](https://x.com/mendenhallfirm/status/1844816266617340313?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and has [declared](https://x.com/mendenhallfirm/status/1838226995676696969?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “the mRNA platform is an overriding threat.” Last month, he [promoted](https://x.com/mendenhallfirm/status/1836057269017968843?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a video of anti-vaxxer Naomi Wolf claiming that Pfizer knew its mRNA vaccines were killing babies and calling it “demonic.” **Panel 4: REPPARE** The fourth panel centers on an effort by Brownstone to steer global efforts to craft frameworks for responding to future pandemics like the WHO pandemic treaty. The project is called “Re-Evaluating the Pandemic Preparedness And REsponse agenda,” or REPPARE, and it represents a partnership with the University of Leeds in the UK. The University of Ghent in Belgium is also [listed](https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/directories0/dir-record/research-projects/1260/reevaluating-the-pandemic-preparedness-and-response-agenda-reppare?ref=importantcontext.news) as a collaborator. Brownstone funded the venture. The REPPARE group put out a 114-page [report](https://brownstone.org/articles/rational-policy-over-panic/?ref=importantcontext.news) in February called “Rational Policy Over Panic,” arguing that international agencies involved in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response were overstating the risk of future outbreaks and pandemics for money. The report rewrites the history of COVID, claiming, for example, that in terms of COVID origins, “natural spillover is widely questioned.” A [majority of virologists](https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2824%2900901-2?ref=importantcontext.news) and [epidemiologists](https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news) agree—and evidence has [consistently](https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/09/19/covid-origin-wuhan-market/?ref=importantcontext.news) suggested—that natural spillover is the likely origin of SARS-CoV-2\. The report also suggests COVID did little to harm the young and healthy while dismissively addressing deaths in vulnerable and elderly populations, arguing that mortality alone gives a “poor measure of overall impact” of pandemics. “If most death from a disease occurs in old age and and in those with comorbidities expected to shorten life, such as COVID-19, recorded deaths may be high but the impact on average life expectancy will be small,” the report reads. “Most would likely have died due to age and/or comorbidities within a few years if COVID-19 had not occurred.” According to the WHO, COVID cost the world a [decade](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-report-covid-eliminated-a-decade-of-progress-in-life-expectancy/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Between%202019%20and%202021%20when,to%20the%20level%20of%202012%29.) of progress in terms of average life expectancy, including global healthy life expectancy. REPPARE put out [another report](https://brownstone.org/articles/when-models-and-reality-clash-a-review-of-predictions-of-epidemic-and-pandemic-mortality/?ref=importantcontext.news) this month arguing against putting too much stock in modeling of future pandemic risks. Two individuals involved in REPPARE will appear at Brownstone’s conference to discuss it. Dr. David Bell, a senior scholar at Brownstone and physician who previously worked for the WHO, but has taken a turn to public health contrarianism with the COVID pandemic, opposing “lockdowns” and other mitigation measures and making false claims about vaccine safety. In a May 2023 [piece](https://pandata.org/are-vaccines-safe-in-pregnancy-and-pfizers-hidden-data/?ref=importantcontext.news), he claimed that the administration of Pfizer mRNA COVID vaccines to pregnant women is “extremely high risk and unjustifiable.” Bell has also been a longtime contributor to the international anti-vaccine group PANDA, which denies that COVID was ever a pandemic. He is also a contributor to ASF and appears as an active participant in leaked [internal chat logs](https://openhart.github.io/app/?ref=importantcontext.news#/channel/all) of the UK-based [Health Advisory and Recovery Team](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax), another anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine group. Bell’s co-panelist will be political scientist [Garret Wallace Brown](https://www.convoco.co.uk/c-interview-with-garrett-wallace-brown/?ref=importantcontext.news), who serves as [chair](https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/staff/64/professor-garrett-wallace-brown?ref=importantcontext.news) in political theory and global health policy at the University of Leeds. Last June, both men [spoke](https://appgpandemic.org/news/who-pandemic-treaty?ref=importantcontext.news) to The Pandemic Response and Recovery All-Party Parliamentary Group in the UK, which is stacked with conservative members of Parliament and the House of Lords. A summary of the meeting was posted online with the title, “Time for MPs to challenge the World Health Organization’s power and money grab.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Panel 5: Global Health and Bureaucracy** The penultimate panel will feature Bell, Brown, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration and a former Brownstone senior scholar. Bhattacharya, who Kennedy recently [floated](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1845927964271325244?ref=importantcontext.news) for a CDC position, is a professor at Stanford University and the [organizer](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) of the highly criticized health policy conference his school held earlier this month stacked with fringe voices. He has spent years waging an [ideological](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity) battle against public health, promoting a narrative that the government response to the pandemic did more harm than the virus itself. He has made [numerous](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) false and misleading claims about the risks of COVID, the efficacy of vaccines, masks, and shutdowns against transmission, the [safety](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) of the jabs for young people, and the extent of government efforts to combat online misinformation. As *Important Context* has covered extensively, the professor is well-connected in the world of right-wing dark money—not merely in the U.S. with groups like the [Hoover Institution](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news), the [Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big), or [Council for National Policy](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/04/24/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big-with-far-right-funding/?ref=importantcontext.news), but overseas organizations as well. For example, he is a contributor to ASF; has [been promoted](https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/international-expert-dr-jay-bhattacharya-welcomes-ipa-covid-reponse-research?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Institute of Public Affairs, another Australia-based group; serves in a number of high-ranking roles at the UK-based anti-pandemic mitigation charity [Collateral Global](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax); and has advised PANDA. **Panel 6: Freedom** The final panel of the conference will be focused on “freedom.” It will feature a number of anti-vaccine and regressive voices. Alongside [right-wing](https://x.com/chrismartenson/status/1790713014376673465?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) neuroscientist Chris Martenson, a former pharma executive and [promoter](https://x.com/chrismartenson/status/1845317046567043562?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of the discredited narrative that [vaccines cause autism](https://x.com/chrismartenson/status/1830688421645550027?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), is Moms for Liberty co-founder and Unity Project member Tiffany Justice, who appears to be [gunning for the role](https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/moms-for-liberty-co-founder-would-be-honored-to-be-trumps-education-secretary/2024/09?ref=importantcontext.news) of Trump’s new education secretary. Justice has made statements about the COVID vaccines that are contrary to the recommendations of major medical organizations and public health agencies, including that children [do not need](https://x.com/4tiffanyjustice/status/1705415141418733575?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to be vaccinated against COVID and pregnant women [should not be](https://x.com/4tiffanyjustice/status/1652704347455737856?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Justice has falsely [claimed](https://x.com/4tiffanyjustice/status/1582344072408465411?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that children are “not at risk of severe illness from Covid.” Justice’s Moms for Liberty, which the Southern Poverty Law Center [classifies](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty?ref=importantcontext.news) as an extremist group, began in Florida in 2021 in response to COVID mitigation measures in schools—though it quickly expanded its focus, attacking schools over the teaching of subjects like race and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and [pushing book bans](https://glaad.org/moms-for-liberty-book-bans-anti-lgbtq/?ref=importantcontext.news). The organization’s meteoric rise nationally has been propped up by [large, anonymous donations](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/grassroots-parents-rights-group-gets), right-wing media, and Republican politicians. Joining Martenson and Justice will be Father John Naugle. A member of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Naugle has been a contributor to Brownstone since September 2022, opening with a [piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/mitigation-is-the-golden-calf/?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email) calling COVID mitigation measures “the golden calf” and arguing that they were the result of mass hysteria and were responsible for the pandemic’s high excess deaths. The priest has repeatedly claimed that the COVID vaccines, which studies have shown saved millions of lives and prevented even more hospitalizations, [do not work](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1741946472784916668?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). Naugle’s views on other issues are also regressive—particularly his views on women. He has [claimed](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1841890630164705478?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “the drive for abortion is the resentment of one's own body for it welcoming with joy a child” and [bemoaned](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1679849259804360704?s=6&ref=importantcontext.news) women having careers and ‘fornicating,’ writing that “feminism has taught them that uncommitted inebriated fornication is better, as that won't interfere with the myriad of career options afforded by a sociology or women's studies degree.” In another post on X, he [appeared to suggest](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1840509004914573576?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that women’s suffrage was an unfortunate byproduct of the Industrial Revolution, writing, “In this country, women's suffrage and prohibition were basically the same movement. A correct sense that something was very wrong, but a completely wrong diagnosis. Prohibition helped urged the sexual revolution on; men and women didn't drink together until it was illegal.” Naugle has also [bemoaned](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1828399853023449258?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) “wicked suburban women” who do not take their children to church. The priest has also made [anti-trans](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1781359427808862519?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) statements and [criticized public schools](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1751592128134737971?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for allegedly becoming “cesspools of leftist indoctrination, even to the point where boys and girls think they can be something other than the boy or girl they were born as.” A particular target of Naugle’s has been Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services who is transgender. Naugle has [called](https://brownstone.org/articles/hate-the-bad-love-the-good/?ref=importantcontext.news) her “a bad man” and a “[wicked man](https://x.com/fathernaugle/status/1847962682256667097?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” who “abandoned his marriage (with children) in order to pretend to be a woman which he then used to advance his career despite his obvious lack of intelligence and talent.” The final speaker on the “Freedom” panel is “medical freedom” podcaster Shannon Joy, who identifies as part of Kennedy’s pro-Trump “Make America Health Again” movement. On Monday, she [circulated a petition](https://x.com/shannonjoyradio/status/1848517682301137261?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X with demands for a second Trump term. The petition calls on the president to withhold “certain federal funding“ from states that do not allow “as-of-right philosophical exemption for current and future vaccines for all citizens in every setting” and to “end liability protection for the vaccine industry and restore America’s Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury.” She ended her tweet tagging “giants in our medical freedom community”—anti-vaccine voices like McCullough, Kory, Malone, [Dr. Mary Talley Bowden](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/ivermectin-doctors-take-to-the-courts/?ref=importantcontext.news), and activist [Steve Kirsch](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Gala Keynote** Delivering the gala keynote will be internist and media personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, known by his stage name “Dr. Drew.” Pinsky, who was [revealed](https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/07/02/feds-say-dr-drew-was-paid-by-glaxo-to-talk-up-antidepressant/?ref=importantcontext.news) to have taken money to talk up the antidepressant Wellbutrin in 2013, now serves as chief patient officer for The Wellness Company. Of all the conference speakers, he was the best known entering the pandemic, having hosted television programs and authored multiple books. Pinsky’s reputation took a hit in early 2020 when he famously said COVID was not as dangerous as the flu. Although he later apologized, he has continued pushing anti-vaccine and COVID-minimizing narratives. He now hosts a [Rumble podcast](https://rumble.com/c/DrDrew?ref=importantcontext.news) which has featured guests such as Drs. Malone and Bhattacharya as well as far-right personalities like Alex Jones. ### Important Context Cited On ‘Conspirituality’ Podcast URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/important-context-cited-on-conspirituality/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:42:52.000Z Dear readers: The good news this week is that *Important Context* got a shoutout on the Conspirituality podcast during an episode about the controversial Stanford health policy conference we have been reporting on. During episode, hosts Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker do an excellent job running through the claims made at the conference by the panelists and fact-checking them. We highly recommend giving it a [**listen**](https://www.conspirituality.net/?ref=importantcontext.news)! [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### Pro-COVID UK Charity With Anti-Vax Ties Behind Controversial Stanford Health Policy Conference URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/pro-covid-uk-charity-with-anti-vax/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:47.000Z A recent, controversial health policy symposium at Stanford University was made possible in part by funding from a UK-based charity with ties to anti-vaccine groups that is known for opposing COVID-19 mitigation measures [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “Pandemic Policy: Planning the Future, Assessing the Past” was held on October 4\. The event [drew the ire](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) of prominent public health experts and scientists for its speaker roster stacked with fringe voices, including [anti-vaxxers](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/stanford-university-to-welcome-fringe) and right-wing political operatives who had advocated against government efforts to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to the event’s organizer, Stanford professor and health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya—a senior fellow at the right-wing Hoover Institution, which is housed on the school’s campus—the purpose of the gathering was to model open dialogue with all sides to achieve some greater understanding and mend bridges. “This is not the last pandemic we as a world will face, and it’s in this kind of event; this kind of dialogue—the hit pieces aside—that, really, advances get made,” said Bhattacharya, who famously co-authored the widely [rebuked](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/health/coronavirus-great-barrington.html?ref=importantcontext.news) Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for achieving COVID herd immunity through mass infection. “It’s almost an act of faith to come here,” he said. But the real goal of Bhattacharya’s symposium appeared to be airing out his personal grievances and those of the other contrarian panelists at having had their ideas rejected by the larger scientific community. By design, the event would place fringe perspectives on equal footing with mainstream science. In that sense, it was part of a larger effort by the political right to rewrite the history of COVID—a continuation of a years-long [war](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) on public health to which Bhattacharya has proudly lent his voice. For weeks, the money behind the controversial summit remained a mystery. But shortly after the conference took place, Stanford’s health policy department, which hosted the affair, updated the event page with a disclaimer that the proceedings had been “supported in part by contributions” from Dr. George F. Tidmarsh, an adjunct professor of pediatrics and neonatology at Stanford School of Medicine, and a UK charity called Collateral Global. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“Collateral Impacts”** Collateral Global was incorporated on November 4, 2020 as a private limited company by attorney James Bassam Farha of Farha Secretaries Limited and [serial entrepreneur](https://enspire.ox.ac.uk/article/alex-caccia-ceo-of-animal-dynamics?ref=importantcontext.news) Alex Caccia, who was [reportedly](https://bylinetimes.com/2020/12/02/ministry-of-defence-funds-man-behind-great-barrington-declaration/?ref=importantcontext.news) the partner of Great Barrington Declaration co-author and Stanford symposium panelist [Sunetra Gupta](https://x.com/collateralglbl/status/1749455218389967012?ref=importantcontext.news) as of December 2020\. Until last year, Caccia, himself [involved](https://bylinetimes.com/2020/12/02/ministry-of-defence-funds-man-behind-great-barrington-declaration/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the drafting of the declaration, headed up the [now defunct](https://www.suasnews.com/2023/07/animal-dynamics-shutters/?ref=importantcontext.news) Animal Dynamics Limited, a company that designed and manufactured “autonomous solutions” like drones and [received funding](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/03/animal-dynamics-stork-stm-parafoil-uav-selected-for-royal-navys-uas-heavy-lift-challenge/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the UK Ministry of Defence. All three Great Barrington Declaration co-authors—Gupta, Bhattacharya, and biostatistician Dr. Martin Kulldorff, formerly of Harvard Medical School—were [involved](https://web.archive.org/web/20201201175847/https://collateralglobal.org/about) with Collateral Global as early as December 2020 as part of its supervisory board. Kulldorff no longer appears on the organization’s website. In February 2021, Gupta became a trustee, which is a director position for legal purposes. She also currently serves on Collateral Global’s scientific advisory board. Bhattacharya, who was appointed as a trustee at the end of March 2023, is the organization’s editor-in-chief and a member not just of its scientific advisory board, but its editorial board as well. Caccia has resigned his trustee position but is [listed](https://collateralglobal.org/about/our-team/?ref=importantcontext.news#who-we-are) as the organization’s CEO. Collateral Global claims to be “dedicated to researching, understanding, and communicating the effectiveness and collateral impacts of the Mandated Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions…taken by governments worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Unsurprisingly, though, given the individuals involved, the organization has staked out contrarian positions against efforts to control the spread of COVID like lockdowns. Collateral Global has also taken aim at the World Health Organization’s stalled[ pandemic preparedness treaty](https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pandemic-agreement-talks-resume-global-equity-stake?ref=importantcontext.news), which seeks to establish critical [framework](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/is-a-pandemic-treaty-still-possible?ref=importantcontext.news) for the the nations of the world to respond to future crises including through the sharing of medical technologies like vaccines. A major goal of the treaty is addressing inequities between wealthy and developing nations and improve access to lifesaving medicines. Bhattacharya and Collateral Global director and head of research Kevin Bardosh, an applied medical anthropologist and Stanford health policy symposium panelist, penned an [editorial](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2024/04/30/the%5Fworld%5Fhealth%5Forganizations%5Fpandemic%5Ftreaty%5Fignores%5Fcovid%5Fpolicy%5Fmistakes%5F1028504.html?ref=importantcontext.news) excoriating the treaty for “validating” lockdowns and other mitigation measures as well as infringing on national sovereignty and free speech. Collateral Global features the piece on its website in a section called “in the press.” “Validating this treaty is a vote for the disastrous policies of the Covid years,” the pair wrote. “Rather than taking time for deep reflection and serious reform, those pushing the pandemic treaty are set on ignoring and institutionalizing the WHO’s mistakes.” U.S.-based business-aligned, right-wing groups have also come out against the unfinished treaty. [The Heritage Foundation](https://www.heritage.org/public-health/commentary/the-pandemic-treaty-wont-prevent-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news), for example, published a commentary in February lambasting an early draft for potentially doing “grave harm to the property rights of U.S. companies “and “disincentivizing future research and development of vaccines and other medical innovations that could be critical in dealing with a future pandemic.” Collateral Global’s website suggests that the organization intends to create policy tools and produce academic research in the future, though, as of this writing, the pages for that work are under development. The site indicates that Collateral Global is focused on mainstreaming contrarian public health stances across the developed world. It has formed working groups in Canada and the UK to study the impacts of COVID mitigations in those countries and hold conferences. The page for the U.S. working group has no text. The main work of Collateral Global, based on its website site, appears to be commentaries by its members. The site features a section called “UK Covid inquiry,” which notes that the organization has been tracking the proceedings since June 2023, producing weekly analyses “in Unherd and other media.” The outlet, which is known for platforming “heterodox” thinkers like anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist [Robert Kennedy Jr.](https://unherd.com/2023/05/robert-kennedy-jr-america-needs-a-revolution/?ref=importantcontext.news), is hyperlinked. Another page on Collateral Global’s site for “global evaluations” simply links to a May 2023 [paper](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract%5Fid=4447806&ref=importantcontext.news) by Bardosh on the harms of COVID mitigation measures. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Extreme Connections** Collateral Global has sought to position itself as a mainstream organization, but it has ties to anti-vaccine groups. There are numerous connections, for example, between the organization and the Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART), a UK-based advocacy group that opposed pandemic lockdowns and the COVID vaccines. HART also notably sought [help](https://www.dailydot.com/debug/leaked-chats-ex-cambridge-analytica-patrick-fagan-hart-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) from former Cambridge Analytica psychologist Patrick Fagan to spread its contrarian messaging. Two individuals on Collateral Global’s editorial board, University of Nottingham professor Ellen Townsend and University of East Anglia professor David Livermore, are [former members](https://web.archive.org/web/20210125154129/https://www.hartgroup.org/bios/) of HART. According to [leaked internal messages](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1482664743387242498?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) from the group, Gupta was in contact with HART members in 2021 and even offered suggestions as to who they might recruit. Bhattacharya, meanwhile, has participated in a [panel discussion](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1526867481641603072?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) with HART co-chair Claire Craig, who was revealed to have suggested [seeding](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1527202527917252608?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the false narrative that “vaccines cause COVID” into the mainstream. The ties run deeper. Both Gupta and Bhattacharya—along with their declaration co-author Kulldorff—were on the [scientific advisory board](https://pandata.org/panda-launches-scientific-advisory-board-to-buttress-global-efforts/?ref=importantcontext.news) of an anti-vaccine, anti-COVID mitigation group called PANDA, which has overlapping membership with HART. HART [co-chair](https://www.hartgroup.org/bios/?ref=importantcontext.news) Jonathan Engler is [listed](https://pandata.org/panda-team/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the group’s website as part of “The Team.” PANDA is more extreme than either Collateral Global or HART, going so far as to [claim](https://pandata.org/position-covid-era/?ref=importantcontext.news) “there was no pandemic.” More ties between Collateral Global and HART run through the [All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pandemic Response and Recovery](https://appgpandemic.org/about?ref=importantcontext.news), which purportedly aimed to “inform a more focused and flexible approach to government policy” and “reach new solutions in pandemic management to prevent suffering and loss in the future” but really sought to build a case against COVID mitigations. An October 2021 [filing](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/211006/pandemic-response-and-recovery.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) in the parliamentary register of all-party groups indicated that Collateral Global [put up money](https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/APPG/pandemic-response-and-recovery?ref=importantcontext.news) and in-kind services for the informal group, which was comprised of conservative members of Parliament and the House of Lords. The funding, however, [reportedly](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1614742795322888194?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) never materialized and a filing from the following month [does not list](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/211117/pandemic-response-and-recovery.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) the donations. Nevertheless, [individuals](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1490338871556640776?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) [from](https://x.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1490338871556640776?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) both [Collateral Global](https://appgpandemic.org/news/cost-of-living-crisis?ref=importantcontext.news) and HART were involved in the group’s sessions. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“False Balance”** The Stanford health policy summit fit neatly into Collateral Global’s larger mission opposing economically disruptive pandemic mitigation measures. Over the course of multiple hours, panelists served up revisionist takes suggesting that the government response to COVID was more harmful than the virus itself, which has killed more than 1.2 million Americans to date. They also promoted popular conspiracy theories that have served to undermine public confidence in public health officials and institutions. During the panel on “evidence-based medicine,” moderator Wilk Wilkinson, a podcaster who has leaned into [vaccine skepticism](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford), criticized public health experts for focusing “very narrowly on deaths from COVID” early on in the pandemic when tens of thousands were dying each week. This focus, Wilkinson asserted, often “came at the expense of other social values” such as “being able to visit people...or putting children in school as they normally would go to school, or attend funerals.” One question he posed to the panelists was to name a mitigation policy they initially supported but now felt did not hold up in hindsight. Speaking on the panel, Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of Population Health & Disease Prevention at UC Irvine, offered a defense of mitigation measures before launching into a bizarre theory about Dr. Anthony Fauci, a popular right-wing target. He suggested that the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had embraced premature reopening in order to cover up his involvement in gain-of-function research that allegedly created the virus. Meanwhile, the panel about “misinformation, censorship, and academic freedom” saw Bhattacharya and other contrarians who promoted fringe ideas throughout the pandemic painted as victims, unjustly silenced by academia, government, and social media. “I regret not being more outspoken on what my lane really is, and what I do know is that when First amendment institutions suppress civil discourse, they are not doing their proper job—regardless of who is right,” said Michael McConnell, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and director of Stanford’s constitutional law center. McConnell’s remark was directed at his university for allegedly mistreating Bhattacharya and his fellow pro-infection Hoover Institution operative Dr. Scott Atlas, who advised the Trump administration’s COVID response. “Even if Jay and Scott were wrong—and I think increasing evidence is that they were right—but even if they were wrong, they were contributing to a proper discussion of public policy and they should not have been silenced,” he said. During that same panel discussion, [reputed anti-vaxxer](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/08/02/gop-sen-ron-johnson-praises-prolific-anti-vaxxer-alex-berenson-as-courageous-voice-of-reason/?ref=importantcontext.news) Alex Berenson claimed that the federal government “conspired with Pfizer” to “censor” him for questioning the mRNA COVID vaccines—an allegation he is currently litigating in court. “Probably almost none of you know any of this because essentially the mainstream media will not report on the facts of my case or what happened to me because it’s so embarrassing,” he said. He later admitted that he had “promised Jay” that he wouldn’t get into his issues with the vaccines. Berenson went on to assert that there was “another great censorship scheme” to cover up “the lab leak,” which he said was most likely the origin of COVID. “We now know that the people who thought that the lab leak was the most likely—if not the absolute, let’s say 99 percent—origin of COVID were correct,” he said. Evidence has [consistently](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240920/New-research-strengthens-the-case-for-a-zoonotic-origin-of-COVID-19.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) [supported](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/28/1160162845/what-does-the-science-say-about-the-origin-of-the-sars-cov-2-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news) zoonotic origins and natural spillover is the [favored explanation](https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1578?ref=importantcontext.news) by scientists. Some panelists throughout the day pushed back on the fringe narratives promoted by the contrarians. Josh Salomon, a professor of health policy at Stanford, for example, offered a genuine defense of mitigation measures on the panel about evidence-based medicine. However, he and those like him on other panels were [outnumbered](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-10-15/column-can-stanford-tell-the-difference-between-scientific-fact-and-fiction-its-pandemic-conference-raises-doubts?ref=importantcontext.news). In a [post](https://www.threads.net/@caulfieldtim/post/DBJd3W2PMH2?xmt=AQGzIkuTmQn5Ievz5Q37e0YcPYvoTcJ750Pz2zbTTkSSZA&ref=importantcontext.news) on Threads, health law and policy professor Timothy Caulfield of the University of Alberta labeled the event “shameful” and a ‘False Balance Festival.’ He called on Stanford to “do better.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Big Donations** Collateral Global’s opposition to economically disruptive public health measures has aligned it with major business interests. Unsurprisingly, the group has boasted some large donations and [big name contributors](https://counterdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/who-funds-collateral-global). Among them is German-born Swiss billionaire businessman Georg von Opel and his wife, Emily. The Von Opels have been major funders of conservative politics in the UK for years. Their foundation, the Georg and Emily Von Opel Foundation, had a relationship with Gupta before Collateral Global was founded. In April 2020, the group [bankrolled](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/tory-billionaire-bankrolled-herd-immunity-scientist-who-advised-pm-against-lockdown/?ref=importantcontext.news) her research “into the prevalence of COVID-19 in the population” to the tune of roughly £90,000\. They subsequently [gave](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/jU3CfqAQvmg95%5FR%5FwATiK1KTtg7FifDYPEvZVyXYTlU/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3OV4RH2A3/20241017/eu-west-2/s3/aws4%5Frequest&X-Amz-Date=20241017T183332Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=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&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename=%22companies%5Fhouse%5Fdocument.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=ad1c7c59505346dd1e7ec00d5cca5ae048480ecea26e6140ba95c778a3fb0b9e&ref=importantcontext.news) Collateral Global £130,000 between December 2020 and November 30, 2021. Another major Collateral Global funder in the same period was the King Baudouin Foundation, a Belgian charity established in the 1970s in honor of the then-monarch which supports projects related to health, education, climate, and other issues. The group gave Collateral Global £94,000\. DonorsTrust, a U.S.-based donor-advised fund that is a preferred funding conduit of right-wing donors like those in billionaire Charles Koch’s political network, gave £70,000\. Another £10,000 came from businessman and investor Luke Johnson, a vocal [opponent](https://x.com/profkarolsikora/status/1846839624737464656?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of lockdowns, while about £67,000 originated from unidentified sources. Between December 2021 and November 30, 2022, Collateral Global [received](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/cdJ74yYHMZJQ619%5F6wZuh2GFmfIXem-y%5F5ZQCPDSOtQ/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3H2O2IBVV/20241016/eu-west-2/s3/aws4%5Frequest&X-Amz-Date=20241016T215019Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=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&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename=%22companies%5Fhouse%5Fdocument.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=8274a9cbb85c4052ea6c5be46cd876bd246e5df6c36358fc0497263ad55c5e7c&ref=importantcontext.news) £117,000 through RSF Social Finance, a donor-advised fund affiliated with the Rudolf Steiner Foundation. It got another £157,000 from the King Baudouin Foundation, and £5,000 from the UK-based Mackintosh Foundation, which is dedicated to the performing arts and education. Collateral Global also received £10,000 from RS Furbs Limited, a UK-based investment firm run by [Robert Charles Standing](https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/westminster-accounts-mystery-over-ps2000-paid-to-sheffield-mp-miriam-cates-solved-3989482?ref=importantcontext.news), a former director of J.P.Morgan Europe Limited. Standing has been a director of at least 11 other companies—many now defunct. The company was a contributor in 2022 to conservative members of Parliament with contrarian views on COVID as well, [including](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/220627/baker%5Fsteve.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) Steve Baker, a now-ex MP who chaired the informal, anti-lockdown COVID Recovery Group, and Miriam Cates, a former member who [worked](https://usforthem.co.uk/campaigns/covid-vaccination-children/?ref=importantcontext.news) with a group called UsForThem on a campaign against vaccinating children against COVID. UsForThem does not merely oppose the inoculations. It is against the World Health Organization pandemic treaty, lockdowns, and masking. Finally, Collateral Global received £14,000 from Toby Green, a professor of African history at King’s College in London. Green, who sits on the organization’s scientific advisory board, joined as a trustee in March 2023\. Contributions and grants totaling £84,000 came from “other,” unnamed sources. During Collateral Global’s next filing period—running December 2022 to November 2023–the organization took in substantially less money. The King Baudouin Foundation [gave](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/cj5dQ1b3Z0qhB2A5QufOCoyQ%5FtRf5Vx0RvUbQp%5Fp25c/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3H2O2IBVV/20241016/eu-west-2/s3/aws4%5Frequest&X-Amz-Date=20241016T223020Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=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&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename=%22companies%5Fhouse%5Fdocument.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=cca2747b22e75369c7f6c877a5d2621d7024d568830e0f437c6558c705d01ac3&ref=importantcontext.news) nearly £81,000, but was the only reported big donor. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Mystery Money** While Collateral Global’s role in funding the October 4 Stanford health policy symposium is public, the amount it fronted for the event remains a mystery. This year’s financial disclosures will not be available for months and Stanford’s health policy department was not forthcoming with the dollar figure. Moreover, the original source of the Collateral Global money used for the conference is not publicly available, and the organization did not respond to our inquiry on the matter. On the day of the Stanford conference, *The Nation* [published](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stanford-covid-symposium-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) an op-ed by Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves about the event and similar symposiums at other top schools. The piece noted that “the architects of these meetings come with [bags](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fueled-by-mystery-donors-covid-conspiracy) and [bags](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/04/24/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big-with-far-right-funding/?ref=importantcontext.news) of right-wing funding.” Bhattacharya, who was presented with the [$250,000 Bradly Prize](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big) in May by the [Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde%5Fand%5FHarry%5FBradley%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news), which has been a major funder of right-wing causes, took to X to request a “retraction.” “I donated the award money for my Bradley Prize to a charity,” he [wrote](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1842341663529910416?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “They are not providing me ‘bags’ of money.” Bhattacharya, however, did respond to *Important Context*’s inquiry about which charity he passed the funds to. ### Emory Welcomes Contrarian Doctor Who Questions COVID Vaccines and Praises RFK Jr. URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/emory-welcomes-contrarian-doctor/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:48.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* On Monday, Emory University will host a panel discussion about the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic with a contrarian doctor who has expressed questionable views about the COVID vaccines and praised anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Hematologist oncologist Dr. Vinay Prasad, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, who made a name for himself opposing government efforts to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is [slated to speak](https://www.emory.edu/home/events/trumba.html?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D177714025&ref=importantcontext.news) on October 7 panel called “Masking Mistakes: Lessons from the Science, Policy, and Coverage of COVID-19.” Hosted and organized by the Emory Center for Ethics, the event [promises](https://www.emory.edu/home/events/trumba.html?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D177714025&ref=importantcontext.news) “to analyze the ethics, science, policies, coverage, and communication about COVID-19 in order to provide lessons for ongoing policy (e.g. annual vaccine boosters and seasonal mask mandates in healthcare facilities) and future pandemic preparedness.” Prasad will be speaking with Dr. Carlos del Rio, chair of the university’s department of medicine, and the moderator will be Gerard Vong, an associate professor and director of the Master of Arts in Bioethics program at the school. Emory is the latest prestigious university to host a pandemic-related public health discussion featuring prominent medical contrarians. On Friday, Stanford University’s department of health policy held a [health policy symposium](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) with panel discussions stacked with fringe medical voices and right-wing political operatives. Prasad participated on a panel. Weeks earlier, Johns Hopkins held a [similar conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/johns-hopkins-holds-fringe-right) hosted by its Carey Business School. Some of the same voices participated. Both the Stanford and Hopkins events featured right-wing political operatives affiliated with well-funded, business-aligned dark money groups that opposed COVID mitigation measures. They coincide with a larger effort by those groups, and the broader American political right, to rewrite the history of the pandemic and validate a contrarian, minimizing narrative that the U.S. overreacted to a virus that has killed 1.2 million Americans to date, according to official numbers. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Prasad was one of the louder voices evangelizing about the harms of government efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic and downplaying the threat posed by the virus. He has even gone so far as to [invoke](https://cancerletter.com/guest-editorial/20211008%5F5/?ref=importantcontext.news) Nazi Germany in his arguments against mitigation measures, suggesting that a strong government response to the worst public health crisis in a century was the road to totalitarianism. While his rhetoric might suggest he holds conservative beliefs, Prasad has insisted that he is [a liberal](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1576006235039547392?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) who just happens to agree with the pandemic policy prescriptions of the political right—and shares their enemies like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who Prasad has [accused](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1769558030826488151?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of spreading “the worst misinformation” and [lying](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1735065643299282973?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to cover up an “accidental lab leak” as the origin of COVID. In fact, available evidence points to natural spillover, which remains the virologist-favored explanation of how the pandemic began. Much of Prasad’s advocacy appears aimed at driving online engagement. For example, last November, he [wrote](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1722349059749695555?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a Substack post comparing the pandemic claims made by Joe Rogan and Elon Musk during their interview that month to those of Fauci. “Who got more pandemic policies correct?” he asked his readers. His answer was not the former NIAID director. “Overall, regarding the COVID19 topics discussed on this specific episode, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk are more accurate and balanced than Anthony Fauci,” Prasad [wrote](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/elon-and-rogan-vs-fauci-who-got-more?utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&ref=importantcontext.news). This contrarian tack has helped Prasad build a sizable following on social media, with nearly 300,000 followers on X and 190,000 subscribers on YouTube as of the publication of this article. It has also made him useful to right-wing groups like Brownstone Institute, an [opaque](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute), conspiracy-promoting dark money outfit founded in 2021 anarcho-capitalist Jeffrey Tucker to defeat COVID mitigation measures. *Important Context* has previously [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails) on leaked emails from Tucker and Brownstone showing that there is support in the group for child labor and youth cigarette smoking. Brownstone republished posts from Prasad’s Substack between November of that year and May 2022\. The last post the group republished is dated May 4, 2022\. That same day, NBC News [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covids-toll-us-reaches-1-million-deaths-unfathomable-number-rcna22105?ref=importantcontext.news) that the U.S. had crossed one million COVID deaths. Prasad has similarly found an ally in fellow contrarian, Great Barrington Declaration co-author [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity), a health economist at Stanford and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who advocated for COVID herd immunity through widespread infection. Bhattacharya organized the Stanford conference at which Prasad spoke on Friday. The pair were [photographed](https://x.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1842444629192712337?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) together at the event. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) A big focus of Prasad’s has been government efforts to keep young people from getting COVID. While children and teens have generally fared better with the disease than adults in terms of severe illness and death, they are [not immune from harm](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/09/teresa-sperry-girl-virginia-class-nurse-died-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news). They can get [seriously ill](https://www.medpagetoday.com/spotlight/covid/112268?ref=importantcontext.news) and studies have found that COVID [has been a leading cause of death](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us?ref=importantcontext.news) in children, and recently, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association [revised](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/long-covid-rates-kids-revised-upward-what-know-2024a1000hzi?ref=importantcontext.news) the rate of pediatric long COVID upward. Children also [spread the virus](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/more-70-us-household-covid-spread-started-child-study-suggests?ref=importantcontext.news), and as of December 31, 2022, more than 275,000 were [estimated](https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood%5Fcalculator/?ref=importantcontext.news#/country/United%20States%20of%20America) to have lost a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID in the U.S. But Prasad argues that mitigation measures like school closures and masking lacked sufficient high-quality research behind them and did more harm than good. He was one of the medical professionals behind the [error-plagued](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/01/doctors-urgency-normal-toolkit-schools-covid-normal-botched-effort-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news) “Urgency of Normal” toolkit, which aimed to arm parents with the information they needed to fight COVID mitigation measures in their kids’ schools. Like his right-wing allies, Prasad’s contrarianism has extended to his positions on the COVID vaccines, which have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. alone. The UCSF professor has repeatedly claimed the jabs were insufficiently tested, overstated their risks while downplaying their benefits—especially for young people. In September 2022, he was [featured](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/the-truth-about-those-viral-tweets-questioning-the-omicron-boosters-safety/?ref=importantcontext.news) in a *Mother Jones* report about viral misleading claims related to the newly released bivalent boosters for a tweet declaring the jabs were “NOT LIKE the annual flu shot” and that “human studies (not 8-10 mice) are needed.” Accompanying Prasad’s post, which was amplified by Bhattacharya, was a 14-minute YouTube video he’d made laying out his arguments for why experts could not deem the boosters safe. As *Mother Jones* noted at the time, claims like Prasad’s had been thoroughly discredited. Prasad has even embraced notorious anti-vaxxer and former independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. Where other medical experts saw a conspiracy theorist and dangerous misinformation spreader, the UCSF professor apparently saw opportunity for online engagement. In May 2023, he did an 11-minute YouTube [video](https://youtu.be/YQF7zlMLfQs?si=RQgiO3NglCrAz-a6&ref=importantcontext.news) “fact checking” a podcast interview Kennedy had done. Of the seven arguments from the then-candidate he reviewed, Prasad found fault in just two of them and his overall tone was laudatory. For example, the professor praised Kennedy’s opposition to lockdowns, calling school closures “the most devastating and boneheaded policy decision ever made in the last 20 years of domestic policy.” He said the candidate had “a point” questioning the Food and Drug Administration over regulatory capture, stating, “when you’re in government and you rubber stamp a perpetual booster campaign in men who are 20 years old who’ve had COVID, that’s a dubious decision. It’s very likely they’re going to have myocarditis.” Myocarditis is a [very rare side](https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/08/22/covid-19-infection-poses-higher-risk-for-myocarditis-than-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news) effect from the vaccines in any demographic. It is also generally more common from COVID itself and is usually self-resolving and less severe compared when caused by a jab. Prasad did “fact check” Kennedy’s promotion of quack COVID treatments like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, in the process, but in doing so, he falsely claimed that the U.S. was probably overcounting COVID deaths. In fact, studies have found that deaths from the disease are [most likely](https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2023/covid-19-deaths-in-the-us-continue-to-be-undercounted-research-shows-despite-claims-of-overcounts/?ref=importantcontext.news) [undercounted](https://youtu.be/YQF7zlMLfQs?si=RQgiO3NglCrAz-a6&ref=importantcontext.news). Meanwhile, Prasad’s critique of Kennedy’s anti-vaccine positions was merely that they were “unconvincing” because they were too broad. The professor proceeded to offer unsolicited advice to the candidate: focus on young men who were previously infected by COVID and required to take COVID vaccine boosters. “That’s a population that’s clearly had a net harm signal, and that’s a place you can really put your finger on as a misuse of government power—an abuse of government power—and I think he would have a much stronger argument if he focused there and sort of stopped painting with such a broad brush,” he said. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The month after Prasad made his video, Kennedy appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast. The interview sparked fierce backlash from the scientific community. Renowned vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, who helped developed a patent-free COVID vaccine for use in poor countries, took to X to lament that Kennedy had been given such a large platform and to fact check his claims. In response, Rogan offered the doctor, who was [named](https://time.com/6968402/peter-hotez/?ref=importantcontext.news) to TIME’s 2024 list of the 100 most influential people in global health earlier this year, $100,000 to come on his show and debate the anti-vaxxer. Far-right billionaire X owner Elon Musk, an outspoken critic of public health measures, soon joined in. Hotez’s decision to decline the offer sparked a days long [harassment campaign](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/coronavirus/2023/06/19/454720/peter-hotez-harassed-houston-house-joe-rogan-rfk-attacks/?ref=importantcontext.news) that saw individuals show up outside of his home. While many medical and public health experts [agreed](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/robert-f-kennedy-jr-vs-peter-hotez-would-not-be-a-debate.html?ref=importantcontext.news) with Hotez’s refusal to debate Kennedy, Prasad took a different approach. The UCSF professor [wrote a blog post](https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/take-rfk-jr-seriously-what-rfk-jr?ref=importantcontext.news) praising the anti-vaccine candidate for “pushing against corporate interests and outright governmental corruption.” “The Democratic party is supposed to hold power to account, but they largely appear to be corporate sell-outs, beholden to Pfizer and other companies,” Prasad wrote. “In many ways RFK Jr. embodies the true populist spirit of the Democratic party, as his father and uncle once did.” In his piece, Prasad called the decision to vaccinate previously infected people “insane” and wrote that “pushing repeat mRNA COVID vaccines on young men at high risk of myocarditis and college mandates resulted in net harm,” and declaring that “RFK Jr is correct about many of Tony Fauci's lies. One has to give RFK Jr a lot of credit for speaking openly about these topics.” Later, he stated, “I totally agree with him that vaccine manufacturers should not have indemnification. They should be able to be sued. When it comes to covid-19 vaccines, they should have their asses sued. Every young man who had vaccine myocarditis it should be filing a class action lawsuit against them, and the school that mandated it.” Prasad continued on to address Kennedy’s claims about childhood vaccines—framed as “RFK Jr’s more troublesome points of view”—stating “I think the only solution is to agree that the current surveillance system—and the current epidemiologic evidence is limited in many ways.” “We need to improve the current surveillance system on vaccine safety, so that we can adjudicate whether or not even some of his claims are true,” he wrote. “I personally believe that most will not hold up, but I think one must acknowledge that the current surveillance system is flawed, and some may hold up.” While he was generally supportive of Kennedy, and, [critics argued](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/06/30/undermining-the-childhood-vaccine-schedule-with-ebm-fundamentalism/?ref=importantcontext.news), overly conciliatory to his conspiracy theories, Prasad ripped into Hotez, writing that “any single public health expert to advocated for lockdowns, school closure, vaccine mandates, lowering the regulatory standards to rubber stamp, covid-19 vaccines and young populations, using non-inferior geometric mean antibody titers, will be obliterated.” “Any person in public health who has gotten everything wrong the last 2 years will not survive such a dialogue,” he wrote. “RFK Jr would mop the floor with Peter Hotez, and the no one will be defending the truth.” Sharing his post on X, Prasad tagged Rogan and reiterated his position that “RFK Jr would flatten” the vaccine doctor, adding “Any \[public health\] person wrong about COVID has 0 credibility.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Medical experts expressed alarm at the news that Emory would be hosting Prasad. In a Threads [post](https://www.threads.net/@gregg%5Fs%5Fgonsalves/post/DAs9QDhPW3w/?xmt=AQGzVD24O-dNBF1xXr40PeaNVoy2jakLkevqxiewycQfxg&ref=importantcontext.news) on Friday sharing his new [editorial](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stanford-covid-symposium-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) in *The Nation* criticizing the Stanford health policy symposium, epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves called out Emory as one of the schools “boosting COVID conspiracy theories and misinformation by hosting these gatherings.” John Lysaker, the director of the Emory Center for Ethics, however, defended the decision to host Prasad, telling *Important Context* that there was merit in the forthcoming discussion. “This series concerns institutional ethics, which I take to involve questions about how institutions best realize goods and avoid harms,” Lysaker wrote in an email. “The handling of CoVid merits review on *both* counts.” According to Lysaker, the involvement of del Rio and Vong meant that Prasad’s appearance would be occurring in “a context of accountability,” adding that “ethics work should be dialogical.” He bristled at the idea that Prasad was too fringe to host, calling the professor “a well-established medical researcher at a major university” who “is qualified to assess the quality of evidence used for public health initiatives.” Lysaker also noted that Prasad’s views “are shared by a significant number of people in the country” and “in that sense, he is anything but fringe.” “I think subjecting broadly held views to expert level scrutiny is appropriate, particularly in a siloed world,” he said. But Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist with Wayne State University School of Medicine, was not convinced. “Just because \[Prasad\] believes what a lot of Americans do doesn’t mean that he isn’t fringe in the relevant sciences of public health, virology, and vaccinology that he regularly makes false or misleading claims about,” he wrote in an email. “In those sciences, he is fringe.” Gorski, who runs the blog *Science-Based Medicine* and has been highly critical of Prasad throughout the pandemic for his public health contrarianism, offered a sharp criticism of the event. “The head of Emory’s Center for Ethics is confusing science denialism rooted in right-wing, libertarian beliefs, which is what almost all of Dr. Prasad’s complaints about \[the\] COVID response and vaccines consists of, with legitimate minority scientific viewpoints,” he told *Important Context*, noting that Prasad had “shown sympathy to RFK Jr.’s misleading claims about the childhood vaccine schedule.” “\[Prasad\] has also portrayed those still concerned about COVID-19 as having irrational anxiety to the point of being mentally ill and embraced the old antivax message of ‘do not comply’ when it comes to vaccinating children against COVID,” Gorski added. “How ‘ethical’ is inviting someone like that?” *NOTE: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci as the “former NIH director” even though he was correctly identified in the previous paragraph as the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.* ### A Koch-Funded Lawfare Group Is Suing The Biden Admin To Protect Vaccine Skepticism URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:49.000Z A corporate-aligned litigation outfit with deep ties to right-wing petrochemical billionaire Charles Koch is once again suing key officials and agencies within the Biden administration for their alleged role in influencing content moderation decisions made by social media companies. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The case, *Dressen, et al. v. Flaherty, et al.*, centers around the administration’s efforts to get Americans vaccinated amid a global pandemic in the face of widespread misinformation online about the jabs. The COVID vaccines provide robust protection against severe illness and death, and reduce the odds of infection and long COVID, but like other vaccines, they do come with some small risks. Although most side effects are mild and self-resolving, in [extremely rare instances](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/vaccines/covid-19.html?CDC%5FAA%5FrefVal=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html&ref=importantcontext.news), injuries are possible. New Civil Liberties Alliance, a group that has been heavily funded by Koch and other powerful right-wing interests, is representing a number of allegedly vaccine-injured individuals who claim that they were victims of an “exhaustive crusade” by the government “against any message that might threaten—or even question—its agenda.” Specifically, they claim that as a result of coercion by the government, they had restrictions placed on their accounts on platforms like Facebook and TikTok for telling their stories in violation of their First Amendment rights. In addition to the administration defendants, the suit also names several individuals affiliated with Stanford University who were allegedly part of the “censorship enterprise.” NCLA bills itself as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group,” but the organization is best understood as a [lawfare](https://nclalegal.org/our-focus/?ref=importantcontext.news) operation for corporate America. The group’s website boasts that it is “committed to cutting the Administrative State down to size by challenging the unlawful powers it uses to deny civil liberties.” Since its inception in 2017, NCLA has been waging strategic legal battles against policies that burden major business interests like Koch. For example, the group [went after](https://nclalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20-1530-Amicus-NCLA-Supp.-Petitioners.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It has also filed strategic litigation against government efforts to respond to the pandemic, including going after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [emergency eviction moratorium](https://nclalegal.org/press%5Frelease/in-ncla-amicus-win-federal-circuit-revives-lawsuit-against-cdcs-illegal-eviction-moratorium/?ref=importantcontext.news) as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s [vaccine-or-test mandate](https://nclalegal.org/press%5Frelease/ncla-amicus-brief-explains-why-oshas-employer-vaccine-mandate-violates-nondelegation-doctrine/?ref=importantcontext.news) for large businesses. With its latest legal effort, NCLA is aiming to cripple the federal government’s ability to address the spread of misinformation online and communicate with social media platforms—even in a major public health crisis. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“A Much Bigger Threat To Democracy Than Anything We’ve Seen”** Originally filed in May 2023, the *Dressen* case emerged from a larger, organized right-wing campaign to politicize public health science and sow distrust in government which has been ongoing since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Business-aligned conservative groups, especially those in Koch’s sphere of influence, set to work painting viral mitigation measures as undue infringements on liberty while downplaying the seriousness of the virus itself. To that end, they have amplified fringe medical voices who advocated herd immunity through infection and cast doubt on the necessity, efficacy, and even safety of the vaccines. As the pandemic fades from the public consciousness, however, even with COVID continuing to circulate and mutate, the larger political right—dark money groups, their operatives, and Republican politician allies—has pivoted to rewriting history in order to validate the contrarian positions they embraced. To this day, Americans [remain](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/poll-majority-of-americans-say-key-covid-19-policies-were-a-good-idea-but-views-of-individual-policies-vary/?ref=importantcontext.news) largely supportive of mitigation measures taken early on to control the spread of the virus, which is hardly surprising considering that the U.S. was hit significantly harder than its peer nations with 1.2 million COVID deaths—many preventable, attributable to widespread vaccine hesitancy—and millions more suffering long COVID. Those on the political right, however, have settled on narrative that their side was suppressed by bad actors in government, academia, media, and Big Tech rather than its simply rejected on the merits of their ideas. Far-right billionaire Elon Musk poured fuel on the fire. A vocal opponent of COVID mitigation measures and prolific pandemic minimizer despite having used the virus [as justification](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3675282-musk-declined-to-attend-in-person-twitter-deposition-citing-covid-exposure-risk/?ref=importantcontext.news) for avoiding an in-person deposition in October 2022, Musk released internal documents from Twitter upon purchasing the company to select writers and journalists. While the so-called “Twitter Files,” published between December 2022 to March 2023, actually [showed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter) how the company resisted pressure from both the Trump and Biden administrations to moderate content on its platform. Nevertheless, the reports have become a rallying cry on the online right, held up as irrefutable proof of anti-conservative censorship. The narrative has since percolated into academia. Last month, a number of operatives from Koch-linked groups participated in a [health policy symposium](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/johns-hopkins-holds-fringe-right) put on by Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School that included a panel on “free speech in medicine.” A [similar conference](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) is set to take place at Stanford University on Friday, which will include a discussion about “misinformation, censorship, and academic freedom” featuring of the NCLA attorneys for the *Dressen* case, Jenin Younes. Younes herself has been an outspoken critic of government efforts to control the spread of COVID and has even dabbled in anti-vaccine talking points. For example, in April 2021, she [tweeted](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1380570537840283652?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “the covid vaccines are in an experimental phase and we cannot know their longterm effects.” In August 2022, she [implied](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562512675203977223?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the mRNA COVID vaccines [may be linked](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180686995488770?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to blood clots despite research indicating they are not, and claimed that boosters conferred “[no benefit](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180689755250688?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” to college-age young people. To date, the highest profile mention of the right-wing suppression narrative came at Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. In his refusal to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) [declared](https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5135012/vp-debate-exchange-transfer-power-state-democracy&ref=importantcontext.news) that “the threat of censorship,” including “big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens” and government efforts to combat misinformation, was “a much bigger threat to democracy than anything we’ve seen in this country.” Vance cited the COVID pandemic as a period of great supposed censorship. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“A Follow Up On Murthy v. Missouri”** NCLA has been a major driver of the “suppression” narrative. *Dressen* is not the first time the group has waged a legal battle against the Biden administration for allegedly violating the First Amendment by strong-arming social media companies as part of its efforts to combat misinformation related to the pandemic and other topics. Before *Dressen* came [*Murthy v. Missouri*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer), which was originally filed in May 2022 as *Missouri v. Biden* by two Republican attorneys general. NCLA joined the suit in August that year with Younes representing a group of private plaintiffs that included [several contrarian doctors](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) who were popular on the political right for minimizing the dangers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. NCLA argued that their clients’ content on platforms like Twitter had been flagged as misinformation and restricted as a result of improper government pressure. This past June, the Supreme Court threw out the lawsuit over issues of standing in a 6-3 ruling led by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The Court held that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate a “concrete link” between the government’s actions and the content restrictions they faced online. In the wake of the defeat, Younes vowed to fight on. *Dressen* appears to be the continuation of that fight. An [amended complaint](https://nclalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ECF-42-First-Amended-Complaint.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) inthe casewas filed earlier this month, just weeks after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg sent a [letter](https://www.reuters.com/technology/zuckerberg-says-biden-administration-pressured-meta-censor-covid-19-content-2024-08-27/?ref=importantcontext.news) to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who Younes at one point worked for, outlining the pressure his company had faced from the Biden administration to moderate COVID-19 content on its platform. Many of the named government defendants in *Dressen* were also named in the original *Missouri v. Biden* complaint, and the claims in the two cases—namely that the government was “policing” speech online and coercing private companies into censoring “disfavored” viewpoints—mirror each other. At the heart of both lawsuits is a view of the First Amendment that prohibits the federal government from playing any role in “picking winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas,” as the amended *Dressen* complaint puts it. “It really is a follow up on *Murthy v. Missouri*,” said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UCSF with expertise in the legal issues around vaccines. “Since the court in that case rejected the case on standing, this is one of a few cases trying to get around that by presenting a standing argument that matches what the Murthy court required.” Resists told *Important Context,* “This case, on first glance, does a better job on the timing,” explaining that unlike in the *Murthy* case, the *Dressen* plaintiffs took care to claim that changes to their online accounts occurred *after* the Biden administration started interacting with platforms. Still, she said, the new suit “has its own issues.” Reiss pointed out, for example, that the case “builds on the *Murthy* record, but although it mentions Facebook, it opens with two examples from GoFundMe and TikTok—for which there is no such evidence of connection in the *Murthy* litigation.” She also noted that the plaintiffs would likely have to connect specific censorship acts to the government, which the complaint does not do. “They might say that they have pleaded enough to get to discovery, and a sympathetic judge will let them—I think that's what happened with *Murthy* when it was *Missouri v. Biden*,” she said. “And most judges would not have let that get to discovery,” Reiss said. Indeed, on its way to defeat at the Supreme Court, *Murthy* went through the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana where it was presided over by Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee who issued a sweeping injunction against the administration. From there, the case went to the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, also stacked with Trump appointees. While the appellate court limited the injunction, it still found that the government had likely violated the First Amendment. *Dressen* is poised to follow a similar trajectory, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas where it is [being heard](https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txsdce/3:2023cv00155/1918901?ref=importantcontext.news) by Trump-appointed Judge Jeff Brown. Should the case be appealed, it will also head to the Fifth Circuit. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“Misapplied The Facts In This Case”** NCLA’s choice of venue in *Dressen* could insulate the case from potential legal hurdles beyond just standing that it shares with its predecessor, *Murthy*. The *Dressen* complaint lists the ways in which the government defendants allegedly pressured social media companies using “threats of adverse government action, including threats of increased regulation, antitrust enforcement or legislation, and repeal or amendment of Section 230 CDA immunity.” But none of the named defendants in *Dressen* has direct authority to make good on any of those threats. For example, new legislation would require an act of Congress. Reiss, however, told *Important Context* that the appellate court would not let that issue hold up the suit. “This was raised in *Missouri v. Biden* and rejected by the Fifth Circuit,” she explained, noting that “the White House has a lot of influence on agencies, including independent agencies, and a role in regulation and plaintiffs would argue this is enough to make the threat meaningful.” Separately, there is the issue of government speech rights. Discussing the original *Missouri* complaint in November 2022, Burt Neuborne, the Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties emeritus and founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, [explained](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) that it is not “unlawful for the government to express its views about the factual correctness or incorrectness of a given statement, and to urge private speakers to refrain from disseminating false information.” The government speech doctrine, Neuborne said, “also protects the government’s right to criticize the manner in which a social media platform is carrying out its 230 responsibilities, and consider whether 230 should be amended or abolished.” But Reiss noted that the Fifth Circuit in the *Missouri* case had found that the government likely went beyond mere persuasion into coercion—a decision she believes was made incorrectly. “There's already been a line of cases that government cannot coerce private actors on speech…and the question when it's coercion v. persuasion is determined by a multi factor, somewhat vague standard,” she explained. “The standard is not in question; but the Fifth Circuit likely misapplied it to the facts in this case.” **“Inconsistencies To The Medically Trained Reader”** Legal arguments aside, the plaintiffs’ claims of vaccine injury in *Dressen* raise significant medical questions, experts told *Important Context* upon reviewing the amended complaint. None of the experts have treated the allegedly vaccine-injured parties mentioned in the lawsuit. Dr. Frank Han, an adult congenital and pediatric cardiologist, cautioned that it is difficult to determine actual vaccine injury events as symptoms can be consistent with other conditions. “While it is possible to share empathy for the severe symptoms these people went through, documenting the medical evidence supporting a vaccine associated adverse event is a meticulous process with some gaps in scientific understanding of the full mechanism of how these events occur,” Han said. “The lawsuit as presented is meant for a legal audience, but contains enough inconsistencies to the medically trained reader that questions can be raised about the robustness of the association between vaccine and described side effects.” Han flagged the account of plaintiff Ernest Ramirez, who [blames](https://fee.org/articles/why-gofundme-deleted-this-grieving-father-s-fundraiser-after-his-son-s-death/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID vaccine for the loss of his teenage son. Ernest Ramirez Jr. died days after receiving his first dose of the vaccine, and the autopsy reportedly revealed that he had an enlarged heart. Han, however, said he doubted that the jab was the culprit. “\[Ramirez\] claims the heart was big on autopsy, which is typically consistent with a genetic dilated cardiomyopathy which ordinarily receives genetic testing prior to it getting bad,” Han said, adding that “while the autopsy findings were consistent with myocarditis and the timeline of events was possibly consistent with missed myocarditis, the heart doesn't dilate and get big in 5 days, it takes time for the immune system to do that.” Dr. Jonathan Howard, director of neurology service Bellevue Hospital and a neurology professor at New York University, was similarly skeptical of the plaintiffs’ vaccine injury claims. “In medicine, we can never say for sure that the vaccine was not to blame, however I think it is unlikely,” he said. “This does not mean that the plaintiffs are lying or not suffering.” In an email, Howard outlined several “reasons to be skeptical,” including the fact that the plaintiffs’ symptoms “are so diverse and varied,” noting, for example, that ”one person complained of ‘autotomic dysfunction, gastrointestinal problems, irregular heart rate, painful paresthesia, heart and blood pressure fluctuations, brain fog, and severe limb weakness and loss of bladder control.’” “If I were an evil doctor and wanted to cause those symptoms in someone, it would take intentional poisoning,” he said. Howard also pointed out that the plaintiffs’ symptoms have been long-lasting while “nearly all vaccine-injuries are transient” and that they “happened immediately after vaccination. “Catastrophic, long-term vaccine-injuries don't happen within minutes,” he said. The complaint states that some of the plaintiffs have had doctors attest to their vaccine injuries after examining them. At least one case, however, appears to be an overstatement of the facts. The complaint alleges that the National Institutes of Health “confirmed” that plaintiff Brianne Dressen “had suffered Covid vaccine-induced medical conditions.” A former preschool teacher who now serves as co-chair of the vaccine injury group React 19, Dressen did indeed participate in a small-scale study of potential—and rare—vaccine injuries conducted by NIH researchers. However, that study [did not conclude](https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-cases-coronavirus-vaccines-may-cause-long-covid-symptoms?ref=importantcontext.news) whether the jabs themselves caused the participants’ symptoms or how they would have done so. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Big Money** Despite any potential problems with *Dressen*, NCLA has the resources to keep the fight going against government efforts to combat online misinformation. The group is heavily tied to billionaire industrialist Koch. Its president and chief legal officer, [Mark Chenoweth](https://nclalegal.org/personnel/mark-chenoweth/?ref=importantcontext.news), is even a former in-house counsel for Koch Industries, the family business of which Charles and his now deceased brother David were the primary owners. Over the years, Koch family foundations have [showered](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/New%5FCivil%5FLiberties%5FAlliance?ref=importantcontext.news) NCLA with money. From its inception in 2017 to 2022, the group got $3 million from the Charles Koch Foundation. Stand Together Fellowships, formerly known as the Charles Koch Institute, gave it $2 million between 2020 and 2021\. Stand Together Trust, another Koch family group, gave $1 million in 2022\. DonorsTrust, meanwhile, a donor-advised fund preferred by Koch network donors, has funneled $5 million to the organization between 2018 and 2022. NCLA has other major corporate-aligned backers as well. The 85 Fund, the funding group of Trump judicial adviser and legal activist Leonard Leo, who has helped stack the judiciary with far-right judges, gave $1 million in 2020\. Major right-wing funding organizations tied to wealthy families have also funneled millions to the group. The Lynne and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the Searle Freedom Trust gave $1.2 million, $1.5 million, and $1.6 million respectively from 2018 to 2022. ### Stanford University To Welcome Vaccine Skepticism, Epoch Times At Upcoming Health Policy Conference URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/stanford-university-to-welcome-fringe/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:49.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* The speaker lineup of a [controversial](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-29/with-conference-on-pandemic-stanford-gives-platform-to-purveyors-of-misinformation-and-disinformation?ref=importantcontext.news) health policy summit slated for next week at Stanford University has become more extreme. The event will now feature an outspoken opponent of the COVID-19 vaccines as well as a senior editor at *The Epoch Times*, a Trump-aligned, right-wing [conspiracy-promoting ](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epoch-times-falun-gong-growth-rcna111373?ref=importantcontext.news)publication. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) As *Important Context* [*previously reported*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford), the conference, “Pandemic Policy: Planning the Future, Assessing the Past,” is being organized by Great Barrington Declaration author and Stanford health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and hosted by the university’s Department of Health Policy. The lineup of speakers already featured prominent contrarian voices who had routinely downplayed the risks of COVID-19. At the time of our report late last month, public health experts and scientists expressed alarm at the event, which will open with remarks from Stanford’s president, Jonathan Levin. The lineup, however, had not been finalized. But now, more radical speakers have been booked. Joining the panel on “Misinformation, Censorship, and Academic Freedom” is journalist Alex Berenson, who has been [called](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news) the “pandemic’s wrongest man” by Derek Thompson of *The Atlantic* and a “prominent critic of the COVID vaccine” in a recent court filing from the [Charles Koch-backed](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/New%5FCivil%5FLiberties%5FAlliance?ref=importantcontext.news) New Civil Liberties Alliance in a lawsuit against the Biden administration over alleged online censorship. Berenson was banned from Twitter for posting that the COVID vaccines were not actually vaccines, but rather “therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.” He has [repeatedly](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1814049890764542371?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) [expressed](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1814782759866445911?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the view that the mRNA vaccines are ineffectual. According to a December 2022 [report](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Commonwealth Fund, COVID jabs prevented more than 18 million hospitalizations and 3 million deaths in the U.S. in just two years. Berenson also [claims](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1805639431480603066?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the be the victim of government censorship. He alleges that the Biden administration, in an alliance with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, coerced social media companies into cracking down on vaccine skepticism on their platforms. He is [currently suing](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1833134395219226860?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the administration and two of the company’s executives for their alleged “[conspiracy](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1831048658898616759?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” to censor him. The panel on “COVID-19 Origins and the Regulation of Virology” has been filled out as well with the addition of prominent promoters of the evidence-lacking lab leak origin idea. The discussion will now include Bryce Nickels, co-founder of BioSafety Now, an organization that has been accused of “poisoning the debate” on COVID’s origins and has Bhattacharya on its board of directors, and Princeton mathematical biologist Alex Washburne. Moderating the panel will be Jan Jekielek, a senior editor at The Epoch Times, a Falun Gong-affiliated Chinese outfit that has aligned itself with Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. The publication, which is affiliated with a dark money group called [The Epoch Times Association](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-pays-for-conservative-media), [faced](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/13/nx-s1-5005297/epoch-times-turmoil-money-laundering?ref=importantcontext.news) a money-laundering scandal in June and is known for [promoting](https://science.feedback.org/outlet/the-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vaccine narratives. Epoch Times is closely allied with the Brownstone Institute, giving column space to its founder Jeffrey Tucker, a child labor advocate and ally of Bhattacharya’s who helped organize the Great Barrington Declaration. Tucker has expressed anti-vaccine views, [calling](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) the COVID jabs Bill Gates’s “potions.” Jekielek has [promoted](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1741468295369302526?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Tucker’s writing and has himself waded into anti-vaccine narratives. He has [called](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1781828084808745454?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the mRNA vaccines the “COVID-19 genetic vaccine” and suggested that the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should look into a connection between the jabs and “unusual blood clots.” The mRNA vaccines have [not been linked](https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/there-is-no-evidence-that-mrna-vaccines-are-linked-to-blood-clots-idUSL1N2PY1K2/?ref=importantcontext.news) to blood clots. Jekielek has also [promoted](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) Dr. Pierre Kory, founder of the pro-ivermectin group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, who the *Washington Post* reported had his certifications [revoked](https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2024/08/14/doctors-accused-of-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American Board of Internal Medicine in August for continuing to promote the drug as a COVID treatment. The antiparasitic is not effective against the disease. Kory has made [statements](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) suggesting the mRNA COVID vaccines are unsafe. For more about the full conference, check out *Important Context*’s [updated report](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford). ### The Gauntlet x Important Context URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-gauntlet-x-important-context/ Last updated: 2024-09-25T16:51:39.000Z Last Friday, Important Context’s Walker Bragman and The Gauntlet’s Julia Doubleday spoke about COVID-19, the U.S. government’s response to it, and the state of public health in America. Check it out! ### Who’s Behind Pro-COVID, Anti-Trans Dark Money Group Promoted By Moms for Liberty? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/whos-behind-new-pro-covid-anti-trans/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:50.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* The recent [Moms for Liberty Summit](https://www.mediamatters.org/moms-liberty/what-i-saw-moms-liberty-summit-diminished-and-desperate-group?ref=importantcontext.news) in Washington D.C. [featured](https://x.com/AppletoZucchini/status/1830261860354134191?ref=importantcontext.news) the premiere of a trailer for the documentary “15 Days,” which [claims](https://www.15daysfilm.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) to tell “the real story of school closures told by families, doctors & everyone who fought back.” What it *really* promises is a rundown of the alleged harms to children caused by government policy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic – in line with right-wing political messaging. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Featured in the film’s “[sizzle reel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSYM2o3r7Cw&ref=importantcontext.news),” posted to YouTube eight months ago, were familiar faces: Great Barrington Declaration author Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and attorney [Jenin Younes](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-hack-goes-to-congress?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Neither Bhattacharya nor Younes have any expertise in child development or mental health—the former, a Stanford University health economist, was even [called out](https://urldefense.com/v3/%5F%5Fhttps:/www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/22/tennessee-gov-bill-lees-mask-opt-out-order-violates-federal-law-judge-rules/8449956002/%5F%5F;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!Yj6GIft0SgJbyTvJsh9gnY4CifdxzyFc3kU8u2SMkA0OGGQ2qdfTSF6dI%5FY8kZ93VEg-50mlRA$?ref=importantcontext.news) by a federal district court judge for weighing in on “the pediatric effects of masks on children,” which was, as the judge wrote in his opinion, “a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak.” What the pair do have in common, however, is that they are both affiliated with right-wing dark money groups that represent the interests of big business. Younes works for a litigation outfit called the New Civil Liberties Alliance that fights government regulations. The group received early funding from the foundation of billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. Bhattacharya, meanwhile, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a right-wing think tank housed at his university, and is affiliated with several similar groups. Over the past four years, these groups and others like them have been waging a war against public health efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 because of their disruptive economic impacts. In that war, school closures, and later mask and vaccine mandates, became wedges to radicalize parents, giving rise to opaque parents’ rights groups with ties to larger conservative organizations. [Moms for Liberty](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/grassroots-parents-rights-group-gets), for example, [received](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237327730/202311789349301501/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) $25,000 from the Heritage Foundation in 2022\. Since the public health crisis has ended, and the schools reopened without new safety protocols in place, the focus of right-wing groups has shifted to rewriting the history of the pandemic—and sowing division over other issues as well. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) From its website, “15 Days,” reportedly set for release this fall, promises to be an extension of that fight. The site [sells merchandise](https://www.15daysfilm.com/store?ref=importantcontext.news) with the phrase “stop blaming stuff on COVID that was actually caused by government.” Behind the documentary is a 501(c)(3) public charity called [Restore Childhood](https://restorechildhood.com/?ref=importantcontext.news). The group’s [website](https://restorechildhood.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) boasts “we believe parents are the best advocates for their own children” and “we protect children from governmental overreach in health and education.” According to its [latest](https://irs-efile-renderer.instrumentl.com/render?object%5Fid=202410219349300351&ref=importantcontext.news) IRS Form 990, which is for the group’s 2022 fiscal year, running April 2022 to March 2023, Restore Childhood is a smaller operation than Moms for Liberty. The group brought in just over $238,000 from undisclosed funding sources in undisclosed amounts. *Important Context* has previously reported on other self-described mom groups, including Moms for Liberty as well as [Parents Defending Education](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/major-grassroots-parents-rights-group), and revealed that much of their funding came from a handful of large donations. Restore Childhood, however, does not list their donation amounts on their tax filings and is not required to do so, making this kind of work impossible. The group did not respond to a request for clarification. Like those other right-wing parents’ groups, Restore Childhood is politically useful in the longstanding right-wing efforts to undermine public education and organized labor. The group was formed at the height of the pandemic in opposition to COVID-19 mitigation measures in schools like closures and vaccine and mask requirements. To gin up parental anger, it has [promoted](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1788586238015840561?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a discredited narrative about the pandemic that the SARS-CoV-2 virus represented such a minimal risk to young people that efforts to curb its spread were unnecessary. To wit, the group’s official Twitter/X account has made statements that are contrary to the mainstream science and recommendations of public health officials like [asserting](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1579510951258501120?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that masks did not work to stop the spread of the virus and were developmentally harmful to children. It has also [claimed](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1639327780927053825?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstated the risk of COVID to children and [suggested](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1623399903127908357?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that young people need not get vaccinated against the virus despite CDC recommendations. Like Moms for Liberty, Restore Childhood’s advocacy has also extended into anti-transgender hate. This past June, Restore Childhood launched their “[gender toolkit](https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/urgent-new-gender-toolkit)” titled “An Urgent Conversation: What to Know about Children, Gender, & School Policy” which alleges there is a “school to clinic pipeline.” Donald Trump, who also appeared at the Moms for Liberty summit, has echoed this narrative, falsely [claiming](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-false-claims-schools-transgender-surgeries-rcna170217?ref=importantcontext.news) that children are returning home from school having undergone gender reassignment surgeries. In New York, public school students [do not need parental consent](https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/school-environment/guidelines-on-gender/guidelines-to-support-transgender-and-gender-expansive-students?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Students%20are%20not%20required%20to,and%20pronoun%20that%20they%20choose.) to socially transition, meaning using their preferred name and pronouns. In July, Restore Childhood published an [open letter](https://restorechildhood.com/hhs-open-letter?ref=importantcontext.news) to leadership at the Health and Human Services, calling on them to “revise the HHS guidance on gender-affirming care.” The group has frequently [gone after](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1640719612529582082?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) teachers unions—namely The American Federation of Teachers and its president Randi Weingarten. In a [post](https://x.com/rstorechildhood/status/1640719612529582082?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X, the Restore Childhood account accused AFT of meddling with the CDC guidance on school closures. In another post, it wrote that “Between the COVID lockdowns & the transitioning of children behind their parents’ backs, our institutions have proven themselves to be incapable of keeping our children safe.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Restore Childhood is the brainchild of New York City moms Natalya Murakhver and Dana Hensley. Prior to the pandemic, Murakhver ran a “[family wellness consultancy](https://web.cvent.com/event/3db6ef6a-cc77-4c03-aaca-a8f26aac98a9/websitePage:825b2966-61a4-4fcb-b964-c5ef0bebed99?ref=importantcontext.news)” called Apples to Zucchini and published [a couple articles](https://www.allergicliving.com/author/natalya-murakhver/?ref=importantcontext.news) about raising a daughter with food allergies in *Allergic Living Magazine*. Beginning in 2018, Murakhver wrote the [blog](https://www.nychealthyschoolfoodalliance.com/blog?ref=importantcontext.news) for a parent advocacy group called NYC Healthy School Food Alliance. In 2020, Murakhver’s advocacy shifted to organizing against COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates. She was part of a group of parents who [sued](https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-parents-sue-mayor-full-reopening-schools?ref=importantcontext.news) then-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to reopen schools. The following year, she launched [#MaskLikeAKid](https://www.masklikeakid.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), a [campaign](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYvwyYh7XjU&ref=importantcontext.news) to encourage masking not for protection from the novel virus, but to increase awareness of the plight of school children forced to mask. Schools have been [shown](https://covid.dropcite.com/articles/3b4e0c76-5405-4c4c-91d8-53df47c0a9bb?ref=importantcontext.news) to have been major sources of community spread of the virus. In February of 2022, Murakhver published her [first of many opinion pieces](https://nypost.com/2022/02/09/gov-hochul-you-need-to-unmask-our-children-now/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the *New York Post* calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to drop mask mandates for children. The following month she launched the Substack for Restore Childhood. According to her bio on the Restore Childhood website, that year she was also involved in crafting the so-called Urgency of Normal toolkit, a packet aimed at helping parents push back against COVID mitigation measures in schools. The packet was [criticized](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/01/doctors-urgency-normal-toolkit-schools-covid-normal-botched-effort-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news) for containing incorrect information and for downplaying the [medical harm](https://www.salon.com/2024/08/26/long-is-a-public-health-for-kids-experts-say/?ref=importantcontext.news) posed to children by the COVID-19 virus. While there is no mention of Murakhver on the Urgency of Normal website, one of the doctors involved in the group, pediatric emergency physician Dr. Ram Duriseti, is listed as a member of Restore Childhood. The “15 Days” website quotes the Urgency of Normal’s Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, a California sports medicine physician who has [advised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news) department of health. In 2023, Høeg [testified](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKXy5kKtFfs&t=4493s&ref=importantcontext.news) as a majority expert to the GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic for a hearing on the impact of COVID-19 school closures. Høeg has been sharply criticized by the epidemiology community for her COVID-19 publications. As the promotion of “15 Days” at the Moms for Liberty conference suggests, Murakhver has found a home on the political right and medical fringes. Despite previously describing herself as a “[pro-choice Democrat](https://nypost.com/2022/11/07/im-a-pro-choice-democrat-and-im-voting-for-lee-zeldin-to-make-me-and-other-women-feel-safe-again/?ref=importantcontext.news)” and claiming to have voted for President Biden in 2020, she has [called](https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/mike-pompeo-is-right-randi-weingarten-is-a-danger-to-our-children/?ref=importantcontext.news) AFT’s Weingarten “a danger to our children” and has [stated](https://x.com/AppletoZucchini/status/1830269308225864092?ref=importantcontext.news) that she will be voting for Donald Trump. Murakhver has also been [amplified](https://x.com/IWN/status/1829962700220239993?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Koch-funded, deeply conservative Independent Women’s Forum on multiple occasions, including an [appearance](https://www.iwf.org/2024/01/16/natalya-murakhver-on-her-new-documentary-15-days/?ref=importantcontext.news) on their “Bespoke Parenting” podcast to discuss her documentary. Last month, she was a [featured speaker](https://x.com/AppletoZucchini/status/1823864650557219220?ref=importantcontext.news) at an event hosted by a global anti-trans group, Genspect, for a so-called “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria Awareness Day.” Co-founder Hensley appears to have kept a lower profile than Murakhver, although she has [appeared](https://www.foxnews.com/media/parents-slam-democrats-laughable-attempts-to-rewrite-history-on-school-closures-after-test-scores-fall?ref=importantcontext.news) in right-wing media. According to her profile on Restore Childhood’s website, she “served as legal coordinator and as a plaintiff in a parent lawsuit in 2021 against then Governor Cuomo, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and local school districts to allow all children to attend school five days a week, in person, regardless of Covid transmission rates.” The site adds that “This lawsuit was successful and schools reopened for her district five days a week for all students in May 2021.” Hensley has also waded into anti-trans advocacy and dabbled in anti-immigrant sentiment. In a 2023 op-ed for New York Post attacking gender-affirming care for young people, she [wrote](https://nypost.com/2023/06/13/ny-pols-should-leave-our-kids-alone-and-not-keep-transitions-from-parents/?ref=importantcontext.news), “Not only is the city in the business of warehousing migrants in school gymnasiums, it’s now a haven where minors can be rushed through elective, irreversible medical procedures even before their brains reach maturity.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Restore Childhood has been embraced by others involved in the “parents rights movement” as well. Last year, Restore Childhood [interviewed](https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/david-zweig-interview) writer [David Zweig](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter?utm%5Fsource=publication-search), a fellow New York parent and prolific opponent of school closures and COVID mitigation efforts. Zweig was personally invited to report on the signing of the 2020 pro-herd immunity Great Barrington Declaration and even called to testify to Congress alongside Høeg about the impact of school closures. Another New York parent and school closure opponent, Maud Maron, [published](https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/the-inconvenient-mom) on the Restore Childhood Substack this summer about being an “inconvenient mom.” Bhattacharya is an [advisor](https://thirdrail.co/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) to Maron’s Third Rail consultancy company and has hosted Murakhver on his “Illusion of Consensus” podcast. *UPDATE 9/20/24: An earlier version of this piece said Donald Trump baselessly claimed schools were transitioning children without parental consent. Trump’s false claim was specific to surgical transitioning. Some schools do allow students to use their preferred names and pronouns.* ### Johns Hopkins to Hold “Fringe,” Dark Money Heavy COVID Summit URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/johns-hopkins-holds-fringe-right/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:50.000Z *This piece was last updated on September 26, 2024.* Johns Hopkins is under fire after announcing that it will host a forum next week with a number of well known public health contrarians and representatives of right-wing dark money groups that have worked to politicize public health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of those groups have ties to billionaire industrialist and conservative powerbroker Charles Koch, who has been a major donor to Hopkins, [giving](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/480918408/202333199349104183/full?ref=importantcontext.news) $1.3 million to the school through his personal foundation between 2021 and 2022 and an additional $728,000 in 2019. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The “2024 Symposium on Health Policy,” which is set to take place on September 11, is being organized by the university’s Carey Business School with no involvement from its school of public health. The event appears to be another right-wing effort to rewrite the history of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to cast government efforts to control the spread of the virus that has killed roughly 1.2 million Americans in a negative light. A similar [event](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford) featuring some of the same speakers is being planned at Stanford for early October. Koch has also been a major donor to Stanford, giving $3.3 million through his personal foundation between 2020 and 2022. Like the Stanford summit, the Hopkins symposium is drawing sharp criticism from public health experts who are alarmed by the fringe medical perspectives the prestigious school is amplifying. “Looks like there is big money behind the far-right COVID caucus as they seem to be able to pay for meetings now on two coasts,” Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves [posted](https://www.threads.net/@gregg%5Fs%5Fgonsalves/post/C%5Fd-A7lyv4O/?xmt=AQGzjgYVIM7dGVhgLuX8FswmVmXuQYHyXgfSwBZwOffTog&ref=importantcontext.news) on Threads. “This is filled with a few good people, but mostly packed with the crew of folks who got it wrong from day one and spread misinformation for a living on the pandemic. It's convenient that it's hidden away from the public health school at @jhucarey, where those in charge are less familiar with this nonsense.” Virologist John P. Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, told *Important Context* that “This meeting has nothing to do with genuine improvements in public health policy.” ”It’s all to do with fringe eccentrics meeting each other to preen and posture in front of politicians and a few journalists,” he said. “Some of the participants are after positions in the Trump administration…and will no doubt use this meeting to buff up their ‘credentials.” There is significant overlap between the Hopkins symposium and the Stanford conference in terms of speakers. The organizer of the latter is participating in the former. Health economist and Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a vocal [advocate](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) for a widely [rebuked](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/89127?ref=importantcontext.news) and discredited COVID herd immunity strategy based on the mass infection of young people, will join panel discussions on “physician autonomy and leadership” and “free speech in medicine,” which are remarkably similar to in theme to the planned “misinformation, censorship, and academic freedom” Stanford panel. They also mirrored a theme from the GOP House Select Subcommittee’s opening hearing in February 2023, at which Bhattacharya was a Republican expert witness. The discussions seem engineered to provide a prestigious platform to a favorite narrative of Bhattacharya and the political right: that he and other contrarian medical voices were “censored” throughout the pandemic by the U.S. government despite being correct. Notably, Bhattacharya’s false and misleading statements about COVID are too numerous to mention in this article. In May 2020, for example, he said it was highly unlikely that children [would spread](https://x.com/walkerbragman/status/1665418155500470274?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the virus to their parents or other adults. In January 2021, weeks before the country experienced a devastating COVID surge, he [argued](https://theprint.in/opinion/majority-indians-have-natural-immunity-vaccinating-entire-population-can-cause-great-harm/582174/?ref=importantcontext.news) that a majority of India had achieved herd immunity and widespread vaccination was unnecessary. The professor had his day in court to adjudicate his censorship claims. He and a group of private plaintiffs, [represented](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) by a legal outfit funded in part by billionaire industrialist and conservative powerbroker Charles Koch, sued the Biden administration for allegedly strong-arming social media companies into removing their content in violation of the First Amendment. The conservative Supreme Court, however, disagreed, [finding](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) 6-to-3 that Bhattacharya and his compatriots lacked standing because they had failed to show that they had actually been harmed by the government. Two other contrarians speaking at Stanford next month are joining Bhattacharya at Hopkins. Neuroradiologist Dr. Scott Atlas, who helped steer the Trump administration’s COVID response and was condemned in 2020 by fellow faculty members over his efforts to “promote a view of COVID-19 that contradicts medical science,” will participate in the physician autonomy panel at Hopkins and another about “health policy 2025 and beyond.” Meanwhile, Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon at Hopkins who joined Bhattacharya as a GOP expert witness before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in February 2023, will also join the Stanford professor for both of his scheduled panels next week. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Many of the Hopkins panelists, including Bhattacharya, Atlas, and Makary, have ties to ideologically right-wing dark money groups. Bhattacharya and Atlas are both senior fellows at the Hoover Institution, a right-wing think tank housed at Stanford. Bhattacharya and Makary are members of the so-called Norfolk Group, which was organized by the opaque [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute). Beyond the doctors, there is Leck Shannon, who will speak on a panel about “philanthropy and health policy.” Shannon is the healthcare director at Stand Together Trust, a dark money funding vehicle led by Charles Koch’s son, Charles Chase Koch, who is also a director and vice chairman of his father’s personal foundation. Koch’s political influence network has been particularly active throughout the pandemic, [working](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) [to politicize](https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) COVID mitigation measures. Another panelist from the Koch network is Michael F. Cannon, who will be moderating the health policy 2025 discussion. Cannon is an economist who serves as director of health policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute and [founded](https://www.cato.org/blog/anti-universal-coverage-club-washington-post?ref=importantcontext.news) the group’s “Anti-Universal Coverage Club,” which is staunchly against universal healthcare. Notably, some of the earliest [recommendations](https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/health-financing/health-financing-response-to-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=4f12c479%5F1&ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=2%29%20Adjust%20health%20financing%20policies%20to%20remove,services%20free%20at%20the%20point%20of%20use.) from the World Health Organization when the pandemic hit included making healthcare free at the point of use and increasing government funding for public health systems. Cato, which has long been opposed to both of those ideas, has been a recipient of Koch money for years. According to the latest federal tax filings, which are from 2022, the institute got [$34,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/480918408/202333199349104183/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from Koch’s personal foundation, [$47,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/274967732/202343199349301954/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from Stand Together Fellowships (formerly the Charles Koch Institute), and [$1.8 million](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24233866/stand-together-trust-2022-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from Stand Together Trust that year. The institute was also one of the earliest organizations to [call](https://www.cato.org/commentary/liberty-coronavirus-not-either/or-proposition?ref=importantcontext.news) [for](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/letter-policymakers?ref=importantcontext.news) an end to COVID stay-at-home orders. Cannon himself has opposed mask mandates and [called](https://x.com/mfcannon/status/1369272774989086720?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) [for](https://x.com/mfcannon/status/1402380059118379008?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a property tax strike to force schools open in early 2021 before the COVID vaccines were authorized for youths. In February 2022, as deaths from the deadly Omicron surge were skyrocketing, he argued that public health officials were too enticed by their own power to do what was necessary to restore public trust in public health, which he claimed was dialing back recommendations and allowing normal life to resume. “These folks in these public health agencies—Dr. Fauci, you know, the FDA, the CDC…they’re good people who want to save lives and they have power, and they want to use that power to save lives, but it’s very hard to put down that power,” he [said](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/media-highlights-radio/michael-f-cannon-discusses-lingering-covid-19-restrictions-bob?ref=importantcontext.news). “And so it’s very hard for them…even to recognize the negative impact they’re having on trust in public health officials. Speaking on the Hopkins health policy 2025 panel will be Joseph Antos, a senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute. AEI is a free market think tank backed by some of the most powerful corporate interests in the country. Over the years, it has received significant funding from the Koch family, including $666,000 in 2022, from Stand Together Trust. Like other Koch-backed groups, AEI opposed government efforts to slow the combat COVID—even though the group’s own research in 2021 showed that a national lockdown would have [provided broad societal benefit](https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Scherbina-Lockdown-cost-benefit-WP.pdf?x85095&ref=importantcontext.news). As early as April 2020, the group’s Twitter account was pushing for a [timeline](https://x.com/aei/status/1250496693063372808?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for the end of state “lockdown” orders. By May, it had begun pushing to reopen schools. AEI also [criticized](https://www.aei.org/op-eds/cities-use-covid-funds-to-run-guaranteed-income-experiments/?ref=importantcontext.news) the novel use of guaranteed income programs arising from economic pandemic response. Antos himself has been an outspoken [critic](https://x.com/joeantos/status/1193271866821087233?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of single-payer plans and used the pandemic as an opportunity to [push](https://www.aei.org/economics/will-covid-19-bankrupt-medicare/?ref=importantcontext.news) for “market-based reforms” to Medicare. Two other Koch-funded groups that have embraced pandemic revisionism will be represented at Hopkins. A panel on healthcare spending will include Theo Merkel, a senior fellow at the [Manhattan Institute for Policy Research](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/the-big-money-behind-chris-rufos) and a senior research fellow at the healthcare-focused Paragon Health Institute. In 2022 alone, Stand Together Trust gave the Manhattan Institute [$495,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24233866/stand-together-trust-2022-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) and Paragon Health $2.9 million. Both groups staked out positions against COVID mitigation efforts. The Manhattan Institute adopting [anti-lockdown narratives](https://manhattan.institute/article/ill-effects-of-lockdowns-are-far-greater-than-any-benefits?ref=importantcontext.news) and [false claims](https://manhattan.institute/article/the-real-science-on-masks-they-make-no-difference?ref=importantcontext.news) [about masks](https://manhattan.institute/article/when-it-comes-to-masking-new-yorkers-still-choose-fear-over-facts?ref=importantcontext.news) to [discourage](https://manhattan.institute/article/ditch-the-masks-and-breathe-easier-already-its-time-to-face-the-facts?ref=importantcontext.news) their use. Paragon Health has promoted the narrative that the costs of “lockdowns” [outweighed](https://paragoninstitute.org/public-health/lockdown-states-did-not-do-better/?ref=importantcontext.news) the benefits. The director of the group’s Public Health and American Well-Being Initiative [argued](https://paragoninstitute.org/public-health/lockdown-analysis-new-york-vs-florida/?ref=importantcontext.news) that states without them fared better and, in the fall of 2022, came out [against](https://paragoninstitute.org/public-health/ignoring-the-science/?ref=importantcontext.news) the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that young people receive the bivalent booster on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence backing the decision. Like Antos, Merkel also opposes government-run healthcare and recently [warned](https://manhattan.institute/article/quantifying-medicare-for-all-harris-style?ref=importantcontext.news) of the “stupendous” costs of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ Medicare-for-all proposal from 2019\. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Another Manhattan Institute senior fellow, Chris Pope, is also participating in the symposium. Pope will speak on a panel about employer-sponsored health insurance. In the past, he has [argued](https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/medicares-single-payer-experience?ref=importantcontext.news) in favor of pushing Medicare enrollees onto privately administered Medicare Advantage plans, further injecting the free market into the program. Paragon Health’s Brian Blase, meanwhile, is joining the health policy 2025 discussion. Then there is Avik Roy, president of Koch-backed Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), who is slated to moderate a panel discussion called “views from the Hill.” Roy was previously a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and is the policy editor at Forbes. FREOPP, which received $225,000 from Stand Together Trust in 2022, features a section on its website dedicated to COVID-19 that [reads](https://freopp.org/covid-19/?ref=importantcontext.news), “We should learn from excessive economic restrictions and school closures in order to ensure that we protect both lives and livelihoods in future pandemics. Most importantly, we must overhaul the ways in which we make decisions and acquire data about critical public health threats.” Alongside the various panels stacked with right-wing operatives and public health contrarians, the Hopkins symposium will also feature a discussion to field perspectives from prominent, mainstream journalists who write about healthcare and public health, such as moderator Caitlin Owens from *Axios* and Dan Diamond from *The Washington Post*. In a post on BlueSky on Tuesday, Diamond [wrote](https://bsky.app/profile/ddiamond.bsky.social/post/3l3c3xsxstx2f?ref=importantcontext.news) that he had been invited weeks earlier to the journalist panel without knowledge of the full agenda. A spokesperson from *The Post* confirmed that Diamond’s role is limited merely to the journalism panel. *Correction 7/7/24: An earlier version of this article said that Charles Koch was a director of Stand Together Trust. His son, Charles Chase Koch is one of group’s the directors.* ### ‘Embarrassing and Disappointing’: Stanford Goes All-In On COVID Contrarians URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/embarrassing-and-disappointing-stanford/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:51.000Z *This piece was last updated on October 5, 2024, by Walker Bragman. Last edit 7/6/25.* The summer surge of COVID-19 is well underway and Stanford University has announced that it is planning to host a series of panel discussions about pandemic preparedness featuring notable public health contrarians and right-wing political operatives—some of whom hail from the prestigious Palo Alto campus. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “Pandemic Policy: Planning the Future, Assessing the Past,” [hosted](https://healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/events/pandemic-policy-planning-future-assessing-past?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Stanford Department of Health Policy, is set to take place on October 4\. A description of the event claims the panels are “bringing together esteemed academics, public health practitioners, journalists, and government officials from all sides of the COVID policy debate in conversation with one another with an eye toward reforms in science and public health to better serve the public.” The event was paid for by UK-based nonprofit Collateral Global However, the summit, which has drawn sharp criticism from scientists and medical experts, really appears to be aimed at stamping the Stanford name and seal on an alternate version of pandemic history that recasts essential public health tools opposed by major business interests in a negative light. “Despite decades of planning for the ‘next’ pandemic, public health systems faced tremendous stress and often buckled and failed,” the description continues. “Universities served as centers for valuable scientific work but failed to support their academic freedom mission by sponsoring vigorous discussion and debate on matters of pandemic policy.“ The name and theme of the Stanford Health Policy conference echo those of the February 2023 opening hearing of the Republican-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (HSSCP), which was called “Preparing For the Future By Learning From the Past: Examining COVID Policy Decisions.” The similarities are no coincidence. The Stanford summit is the project of one of the GOP expert witnesses from the HSSCP hearing. According to public posts on social media and private messages obtained by *Important Context*, Stanford professor and health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is in the university’s health policy department, is behind the conference, recruiting panelists. In one of the messages, as well as a [post on X](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1828196348182790280?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), Bhattacharya directly claimed credit for the event. Bhattacharya has been a controversial figure, earning a reputation throughout the pandemic for his outspoken—and often combative—opposition to public health measures. A co-author of the so-called [Great Barrington Declaration](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news), which advocated a COVID herd immunity strategy based on mass infection and limited protections for the vulnerable only, he has long argued that lockdowns, masks, and vaccine requirements did more harm than good. Over the years, this advocacy has become more hardline. Not only does Bhattacharya claim that the harms of [shutdowns](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1769161282253680691?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [masking](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1570121907718205441?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) outweigh the benefits, he has adopted the position that these measures simply do not work to stop the spread of the virus. On one occasion, he even suggested that “lockdowns” [may have been to blame](https://x.com/tryangregory/status/1573469603623206921?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, Bhattacharya has [endorsed](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6294435199001?ref=importantcontext.news) the idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a Chinese laboratory and claimed that public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, worked to cover up the truth. He [recently joined](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/great-barrington-declaration-author-joins-covid-19-lab-leak-pushing-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) the board of directors of a controversial scientist group that continues to push the evidence-lacking lab leak hypothesis. The founders of this group, Biosafety Now, have been accused of “[defaming and intimidating](https://www.science.org/content/article/lab-leak-proponents-rutgers-accused-defaming-and-intimidating-covid-19-origin?ref=importantcontext.news)” scientists who promote the virologist-favored natural origins and “[poisoning the debate](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-20/leading-scientists-accuse-two-rutgers-professors-of-poisoning-the-debate-over-covids-origins-heres-why?ref=importantcontext.news)” over the viral origins. Bhattacharya has also made statements that encourage vaccine skepticism. In 2021, a few months before the country experienced a devastating COVID surge, Bhattacharya wrote an [op-ed](https://theprint.in/opinion/majority-indians-have-natural-immunity-vaccinating-entire-population-can-cause-great-harm/582174/?ref=importantcontext.news) calling universal vaccination in India “unethical” on the grounds that most of the population had natural immunity. “For recovered Covid patients, then, the vaccines provide no benefit and some harm,” he wrote. “It is thus unethical to vaccinate them.” Several months later, Bhattacharya made a similar case for the U.S., arguing that the small risk of severe side effects from the jabs [outweighed](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/558757-the-ill-advised-push-to-vaccinate-the-young/?ref=importantcontext.news) the benefits for young people. Ironically, in the same piece, he also argued that mandating vaccines would deny doses to countries that needed them—like India. Bhattacharya’s foray into the anti-vaccine world has only continued. In May 2022, he participated in a [panel discussion](https://x.com/thereal%5Ftruther/status/1526374655694516224?s=20&t=AjNdtXOyN6W2V2aFC7bn3g&ref=importantcontext.news) with anti-vaccine activist [Steve Kirsch](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/?ref=importantcontext.news), a tech millionaire and founder of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation, only offering mild pushback against his claims that the jabs had killed millions. A few months later, Bhattacharya came out against the bivalent boosters, arguing that they were not [adequately tested](https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1570121907718205441?s=20&t=cdDAvAR3hsYlLoSY5Zs0%5FQ&ref=importantcontext.news) for human use. Unsurprisingly, the Stanford professor has also allied himself with vaccine skeptics, like YouTube comedian [Jimmy Dore](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/jimmy-dore-anti-worker-contracts) and actor-turned-podcaster [Russell Brand](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-russell-brand-has-become-a-powerful-voice-for-anti-vaxxers?ref=importantcontext.news), whose shows he has appeared on. The professor has also [amplified](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1803972395201364077?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Robert Kennedy Jr.’s failed independent presidential campaign. In March, Bhattacharya [spoke](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1772858563896950796?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) at the Bay Area [campaign event](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial) at which Kennedy’s vice presidential pick was announced. Bhattacharya‘s advocacy has alienated him from the mainstream of public health—something that appears to be a source of [frustration](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news). But it has also given him a large, devoted social media following and remarkable access to GOP [officials](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity), including Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, right-wing media, and business-aligned dark money groups that do not want to see economically disruptive mitigation measures return in the future. His Great Barrington Declaration was originally [organized](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) through a deep-pocketed libertarian think tank with help from inside the Trump administration. Bhattacharya himself is a [senior fellow](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Hoover Institution, a well-funded right-wing public policy think tank housed at Stanford. He recently received an award with a [significant monetary](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big) prize attached from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Bhattacharya is also a member of the so-called [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic)— contrarian doctors assembled seemingly to assist the HSSCP by the Brownstone Institute, a shadowy [dark money group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fueled-by-mystery-donors-covid-conspiracy) aimed at combating government efforts to limit the spread of COVID. Bhattacharya will not be speaking on any of the panels on October 4, but his influence is obvious. He will deliver welcome remarks and an introduction. The conference is set for the anniversary of the signing of the Great Barrington Declaration, its participants are allies, and the discussions promise to flog many of his favorite hobbyhorses. Bhattacharya did not respond to a request for comment. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The panels will open with remarks from the university’s brand new president, Jonathan Levin, who previously served as the dean of their business school. Levin has [published](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/HEC.4257?ref=importantcontext.news) [multiple](https://www.nber.org/papers/w20818?ref=importantcontext.news) [papers](https://www.nber.org/papers/w23090?ref=importantcontext.news) in economics journals with Bhattacharya on Medicare costs. The focus of the first panel discussion will be “Evidence-Based Decision Making During a Pandemic,” hosted by Minnesota-based podcaster Wilk Wilkinson, who [advocated](https://x.com/wilksopinion/status/1259930840852815872?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to reopen his state in May 2020, calling news that the shutdown could extend through the end of that month, “absolute insanity” and declaring it “must stop!” “Nothing about these models has been remotely close to accurate and people are fed up with the lockdown infringement upon their liberties,” he wrote. Wilkinson, who has [previously interviewed](https://x.com/wilksopinion/status/1740329450003378567?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Bhattacharya, has also suggested he may hold anti-vaccine views. Responding to a tweet from Vice President and now Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arguing that “the government should not tell women what to do with their own bodies,” he [asked](https://x.com/wilksopinion/status/1749243859849117858?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) how many lost their jobs for refusing “government mandated ‘vaccines,’” with the word in quotes. Wilkinson was one of many commenters trolling the post by bringing up the vaccines. The podcaster’s panel will include Bhattacharya’s fellow Norfolk Group member Dr. Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon who also served as a GOP expert witness at the HSSCP’s opening hearing in February 2023\. Like Bhattacharya, Makary is an opponent of government vaccine and mask mandates. He has [claimed](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1629118122899668994?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that infection-acquired immunity is superior to that derived from the vaccines and hyped up safety concerns about the jabs. In fall 2022, he argued against the need for the [bivalent boosters](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1582723245471518720?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and claimed the White House had “[gone rogue](https://x.com/martymakary/status/1580612235675594754?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” in approving the allegedly untested jabs. Makary has made bad predictions about herd immunity. In a much-derided February 2021 *Wall Street Journal* op-ed, for example, Makary [falsely promised](https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731?ref=importantcontext.news) the arrival of COVID herd immunity by April of that year. While Makary’s contrarian views made him no friends in the field of public health, they did make him a favorite on the political Right. The watchdog group Media Matters included him on its [list](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/dishonest-doctors-who-were-fox-news-most-frequent-medical-guests-2021-0?ref=importantcontext.news) of “The dishonest doctors who were Fox News’ most frequent medical guests in 2021” alongside Bhattacharya. Makary will be joined on the panel by Stanford Professor of Health Policy Dr. Eran Bendavid, who co-authored an influential, but [flawed](https://www.the-scientist.com/how-not-to-do-an-antibody-survey-for-sars-cov-2-67488?ref=importantcontext.news) seroprevalence study early on in the pandemic with Bhattacharya. The study, which significantly overstated the prevalence and downplayed the seriousness of COVID, was partly [funded](https://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-stanford-coronavirus-study-funded-by-jetblue-founder-2020-5?ref=importantcontext.news) by the founder of JetBlue airlines who had been vocally critical of lockdowns. Another panelist will be UCSF Professor of Medicine Dr. Monica Gandhi, who also earned a reputation for making overly optimistic predictions about the pandemic. For example, Gandhi—like Bhattacharya—famously suggested that India had achieved herd immunity in early 2021 ahead of its deadly Delta surge. Unlike Bhattacharya, she [acknowledged](https://magazine.ucsf.edu/five-questions-monica-gandhi?ref=importantcontext.news) the mistake as her “biggest regret” after three of her family members died. In February 2021, Gandhi downplayed the danger of new variants, declaring during an interview, “I need to say variants shmariants. Okay, I’m sorry. I don’t know what kind of trouble that’s gonna get me in.” A few months later, she [dismissed](https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/No-you-probably-won-t-need-a-COVID-vaccine-16200250.php?ref=importantcontext.news) the need for COVID boosters. In a February 2022 interview on MSNBC, at the height of the Omicron BA.1 surge, then-host Mehdi Hasan [confronted](https://x.com/mehdihasanshow/status/1489404410669277190?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) her on a litany of errors, prompting her to apologize and say, “I will try not to make any more predictions.” In June 2023, she [declared](https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/covid-virus-endemic-17723060.php?ref=importantcontext.news) COVID was endemic and called to “end” asymptomatic testing, all mask mandates, have shorter isolation periods, and have “boosters for some, but not all,” meaning not for young people. “The terrible losses the virus has inflicted on the country should not be minimized,” she wrote. “But there have also been immense harms from the mitigation strategies designed to slow the spread of COVID. It is past time to strike the right balance between the two.” This past February, a top official with the World Health Organization [cautioned](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) that COVID was still a pandemic. Also participating in the evidence-based medicine panel is Anders Tegnell, formerly Sweden’s top epidemiologist. Tegnell put the mass infection herd immunity strategy advocated in the Great Barrington Declaration to the test, resulting in more deaths per capita than its immediate neighbors during the early waves of the pandemic—something he [admitted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/sweden-epidemiologist-anders-tegnell/2020/06/03/063b20e4-a5a0-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in June 2020\. Bhattacharya and his Great Barrington Declaration co-authors have long touted Sweden’s response as a model for the world. The second panel of the day, titled, “Pandemic Policy from a Global Perspective,” will similarly feature contrarian voices. It lists Great Barrington Declaration co-author and Oxford University epidemiologist Dr. Sunetra Gupta as a speaker. Gupta is the founder of the UK-based [anti-lockdown](https://x.com/collateralglbl/status/1823681398021976263?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) group Collateral Global, which lists Bhattacharya as a member of their scientific advisory and editorial boards. Another panelist, Kevin Bardosh, is an applied medical anthropologist and Collateral Global’s director and head of research. Bardosh, a vocal critic of vaccine mandates, has [appeared](https://www.illusionconsensus.com/p/episode-17-kevin-bardosh?ref=importantcontext.news) on Bhattacharya’s podcast “Illusion of Consensus,” which promotes his contrarian public health perspectives. Joining Gupta and Bardosh is UCSF oncologist and professor Dr. Vinay Prasad, a longtime ideological ally of Bhattacharya’s. Prasad was part of the group of medical professionals behind the so-called Urgency of Normal toolkit, which was [criticized](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/01/doctors-urgency-normal-toolkit-schools-covid-normal-botched-effort-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news) for containing serious inaccuracies including the [assertion](https://twitter.com/DrEmilyRSmith/status/1486128178766794753?s=20&t=d560lXGPjC48XdoL9JUWtA&ref=importantcontext.news) that COVID is “flu-like” for unvaccinated children. Prasad built a large social media audience identifying as a liberal while cozying up to conspiratorial elements of the far-Right, peddling misleading claims related to COVID, and has [cross-published](https://brownstone.org/author/vinay-prasad/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Brownstone. Like Bhattacharya, he has vastly [overstated](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/error/?ref=importantcontext.news) the risk of vaccines to young people and understated the risks of the virus. He has also suggested that more research is needed to show COVID booster shots [actually](https://twitter.com/PEHJackson/status/1601020247695581184?s=20&t=gmsbermzl6k7-FlPRdBaZA&ref=importantcontext.news) lower the risk of hospitalization and death, and called medical professionals who want masking to continue “[irrational](https://twitter.com/patientadvau/status/1602398663724085249?s=46&t=YnAKG0h%5Fy4v9G3RJjMLPTQ&ref=importantcontext.news).” Prasad has come under fire for making extreme statements in opposition to public health efforts. In an October 2021 blog post, he [invoked Nazi Germany](https://tuftsdaily.com/news/2022/03/08/controversial-oncologist-dr-vinay-prasad-disavowed-by-dean-lectures-to-gsbs/?ref=importantcontext.news), suggesting that controlling the virus could lead to fascism. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The third panel, “Misinformation, Censorship, and Academic Freedom,” will feature more Bhattacharya allies. One of the speakers, attorney Jenin Younes of [New Civil Liberties Alliance](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news), a right-wing litigation outfit that has received funding from billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. Younes represented the professor in a failed [lawsuit](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/targeting-censors-far-right-plots-triumph-of-online-disinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the Biden administration for allegedly coercing social media companies into “censoring” dissenting voices like his at the height of the pandemic. Despite its conservative majority, the Supreme Court [swatted down](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer) the case, *Murthy v. Missouri*—originally filed as *Missouri v. Biden*— in March in a 6-3 ruling, holding that the plaintiffs lacked standing and failed to prove the harm they alleged. The panel discussion appears to be aimed at rehashing this litigation. Younes herself has promoted anti-vaccine narratives, [calling](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1380570537840283652?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the jabs “experimental,” suggesting they have unknown long-term effects, and claiming the boosters offer “[no benefit](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180689755250688?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news)” to college-age people. She has also [implied](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562512675203977223?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), incorrectly, that the mRNA shots [may be linked](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1562180686995488770?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to blood clots. Another panelist added since the original publication of this piece is Alex Berenson, [described](https://nclalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ECF-42-First-Amended-Complaint.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in a recent NCLA court filing as “an independent journalist and prominent critic of the Covid vaccine and related policies implemented during the pandemic.” Berenson, who was [dubbed](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news) “the pandemic’s wrongest man” by Derek Thompson of *The Atlantic*, was mentioned in the *Missouri v. Biden* complaint because Twitter banned him for [posting](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1544704266249674754?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that the COVID jabs were not actually vaccines, but rather a “therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.” He did, however, ‘[sue his way back](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/08/alex-berenson-twitter-ban-lawsuit-covid-misinformation/671219/?ref=importantcontext.news)’ onto the platform. Berenson has [cast doubt](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1814049890764542371?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on the efficacy of the vaccines, which have been [estimated](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news) to have saved millions of American lives and prevented millions more hospitalizations. He is also [suing](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1833134395219226860?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the Biden administration and two Pfizer executives for allegedly [conspiring](https://x.com/alexberenson/status/1831048658898616759?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) to censor him. He claims social media companies were wrongfully pressured by the government into suppressing vaccine skeptics like him. Berenson has also [dabbled](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-denialists-next-act-climate?utm%5Fsource=publication-search) in climate change minimization. Joining Younes and Berenson will be Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist and Bhattacharya ally from the Hoover Institution, where he is also a senior fellow. Atlas famously helped organize the Great Barrington Declaration and is mentioned prominently in [a 2022 report](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/reports/new-select-subcommittee-report-reveals-full-scope-trump-administration-s-embrace?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Democratic House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis for his role in selling the Trump administration on a laissez-faire pandemic response. Stanford formally and [publicly](https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/11/statement-regarding-scott-atlas?ref=importantcontext.news) distanced itself from Atlas in 2020. Michael McConnell, another senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, will speak as well. McConnell, who is also the director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, has previously [bemoaned](https://www.wsj.com/articles/stanford-law-school-sls-judge-duncan-speaker-dei-intolerance-fbb9b168?ref=importantcontext.news) “rise of ideological intolerance” on campus and “the damage” done by “university diversity bureaucracies.” The final panel will focus on the origins of COVID, which has been a focus of the [HSSCP](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-lab-leak-theory-and-the-complicit-media/?ref=importantcontext.news) as well as a recent report from the right-wing [Heritage Foundation](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/heritage-covid-commission-wants-china-accountable-what-about-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news). Moderating this discussion is Jan Jekielek, a senior editor at The Epoch Times, which began as a dissident Chinese publication affiliated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement and has since evolved into a Trump-aligned conservative global outlet [known for promoting conspiracy theories](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epoch-times-falun-gong-growth-rcna111373?ref=importantcontext.news). In June, the publication was [rocked](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/13/nx-s1-5005297/epoch-times-turmoil-money-laundering?ref=importantcontext.news) by a money-laundering scandal. Epoch Times has repeatedly [promoted](https://science.feedback.org/outlet/the-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vaccine narratives. It is [listed](https://brownstone.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the Brownstone Institute website as a “friend” of the organization. Brownstone founder Jeffrey Tucker, a Bhattacharya ally and one of the organizers of the Great Barrington Declaration, is an Epoch Times contributor. Tucker has pushed anti-vaccine narratives and allied with anti-vaxxers. In March, he spoke at a rally outside the Supreme Court as it was hearing arguments in *Murthy*, which had beenorganized by Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense, the group of Trump-allied anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy. In his speech, Tucker [called](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) the COVID vaccines Bill Gates’s “potions.” Jekielek too has [promoted](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1839321520570876394?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) individuals who have expressed anti-vaccine sentiments, [including](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1741468295369302526?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Tucker. On his podcast, American Thought Leaders, he [platformed](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/?ref=importantcontext.news) Dr. Pierre Kory, founder of the ivermectin-promoting group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, also listed as a “friend” to Brownstone. Kory has [claimed](https://x.com/PierreKory/status/1712217110942724233?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) the vaccines “have unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe” and called the mRNA platform [“toxic (and lethal)](https://x.com/PierreKory/status/1712440751940935815?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news).” In August, *The* *Washington Post* [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/doctors-accused-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Kory’s credentials were [revoked](https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2024/08/14/doctors-accused-of-spreading-misinformation-lose-certifications/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American Board of Internal Medicine for his promotion of the antiparasitic drug as a treatment for COVID despite evidence showing it is not effective against the disease. Jekielek has also [interviewed](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1839321520570876394?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) Sheryl Attkisson a former CBS journalist who is now a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s outlet, The Daily Signal. Attkisson is well known for publishing articles suggesting vaccines cause autism—a claim unsupported by science. Bhattacharya has also [appeared](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1629605186430795785?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on American Thought Leaders to discuss “the deadly consequences of censorship.” Jekielek himself has pushed anti-vaccine talking points. In April, he [posted](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1781828084808745454?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X that “The FDA & CDC should be looking into the potential link between the COVID-19 vaccine and unusual blood clots.” The post included a video from his podcast, American Thought Leaders, in which he used the phrase “COVID-19 genetic vaccine.” The idea that the mRNA vaccines are “gene therapy” has been a popular, albeit incorrect talking point for anti-vaxxers. The mRNA jabs are [not linked](https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/there-is-no-evidence-that-mrna-vaccines-are-linked-to-blood-clots-idUSL1N2PY1K2/?ref=importantcontext.news) to blood clots. Continuing his medical contrarian streak, Jekielek has [targeted](https://x.com/janjekielek/status/1652718719817367552?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) trans-affirming care. The first person slated to speak on the COVID origins panel Jekielek is now moderating was One Health News co-founder Laura Kahn, a [proponent](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1797612838942294301?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of the lab leak idea and [opponent](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1675117015776874496?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of so-called “gain of function” research. Unlike Bhattacharya, Kahn has offered full-throated [support](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1501280774359814145?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of [mask](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1409971967030185990?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [vaccine](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1509264237738221580?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) mandates, posts on her X account reveal. She also backed [lockdowns](https://x.com/laurakahn1/status/1276195567144755200?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in 2020. There will also be Bryce Nickels, a professor at Rutgers University in the department of genetics. An outspoken lab leak proponent, Nickels is the co-founder of the lab leak-promoting group Biosafety Now, which features Bhattacharya on its [board of directors](https://biosafetynow.org/?ref=importantcontext.news). Bhattacharya and Nickels also [launched](https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/p/welcome-to-science-from-the-fringe?utm%5Fsource=profile&utm%5Fmedium=reader2) a Substack called “Science From the Fringe.” Nickels has been criticized for advocacy that borders on extreme. As Pulitzer Prize-winning *LA Times* columnist Michael Hiltzik [noted](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-20/leading-scientists-accuse-two-rutgers-professors-of-poisoning-the-debate-over-covids-origins-heres-why?ref=importantcontext.news), in an August 2022 post on X, he “called the ‘coordination’ among virology researchers including Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan and Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona an example of [‘pure, unfiltered evil.’”](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24487554/mengele-nickels.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) Hiltzik further noted that Nickels had “illustrated the tweet with a GIF from the 1976 movie “Marathon Man” showing Dustin Hoffman being tortured by a character played by Lawrence Olivier and plainly inspired by Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.” Another COVID origins panelist is mathematical biologist Alex Washburne of Princeton University, another advocate for the lab leak idea. Washburne has [written](https://biosafetynow.org/essays-by-alex-washburne/?ref=importantcontext.news) essays for Biosafety now and has [posted](https://x.com/washburnealex/status/1583145276151189504?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have “synthetic” origins. An [opponent](https://x.com/washburnealex/status/1810228999852847607?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) of so-called gain-of-function research, Washburne has also been a critic of vaccine mandates on the grounds that “natural immunity” is sufficiently robust. He said as much in July, [quote tweeting](https://x.com/washburnealex/status/1811777553666830453?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a post from Bhattacharya’s Great Barrington Declaration co-author Dr. Martin Kulldorff. Closing remarks for the summit will be given by Stanford’s Dr. John Ioannidis, a respected and highly published physician-scientist prior to the pandemic who drew heavy criticism for his COVID commentary. Ioannidis was a co-author of the flawed seroprevalence study with Bhattacharya and Bendavid. In March 2020, Ioannidis published an influential [opinion piece](https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *STAT News* arguing against lockdowns and floated the idea that COVID could kill as few as 10,000 Americans. Today, the official death toll of the pandemic stands at 1.2 million in the U.S. alone. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Public health experts and scientists expressed alarm at the prospect of the Stanford conference. [Dr. Peter Hotez](https://www.texaschildrens.org/content/media/dr-peter-hotez-named-times-inaugural-time100-health-list-100-most-influential-people?ref=importantcontext.news), chair of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, took to X (formerly Twitter) to [criticize](https://x.com/peterhotez/status/1827709848068489580?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) the school for platforming “a full on anti-science agenda (and revisionist history).” Hotez called the event “tone deaf to how this kind of rhetoric contributed to the deaths of thousands of Americans during the pandemic by convincing them to shun vaccines or minimize Covid.” Molecular biologist and science communicator Philipp Markolin had a similar take, calling the panelists “a who-is-who of rightwing-propped up contrarians” and telling *Important Context* that the summit represents a victory for conservative ideologues who operate through networks of dark money groups. “To maintain their value to these networks, academic contrarians rely on the imprimatur and reputation of the academic institutions that house them, often using the veneer of academic freedom for spreading harmful scientific disinformation for naked political advocacy or profiteering,” he said. “This is antithetical to the scientific method, and corrosive to public trust in science and scientific institutions. However, academic institutions are often ill-equipped or unwilling to speak up against their own politically-entwined contrarians (especially ones with a large platform) for fear of political repercussions and perception of anti-conservative bias.” Mallory Harris, who graduated in May from Stanford with a Ph.D. in biology, told *Important Context* that “It's been embarrassing and disappointing to see Stanford University as an institution conflated with the fringe opinions of a few contrarians.” Harris, who did her dissertation on infectious diseases and human behavior, including the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation, and led a student group called Scientists Speak Up focused on countering scientific misinformation, argued that the real issue the summit raises is not academic freedom, but academic rigor. ”Based on the panelists and framing, I expect this summit will repeat the same grievances and misrepresentations without any substantive academic contribution—which is the prerogative of the organizers,” she said. “However, it's alarming to me that the Stanford president is choosing to speak and give the university's tacit endorsement to these speakers and their positions.” “Their definition of academic freedom is entitlement to the largest platforms at the university, regardless of the validity or rigor of your work, without any criticism,” she added. “This is, of course, nonsense. They can pursue whatever line of \*research\* they want. They can host whatever conference they want. But the rest of us aren't required to pretend it's worth attending.” In response to our August inquiry, the Stanford Department of Health Policy provided *Important Context* with a statement defending the event and panelist choices. “The conference was organized to highlight some of the many important topics that public health officials and policymakers will need to address in preparing for future pandemics,” it read. “The speakers, including those already listed and others who will be added over the next several weeks, represent a wide range of views on this issue. We look forward to a civil, informed, and robust debate.” In response to our follow up inquiry about the addition of more anti-vaccine voices like Berenson and Jekielek, the department provided a similar statement, explaining that “the Stanford Department of Health Policy organized the Pandemic Policy Conference to spotlight critical issues that public health officials and policymakers will need to address when planning for future pandemics,” and adding that “the agenda features speakers with diverse views and perspectives, encouraging open and dynamic discussions that are crucial for fostering collaboration necessary for effective pandemic preparedness.” ### Right-Wing Broadcasters Sold Media Hits to Supporters of a Chinese Fraudster URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/right-wing-broadcasters-sold-media/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:51.000Z (Image from Mother Jones; Unsplash; Wikimedia) *This piece was produced in partnership with* [*Mother Jones*](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2024/09/miles-guo-wengui-fredericks-rav/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Last summer, Ava Chen appeared on the right-wing news outlet Real America’s Voice to rail against the RICO charges that had just been filed against Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants in Georgia. The indictment “reminds me a lot of China and the CCP,” [Chen told host John Fredericks](https://twitter.com/jfradioshow/status/1693704977263493164?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news), a former Trump campaign aide who now anchors one of the fledgling TV network’s marquee shows. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Chen was identified during the August 2023 segment as a spokesperson for the New Federal State of China, a MAGA-aligned group founded by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui—a dissident Chinese émigré who last month was [convicted](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/statement-us-attorney-damian-williams-conviction-miles-guo?ref=importantcontext.news) on RICO and fraud charges for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his own followers. Prosecutors [named](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24614245/guo-424-superseding-indictment.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) the NFSC as part of Guo's fraud scheme, arguing that the group's ostensible opposition to the Chinese Communist Party was part of Guo's scam. In recent years, members of the NFSC have made frequent appearances across Real America’s Voice, as well as on Fredericks' radio show. But what viewers didn’t know was that at the time of these interviews, a firm tied to the NFSC was paying tens of thousands of dollars to have Guo’s representatives appear on Fredericks' radio and TV shows, as well as on another show that aired on RAV. The firm was also attempting to purchase airtime for the NFSC elsewhere on the network. These payments for appearances on Fredericks' shows are detailed in a draft contract, court records, and bank statements reviewed by *Mother Jones* and *Important Context*. They were also described by three sources. Bank records show the payments went to Common Sense Media, a company tied to Fredericks' radio show, which is independently produced and selects its own guests. Records we reviewed and the same sources indicated that Guo's supporters also discussed a contract that would have allowed his followers to secure airtime elsewhere on RAV, but those talks fell through. The transactions involving the Fredericks broadcasts were one piece of a well-financed effort by Guo backers to push messaging supporting Guo. As part of their broader outreach campaign,[ Guo followers](https://originals.optout.news/newsletters/chinese-dissident-secretly-recruited-right-wing-writers-to-publish-flattering-articles/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Operatives%20representing%20rightwing%20Chinese%20billionaire,order%20to%20bolster%20his%20image) also[ arranged](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/07/guo-influencers-karoline-leavitt-gavin-wax-matt-palumbo/?ref=importantcontext.news) extravagantly pro-Guo op-eds written under the bylines of prominent far-right figures, including New York Young Republican Club chief[ Gavin Wax](https://www.newsmax.com/gavinwax/balloon-guo-higginbotham/2023/02/17/id/1109144/?ref=importantcontext.news) and[ Karoline Leavitt](https://headlineusa.com/leavitt-ccp-cyber-attack-american-law-firm/?ref=importantcontext.news), who has since become a spokesperson for the Trump campaign. Guo supporters[ reportedly](https://www.semafor.com/article/03/03/2023/fears-of-china-are-hitting-new-peaks-at-cpac?ref=importantcontext.news)[ paid](https://x.com/dfriedman33/status/1631745363425067015?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) $75,000 for two booths at the influential Conservative Political Action Conference, and they[ showered](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/07/george-santos-paul-gosar-andy-ogles-guo-wengui-steve-bannon-lawmakers-spoke-up-for-an-indicted-chinese-mogul-campaign-cash-followed/?ref=importantcontext.news) campaign contributions on members of Congress who expressed sympathy for Guo’s cause. In their outreach to the MAGA world, Guo followers argued that, just like Trump, Guo was the victim of a politicized prosecution. “This is the fourth indictment \[against Trump\] in the short span of four and a half months,” Chen said during her August 21, 2023, interview on the Fredericks show on RAV. “And this speaks a lot to the rule of law and to the weaponization of the entire justice system, as we have observed in…Guo’s case.” Such arguments have received[ support](https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-suggests-he-donald-trump-and-miles-guo-were-indicted-criticizing-chinese?ref=importantcontext.news) from Bannon on his *War Room* broadcast, which is among the most popular shows aired by RAV. A company that federal prosecutors[ have](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23732646-guo-detention-letter?ref=importantcontext.news)[ said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23732940-wang-detenion-memo-with-exhibits?ref=importantcontext.news) Guo controlled[ made](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/04/guo-wengui-gettr-miller/?ref=importantcontext.news) large monthly payments to the Bannon-controlled company that produces *War Room*. These payments totaled at least $270,000, according to a[ filing](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24436915-guo-bankruptcy-us-trustee-adversary-filing-versus-war-room?ref=importantcontext.news) in federal bankruptcy proceedings initiated by Guo. Guo has also[ paid](https://x.com/dfriedman33/status/1798209318141178042?ref=importantcontext.news) Bannon millions of dollars since 2017,[ court](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24727694/may-30-2024-miles-guo-trial-transcirpt.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news)[ documents](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24602091/guo-gov-49-motion-in-limine.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) show. And Bannon has enthusiastically[ repeated](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/steve-bannon-is-neck-deep-in-guo-wenguis-allegedly-fraudulent-business-empire/?ref=importantcontext.news) claims made by Guo about Guo's business ventures and political movement. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) But in arranging to appear on RAV shows, the Guo backers appear to have tapped more deeply than was previously[ known](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/02/gettr-guo-layoffs/?ref=importantcontext.news) into the growing and unruly ecosystem of far-right broadcasts. RAV is owned by Colorado media mogul Robert Sigg, whose previous success came through WeatherNation, an alternative to the Weather Channel that[ reportedly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/24/steve-bannon-war-room-real-americas-voice/?ref=importantcontext.news) made a point of not mentioning climate change. RAV, which began broadcasting in 2018 as America’s Voice News, started distributing *War Room* shortly after the show’s 2019 launch. Bannon has credited Sigg with helping the show after Bannon was[ kicked off](https://www.thewrap.com/bannon-youtube-war-room/?ref=importantcontext.news) YouTube in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection. With *War Room* as its anchor, RAV also broadcasts shows hosted by other MAGA celebrities, including[ Charlie Kirk](https://americasvoice.news/playlists/show/the-charlie-kirk-show/?ref=importantcontext.news), Eric Greitens, and John Solomon—a lineup that has allowed the upstart outlet to position itself as a competitor to Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN. Fredericks, a conservative radio veteran, hosts *Outside the Beltway* on RAV. Grant Stinchfield, whose[ show](https://americasvoice.news/playlists/show/stinchfield-tonight/?ref=importantcontext.news) regularly features Guo backers, also broadcasts on the network. RAV[ has said](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/multi-channel-news-network-launches-enhanced-brand-301131841.html?ref=importantcontext.news) it reaches viewers through “DISH, Pluto TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google Play,” and social media. Some of the shows RAV distributes, including Fredericks’ and Bannon’s broadcasts, are produced independently. Other RAV shows are produced in-house. In interviews, four people familiar with booking practices for shows that have run on RAV said that they considered it unexceptional for guests to pay to appear on broadcasts, without any disclosure on the air that they have paid to appear. Usually these guests pay a booker or PR firm, which makes payments to the shows, the sources we spoke to said. The sources said they believed these types of arrangements are not limited to right-leaning media, though these people had limited experience with mainstream and left-leaning media. “All channels do this,” said one person familiar with NFSC arrangements. “This happens all day long. You can call it ‘pay to play’ but this is not unusual.” However common such arrangements may be, they are not transparent to RAV's viewers. Neither Fredericks nor his NFSC guests made any reference in the segments we reviewed to the group paying to appear on this show. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The payments made by the New Federal State of China followers became public in part because of a bitter[ legal](https://dockets.justia.com/docket/georgia/gandce/3:2023cv00207/322325?ref=importantcontext.news) and[ public relations](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/whistleblower-angie-wong-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-l-strategies-stan-fitzgerald-jared-craig-and-patrick-collis-to-take-back-control-of-legacy-pac-301994047.html?ref=importantcontext.news) fight among former colleagues at a Georgia-based firm called L-Strategies. The firm acted as an intermediary, accepting payments from a Guo-linked company and, in turn, making payments for Guo followers to appear on Fredericks' shows. A federal[ lawsuit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24775708-l-strategies-v-wong-complaint-1?ref=importantcontext.news) filed by executives at L-Strategies against Angie Wong, a former partner there, alleges that Wong's actions caused them “a loss of potential income \[of\] $120,000 per year” that they had hoped to earn brokering airtime for NFSC content on RAV. Jared Craig, a partner at L-Strategies who filed the complaint, said in an interview last year that he did not believe that paying broadcasters to interview clients as guests was unusual. Craig declined to detail the specifics of the payments, which he said were arranged by Wong, and he did not respond to more recent inquiries. Wong declined to comment. According to that lawsuit, a Canada-based company called NewNoah signed a deal with L-Strategies in April 2023\. NewNoah, which was acting on behalf of the New Federal State of China, was incorporated in November 2022 in Ontario at an address also used to[ register](https://who.is/whois/nfscofficial.com?ref=importantcontext.news) the NFSC's website. Under a draft media-buy agreement between NewNoah and L-Strategies that we obtained, L-Strategies agreed to pay $12,500-a-month “for media appearances to be sponsored by the John Fredericks Media Network.” The draft contract stated that the media package would include “at least one (1) television media hit and at least one (1) radio hit per week” to promote its client, Guo’s New Federal State of China. The draft contract also noted that “said media services shall be sponsored by the John Frederick’s Media Network” and that “host shall not mention Miles Guo at any time and for any purpose during media hits.” (Miles Guo is one of[ several names](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ho-wan-kwok-aka-miles-guo-arrested-orchestrating-over-1-billion-dollar-fraud-conspiracy?ref=importantcontext.news) Guo uses.) The draft contract, which was unsigned and undated, contains some confusing and seemingly inaccurate language. But bank statements[ posted online](https://medium.com/@vetvoicechannel/l-strategies-again-publishes-banking-records-to-cure-its-image-against-ongoing-defamation-48080a6b3296?ref=importantcontext.news) as part of L-Strategies' dispute with Wong reveal that NewNoah began making monthly payments of $13,400 to L-Strategies in April 2023\. L-Strategies in turn began making $12,500 monthly payments to Common Sense Media, a Virginia-based LLC tied to Fredericks’ show. Fredericks' wife, Anita Fredericks, is the registered agent for Common Sense Media. The monthly bank statements, which run through May 2024, show regular $12,500 payments from L-Strategies to Common Sense Media up to that time. The bank statements indicate Common Sense Media had received at least $175,000 as of May as part of the arrangement. (In an interview, Stan Fitzgerald, an L-Strategies[ founding partner](https://lstrategies.org/team/?ref=importantcontext.news), confirmed that the bank statements were accurate but said he had not personally posted them.) On July 10, 2023, Fredericks' radio show was guest-hosted by Nicole Tsai, a Guo supporter who had appeared on the program at least once a week up to that month as a representative of the NFSC. She appeared on his Real America’s Voice show nearly as frequently. When the New Federal State of China held a gala event last June celebrating the third anniversary of its founding, Fredericks was on hand[ hosting](https://gettr.com/post/p2j5p20938a?ref=importantcontext.news) a panel. As of July 1, 2024, Fredericks had hosted a member of the NFSC on either his television or radio show nearly[ every week](https://johnfredericksradio.libsyn.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) since April 3, 2023\. The NFSC guests used these appearances to attribute all manner of US problems to CCP machinations. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In an August 2023 segment on Fredericks’ *Outside the Beltway* RAV show, discussing Donald Trump’s arraignment in Georgia, a Guo follower named Roy Guo (no apparent relation) [suggested](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1049184509775825) the charges against the former president were the result of infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party. In an[ appearance the following month](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1506890030074891) on the same program, he claimed Chinese President Xi Jingping was facing stiff political pressure at home because he had “released the CCP virus at the end of 2019,” triggering the Covid pandemic. A month later, following the deadly October 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel, Roy Guo[ asserted](https://americasvoice.news/roy-guo-ccp-is-trying-to-drag-more-arab-nations-into-israel-conflict/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the CCP was secretly aiding Hamas behind the scenes in order to bring other nations into the conflict in Gaza. “CCP wants to get as many countries as possible involved in this, and also eventually they want to get \[the\] UK and US involved in this conflict so that they can divert the attention to, like, focus on the Middle East and deplete US resources and also to alleviate pressure for Russia in Ukraine," he said. "And then, they will ultimately make \[an\] opportunity for themselves to attack Taiwan." Mark Serrano, a spokesperson for RAV, disputed the import of the deal between NewNoah and L-Strategies related to payments to Common Sense Media for appearances on Fredericks' show. “Real America’s Voice is not a party to the contractual agreement you mention,” he wrote. “Any ancillary reference in the agreement to us is not our concern.” Fredericks has previously faced scrutiny for selling access to his radio show. In 2020, the Justice Department forced a US institute funded by the Qatari government to[ register](https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6829-Exhibit-AB-20200529-1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, resulting in the organization revealing it had paid Fredericks’ show $180,000 in 2018 for “access to key guests”; “regular show appearances by highly ranking Qatar officials"; broadcasts of “live shows every other month" and “regular discussions with US based and overseas Qatar officials for background and education.” Fredericks also[ broadcast live](https://twitter.com/jfradioshow/status/975393745767227392?ref=importantcontext.news) from Doha, Qatar’s capital, in March 2018. Fredericks at the time claimed the payments were standard advertising. He[ told](https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-trump-radio-host-booked-qatari-government-guest-after-getting-dohas-cash?ref=importantcontext.news) the *Daily Beast*: “They were paying me to promote their various events, which I did in my libraries when I was on the show.” John and Anita Fredericks and the *John Fredericks Show* did not respond to requests for comment or to lists of specific questions. Ava Chen and Roy Guo declined to comment. According to the L-Strategies’ lawsuit, NewNoah also paid for Guo fans to appear on another independently produced show that briefly aired on RAV, the *David Brody Show*. And the L-Strategies bank statements posted online show a payment of about $8,000 to the Brody show in April 2023\. Brody declined to comment. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) NewNoah and L-Strategies also attempted to negotiate a separate, $40,000-per-month contract under which L-Strategies would purchase airtime on RAV for a weekly one-hour “show” hosted by the NFSC, according to the complaint L-Strategies filed. “Real America's Voice package includes a one-hour program (approximately 48 minutes run time) on the Real America's Voice network once per week, time to be determined,” the[contract](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24775708/l-strategies-v-wong-complaint-1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), attached to the complaint, reads. “The show will be self-produced by NewNoah, with final edit approvals by Real America’s Voice prior to airing.” According to the L-Strategies complaint and a source involved in the negotiations for the hour-long show, talks over that deal eventually broke down. The L-Strategies complaint states that NewNoah did pay $40,000 to L-Strategies on April 28, 2023, and the bank statements posted online show L-Strategies received a $39,977.50 wire transfer, from an unidentified sender, on that date. In the "description" field, the statement says, “RAV 1 hour.” But the bank statements do not show any corresponding payment from L-Strategies to RAV. And Serrano, the RAV spokesperson, said that money was never paid to Real America’s Voice. Serrano did not respond to other questions about this proposed arrangement. According to the RAV [website](https://americasvoice.news/about/?ref=importantcontext.news), the outlet “demands the highest ethical standards from management and staff, and the company maintains a strict ethics policy.” The site notes that “staff members are prohibited from engaging in any conflicts of interest, including reporting on any enterprise in which the staff member has a financial stake.” ### Important Context in The Nation This Week URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/important-context-in-the-nation-this/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:42:55.000Z This week, *The Nation* published an [editorial](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/why-covid-keeps-winning/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Yale epidemiologist and global health activist Gregg Gonsalves and *Important Context*’s Walker Bragman. Titled, “Why Covid Keeps Winning,” the piece comes on the heels of President Joe Biden’s recent COVID-19 infection amid the latest wave of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and seeks to address why the pandemic seems to have such staying power despite America’s political leaders treating the crisis as over. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Gonsalves and Bragman note that the airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus presents a persistent daily risk to Americans—especially the immunocompromised. > The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which studies have linked to all kinds of troubling health complications—from cardiovascular problems like heart attacks to neurological problems—continues to circulate, mutate, kill, and disable. The death toll has increased twelvefold since May 2020\. As of March, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, [17 million](https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/as-recommendations-for-isolation-end-how-common-is-long-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) Americans report living with what has become known as “long Covid,” a condition that can be mild or, as the Department of Health and Human Services noted in a November 2022 report, can disrupt a person’s “entire sense of self.” The pair take aim at the failure of the United States to make lasting systemic changes to address the ever-present threat—particularly clean indoor air rules for workplaces and schools, paid leave, and universal healthcare. > Our country never made the requisite investments in clean air upgrades for buildings. Despite [botching our vaccination campaigns](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-10-18/low-us-covid-booster-rates-show-cdc-needs-to-change-strategy?embedded-checkout=true&ref=importantcontext.news), we have refused to impose universal Covid [safety rules for workplaces](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/108552?ref=importantcontext.news). Although one of the earliest recommendations from the World Health Organization was to [remove financial barriers](https://youtu.be/xKDOwELQdZA?si=4FhW2TVqZjm7uhVS&ref=importantcontext.news) to care, our country still doesn’t have a universal healthcare system. We have even watched [millions of Americans](https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/unwinding-watch-tracking-medicaid-coverage-as-pandemic-protections-end?ref=importantcontext.news) get stripped from the Medicaid rolls, while 10 states still refuse to expand Medicaid eligibility. Meanwhile [less than half of states](https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/state-paid-family-leave-laws-across-the-u-s/?ref=importantcontext.news) have guaranteed paid medical leave. Gonsalves and Bragman also take a swipe at media for failing to hold government leaders accountable for their failures to put in place infrastructure to address the threat of airborne pathogens. “We cannot humanely move on from the pandemic without making basic changes to adapt to life with Covid,” the pair explain. “That we are expected to is an abdication of responsibility by elected officials, who are seemingly willing to write off the health and safety of our society’s most vulnerable as a cost of doing business.” The SARS-CoV-2 virus has killed 26,000 Americans this year. Cases are surging across the country. Wearing high-quality masks like N95s or better while staying current on vaccination is an effective way to protect yourself and those around you. ### Could Democrats Actually Replace Joe Biden? Is the Heritage Foundation Violating the Law? What Reforms Do We Need? Campaign Finance Law Expert Weighs In URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/could-democrats-actually-replace/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:52.000Z “Democrats panic over Biden’s debate performance, doubt his future,” “Dems freak out over Biden’s debate performance: ‘Biden is toast,’” “Dems in full panic mode after Biden’s stumbling performance.” These are just some of the headlines that topped off what has generally been described as a disastrous night for Joe Biden. While the president did have some strong lines in the second half—a quip about Donald Trump being “three years younger and a lot less competent” stands out—by all accounts the debate was hard for Democrats to watch. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In the two weeks since, the media cycle has been dominated by calls for the president to step aside. When *New York Times* columnist Ezra Klein initially made the suggestion in [an audio essay](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/opinion/ezra-klein-biden-audio-essay.html?ref=importantcontext.news) back in February, it was a lonely position and one met with harsh pushback from Democrats online. But now, Klein is part of a chorus that includes the [editorial boards](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/01/nyt-chicago-tribune-washington-post-biden-drop-out/74266383007/?ref=importantcontext.news) of *The Times*, *The Chicago Tribune*, *The Economist*, and other major publications, centrist Democratic strategist [James Carville](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4750622-james-carville-biden-replacement/?ref=importantcontext.news), actor and Democratic fundraiser George Clooney, and a [growing number](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/10/welch-becomes-first-democratic-senator-to-call-on-biden-to-step-aside-00167472?ref=importantcontext.news) of Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT). Beyond those publicly calling for the president to step aside are a number who have suggested that perhaps he is the wrong choice to face off against Donald Trump in November, including Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) told CNN that Trump was "on track…to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide.” *The Washington Post* editorial board, meanwhile, suggested Biden ought to do some “soul searching” to make the best decision for America. Despite the pressure, President Biden has remained resolute, insisting “I’m running.” Biden’s supporters have pushed back on calls to exit the race, charging that changing candidates this late in the game would be complicated and unlikely to lead to success in November. Indeed, the timeframe for any new candidate to jump in the race is now less than four months. Then, there are questions about the money raised by the campaign. Could it transfer over? Would it have to be returned to donors? The campaign has [suggested](https://www.threads.net/@yasharali/post/C80weBFxyn-/?xmt=AQGzu1CUC55lYfxM8zywtDLfqypqeaiYuubX2S%5FjhGfQDQ&ref=importantcontext.news) a replacement candidate would have to start out with zero dollars. *Important Context*’s Walker Bragman caught up with campaign finance law expert Brendan Fischer, formerly of the Campaign Legal Center and current deputy executive director of the watchdog group Documented, about the feasibility of the Democrats swapping candidates. In addition to the Democrats’ struggles this election season, Bragman and Fischer also discussed the Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) dark money group behind the infamous Project 2025, which lays out plans for Trump’s second term. Heritage, which has been in the news lately following a hack, has [been the target of activists](https://www.newsweek.com/project-2025-reported-irs-1923145?ref=importantcontext.news), who have been reporting the group to the IRS for allegedly violating the law by engaging in political activity. The pair also discussed the Supreme Court and what systemic reforms progressives and liberals ought to focus their energy on going forward. Give the interview a watch! ### Biden v. Roosevelt: How Two Democratic Presidents Handled a Hostile Supreme Court URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/biden-v-roosevelt-how-two-democratic/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:53.000Z That the United States Supreme Court would try to shield former President Donald Trump from federal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election was a foregone conclusion. The bench, stacked with Trump-appointed far-right justices groomed by The Federalist Society, has repeatedly shown its ideological hand. But when Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion came out last week in *United States of America v. Donald J. Trump*, the result was still shocking. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Trump’s lawyers had been arguing that the former president ought to be immune from prosecution on the grounds that the nation’s top executive has sweeping immunity. While the majority rejected the claim, it did rule that a president has absolute immunity for "official" acts, the meaning of which the opinion left disturbingly ambiguous, effectively creating a loophole for malfeasance. In her scathing dissent accusing the majority of breaking "new and dangerous ground," Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted this loophole, writing that "even a hypothetical President who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics, or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup, has a fair shot at getting immunity under the majority’s new Presidential accountability model." Days before the immunity ruling, the Supreme Court had dealt a significant blow to the administrative state, overturning the so-called Chevron Doctrine, established in the 1984 case of *Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council*, which held that the court ought to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute it is charged with implementing when the agency’s answer is not unreasonable and the statute is ambiguous. Taken together, the two decision represent a significant power grab by the judiciary. In fact, the unelected right-wing justices of the high court have been on a tear in their time together on the bench, taking aim at long-established precedents. Overturning the 1973 case of *Roe v. Wade*, putting the legality of abortion in the hands of individual states, has proven to be only the beginning. While the Court has been reshaping America, significant questions have emerged about its ability to dispense neutral justice. Last year, for example, series of bombshell reports from ProPublica exposed undisclosed gifts from billionaires to Supreme Court justices. It was reported that Samuel Alito, for example, [did not recuse](https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court?ref=importantcontext.news) himself on cases involving one of his benefactors, a hedge fund billionaire who treated him to a luxury Alaska fishing trip. Justice Clarence Thomas, meanwhile, gave [appearances at events](https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus?ref=importantcontext.news) for Koch network donors and has accepted millions in gifts from right-wing billionaires like Harlan Crow. Also troubling is the fact that Thomas’ wife, right-wing activist Virginia Thomas, had promoted and attended the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally and even pressured Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to pursue efforts to overturn the 2020 election. More recently, it was reported that Justice Samuel Alito had been [flying flags](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/us/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html?ref=importantcontext.news) on his properties that were carried by January 6 “Stop the Steal” rioters. Both Thomas and Alito sat for Trump’s election interference case. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In the face of the increasingly aggressive and radical Supreme Court, President Joe Biden has resisted calls from within his own party to fight back. While Biden has [called](https://www.propublica.org/article/biden-interview-trump-supreme-court-ethics?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=But%20he%20said%2C%20%E2%80%9CI%20do,sustain%20the%20rule%20of%20law.%E2%80%9D) the court “one of the most extreme” and suggested it ought to recognize the need for a code of ethics—the justices are not bound by the code of conduct that other federal judges are bound by—the president has for years refused to even endorse the idea of court-packing. “If we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy,” he [said](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/30/biden-supreme-court-reform-00104484?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Biden%20made%20clear%20on%20Thursday,not%20healthy%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20said.) last month. Notably, the president’s remarks responding to the Trump immunity ruling did not promise action—Democrats only hold the Senate today—or call for it, but instead called the American people to step up. “I know I will respect the limits of the presidential power, as I have for three and a half years,” Biden said. “But any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law. I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today…here’s what she said. She said, ‘In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent,’ end of quote. So should the American people dissent. I dissent.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Less than 100 years ago, another Democratic president faced off against a hostile Supreme Court and responded very differently. Franklin Delano Roosevelt swept into office in the 1932 election amid the Great Depression and vowed to use his power to get the nation back on track. “It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us,” Roosevelt promised in his March 4, 1933 inaugural address. “But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.” But Roosevelt faced an immediate obstacle in the Supreme Court, stacked with four conservative justices known as “Four Horsemen”—George Sutherland, Pierce Butler, James McReynolds, and Willis Van Devanter—which was hostile to his New Deal. Two consequential rulings prompted Roosevelt to wage a brief political battle against the court, which most Americans saw as untouchable. In the 1935 case of *A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States*, the Court struck down the National Recovery Administration, the centerpiece of the New Deal. The following year, it struck down the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was aimed at driving up crop prices, in *United States v. Butler*. Roosevelt had had enough. On March 9, 1937, the frustrated president addressed the American people directly in a fireside chat, laying out his case for adding more justices to the bench to uphold his agenda. “The Courts,” he explained had “cast doubts on the ability of the elected Congress to protect us against catastrophe by meeting squarely our modern social and economic conditions.” “Since the rise of the modern movement for social and economic progress through legislation, the Court has more and more often and more and more boldly asserted a power to veto laws passed by the Congress and State Legislatures in complete disregard of this original limitation,” Roosevelt declared. “In the last four years the sound rule of giving statutes the benefit of all reasonable doubt has been cast aside. The Court has been acting not as a judicial body, but as a policy-making body.” His plan, which promised “to save the Constitution from the Court and the Court from itself,” was simple: add more justices to the bench—justices “who will not undertake to over-ride the judgment of the Congress on legislative policy, that I will appoint Justices who will act as Justices and not as legislators.” “During the past half century the balance of power between the three great branches of the Federal Government, has been tipped out of balance by the Courts in direct contradiction of the high purposes of the framers of the Constitution,” he said. “It is my purpose to restore that balance.” Ultimately, Roosevelt lost the battle to pack the Court in the Senate. In the 1938 midterms, his party lost 72 seats in the House and eight in the Senate, although Democrats maintained control of Congress. Still, the plan cowed the court. One conservative-leaning justice, Owen Roberts, began voting with the liberals in cases involving New Deal programs like Social Security in what became known as the “switch in time that saved nine,” and the conservative Van DeVanter decided to retire. A few short years later, in the 1940 election, Roosevelt went on to win a historic third term and the New Dealers once again cemented their control of the House and Senate. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Below is the full transcript of Roosevelt’s fireside chat on court-packing. **\*\*\*** *The American people have learned from the Depression. For in the last three national elections an overwhelming majority of them voted a mandate that the Congress and the President begin the task of providing that protection – not after long years of debate, but now.* *The Courts, however, have cast doubts on the ability of the elected Congress to protect us against catastrophe by meeting squarely our modern social and economic conditions.* *We are at a crisis in our ability to proceed with that protection. It is a quiet crisis. There are no lines of depositors outside closed banks. But to the far-sighted it is far-reaching in its possibilities of injury to America.* *I want to talk with you very simply about the need for present action in this crisis – the need to meet the unanswered challenge of one-third of a Nation ill-nourished, ill-clad, ill-housed.* *Last Thursday I described the American form of Government as a three-horse team provided by the Constitution to the American people so that their field might be plowed. The three horses are, of course, the three branches of government – the Congress, the Executive and the Courts. Two of the horses are pulling in unison today; the third is not. Those who have intimated that the President of the United States is trying to drive that team, overlook the simple fact that the President, as Chief Executive, is himself one of the three horses.* *It is the American people themselves who are in the driver’s seat.* *It is the American people themselves who want the furrow plowed.* *It is the American people themselves who expect the third horse to pull in unison with the other two.* *I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again.* *It is an easy document to understand when you remember that it was called into being because the Articles of Confederation under which the original thirteen States tried to operate after the Revolution showed the need of a National Government with power enough to handle national problems. In its Preamble, the Constitution states that it was intended to form a more perfect Union and promote the general welfare; and the powers given to the Congress to carry out those purposes can be best described by saying that they were all the powers needed to meet each and every problem which then had a national character and which could not be met by merely local action.* *But the framers went further. Having in mind that in succeeding generations many other problems then undreamed of would become national problems, they gave to the Congress the ample broad powers “to levy taxes . . . and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”* *That, my friends, is what I honestly believe to have been the clear and underlying purpose of the patriots who wrote a Federal Constitution to create a National Government with national power, intended as they said, “to form a more perfect union . . . for ourselves and our posterity.”* *For nearly twenty years there was no conflict between the Congress and the Court. Then Congress passed a statute which, in 1803, the Court said violated an express provision of the Constitution. The Court claimed the power to declare it unconstitutional and did so declare it. But a little later the Court itself admitted that it was an extraordinary power to exercise and through Mr. Justice Washington laid down this limitation upon it: “It is but a decent respect due to the wisdom, the integrity and the patriotism of the legislative body, by which any law is passed, to presume in favor of its validity until its violation of the Constitution is proved beyond all reasonable doubt.”* *But since the rise of the modern movement for social and economic progress through legislation, the Court has more and more often and more and more boldly asserted a power to veto laws passed by the Congress and State Legislatures in complete disregard of this original limitation.* *In the last four years the sound rule of giving statutes the benefit of all reasonable doubt has been cast aside. The Court has been acting not as a judicial body, but as a policy-making body.* *When the Congress has sought to stabilize national agriculture, to improve the conditions of labor, to safeguard business against unfair competition, to protect our national resources, and in many other ways, to serve our clearly national needs, the majority of the Court has been assuming the power to pass on the wisdom of these Acts of the Congress – and to approve or disapprove the public policy written into these laws. . . .* *We have, therefore, reached the point as a Nation where we must take action to save the Constitution from the Court and the Court from itself. We must find a way to take an appeal from the Supreme Court to the Constitution itself. We want a Supreme Court which will do justice under the Constitution – not over it. In our Courts we want a government of laws and not of men.* *I want – as all Americans want – an independent judiciary as proposed by the framers of the Constitution. That means a Supreme Court that will enforce the Constitution as written – that will refuse to amend the Constitution by the arbitrary exercise of judicial power – amendment by judicial say-so. It does not mean a judiciary so independent that it can deny the existence of facts universally recognized.* *How then could we proceed to perform the mandate given us? It was said in last year’s Democratic platform, “If these problems cannot be effectively solved within the Constitution, we shall seek such clarifying amendment as will assure the power to enact those laws, adequately to regulate commerce, protect public health and safety, and safeguard economic security.” In other words, we said we would seek an amendment only if every other possible means by legislation were to fail.* *When I commenced to review the situation with the problem squarely before me, I came by a process of elimination to the conclusion that, short of amendments, the only method which was clearly constitutional, and would at the same time carry out other much needed reforms, was to infuse new blood into all our Courts. We must have men worthy and equipped to carry out impartial justice. But, at the same time, we must have Judges who will bring to the Courts a present-day sense of the Constitution – Judges who will retain in the Courts the judicial functions of a court, and reject the legislative powers which the courts have today assumed. . . .* *What is my proposal? It is simply this: whenever a Judge or Justice of any Federal Court has reached the age of seventy and does not avail himself of the opportunity to retire on a pension, a new member shall be appointed by the President then in office, with the approval, as required by the Constitution, of the Senate of the United States.* *That plan has two chief purposes. By bringing into the judicial system a steady and continuing stream of new and younger blood, I hope, first, to make the administration of all Federal justice speedier and, therefore, less costly; secondly, to bring to the decision of social and economic problems younger men who have had personal experience and contact with modern facts and circumstances under which average men have to live and work. This plan will save our national Constitution from hardening of the judicial arteries.* *The number of Judges to be appointed would depend wholly on the decision of present Judges now over seventy, or those who would subsequently reach the age of seventy.* *If, for instance, any one of the six Justices of the Supreme Court now over the age of seventy should retire as provided under the plan, no additional place would be created. Consequently, although there never can be more than fifteen, there may be only fourteen, or thirteen, or twelve. And there may be only nine. . . .* *Those opposing this plan have sought to arouse prejudice and fear by crying that I am seeking to “pack” the Supreme Court and that a baneful precedent will be established.* *What do they mean by the words “packing the Court”?* *Let me answer this question with a bluntness that will end all honest misunderstanding of my purposes.* *If by that phrase “packing the Court” it is charged that I wish to place on the bench spineless puppets who would disregard the law and would decide specific cases as I wished them to be decided, I make this answer: that no President fit for his office would appoint, and no Senate of honorable men fit for their office would confirm, that kind of appointees to the Supreme Court.* *But if by that phrase the charge is made that I would appoint and the Senate would confirm Justices worthy to sit beside present members of the Court who understand those modern conditions, that I will appoint Justices who will not undertake to over-ride the judgment of the Congress on legislative policy, that I will appoint Justices who will act as Justices and not as legislators – if the appointment of such Justices can be called “packing the Courts,” then I say that I and with me the vast majority of the American people favor doing just that thing – now. . . .* *It is the clear intention of our public policy to provide for a constant flow of new and younger blood into the Judiciary. Normally every President appoints a large number of District and Circuit Judges and a few members of the Supreme Court. Until my first term practically every President of the United States had appointed at least one member of the Supreme Court. President Taft appointed five members and named a Chief Justice; President Wilson, three; President Harding, four, including a Chief Justice; President Coolidge, one; President Hoover, three, including a Chief Justice.* *Such a succession of appointments should have provided a Court well-balanced as to age. But chance and the disinclination of individuals to leave the Supreme bench have now given us a Court in which five Justices will be over seventy-five years of age before next June and one over seventy. Thus a sound public policy has been defeated. . . .* *Like all lawyers, like all Americans, I regret the necessity of this controversy. But the welfare of the United States, and indeed of the Constitution itself, is what we all must think about first. Our difficulty with the Court today rises not from the Court as an institution but from human beings within it. But we cannot yield our constitutional destiny to the personal judgment of a few men who, being fearful of the future, would deny us the necessary means of dealing with the present.* *This plan of mine is no attack on the Court; it seeks to restore the Court to its rightful and historic place in our system of Constitutional Government and to have it resume its high task of building anew on the Constitution “a system of living law.” The Court itself can best undo what the Court has done. . . .* *During the past half century the balance of power between the three great branches of the Federal Government, has been tipped out of balance by the Courts in direct contradiction of the high purposes of the framers of the Constitution. It is my purpose to restore that balance. You who know me will accept my solemn assurance that in a world in which democracy is under attack, I seek to make American democracy succeed. You and I will do our part.* ### Misinformation Spreaders, Dark Money Groups Lament Major Defeat At Supreme Court URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/online-misinformation-spreaders-suffer/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:53.000Z The Supreme Court handed spreaders of online misinformation and right-wing dark money groups a significant defeat on Tuesday in a case that could have sharply limited the federal government’s ability to combat false and misleading narratives online. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) *Murthy v. Missouri*, originally filed as *Missouri v. Biden* in May 2022 by two Republican state attorneys general, targeted dozens of Executive Branch agencies and officials. At issue were their communications with social media companies, requesting moderation of misinformation and disinformation on their platforms related to topics like the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was later joined in August 2022 by a group of private plaintiffs, all of whom had had their content suppressed on social media. The group included contrarian doctors popular on the political right—former UC Irvine professor Aaron Kheriaty, who lost his job over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID, and Great Barrington Declaration co-authors Drs. Martin Kulldorff and Jay Bhattacharya. The doctors have all been vocal [promoters](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) of natural immunity through infection, [anti-mask](https://x.com/aaronkheriatymd/status/1533639442367279104?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) narratives, and vaccine skepticism. Representing the private plaintiffs pro bono was the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a business-aligned, right-wing litigation outfit. The group, which has waged a war on the administrative state since its founding, [trying to limit](https://nclalegal.org/press%5Frelease/in-ncla-amicus-win-scotus-limits-epas-regulatory-authority-under-clean-air-act/?ref=importantcontext.news), for example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, has [received significant funding](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) from billionaire industrialist and climate denial mega-funder Charles Koch. The case drew national attention early in part thanks to Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter. Musk and others on the right had long [insisted](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-matt-taibbi-substack/673698/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the platform he purchased had suppressed right-wing content. After buying Twitter, Musk granted limited access to the company’s internal documents to select reporters and allies, allowing them to sift through and report on their findings of supposed government-tied censorship. Days after the first Twitter Files report came out in December 2022, Musk met with Bhattacharya to discuss how his account had been suppressed on the platform. Days later came another Twitter Files release purporting to show that the government had “rigged” the COVID-19 discourse, allegedly silencing dissenting public health opinions like Bhattacharya’s. None of the Twitter Files releases, however, demonstrated anything more than requests from government to Twitter to remove certain content and the company making its own moderation decisions. Twitter’s own lawyers [said](https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/tech/twitter-files-lawyers/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) as much in a court filing from June 2023. The plaintiffs in *Murthy*, however, argued that these requests to social companies amounted to jawboning in violation of the First Amendment. Relying largely on innuendo, the plaintiffs painted themselves as victims of government censorship. Legal experts took issue with the idea that the Constitution precluded the government from making content moderation requests. In November 2022, Burt Neuborne, the Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties emeritus and founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, [called](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) the initial complaint in the case “a political document, not a serious legal document.” Still, there was concern that the right-wing Supreme Court would rule in favor of the plaintiffs, dealing a devastating blow to the government’s ability to perform its duties. The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in the case [urging](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/court-cases/murthy-v-missouri-formerly-missouri-v-biden?ref=importantcontext.news) the justices “not to adopt a rule that prevents or chills communications between social media companies and local, state, and federal government officials.” The potential of the case to damage the government was not lost on [right-wing dark money groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside) either. Groups like The Heritage Foundation, which [had been amplifying misinformation and contrarian medical voices](https://www.heritage.org/public-health/commentary/the-cdc-and-mask-mandates-unmasking-the-truth?ref=importantcontext.news)—like Kulldorff and Bhattacharya—in order [to turn public opinion](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) against COVID-19 mitigation efforts, celebrated and amplified the case. When Doughty issued his sweeping injunction, [Heritage](https://www.heritage.org/technology/commentary/federal-court-just-handed-bidens-ministry-truth-big-defeat?ref=importantcontext.news) called it a “landmark decision.” The Hoover Institution gave Bhattacharya, a [senior fellow](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news) at the group, a [platform](https://www.hoover.org/research/bidens-covid-censorship-struck-down-court-jay-bhattacharya-interview?ref=importantcontext.news) to talk about how “Biden’s COVID censorship” had been “struck down in court.” In fact, the initial *Missouri* lawsuit could not have been better engineered to get a damaging Supreme Court ruling against the administrative state. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana where it was presided over by Trump-appointed chief judge Terry Doughty. Doughty issued a sweeping preliminary injunction against the government, barring it from communicating with social media companies “for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected speech” and prohibiting it from working with non-governmental actors toward those ends. From there, it went to the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, also [stacked with Trump appointees](https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/30/under-trump-5th-circuit-becoming-even-more-conservative/?ref=importantcontext.news). Although that court narrowed the injunction, it did find that the government had likely violated the First Amendment. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Ultimately, however, the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the plaintiffs lacked standing. Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The majority opinion was authored by the Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was joined not only by liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson but Chief Justice John Roberts and Barrett’s fellow Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh. It represented a significant rebuke of the Fifth Circuit and the district court. “The primary weakness in the record of past restrictions is the lack of specific causation findings with respect to any discrete instance of content moderation,” the opinion read. “And while the record reflects that the Government defendants played a role in at least some of the platforms’ moderation choices, the evidence indicates that the platforms had independent incentives to moderate content and often exercised their own judgment. The Fifth Circuit, by attributing every platform decision at least in part to the defendants, glossed over complexities in the evidence.” The majority continued on, explaining that “The Fifth Circuit also erred by treating the defendants, plaintiffs, and platforms each as a unified whole.” “Because ‘standing is not dispensed in gross…plaintiffs must demonstrate standing for each claim they press’ against each defendant, ‘and for each form of relief they seek.’” The Court held. “This requires a threshold showing that a particular defendant pressured a particular platform to censor a particular topic before that platform suppressed a particular plaintiff’s speech on that topic. Complicating the plaintiffs’ effort to demonstrate that each platform acted due to Government coercion, rather than its own judgment, is the fact that the platforms began to suppress the plaintiffs’ COVID–19 content before the defendants’ challenged communications started.” The majority opinion noted that the plaintiffs had not presented evidence that the government itself had harmed them. For example, “the three plaintiff doctors,” the Court explained, had not “established a likelihood that their past restrictions are traceable to either the White House officials or the CDC” and had “highlight\[ed\] restrictions imposed by Twitter and LinkedIn, but point\[ed\] only to Facebook’s communications with White House officials.” It was this failure to demonstrate concrete injury by the government that led the court to reverse the Fifth Circuit and remand the case. “The plaintiffs, without any concrete link between their injuries and the defendants’ conduct, ask us to conduct a review of the years-long communications between dozens of federal officials, across different agencies, with different social-media platforms, about different topics,” the Court wrote. “This Court’s standing doctrine prevents us from “exercis\[ing such\] general legal oversight” of the other branches of Government. TransUnion, 594 U. S., at 423–424\. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Fifth Circuit and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In response to the ruling, prominent Republicans, misinformation spreaders, and right-wing dark money groups and their operatives lamented what they saw as a victory for censorship. “Very disappointed in the Supreme Court's ruling in Murthy v. Missouri, which effectively says the government can delegate its unconstitutional dirty work to private companies with impunity,” former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy [wrote](https://x.com/vivekgramaswamy/status/1806072016468074747?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X. “This flies in the face of precedent.” “The Supreme Court just ruled in the Murthy v. Missouri case that the Biden Administration can coerce social media companies to censor and shadowban people and posts it doesn't like,” Bhattacharya [tweeted](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1805973954001342949?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “Congress will now need to act to enforce the Constitution since the Sup. Ct. won't.” Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., meanwhile, [declared](https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1805990633510727701?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that “The Supreme Court got it wrong – and has failed to uphold its responsibility to the Constitution by finding no standing in Murthy v. Missouri.” The Brownstone Institute, a [well-funded](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute) right-wing dark money group that promotes [vaccine skepticism](https://brownstone.org/articles/why-was-the-biontech-pfizer-mrna-vaccine-not-recalled-in-february-2021/?ref=importantcontext.news) and COVID misinformation with the aim of combatting government mitigation efforts, responded to the ruling with a blog [post](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-court-green-lights-censorship/?ref=importantcontext.news) declaring “The Court Green-Lights Censorship,” touting Alito’s dissent. Brownstone has been affiliated with some of the private plaintiffs including Kulldorff and Bhattacharya. Brownstone founder Jeffrey Tucker, an anarcho-capitalist and [child labor advocate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), said it was a “sad day.” The *Reason Magazine*, the publication of the Reason Foundation, which has ties to Koch and [other big right-wing money](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-pays-for-conservative-media), [called](https://reason.com/2024/06/26/scotus-murthy-v-missouri-biden-censorship/?ref=importantcontext.news) the ruling “a big, flashing green light that jawboning may resume.” The New Civil Liberties Alliance turned defeat into a call to action, [posting](https://x.com/nclalegal/status/1806022515216527481?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X that “The Supreme Court has enabled the censorship industrial complex in Murthy v. Missouri! Follow us to know our next steps in the legal fight against government censorship.” Jenin Younes, the NCLA litigation counsel on the *Murthy* case, who had [briefly](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-hack-goes-to-congress) gone to work for the GOP congressional subcommittee on the weaponization of government, promised that the fight was not over. “Murthy v. Missouri is NOT over,” she [tweeted](https://x.com/jeninyounesesq/status/1806389099152175260?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “The underlying case remains in the district court, where we intend to proceed with discovery and obtain the evidence the Court says we need to establish standing. A lot of misinformation going around about this 😉.” ### Heritage For Sale: Investigating the Business of Selling Indigenous Artifacts URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/heritage-for-sale-investigating-the/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:54.000Z “Early Morning” Hopi Kachina doll, carved cottonwood, in excellent original condition. Measures approximately 7.5 inches in height. Tops of feathers attached to the back of head are missing. Bids start at $25.00\. That is one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Native American artifacts sold by private vendors on eBay. From baskets and jewelry, to arrowheads and ritual items, a [cursory search](https://www.ebay.com/b/US-Native-American-Collectibles/713/bn%5F2311568?ref=importantcontext.news) of the platform reveals “collectibles” categorized by type, nation and era. Like the vast majority of the items in this search result, the “Early Morning” Hopi Kachina doll’s ad provides no information on provenance or ownership history–the one thing that could indicate its authenticity or that it wasn’t looted or stolen from the traditional community that owned it. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “I do not have any documentation. It’s guaranteed as described. It’s best not to bid on items that you are unsure of.” That was the vendor’s answer to *Important Context*’s inquiry of the item’s authenticity and provenance. And it was no isolated event. “We personally guarantee the authenticity,” “If you don’t feel comfortable, I would refrain from bidding,” and “ I do not have any documents on this” were but a few of the other replies received from different listings. On paper, eBay has [policies](https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/artifacts-cave-formations-policy?id=4282&ref=importantcontext.news) in place to regulate the sale of Native American artifacts. Listings may not auction funeral objects, human remains and sacred items used in ceremonial practices, nor anything looted, stolen, or obtained from government or protected lands. They must be authentic and include the provenance or ownership history. Numerous listings, however, suggest that the website’s policies are loosely enforced. Questioned about the steps taken by the company to ensure compliance with its own policies, a spokesperson requested examples of existing violations and didn’t offer further clarification. Meanwhile, the commercialization of Native American artifacts is still going strong. According to data provided by the Association on American Indigenous Affairs ([AAIA](https://www.indian-affairs.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)), which monitors domestic and international auctions, 2023 saw 117 auctions, 60 of them domestic and 57 international, with a total number of 4,936 potentially sensitive items for sale. So far this year, AAIA has monitored 32 domestic and six international auctions, selling a total of 3,629 potentially sensitive items. “It is really disheartening that we are at a time when people have romanticized our culture so much, that they would spend big chunks of change on our heritage to use them as decorative pieces and conversation starters, rather than ensuring they get back to their rightful holders,” says Big Wind, a Two-Spirit member of the Northern Arapaho Nation. “Our culture has been commodified as a means to make money and it has become so lucrative, that there are hundreds of auction sites where you can type ‘authentic–insert tribe here’, and find items at hefty prices to be delivered right to your door.” While it may not be the case for most listings on eBay, where prices can start at a couple of dollars, in auction houses and roadshows, Native American artifacts have sold for as much as [half a million dollars](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2001/2/26/safely-collecting-indian-artifacts?ref=importantcontext.news)—a strong financial incentive for the perpetuation of a trade which has existed at least since the [1880’s](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-primer-nagpra-arpa-and-the-antiquities-act/?ref=importantcontext.news) and was born from looting, illegal excavations and exploitation of the forced displacement of original peoples. “We, the Choctaw people, were forcibly removed from our territory. Our ancestors could only take what they could carry, and so much was left behind for colonizers to pillage as they saw fit,” Shannon O’Loughlin, AAIA’s CEO and Attorney told *Important Context*. “This problem, which has been happening since people from other continents started settling here and taking over our territories, has created a horrible market on our heritage and bodies.” For over a century, Native people didn’t have the legal tools to assert their cultural property rights. That changed with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ([NAGPRA](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm?ref=importantcontext.news)). Signed in 1990, NAGPRA is a federal law governing the protection and return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. Under the law, human remains and other cultural items removed from Federal or Tribal lands belong[ first](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/protection-on-federal-or-tribal-lands.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations. The law also requires that federal agencies and institutions that receive Federal dollars turn over Native American human remains and other cultural items to their rightful owners. According to Dr. Sherry Hutt, who served as the national program manager of NAGPRA from 2004 to 2014, the law resolves the matter of the 150-year-old trade of Indigenous artifacts and of long-held items currently held by museums, auction houses or even private collectors. “NAGPRA is process driven to resolve abrogation of cultural property rights for so long. NAGPRA acknowledges tribal sovereignty, but also acknowledges that some peoples were not government recognized or tribes were disbanded by the US in the great assimilation efforts of earlier decades,” she told *Important Context* over email. But NAGPRA only legislates over artifacts taken from Federal or Tribal lands, meaning that those taken from state or private land are governed by [local or state laws](http://ncshpo.org/directory/?ref=importantcontext.news). As items are sold and move around the country and the world, it becomes harder to track them. There is currently [no centralized source](https://culturalpropertynews.org/a-primer-nagpra-arpa-and-the-antiquities-act/?ref=importantcontext.news) of data on the criminal removal of artifacts from protected land, making it impossible to assess the scale of the problem. Critics say existing laws are both [incomplete and ineffective](https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-justice-trading-in-native-artifacts-does-real-harm/?ref=importantcontext.news) when it comes to protecting Indigenous heritage. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “Amateur collecting has completely destroyed and delayed what we have come to know about Indigenous cultures, lifeways and peoples in the Western hemisphere,” says O’Loughlin. She explains that, for Native American people, what many refer to as “relics” are not elements of the past—something belonging only to their ancestors—but rather cultural heritage with a continued relation to those alive today. “They continue to be a part of who we are,” she says. That is why “bringing them home” is one of AAIA’s main goals. It is also why the goup contends that private collectors and auction houses must [consult tribes](https://www.indian-affairs.org/uploads/8/7/3/8/87380358/2018-12-11%5Fbonhams%5Fauctions%5Fpr.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) on sales of Native American cultural and sacred heritage, particularly considering that these items are “held by a Tribal Nation as a whole, communally, and cannot be properly removed by an individual.” But for organizations like the Authentic Tribal Art Dealers Association ([ATADA](https://atada.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)), that position represents an obstacle for business. According to the association’s president, Will Hughes, ATADA aims to improve the trade of Native American artifacts “in terms of professionalism, ethics, responsible collecting” and to support the study of and research into tribal art. Yet, he claims that, on many occasions, ATADA has attempted to have “rational dialogue” with groups of Native American activists, but those discussions have thus far failed due to what he calls “a political agenda.” “There’s a lot of disagreements between Native American activists over what is sacred,” Hughes told Important Context. “The sort of focus on restorative justice, of late has led to a broadening of the scope of potential claims for sacred items.” Indeed, the understanding of what is sacred or what consists of patrimony may change over time. “That which is regarded as patrimony today, may not have been regarded by the group as patrimony at the time it was alienated by the group by the leader or person with authority to do so,” writes Dr. Hutt. “In the history of North America, there were times when tribes adopted Christianity and dispossessed items, such as totem poles, although today tribes may regard them as patrimony. Controlling the decision is how the item was regarded by the tribe at the time of alienation.” For ATADA’s president, however, there is no legal, or even moral, basis for Indigenous activists to be so adamant in their demands. “Most tribal objects have lost their original origin. Maybe two to five percent of items that are in trade have that original provenance, the exact how, when, and where it was obtained. We have hundreds of thousands of objects of which the original acquisition is unknown,” says Hughes. “But if you have bought that item at an auction house or from a reputable dealer, the presumption is that you do have good title to the item,” he adds. Hughes laments that “Native American activists are trying to reverse the burden of proof, so that somehow you need to prove that you have good title from the beginning, from the first acquisition of the object.” But Hutt argues even if a purchase is made in good faith, it does not erase the facts of initial separation from the group. She writes that “Good title can never be transferred by a thief. Failure to obtain permission from the person with authority to give permission is an act of theft under any law of the US. The burden of proof to show good title is upon the person asserting good title. A cloud on title in the first instance does not blow away as the item moves through a succession of possessors.” “So the question is, did the people/tribe regard the items, tangible or intangible, inalienable property at the time of separation, and if alienated–that is sold or gifted–did the person making the gift have the authority to do so at the time,” Hutt adds. But, there is often no documentation of these events. And without time machines, Native Nations like the Northern Arapaho are left with little other than artifacts’ continued cultural significance as a means to evoke the context of their separation from the community. That’s what happened to Big Wind’s four-times great grandfather Chief Black Coal’s headdress. “The story is that Black Coal had gifted the headdress to somebody who worked in the community as a dentist in the late eighteen hundreds, and it remained in the family for several decades,” they explain. “When you trace it back, we would have never given such a headdress to a dentist, as you have to earn every feather your wear, and you earn them by being in battle. The feathers in your headdress represent how many battles you have fought, and that is what makes you a leader. It’s a symbol of status in the community. We don’t take that lightly. That is not something we would have ever given away to a non-native person,” they say. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In 2020, Chief Black Coal’s headdress made its way back to the Northern Arapaho. Upon hearing about ancestor bodies repatriated to the Nation that same year, a man in Massachusetts contacted the Preservation Office to give back the item kept by his family for generations in a storage box in the attic. “There was a ceremony where we gathered to pray and welcome it back to the community,” Big Wind recalls, noting that while the community works toward the goal of having its own museum to display returned items, Chief Black Coal’s headdress is being kept in a temporary controlled archive storage. “Since 2020, when the headdress was given back to us, we have seen a ripple effect, with more items being returned, not only here in the Northern Arapaho Nation, but in more and more tribes”, they say. “We’re starting to see a shift in people’s perspective. Not only museums and institutions, but also hobbyists are starting to repatriate items, even in cases when they were not the ones who acquired them.” For years, AAIA has been attempting to alert buyers as to sellers' lack of due diligence on the provenance of the items they’re selling. The association is also working to educate people on the importance of these artifacts to Native nations. “We want people to feel good about giving those items back, and we strongly advise that, instead of purchasing our sacred items, people buy from Native artists whose work was actually meant to be shared and invested in,” says O’Loughlin. “What we find is that when an academic institution, museum, collector or seller actually sits down to talk to us, we are able to educate them appropriately not only about our past, but also about the importance of present Native Americans’ contribution to our world and society. Ignorance must be shattered.” New York art collector Monroe Warshaw is witness to the effectiveness of these efforts. Present at a [contested auction](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/arts/design/hopi-tribe-wants-to-stop-paris-auction-of-artifacts.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in Paris, in 2013, which put up sacred Hopi items for sale, Warshaw [acquired](https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/french-judge-rules-that-auction-of-hopi-masks-can-proceed/?ref=importantcontext.news) two headdresses for about $36,500\. “My goal was not to own these items. They’re not something you want to hang up in your living room”, Warshaw told *Important Context*. His first thought, however, was not to return either of them to their rightful holders. “I actually thought they should go to a museum, so people could see them. Sometimes, the communities that made these things are not the best ones to preserve them for the future,” he says. But months after the auction had ended, Warshaw decided to repatriate the items after having the chance to spend two weeks among the Hopi and to witness one of their sacred ceremonies. “My mind changed when I learned more. I realized it was the right thing to do. Some things should be in the places where they are most important,” he says. Even ATADA has its own [Voluntary Return Program](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56e89d039f7266c5a6811f78/t/5e3728b9e0e4342444489d44/1580673210442/2020+-+ATADA+Voluntary+Returns+Program+-+How+it+Works.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), “a community-based initiative designed to bring sacred and highly valued ceremonial objects in current use to Native American tribes,” which has repatriated over 200 items since it began in late 2016\. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) According to O’Loughlin, however, the program is little more than a marketing strategy meant to give the impression ATADA cares about Native cultural heritage, while allowing the association and its members to continue making money off of items meant for the Native Nations and Peoples that created them. “In practice, there are only a few types of items connected with Pueblo Peoples that have been returned,” she says. “There is no process for Native Nations to request return—any voluntary return is solely at the impetus of the collector or dealer. There is no transparency about what the process actually entails.” Questioned about the process, Hughes, ATADA’s president, told *Important Context* that ATADA’s program is very discreet and personal, given that sacred objects need to be handled properly and respectfully. “The repatriation or return program, as we call it, is really handled by one individual: a board member who is part Native American, currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So it’s not so much ATADA, as an organization, returning them. It’s a very personalized program.” Returning Native American artifacts to their rightful Nations is far less complicated than it may sound. Dr. Hutt, who over the decades has received dozens of inquiries from private collectors who want to repatriate items under their possession, always recommends talking to the tribes. “Knowing which tribes to contact is not difficult,” she explains. “If you know the possible cultural group, make contact. Tribes have cultural officials and many have museums. If you know only the geographic area, look at treaty maps and maps of tribes available online, or contact a museum holding similar items for assistance.” To make this choice more enticing, many Native Nations offer something in return to the repatriated artifact. O’Loughlin points out that, since Nations can’t afford to pay to have these items back, they will sometimes provide a replica of the original or some other trade of contemporary art. Alternatively, she explains, Native nations fall under the 501(c)(3) charitable organization category, therefore people can actually get tax exemptions for donating the items. Yet, repatriations can still take decades to finalize, especially when going through the legal system. “Some of our heritage has been in limbo for over a decade, in a litigation with no end in sight,” Big Wind says. “We always hope that people holding our sacred items will return them pointblank. Resorting to legal mechanisms is our last resource, as the legal system is colonial and very slow, so processes often get stalled indefinitely.” Next year, these processes may become even less efficient. AAIA’s CEO explains that the November elections have the potential to harshly and abruptly affect Native nations. She argues that Congress is supposed to have a government-to-government relationship to Native Nations, which often does not happen, due to a “a schizophrenic scope of law in federal Indian law” created by how the Supreme Court interprets these laws. “So, if you have a president who believes that Native Nations shouldn’t exist, and that their lands and resources don’t need protection, our rights are going to suffer,” O’Loughlin says. “On the contrary, if the leader of the country believes in the Federal tribal government to government relationship, and wishes to strengthen them, we are more likely to see support for the enforcement of NAGPRA and other federal laws.” ### What You Need to Know About the WHO Pandemic Treaty With Georgetown Law Professor Lawrence Gostin URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-who/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:54.000Z The COVID-19 pandemic blazed an unforgiving and destructive path through public health systems the world over. With SARS-COV-2 still circulating, the international community has been scrambling to fill the gaps exposed by the virus, applying the lessons of the current crisis to prepare for the next. At the World Health Organization, one of those efforts has faltered. Last month, the members of the WHO assembly shelved a pandemic preparedness treaty that had been in the works for over two years. The treaty would have provided a framework for the international community to more effectively respond to a global public health crisis, but the members could not reach an agreement over certain provisions related to information sharing about pandemic viruses and medical technology. The pharmaceutical industry has been leveraging its political influence in countries like the United States to weaken any language that threatens its intellectual property—even for vital, life-saving medicines. Meanwhile, the treaty has also faced opposition from right-wing dark money groups like the [Heritage Foundation](https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/report/who-pandemic-treaty-remains-fatally-flawed?ref=importantcontext.news) and the Brownstone Institute, a far-right outfit founded to oppose COVID-19 mitigation measures. Brownstone and several other similar groups and anti-vaxxers [protested](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/anti-who-convoy-heads-to-geneva/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the treaty last month. Now, the effort to create a framework to address future pandemics faces an uncertain future. For the latest developments, *Important Context* interviewed renowned global health law professor Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. Professor Gostin has been [involved in the negotiations process](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/lawrence-o-gostin/?ref=importantcontext.news). Our full interview is below. Our questions are in bold. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) **The World Health Assembly members recently failed to reach agreement on a pandemic preparedness treaty that has been in the works for two years. Can you explain for our readers, in broad strokes, what that treaty proposed to do and what the failure to finalize it means for humanity today as we continue to face COVID-19 and the inevitability of future pandemics?** Broadly, the treaty was intended to prevent pandemics by preventing dangerous pathogens from "jumping" from animals to humans. So-called zoonotic spillovers cause more than 65% of all novel infectious diseases, including SARA, MERS, Ebola, Avian influenza, and most probably COVID-19\. The treaty also intends to increase countries' preparedness and response to epidemics, seeking to prevent outbreaks from international spread. This includes health system strengthening, surveillance, and early reporting of outbreaks. But perhaps the single most important reason for the treaty was to make the world fairer and more equitable, especially in the allocation of vaccines and treatments. The gross inequities during COVID-19 galvanized political will for a treaty. **Why was it so critical to finalize this treaty now, in May?** The concern was that political will was waning as much of the world put COVID in the rear view mirror. Also, 60 percent of the world's population are having elections in 2024 and it could change the political dynamics. There is little doubt, for example, that Donald Trump would torpedo the treaty if he were elected as President. **What were the major areas of disagreement between the WHO members? Can you discuss the competing factions?** Broadly, rich countries like the U.S. and in Europe wanted free and open sharing of scientific information, while low- and middle-income countries especially in Africa wanted guarantees that lifesaving medical products would be allocated fairly. The European Union wants a One Health approach, which are rules to ensure the interconnections between animal health, human health, and the environment. But the Africa group sees this as an unfunded mandate unless there is a funding mechanism. There were also deep disagreement between the Global North and South on intellectual property rights. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Throughout these negotiations, equity has been a major focus for African countries and lower-middle income countries. Why is that? Can you talk a little bit about how the experiences of these nations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have informed their demands related to the WHO treaty and what those demands are for proposals like the Pathogen Access and Benefits System?** During the COVID-19 pandemic LMICs were last in line for lifesaving products like vaccines and therapeutics. Rich countries in North America and Europe hoarded vaccines. They pre-purchased virtually all of the global supplies, making vaccines scarce and expensive. As a result, millions probably died unnecessarily. Unconscionable inequities have been a fact of life for most global health emergencies, which has caused understandable anger in Africa and other lower income countries. **Why do you think the U.S. and European Union are so protective of pharmaceutical intellectual property protections even now after all we have seen from COVID?** Partly it is because they genuinely feel that they don't want to create disincentives for pharmaceutical companies to invest in products and to innovate. But beyond that is the fact that they are very protective of industries which are located in their territories. Pharma has also lobbied hard against any diminution of IP rights. **What would this pandemic preparedness treaty really have meant for U.S. pharmaceutical companies and intellectual property protections?** Most companies are already highly profitable. I don't think a pandemic treaty would have harmed them much. More important, if Pharma behaved as if health and equity mattered to them, they would gain public trust and respect. That trust is eroding rapidly. **The WHO treaty is just the latest effort to establish a framework for balancing intellectual property rights with the need for essential medicines in times of global public health crisis. In 2020, South Africa and India put forward a proposal ant the World Trade Organization under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement to waive IP protections for COVID tools, including vaccines. How was that fight related to the negotiations at the WHO?** The big fight at WHO was whether WHO itself could regulate IP rights or whether that was principally the role of WTO. TRIPS flexibilities are important but they haven't worked well in practice. The Pandemic Treaty would urge LMICs to seek compulsory licenses in public health emergencies. And more importantly urged high income countries to respect those licenses. In the past, rich countries have placed enormous and unfair pressures on LMICs. **Can you explain how the Trump and Biden administrations approached the TRIPS waiver and what the WTO ultimately ended up doing on the issue of IP?** The Biden administration is still protective of Pharma but is willing to listen to concerns from LMICs. He has a better track record on IP waivers than Trump, but still has not diverged that much from what Pharma wants. The big push back against IP waivers has come from Europe. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **What were some of the weaknesses of the pandemic preparedness treaty—for example, the lack of a One Health approach?** It is too early to say as negotiations are ongoing. But the key weaknesses were the lack of financing and the lack of compliance and accountability. Beyond that, PABS and One Health were hotly contested. **We cover misinformation and disinformation at Important Context. The treaty called on parties to collaborate and work against misinformation. Can you talk a little bit about what that could have looked like and explain the enforcement mechanisms?** WHO got a lot of push back from language in the Pandemic Treaty about disinformation with false claims that they interfered with the freedom of expression. The Treaty would urge more work at ensuring more accurate information but in the end it didn't do much to prevent and correct a worldwide disinformation campaign. *Author’s note: For a more in-depth answer to this question, Professor Gostin provided links to his writing on this topic. You can read those pieces* [*here*](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/4691760-ignore-the-disinformation-the-us-is-safer-with-a-global-pandemic-treaty/?ref=importantcontext.news) *and* [*here*](https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/safeguarding-pandemic-agreement-disinformation?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* **Right-wing groups came out against this treaty, claiming it put too much power in the hands of international bodies in terms of enforcement and threatened innovation. How do you respond to such assertions?** The answer is that the treaty would not interfere with national sovereignty. Also, WHO would not have the power to order mask or vaccine mandates or order lockdowns as right-wing media has claimed. ### Queer, Trans Advocate Andy Izenson Wants to Take Us Back to Our Roots URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/queer-trans-advocate-andy-izenson/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:55.000Z “My partners and I planted that during our commitment ceremony, along with our vows to each other and to the land.” Andy Izenson says, pointing at a Rose of Sharon shrub just a few feet in front of us. We’re standing on their porch in Upstate New York; their old, but eager Beagle, a rescue named Toby, sits at our feet. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Rose of Sharon is a type of hibiscus that blooms pink-purple flowers. Like most flowers and other tokens of symbolism, the Rose of Sharon holds many meanings. Its name originates in the Song of Solomon (the [Biblical](https://bible.org/question/where-did-idea-jesus-rose-sharon-come?ref=importantcontext.news) one, not the Toni Morrison one), in reference to Solomon’s wife. In Hebrew, sharon means “a level, plain, or fertile place.” The connection to fertility aligns with the South Korean belief that the Rose of Sharon symbolizes an “[eternal blossom that never fades](https://www.mois.go.kr/eng/sub/a03/nationalSymbol%5F3/screen.do?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20mugunghwa%2C%20or%20the%20rose,of%20Korean%20culture%20for%20centuries.).” So the choice of Rose of Sharon, a flower that represents ever-lasting, continuous love, makes sense for a commitment ceremony, even if those same vows buried under the earth with the flower’s roots included a tidbit about honoring the commitment to one another for as long as it is healthy and joyful for each of them. What is love if not a representation of choice? Of freedom? These values of love and freedom are embedded in both Andy’s life and work. They’re senior legal director for [Chosen Family Law Center](https://chosenfamilylawcenter.org/home-1?ref=importantcontext.news), Inc. (CFLC) and senior associate at [Diana Adams Law & Mediation](https://dianaadamslaw.net/?ref=importantcontext.news), PLLC—both based in New York City. They work with and advocate for LGBTQIA+, polyamorous, and nontraditional families, usually in the form of mediation. They also help with second parent adoptions, assisting the non-biological parent of a child in gaining the same rights as the biological parent. Like many legal processes, the road to adoption can be long, expensive, and arduous, which is why Andy started Chosen Family Law in 2018, in partnership with Diana Adams, the organization’s executive director. A nonprofit, Chosen Family Law specializes in public and professional education, family building, immigration support, adoptions, name and gender marker changes, and more. Their website lists some ongoing projects, such as the [Platonic Parent Project](https://chosenfamilylawcenter.org/platonic-parenting?ref=importantcontext.news) that aims to help non-traditional and non-romantic platonic partners raise children as a unit, or the [Poly Families Project](https://chosenfamilylawcenter.org/poly-families-project?ref=importantcontext.news) that provides support for polyamorous families and partners with formation support, legal advocacy and consultation, and co-parenting agreements. “When I talk with families about protecting their relationships, there are two kinds of problems that require different approaches: intrafamilial and extrafamilial issues,” Andy tells me. “Extrafamilial as in the institutions that the family interacts with as it navigates the world—such as schools, hospitals, borders, cops, and social workers. It's about smoothing these interactions and ensuring they unfold safely. Intrafamilial issues pertain to the agreements, promises, commitments, and plans made within the family. This includes assessing how well these agreements are working and addressing any challenges that arise when they aren't.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) When I walk into Andy’s home, one of the first things I see is a dry erase board, detailing who’s in charge of which weekly chores. I’m greeted by one of their partners, Cal, and Toby. Moments later, another family member, Charlie, who just finished arguing his thesis, “A Survey of How Much Education Medical Students Receive in Trans Healthcare (Not Much),” comes running up the three wooden front steps. Andy and Cal hurry out, and the three embrace. These people bundled in their shared joy over one partner’s accomplishment, Toby yelping on his hind legs, eager to join in the celebration. Andy offers me coffee, at first with dairy-free chocolate ice cream in place of milk, but then Cal reminds them that their mother is coming into town for a few days, so there’s actually creamer in the fridge after all. Speaking of their mother, Cal asks, where will we be chatting? They want to clean in preparation for her arrival, but don’t want to be in our way. Charlie, meanwhile, leaves us to “have some lunch and maybe nap for, like, three hours?” and promises to reconvene for dinner. So passes a regular afternoon at Andy’s home. There’s nothing inherently “out of the ordinary,” and yet, it feels distinctly radical. In America today, any family structure outside of the nuclear family is considered by many to be radical. In recent years, the country has seen the rise of authoritarian and extreme sentiment of the political Right and the vilification of the “non-traditional,” which tends to be anything that falls outside of white, cisgender, heterosexual, patriarchal norms. That is part of what makes Andy’s work at CFLC so vital. “I think it's different for queer kids now, because they have this lifeline to the broader queer community,” Andy says. “They can go on Google and be like, ‘Does anyone else feel this way?’ And connect with a whole world of people that also feel how they do. None of that was available when I was growing up. I feel that there’s a big difference because of that, in the experience that kids have access to that knowledge. It can't really be overstated.” Born and raised in the isolated, homogeneity of rural New Hampshire, where they spent nearly two decades thinking there was something deeply wrong with them, Andy only became aware of the queer identity in college at Skidmore, where they studied linguistics. It would be years after that, when they moved to New York City, when they discovered their trans identity. The visibility of queer and trans folks today allows people to live authentically in a community with other people like them. There’s safety and power in numbers. Yet that visibility has been weaponized by GOP politicians, right-wing operatives and well-funded dark money groups. These individuals and organizations highlight queer and trans people living their lives, out loud and in public, as evidence of decaying moral standards. They promote the discredited notion that being LGBTQIA+ is a “chosen lifestyle.” In recent years, anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric from the Right has become more extreme and reactionary, aimed at fueling visceral emotional responses and moral panic—particularly around children. Republicans like [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-doubles-down-105545042.html?ref=importantcontext.news)have suggested that LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in schools is “grooming” children, a term used to imply sexual predation. Greene and others have framed access to life-saving gender-affirming care as the [mutilation](https://greene.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=469&ref=importantcontext.news) of children, despite [studies](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10599689/?ref=importantcontext.news) showing that surgery is rarely, if ever, performed on minors. The Right’s answer to these supposed attacks on children is simple: Elect Republicans willing to pass restrictive, discriminatory policies that hurt LGBTQIA+ Americans. Take Florida’s notorious “[Don’t Say Gay](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/christopher-rufo-queer-theory/?ref=importantcontext.news)” law, for example, which [prohibited instruction](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1237730819/florida-dont-say-gay-law-settlement-lgbtq?ref=importantcontext.news) on sexual orientation and gender identity in school before ninth grade—allegedly to give parents more say in the education of their children. Critics noted however, that the legislation, which [served as a model](https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/floridas-dont-say-gay-law-continues-to-spur-more-extreme-versions-nationwide/2023/02?ref=importantcontext.news) for other Republican-led states, was [damaging](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/05/09/dont-say-gay-lgbtq-youth-reaction/7398468001/?ref=importantcontext.news) to LGBTQIA+ students. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Andy thinks about how fear and ignorance fuels intolerance quite often—in their identity as a queer and trans person, in their work as a divorce mediator, and also as an anti-Zionist Jew. Through the Boston Workers Circle, a Center for Jewish Culture and Social Justice, Andy co-hosted an event called, “Faces of Oppression; Faces of Liberation: Untangling the Intersections of Antisemitism, White Supremacy, and Transphobia.” The four-part series focused on the intersectionality of the trans experience and the Jewish diaspora, how white supremacy truly works to oppress every single one of us, and how Zionism is that white supremacy at work. “The evaluative mechanism \[of information\] is about how it makes you feel. The solution that I've come to is to go to the root and think about what the actual anxieties are that are being played on,” Andy says. “What Zionism presents to Jews in the diaspora– the emotions and the anxieties and the feelings of isolation and alienation, those narratives are exacerbated and exploited to make Zionism work. \[The series\] was about addressing those fears and emotions at their roots.” Continuing on the theme of disinformation, Andy brings up the philosophical theory about the circles of moral concerns—the closest circle is the self, the next pertains to the family, and then the final encompasses other people. They explain that this is why we see so many disinformation campaigns about LGBTQIA+ rights equating to the endangerment of children and the loss of family. Andy explains that these tactics promote fear of people who fall outside of the traditional and facilitate the continuation of systems of oppression. Andy seeks to remind us that what we view as radical is just ripping holes in the veil of systemic oppression. “The word ‘radical’ is etymologically related to the word ‘root,’” Andy says. “When we talk about radicalization, it’s about trying to go to the root of things and not just looking at the superficial circumstances. And part of that is asking, ‘Who benefits?’ Which in fancy terms is ‘cui bono,’ a Latin phrase used in law, because, you know, lawyers like to sound fancy. The reason that the people who are in power aren't changing the things that we want changed is because they're benefiting from them, right? If they weren't benefiting from them, they would change them. The invitation that radicalism provides, I think, is to understand the benefit and to make it less worth it for those in power.” They go on to say that taking down walls is important, necessary even, but doing so without knowing what’s on the other side negates the dismantling efforts. If we don’t know the situation as a whole, at its core, at its root, then we risk the very same thing going up in its place. Radical, revolutionary efforts beg this interrogation of us. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Andy’s entire being seems to encapsulate this radicalism and liberation. Their home is named The Rêve, short for “the revolution.” They host several events throughout the year, all geared towards queer and trans people and their families. Andy points to different parts of the property: the pool where trans bodies are allowed to relax, float, and swim without cisgendered-gaze; the small RV set back in some trees that they had purchased off of Craigslist during the pandemic to help an immuno-compromised trans elder get out of an unsafe living situation;the path behind the house that leads to a fire pit and 17 acres of land. Though it’s just Andy, Toby, and me on the porch, it’s easy to picture queer and trans people and their kids romping around the property, the sounds of laughter in the air. I am suddenly aware of the smell of the Rose of Sharon, a sort of guest all its own with every bit of joy, every bit of healing, and the promise of liberation tangled in the roots. ### “I’m Not Sure What to Make of It”: Zionist Jews and Far-Right Rally Together URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/im-not-sure-what-to-make-of-it-zionist/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:55.000Z *Mike* *Ancheta surrounded by Zionists at UCLA. Photo Credit: Kelly Stuart* On February 27, 2016, Tom Bibiyan was [stabbed](https://eltecolote.org/content/en/man-who-survived-kkk-attack-blames-rise-of-white-nationalism-on-trumps-america/?ref=importantcontext.news) by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. A Green Party activist at the time, he had participated in a counter protest at a KKK meeting in Anaheim, California. Fights broke out and amid the turmoil, Klansman Charles Edward Donner stabbed Bibiyan twice along with two others, but was never charged for any of it. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Bibiyan would later tell reporters that “As someone who fights for social justice, I figured this is a place they shouldn’t be.” “I think this country has seen 400 to 500 years of white supremacy and oppression of people of color, of minorities…I feel like I was acting in self defense, because I am of Jewish heritage and I have friends that are Latino, that are Black, Muslim,” he said. Eight years later, however, Bibiyan is now a staunch supporter of Donald Trump—a seismic political shift that he attributes “in part because of views toward Israel.” On April 30, he was part of the large crowd of Israel supporters that [violently](https://youtu.be/fMYgm5Ly1qE?ref=importantcontext.news) [attacked](https://youtu.be/jYH8%5FOOSnxk?ref=importantcontext.news) an encampment of student demonstrators at the University of California Los Angeles, who were demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies profiting off of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Bibiyan posted a [video of the violence](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6bdJWlL3Hn/?ref=importantcontext.news) on his Instagram with the caption, “The moment we rushed the terrorist encampment last night at ucla to take it apart.” In another video he posted to X, Bibiyan can be seen [throwing](https://x.com/realtombibiyan/status/1790577270660473158?ref=importantcontext.news) a water bottle at an older woman, who he suggested was a “Hamas supporter.” Days after the events at UCLA, Bibiyan took part in another [pro-Israel rally](https://youtu.be/6Oexyf9zJ3c?ref=importantcontext.news) in front of the campus of the University of Southern California. The demonstration had been organized by Christian nationalist [Sean Feucht](https://youtu.be/fDUcxHKJoaQ?ref=importantcontext.news), who is part of an Evangelical movement known as the [New Apostolic Reformation](https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-bibis-new-tribulation-courting-jew-converting-demon-exorcising-american-allies?ref=importantcontext.news) (NAR) that believes Israel’s existence is necessary for Christ to return and that the Jews must convert to Christianity or perish, and has suggested that the Palestinian rights protests are a sign of the end times. At the USC rally, a plane circled overhead with a banner that read “Israel is Forever, Jewish Lives Matter. US.” Another [attendee](https://youtu.be/6Oexyf9zJ3c?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Feucht demonstration was a man named Kelly Scott Johnson, who had previously participated in a small [White Lives Matter rally](https://youtu.be/hfOSKI%5FhCIo?ref=importantcontext.news) in Huntington Beach on April 11, 2021\. White Lives Matter is a movement of loosely affiliated hate groups including Neo Nazi groups like [Goyim Defense League](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/jon-minadeo-neo-nazi-goyim-defense-league-leader-jail-1234894095/?ref=importantcontext.news) and the [Rise Above Movement](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/rise-above-movement?ref=importantcontext.news) that produces deeply antisemitic propaganda. The 2021 rally was also attended by the man who had stabbed Bibiyan in 2016: Charles Donner. At the event, Donner had admitted to doing the stabbings while talking to a journalist, declaring, “This could be Anaheim all over again.” Asked what he thought about Johnson’s attendance at the USC Feucht rally, carrying the Israeli flag, Bibian told *Important Context*, “I’m not sure what to make of it.” Bibiyan’s situation may be unique, but his dilemma is increasingly common. As Israel’s war in Gaza has escalated and public support waned in the face of a mounting death toll and severe humanitarian crisis, Jewish Zionists have found strange bedfellows in far-right extremists and fascists. But the uncomfortable and unlikely alliance has been forming for years. Although white nationalists often irrationally blame Jews for all of society's ills, many of them see Israel as the ideal of an ethnostate that takes care of its own. Alt Right provocateur [Richard Spencer](https://forward.com/news/356336/alt-right-leader-ties-white-supremacy-to-zionism-leaves-rabbi-speechless/?ref=importantcontext.news) even refers to his mission to create a white ethnostate as a “[sort of white Zionism](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/richard-bertrand-spencer-0?ref=importantcontext.news).” Many modern Nazis also view Israel's existence as a solution to what they refer to as the “JQ” or Jewish Question. Meanwhile, far-right Christians see the existence of the Jewish state in historical Palestine as a necessary condition for the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. *Important Context* has identified a number of these far-right extremists and white nationalists who have participated in pro-Israel events in recent weeks. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“Far-Right Motherfuckers”** Johnson is hardly the only antisemitic white nationalist Bibiyan has rallied with. Among the other UCLA agitators was [Narek Palyan](https://socalextremismwatch.com/narek-palyan/?ref=importantcontext.news), a Trump-supporting extremist who has a history of posting hateful content on his social media accounts, including Holocaust denial. In an Instagram post from this past year, he shared a meme of the John Carpenter B-movie class “They Live” referencing the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews own the media. Palyan has also been filmed at anti-LGBTQ+ rallies in Los Angeles giving [stiff-armed](https://video.wixstatic.com/video/39acde%5F944ba445ca6647859348a987488f19b8/360p/mp4/file.mp4?ref=importantcontext.news) [Roman salutes](https://video.wixstatic.com/video/39acde%5F9c97ed176e0d40a5b7b0cb104773f841/360p/mp4/file.mp4?ref=importantcontext.news) while screaming, “Far-right motherfuckers!” Los Angeles based photographer Kent Avery was also at UCLA on April 30\. He livestreamed from the melee on Instagram but has since deleted the video. At one point in his livestream he asks a man who had just assaulted a student with several others, “You good?” Avery has “liked” a number of posts on X containing white nationalist material including videos supporting the so-called “[great replacement theory](https://forward.com/news/502579/great-replacement-theory-jews-blacks-tucker-carlson-antisemitism/?ref=importantcontext.news),” an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims Jews are masterminding a plot to replace white people with non-white immigrants for control. He has also liked multiple posts claiming the election was stolen from Trump. Another far-right extremist who was at both the UCLA attack and the USC Feucht rally is ex-MMA fighter Mike Ancheta. Ancheta has associated with Proud Boys and been involved in many confrontations at past political rallies including an [anti-vaccine](https://youtu.be/GxumK4CDHsw?ref=importantcontext.news) brawl in front of Los Angeles City Hall in September 2021 and a street fight that broke out at a [Glendale School Board meeting](https://youtu.be/9Vq4ArM-c8I?ref=importantcontext.news) in June 2023 over its recognition of Pride Month. He [assaulted](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vishal-singh-attack-antivaxxers-b1894105.html?ref=importantcontext.news) documentarian Vishal Singh at another anti-vaccine protest in West Hollywood in 2021, breaking multiple bones in his face. Ancheta had been at the UCLA Palestinian rights camp ten days before the events of April 30, [harassing journalists](https://youtu.be/dOo4l-jz1ZE?ref=importantcontext.news). After Ancheta and Palyan were exposed as being part of the UCLA violence, they shared the same post on Instagram claiming “We represent the minority. That's why they hate us”. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“Jewish Self-Defense”** Along with the antisemites, white nationalists, and other far-right actors, far-right Jewish extremists have been showing up at pro-Palestinian protests. Two days before the April 30 attack, a group of Zionists staged a [rally](https://youtu.be/4lZc-n8hviQ?ref=importantcontext.news) in front of UCLA’s Palestinian rights encampment. One rally goer was carrying the flag of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a ultranationalist group associated with Kahane Chai or Kach, which has carried out multiple acts of terrorism both in the United States and Israel, including the [bombing that killed Palestinian rights activist Alex Odeh](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-25-me-4921-story.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in 1985\. Meir Kahane, the Rabbi who founded the JDL and Israel’s Kach party, won a seat in the Knesset in 1984\. His views were so extreme that he proposed making it illegal for Jews to have sexual relations with non Jews. His Kach party was [barred](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/06/world/israel-bans-kahane-party-from-election.html?pagewanted=1&ref=importantcontext.news) from running candidates in 1988 on the grounds that it was racist and undemocratic. Following Kahane’s assassination in New York in 1990, a faction known as Kahane Chai (or Kahane Lives) split from Kach. Israel declared both Kach and its offshoot terrorist groups in 1994. In its “Terrorism 2000/2001” report, the FBI includes the JDL as a terrorist group. Meanwhile, Kahane Chai was added to the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations until 2022 when the Biden administration removed it the grounds that it was defunct—a move some advocates [suggested](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/20/us-removes-ultranationalist-israeli-group-from-terror-list?ref=importantcontext.news) would embolden far-right elements in Israel. The individual carrying the JDL flag has been identified as real estate broker Yehuda Younessian. When [asked](https://twitter.com/i/status/1790653530547863673?ref=importantcontext.news) by videographer and writer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel why he was carrying the flag he responded, “Jewish self-defense.” He has posted a photo of himself carrying a JDL flag on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CyuZjwAhwGg/?igsh=ZG94bTRtZGNhcjM2&ref=importantcontext.news) and even used the group’s symbol as a [profile picture on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=6716247701757146&set=a.125711144144201). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/9a63f275-4661-4fd5-aea6-5beee511e91a_958x1322-jpeg.jpg) At the April 28 rally at UCLA, a Jewish student was caught up in a scuffle while trying to retrieve an Israeli flag from the ground, and either fell backwards onto the pavement or was shoved and injured her head. Her mother, Ruth Sonbolian, with whom she [appeared](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6352241452112?ref=importantcontext.news) on Fox News to discuss the incident, has shared multiple videos of Meir Kahane on [her Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ruth%5F%5Fmrs/reel/C6bwvRTRgl-/?ref=importantcontext.news). In one [video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6-aD2TrCl2/?igsh=MXhrYXdpZGoyNzdsag==&ref=importantcontext.news), the deceased extremist was offering “the best pro-Israel argument you will ever hear.” Sonbolian shared another Kahane [video](https://x.com/trevorsutcliffe/status/1786566610469413216?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) with the caption, “Kahane was right” in Hebrew. That post is no longer available. She has also shared hateful content, including an [image](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PjFxEv34e/?igsh=M2x1c2R1amtzYzh2&ref=importantcontext.news) of a condom in Palestinian flag packaging with text on the front reading, “Some things were never meant to be born.” In other posts, Sonbolian [revels](https://www.instagram.com/tv/C6NhHYgtlEe/?igsh=MWQ0b2M4Y3drcW1jaQ==&ref=importantcontext.news) in [videos](https://www.instagram.com/tv/C6Nl%5Fg8ti8D/?igsh=MXJxZHRoa3h0ODg1eQ==&ref=importantcontext.news) of police apprehending pro-Palestinian protesters. Meanwhile, earlier this month at another rally in New York City, a cousin of Meir Kahane intentionally [drove his car](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reuven-kahane-arrested-columbia-gaza-protest-assault%5Fn%5F663bbd77e4b0c38baf0eacd4?ref=importantcontext.news) into a group of Palestinian rights protesters. He has been charged with second degree assault. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“The Reverberations of Their Aggressive Actions”** Despite the support they offer Israel, the emergence of far-right extremists at pro-Palestinian events has some Israel supporters concerned. [Hillel](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14HqCOvk9-i0iW2xlYqvjQGyzjWDmIzjn/view?ref=importantcontext.news), a liberal Zionest organization that some student demonstrators have called on their schools to cut ties with, issued a statement condemning the April 30 UCLA attack on the protesters. “The truth is that a largely peaceful, pro-Palestinian encampment was attacked by an angry, violent mob comprised of fringe members of the off-campus Jewish community last night,” the statement read. “They do not represent the estimated 3,000 Jewish Bruins at UCLA, yet those are precisely the people who will have to live with the reverberations of their aggressive actions”. There is good reason for Zionist Jews to doubt the commitments and intentions of their supposed new allies given the long history of antisemitism on the right. According to the Zionist Anti-Defamation League’s Hate, Extremism, Antisemitism, Terrorism (H.E.A.T.) [Map](https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-to-track-hate/heat-map?ref=importantcontext.news), an overwhelming majority of incidents involve right-wingers. Despite the hand-wringing over antisemitism among the divestment and pro-Palestinian human rights protesters, including by the ADL—a recent [blog post](https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/what-do-anti-israel-student-organizers-really-want-examining-extreme-demands-behind?ref=importantcontext.news) from the group about the student demonstrators’ “extreme demands” was tagged “antisemitism”—there are zero recorded incidents on the map involving left-wing ideology in 2024, although antisemitic incidents are not filterable ideology. *UPDATE 6/15/24: A previous version of this article asserted that there were no recorded incidents involving left-wing ideology on the ADL’s H.E.A.T. Map. That statement has been clarified to note that it refers to 2024\. The piece has also been updated to note that antisemitic incidents on the map cannot be filtered by ideology.* ### The Big Money Behind Chris Rufo’s Right-Wing Agitating URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/the-big-money-behind-chris-rufos/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:56.000Z *This piece was produced in partnership with* [*The Center for Media and Democracy*](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Chris Rufo has been racking up wins lately. Fresh off of tanking the tenure of Harvard’s first Black—and first Black woman—president, Claudine Gay, with a scandal over alleged plagiarism, the far-right activist has set his sights on National Public Radio. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Last month, Rufo dug up tweets from NPR CEO Katherine Maher that she posted before she was a journalist. The tweets revealed that Maher is a liberal Democrat who supported Biden’s campaign and called Donald Trump a racist. The revelations came on the heels of an op-ed by Uri Berliner published by *The Free Press*, the media company of conservative columnist Bari Weiss, in which the veteran NPR editor [claimed](https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust?utm%5Fsource=tfpfb) that his outlet had “lost America’s trust” through a left-wing slant and an absence of viewpoint diversity. Berliner subsequently resigned from his position. Rufo has an undeniable knack for stoking right-wing outrage. Depending on who you ask, he is either a conservative wunderkind—a culture warrior taking big swings at the liberal establishment—or a troll working to tear down decades of social progress, including in public education and higher learning. Extremist and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon even called him “an American hero.” Rufo is credited as the architect of the right’s demonization of “[critical race theory](https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory?ref=importantcontext.news)” and a major contributor to its moral panic over [LGBTQ+](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/07/christopher-rufo-foments-a-school-rape-panic.html?ref=importantcontext.news) inclusivity in public schools. But it’s not just right-wing audiences he plays to. The professional culture warrior is equally gifted at seeding stories to legacy media outlets like *The New York Times*, which published a [guest essay](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/christopher-rufo-diversity-desantis-florida-university.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in July 2023 arguing for the abolition of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs at public universities. The paper ran [five](https://jabberwocking.com/flooding-the-zone-with-claudine-gay/?ref=importantcontext.news) front-page pieces on a single day on Gay’s plagiarism scandal. It wasn’t long before The Gray Lady had [picked up](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/15/business/media/npr-chief-executive-criticized-over-tweets.html?ref=importantcontext.news) Rufo’s scoop about Maher as well. A one-time documentary filmmaker who pivoted right [around 2015](https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory?ref=importantcontext.news), Rufo has benefited both financially and professionally from the support of right-wing billionaires and dark money. The media coverage of Rufo and his activities often notes his ties to various right-wing think tanks. However, few outlets have explored the funding behind those organizations to see just who is pulling the strings behind Rufo’s career. But now, an investigation by *Important Context* and The Center for Media and Democracy offers some answers. Through federal tax filings, we were able to identify a handful of right-wing billionaire donors and major right-wing foundations funding Rufo-affiliated groups. However, the original sources of the money behind the organizations are difficult to trace, as much of the cash came through donor-advised funds—third parties that manage money for client donors, distributing it with their input and often anonymously. In recent years, these operations have become increasingly popular vehicles in American philanthropy, in large part because clients can transfer appreciable assets into their charitable funds without having to pay capital gains taxes that would ordinarily accompany stock sales and similar transactions. Donors have flocked to donor-advised funds to facilitate their funding of far-right and controversial causes such as [hate](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/blood-money-how-americas-biggest) and [anti-vaccine groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled), likely because donations routed through these funds are attributable only to the funds themselves. In other words, they allow wealthy financiers of unsavory causes to mask their political influence. In response to our press inquiry asking why big money might support his work, Rufo would only say, “I ❤️ billionaires.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **American Studio** Rufo is the founder of a nonprofit called American Studio, which he began after dissolving his previous filmmaking venture, the Documentary Foundation, to [produce videos](https://www.knkx.org/politics/2023-06-20/how-liberal-seattle-created-a-powerful-conservative-influencer-christopher-rufo?ref=importantcontext.news) for his followers. The foundation had been heavily funded by dark money, as *The Intercept* [reported](https://theintercept.com/2023/06/08/christopher-rufo-nonprofit-dark-money/?ref=importantcontext.news), and American Studio is no different. The nonprofit has received significant, untraceable money through donor-advised funds, including mainstream charities associated with major financial institutions. Between July 2021 and June 2023, American Studio received more than $400,000 through Schwab Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund affiliated with financial services titan Charles Schwab. Meanwhile, from July 2021 and June 2022, the group got $122,000 through Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the nation’s largest grant-making organization, which is affiliated with Fidelity Investments, $18,500 through the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, affiliated with investment giant The Vanguard Group, and $5,000 through the Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, a donor-advised fund tied to Morgan Stanley. American Studio pulled in cash from right-wing donor-advised funds as well. Between 2021 and 2022, American Studio received $370,000 through [DonorsTrust](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DonorsTrust&ref=importantcontext.news), which is a preferred funding conduit for right-wing billionaire families like Koch, Mercer, and DeVos and a major source of funding for Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hate groups. It got an additional $26,000 in 2022 from the National Christian Charitable Foundation, which similarly funds hate. Not all of the money was anonymous. Private foundations of wealthy individuals also bankrolled American Studio. The Edelman Family Foundation, the private foundation of billionaire hedge fund manager Joseph Edelman, which funds groups like Dennis Prager’s [Prager University](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=PragerU&ref=importantcontext.news) and the far-right parents’ rights group [Parents Defending Education](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Parents%5FDefending%5FEducation&ref=importantcontext.news), gave $150,000\. Meanwhile, the [private foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas%5FW.%5FSmith%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news) of Thomas W. Smith, founder of the hedge fund Prescott Investors and a major financial backer of anti-critical race theory propaganda and [climate denial](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/21/the-dirty-dozen-the-biggest-nonprofit-funders-of-climate-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news), gave $50,000. Rufo’s salary from American Studio was [over $240,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/862676232/202321739349300337/full?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2022, according to the organization’s latest IRS Form 990. **Manhattan Institute for Policy Research** Rufo is a senior fellow at the [Manhattan Institute for Policy Research](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manhattan%5FInstitute%5Ffor%5FPolicy%5FResearch&ref=importantcontext.news), a New York-based right-wing think tank founded in 1978 by prolific libertarian activist Antony Fisher and future CIA Director William Casey. Originally known as the International Center for Economic Policy Studies, the institute has long been aligned with and bankrolled by wealthy right-wingers and corporate interests. As journalist Matthew Cunningham-Cook noted, it “has played a critical role in dismantling the social safety net and criminalizing the poor under the guise of promoting ‘[welfare reform](https://www.manhattan-institute.org/urban-policy/welfare?ref=importantcontext.news)’ and ‘[broken windows](https://www.manhattan-institute.org/fixingbrokenwindows?ref=importantcontext.news)’ policing.” The institute’s leadership [includes](https://www.levernews.com/how-wall-street-is-funding-the-culture-war/?ref=importantcontext.news) Wall Street executives like hedge fund billionaire Paul E. Singer, who profiteered off of the 2008 financial crisis and serves as the institute’s chairman. Since 2020, its donors have included right-wing billionaire power brokers Charles Koch and Richard Uihlein, who are known for [funding](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/21/the-dirty-dozen-the-biggest-nonprofit-funders-of-climate-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news) climate denial and attacks on [organized](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE71P28W/?ref=importantcontext.news) [labor](https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/uline-exec-backs-right-to-work-and-right-wing-causes/?ref=importantcontext.news). Others include Singer, conservative legal activist and Trump “judge whisperer” Leonard Leo, Prescott Investors’ Smith, and billionaire GOP mega donor Bill Oberndorf, who bankrolled the successful recall against progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesapeake Boudin in 2022. From December 2019 to November 2022, Singer’s private foundation gave $3.8 million. The [Ed Uihlein Family Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ed%5FUihlein%5FFamily%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news) gave $175,000 between 2020 and 2021, and in 2022, Leo’s [The 85 Fund](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The%5F85%5FFund&ref=importantcontext.news) gave $450,000\. Other private right-wing foundations gave big money to the institute. The [Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde%5Fand%5FHarry%5FBradley%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news), for example, donated to the tune of $1.6 million between 2020 and 2022\. Between 2021 and 2022, the Edelman Family Foundation gave $675,000\. The [Adolph Coors Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Adolph%5FCoors%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news), the private foundation of the Coors brewing family, gave $30,000 in 2021. Like American Studio, the Manhattan Institute took in a substantial amount of money in anonymous donations from donor-advised funds. For example, it received more than $630,000 through Schwab Charitable between July 2019 and June 2023, representing Schwab’s 2020 to 2023 fiscal years. It got more than $1 million through Vanguard Charitable, $1.9 million through Fidelity Charitable, $100,000 through Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, and $77,000 through the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund from July 2019 to June 2022\. The American Endowment Foundation funneled $22,000 to the institute between 2020 and 2021. The institute received funding through right-wing donor-advised funds as well. It raked in nearly $600,000 from DonorsTrust between 2020 and 2022\. Another $30,600 came through the National Christian Charitable Foundation and $65,000 from the [Bradley Impact Fund](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bradley%5FImpact%5FFund&ref=importantcontext.news), a donor-advised fund affiliated with the Bradley Foundation which *Mother Jones* recently [reported](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/04/bradly-impact-fund-michael-flynn-stephen-miller-culture-war-project-veritas-american-first-legal-cpi/?ref=importantcontext.news) represents mostly money from just four large donors. While the institute did not respond to a request for comment on Rufo’s salary, and the activist was not forthcoming, top senior fellows can earn over $400,000 according to the group’s latest IRS Form 990\. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Hillsdale College** Rufo is also a [distinguished fellow](https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2023/10/college-names-chris-rufo-as-distinguished-fellow/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the right-wing Hillsdale College. Hillsdale is a small, Christian liberal arts school in Michigan with a separate campus in Washington, D.C. that has become a central player in the world of right-wing politics. Hillsdale is known as an incubator for conservative operatives and for its [ties](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/21/trump-ally-1619-project-500464?ref=importantcontext.news) to Donald Trump. For example, following Trump’s criticisms of the *The New York Times*’ “1619 Project,” Hillsdale [released](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/21/trump-ally-1619-project-500464?ref=importantcontext.news) a “1776 Curriculum.” In the aftermath of Trump’s defeat, for example, *The New York Times* [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/magazine/hillsdale-2020-election.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that Hillsdale’s top brass promoted the Big Lie, and got involved in the scheme to keep him in power. The school has also [given fellowships](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) to right-wing [contrarian doctors](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big) like Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya. Hillsdale has gotten big money from a number of foundations of wealthy right-wingers. For example, from December 2019 to November 2022, the Adolph Coors Foundation gave $662,000\. The Charles Koch Foundation gave $116,000 and the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation gave $80,000 from 2020 to 2022\. $157,000 from Thomas Smith’s foundation. The school has also received millions in untraceable funding through mainstream donor-advised funds. Hillsdale got nearly $12.2 million through Schwab Charitable Fund between the fund’s 2020 and 2023 fiscal years, running July 2019 to June 2023\. It got $4.4 million through Vanguard Charitable, $9.8 million through Fidelity Charitable, nearly $2 million through Morgan Stanley Charitable Fund, and $10,000 through the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund between those donor-advised funds’ 2020 and 2022 fiscal years. DonorsTrust funneled more than $2.6 million and the National Christian Charitable Foundation gave $2.2 million to Hillsdale from 2020 to 2022\. The Bradley Impact Fund dished out $44,000 between 2021 and 2022. Neither Rufo nor Hillsdale responded to our question about payment for the fellowship. **The Heritage Foundation** In 2020, Rufo was a [visiting fellow](https://web.archive.org/web/20201001191443/https://www.heritage.org/staff/christopher-rufo) for domestic policy studies at the [Heritage Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news), one of the most influential right-wing think tanks in the country. It has worked to undermine climate science, public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, organized labor, and voting rights. The foundation’s donors represent some of the largest corporate and wealthy interests in the country, including names like Koch, Uihlein, Thomas Smith, and the Coors family. They include Leonard Leo’s The 85 Fund and the Bradley Foundation. Over the years, Heritage has taken millions in untraceable money from donor-advised funds—Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund, DonorsTrust, the Bradley Impact Fund, and the National Christian Charitable Foundation. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **The Claremont Institute** After his stint at Heritage, Rufo was a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, another major right-wing think tank which the *New York Times* has [called](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/magazine/claremont-institute-conservative.html?ref=importantcontext.news) a “nerve center of the American Right.” Claremont’s vice chairman is Hillsdale College’s president, Larry P. Arnn, who promoted 2020 election denial and worked to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of the results. Meanwhile, Claremont scholar John Eastman, who served as part of Donald Trump’s legal team, was a legal architect of the so-called [fake elector scheme](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/politics/fake-electors-explained-trump-jan-6.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Like Heritage, the institute has been supported by big right-wing donors including Smith. It also receives big money through donor-advised funds. **The Discovery Institute** Rufo similarly had a research fellowship at the Discovery Institute, a Christian right think tank that opposes the theory of evolution. The institute supported Rufo’s work even after his departure, giving his now-defunct Documentary Foundation $225,000 in 2021\. The institute has received money from billionaire Charles Koch’s foundation. However, most of what it took in came through donor-advised funds. Nearly $5.8 million came from DonorsTrust and about $2.5 million from the National Christian Charitable Foundation. Between July 2019 and June 2022, Fidelity Charitable funneled over $760,000 to the institute. From July 2019 to June 2023 Schwab Charitable passed along more than $1 million. ### INTERVIEW: Yale Professor Speaks Out About Pro-Palestine Student Protests URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/interview-yale-professor-speaks-out/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:56.000Z This week, *Important Context* interviewed epidemiologist and activist Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor at Yale School of Public Health and Yale Law School, about the pro-Palestine student demonstrations at his school. Gonsalves has been an outspoken defender of the demonstrators and a critic of the decision by his university’s administration to crack down and involve the police, which led to arrests last month. In a piece for the *Yale Daily News*, he wrote that “Protest on campus is part of higher education, despite what some of my own colleagues would like to think.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “It is preparation for citizenship and active participation in democracy; it is learning about moral choices that face us as adults; it is about bearing witness and about putting our own bodies on the line and not remaining silent in the face of injustice,” Gonsalves continued. Yale was not alone in its decision to involve police. Other schools across the country have similarly responded to the protests. In fact, this wave of student demonstrations began after Columbia University called the police on its demonstrators, leading to over 200 arrests. But Gonsalves rejects the necessity of such actions, noting “They did not have to do this” and citing examples of previous protests where the schools, including Yale, did not invite a police response. “You never put law enforcement in the mix,” he said. “It only makes things worse.” Gonsalves has been pushing back in general on attacks against the students. Although they have been largely peaceful, the demonstrators have faced accusations of widespread antisemitism and criticisms of their occupation-style tactics along with the brute force of the police at the behest of school officials. Political leaders have even weighed in, including President Biden, who suggested the demonstrators were getting out of hand and [declared](https://newrepublic.com/article/181282/biden-speech-student-protests-trumpian-response?ref=importantcontext.news) that “order must prevail.” Gonsalves said he doesn’t think much of these characterizations. The professor acknowledged that while there is certainly antisemitism and other forms of bigotry on campuses, the idea that institutions of higher learning are breeding grounds for hate is completely unsupported—and a deliberate bad faith effort to undermine the students and academia. “Antisemitism on campuses is a real thing, even if it's imported by right-wing provocateurs,” Gonsalves said. “But this is the way in which \[far-right activist\] Chris Rufo is figuring out how to sort of divide and conquer American universities because he takes something that has real real truth to it, and uses a wedge to divide people from each other.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The hand-wringing critiques of the current pro-Palestine protests echo responses to earlier demonstrations that have not held up well as the years have gone on. According to [polling](https://news.gallup.com/vault/246167/protests-seen-harming-civil-rights-movement-60s.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) from Gallup, Americans took a similarly dismal view of protests during the Civil Rights Movement. A poll taken a in May 1964, less than a year after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the mall in Washington, D.C., a staggering 74 percent of Americans said they felt mass demonstrations were harming the civil rights cause. King himself had [noted](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1667313883642083#) weakness of white moderates as allies, declaring “these are the people who stand in the way of progress because they are committed only in a lukewarm manner—and every time you move to try to solve the problem they will respond by saying ‘you’re moving too fast; you ought to cool off; you should put on brakes’—and they end up more devoted to order than to justice.” Gonsalves said that much of the pushback against the students is rooted in the fact that the protests are so potent and challenging entrenched power. “These are sort of class-based, race-based values that people have that, ‘things are good for me right now; don't upset the applecart; we don't need to give special treatment to different groups of people; we don't have to engage in these issues,’” Gonsalves said, noting the resistance to the protests. “And of course, you know, as some commentators have said, in 20, 30 years…people \[will be\] saying how right the protesters were to push for a ceasefire, etc, during the current moment. But you and I will remember that university presidents, liberal commentators—leave the right wing out of this—the liberal commentators and university presidents really, you know, did the bidding of the Netanyahu government here.” *Important Context* also asked Gonsalves about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the H5N1 avian flu. Watch the full interview here: ### Fidelity Charitable Once Again Allowing Donations to UNRWA URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fidelity-charitable-once-again-allowing/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:57.000Z Last month, *Important Context* [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/major-us-charity-blocks-donations) with *Rolling Stone* that Fidelity Charitable, the nation’s largest grant-making organization, had cut off funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Gaza’s most essential relief group—all while still allowing charitable gifts to hate and pro-Israel groups. Less than two weeks later, however, Fidelity Charitable has restored UNRWA USA on its donor-advised fund platform, *Important Context* has confirmed. Donors using the platform can once again give to the relief group. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The decision to remove UNRWA USA in the first place followed allegations made by Israel that 12 of its 13,000 employees were involved in the deadly October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. In our report, we noted that various countries, including the U.S., had suspended donations to the organization over the claims, but several had resumed funding as Israel failed to provide evidence. Moreover, we noted that a report from UNRWA alleged that its employees detained by Israel had been coerced into involuntary confessions. A Fidelity Charitable spokesperson had initially provided us with a statement about the decision to cut off UNRWA, explaining that “Under policies set by its independent board of trustees, Fidelity Charitable conducts a robust review of each grant recommendation to ensure grants are made only to IRS-qualified public charities, that those public charities are not under investigation by governmental authorities regarding potential breaches of applicable law, and that those granted funds are used solely for proper charitable purposes, and without impermissible benefits to donors or any other person.” They added that “Fidelity Charitable looks at each grant at the time it is recommended to ensure the organization is in good standing.” Fidelity Charitable did not respond to our request for comment on the decision to restore UNRWA on its platform. However, advocates for funding the relief group are pleased. Muhi Khwaja of the American Muslim Community Foundation, who started a Change.org [petition](https://www.change.org/p/urge-fidelity-charitable-to-reinstate-unrwa-on-their-giving-platform?ref=importantcontext.news) in late February to get Fidelity Charitable to reverse the UNRWA ban, garnering over 600 signatures, [posted](https://www.change.org/p/urge-fidelity-charitable-to-reinstate-unrwa-on-their-giving-platform/u/32565257?cs%5Ftk=AjeRbp1UrVWeT0HRPGYAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvJJMvNrZr-%5FTUsIKKUOLBI0%3D&utm%5Fcampaign=583738b9a64a4484aa4f01e1a5b060b8&utm%5Fcontent=initial%5Fv0%5F7%5F1&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=petition%5Fupdate&utm%5Fterm=cs) a celebratory announcement on Thursday. “I want to thank each and everyone of you for signing the petition, calling customer service, and showcasing why UNRWA should have never been taken off of Fidelity Charitable and other giving platforms,” it read. “Your collective voice alongside UNRWA's staff made a strong case.” ### COVID Contrarian Doctor Scores Big With Far-Right Funding URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:57.000Z *This piece is published through a partnership with* [*The Center for Media and Democracy*](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* One of the largest right-wing foundations in the U.S. is planning to award a significant sum of money to a prominent opponent of public health efforts to combat the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Last week, the [Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde%5Fand%5FHarry%5FBradley%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news) announced that it is awarding Stanford University Professor Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist known for his opposition to pandemic lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates, with its 2024 Bradley Prize, a $250,000 award. [Previous winners](https://www.bradleyfdn.org/prizes/recipients?ref=importantcontext.news) of the prize include former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Trump’s “judge whisperer” Leonard Leo, former attorney general and Reagan administration stalwart Edwin Meese III, and other prominent conservatives. “Jay is a visionary who stands for the integrity of scientific debate and the promotion of sound public policy,” Bradley Foundation President Rick Graber is quoted as saying in the foundation’s [press release](https://www.wisbusiness.com/2024/the-bradley-foundation-announces-dr-jay-bhattacharya-as-a-2024-bradley-prize-winner/?ref=importantcontext.news).“During the most challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, he defended Americans’ abilities to make informed choices in the face of immense pressure. He did not conform to the prevailing orthodoxies about aspects of the pandemic that we now know were often fostered without full access to or analysis of data. Jay’s relentless pursuit of scientific freedom has benefitted millions.” In addition to Bhattacharya, other recipients of this year’s Bradley Prize are Samuel Gregg, the Friedrich Hayek chair in economics and economic history at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a libertarian think tank also funded by the Bradley Foundation, and William Barclay Allen, who [chaired](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/designation-william-barclay-allen-chairman-the-commission-civil-rights?ref=importantcontext.news) the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under President Reagan and is now the emeritus dean of James Madison College and a professor at Michigan State University. The Bradley Foundation, which was founded in 1942, [describes](https://www.bradleyfdn.org/about/our-history?ref=importantcontext.news) itself as “the philanthropic legacy of two brothers, Lynde and Harry Bradley.” As the Center for Media and Democracy’s [Sourcewatch page](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lynde%5Fand%5FHarry%5FBradley%5FFoundation?ref=importantcontext.news) for the organization notes, Harry Bradley was reportedly an original charter member of the far-right John Birch Society along with Fred Koch, father of the infamous Koch brothers—billionaire right-wing power brokers Charles and the now-deceased David. The Milwaukee-based foundation is no longer run by the family, but with assets totaling roughly $1 billion, it has been one of the largest funders of right-wing and pro-business causes since the 1960s. It has been a reliable and prolific funder of groups [working to restrict voting rights](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie?ref=importantcontext.news) and [oppose green energy policy](https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-dead-industrialists-funding-climate-denialism/?ref=importantcontext.news), and its coffers have been [weaponized](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/05/05/documents-detail-bradley-foundation-efforts-build-right-wing-infrastructure-nationwide/?ref=importantcontext.news) by far-right operatives on the board who wish to systematically expand and maintain their “infrastructure” at both the state and national levels. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Few organizations can credibly claim to rival the foundation’s influence and access on the Right. One of its board members, [Cleta Mitchell](https://insurrectionexposed.org/mitchell-cleta/?ref=importantcontext.news), participated in Trump’s [January 2021 phone call](https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/953823383/attorney-on-call-with-trump-and-georgia-officials-resigns-from-law-firm?ref=importantcontext.news) to pressure Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes for him to be declared the winner in that state. Early on in the pandemic, as states were shutting down to combat the spread of the coronavirus, right-wing dark money groups aligned with wealthy and business interests began [pushing](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) to reopen the economy. The Bradley Foundation was no exception, using its vast financial resources to [support these efforts](https://www.prwatch.org/news/2020/07/13600/bradley-foundation-bankrolled-right-wing-reopen-effort-despite-rising-coronavirus?ref=importantcontext.news). It dished out big money to the far-right [FreedomWorks](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FreedomWorks&ref=importantcontext.news) Foundation, giving $275,000 for “general operations” and another $100,000 to "support the Save Our Country initiative,” a joint project with the [American Legislative Exchange Council](http://alecexposed.org/?ref=importantcontext.news), [Tea Party Patriots](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tea%5FParty%5FPatriots&ref=importantcontext.news), and the [Committee to Unleash Prosperity](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Committee%5Fto%5FUnleash%5FProsperity&ref=importantcontext.news) aimed at rolling back states’ stay-at-home orders. FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots were also among the groups that [backed](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/04/22/groups-aligned-right-wing-megadonors-promoting-coronavirus-protests/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-lockdown protests in various states. Bhattacharya [lent his voice](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Groups%20funded%20by%20the%20Kochs,to%20attack%20COVID%20mitigation%20policies.) to the Right’s initial demands to reopen and later to combat public health interventions. In late March 2020, *The Wall Street Journal* published his [op-ed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-11585088464?ref=importantcontext.news) questioning whether COVID was really as dangerous as global health authorities were making it out to be and arguing that there was insufficient evidence to support disruptive lockdown measures. The following month, he was a lead author on an influential seroprevalence study purporting to show that COVID was significantly more infectious—but less deadly—than authorities were claiming. The study had a number of [significant problems](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news), including methodological issues and undisclosed funding by the founder of JetBlue, a vocal opponent of lockdowns, according to a Stanford whistleblower complaint. That month, Bhattacharya also penned an editorial for the Cato Institute arguing against Medicare for all. A few months later, in October 2020, Bhattacharya co-wrote the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter advocating for a strategy of limited government interventions to control the spread of COVID, recommending instead that the virus be allowed to circulate to everyone but the most vulnerable to achieve herd immunity. The letter, which provided scientific veneer to an idea that had been percolating on the Right for months, was written and signed at a conference hosted by AIER. The Trump administration also had a hand in making the conference happen, allowing one of the co-authors to bypass international travel restrictions. Once published, the declaration was heavily criticized by mainstream public health officials. The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called it “unethical” and 14 public health groups led by the American Public Health Association decried it in an [open letter](https://apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/public-health-orgs-condemn-sars-covid2-plan?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Bhattacharya has also expressed contrarian views regarding COVID vaccines and government mandates. He has suggested that for [young people](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/558757-the-ill-advised-push-to-vaccinate-the-young/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [anyone previously infected](https://theprint.in/opinion/majority-indians-have-natural-immunity-vaccinating-entire-population-can-cause-great-harm/582174/?ref=importantcontext.news) with COVID, the risks of getting vaccinated may outweigh the benefits. Although Bhattacharya has [claimed](https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1567947434814504961?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that he does not receive compensation for his speaking engagements, in just a few short years his contrarian advocacy has paid off. The Bradley award—and prize money—are just the latest examples of how the professor has profited from his extremist public health positions. Bhattacharya has a sinecure as *the* go-to “expert” on all things pandemic-related for the political Right in the U.S. and abroad thanks in large part to his Stanford professorship and medical degree. Bhattacharya has had remarkable access to wealthy right-wing businessmen like [Elon Musk](https://nypost.com/2022/12/12/elon-musk-invites-blacklisted-stanford-professor-dr-jay-bhattacharya-to-twitter-headquarters/?ref=importantcontext.news) as well as to GOP political leaders. He has had personal meetings with a sitting president (Trump) and key members of his administration to discuss COVID policy and has advised state governments on their pandemic responses as well. He has served as an expert witness before Congress and in court cases over COVID policies in various states—though with [mixed results](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity). Several judges have [questioned](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity) Bhattacharya’s credibility, including a U.S. district court judge who noted that he had “offered opinions regarding…a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak” and that “his demeanor and tone while testifying suggest that he is advancing a personal agenda." In the 2024 election cycle, Bhattacharya has been embraced by presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who has since dropped out of the race, and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy, Jr. Last month, the professor was one of the [speakers](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-intends-name-attorney-nicole-shanahan-vp-pick-rcna144983?ref=importantcontext.news) at Kennedy’s vice presidential announcement event naming Silicon Valley attorney and major donor Nicole Shanahan as his choice for the other half of his ticket. Two weeks later, Bhattacharya [hosted](https://www.illusionconsensus.com/p/ep-46-nicole-shanahan-on-her-vice?ref=importantcontext.news) Shanahan on his contrarian public health-focused podcast, *Illusion of Consensus*. As part of the exclusive and friendly interview, she thanked him for speaking out against COVID mitigation measures and “weathering the storm” of backlash. Days later, Shanahan [revealed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/kennedy-vp-pick-goes-mask-off-anti) on X—”formerly Twitter—that she is against the Moderna COVID vaccine, is calling for it to be recalled, and is directing her followers to listen to the advice of two notorious anti-vaxxer doctors. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Since expressing his extremist views about public health measures, Bhattacharya has been showered with titles and given various roles at right-wing and libertarian institutions including the Hoover Institution, Hillsdale College, the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute), and Collateral Global. He has also had a huge microphone through right-wing think tanks and media outlets like [Fox News](https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news). He has accepted various speaking engagements for right-wing groups like the influential [Council for National Policy](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council%5Ffor%5FNational%5FPolicy&ref=importantcontext.news), a “shadow network” that author and investigative journalist Anne Nelson [says](https://newrepublic.com/article/156431/how-powerful-council-national-policy-right-wing-shadow-network?ref=importantcontext.news) connects "the manpower and media of the Christian right with the finances of Western plutocrats and the strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives.” Bhattacharya has even benefited from [free legal representation](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) by a litigation outfit founded with seed money from Charles Koch to wage a legal war against the Biden administration’s limited efforts to combat online misinformation. Winners of the Bradley Prize are chosen by a “selection committee” that chooses three recipients each year based on nominations from “persons prominent in their fields” solicited by Bradley’s president. Bhattacharya will accept the Bradley Prize at the end of May but did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story. ### Major U.S. Charity Blocks Donations to Gaza Relief Agency Amid Starvation URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/major-us-charity-blocks-donations/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:58.000Z *This story was published in partnership with* [*Rolling Stone*](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/fidelity-charitable-donations-gaza-relief-unrwa-1235007400/?ref=importantcontext.news). Fidelity Charitable, the largest grant-making organization in the United States, has removed the most impactful relief organization in Gaza from its catalog while still allowing funding for pro-Israel nonprofits and hate-groups, *Important Context* has confirmed. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Donors using the Fidelity Charitable donor-advised fund are no longer able to give money to the U.S. arm of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the largest international aid organization in Gaza. UNRWA USA, which provides support for the agency’s humanitarian work in Gaza, no longer shows up in a search of eligible nonprofits on the Fidelity Charitable platform. With about 3,000 staff still on the ground, UNRWA provides essential medical and educational services to Gazans and has the most developed aid distribution infrastructure in the region. The decision by Fidelity Charitable to remove the aid group was made without fanfare or a public announcement. While Fidelity Charitable only transferred [$263,000](https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/content/dam/fc-public/docs/fc/fc-990-fy-2022-schedule-i.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to UNRWA in its 2022 fiscal year, which runs from July 2021 to June 2022, its decision to cut off donations to the organization comes at a critical time, amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, when its work is needed more than ever. In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200, Israel has led a brutal siege on Gaza that has killed more than 30,000, displaced millions, and left much of the population at imminent risk of famine. At least 178 UNRWA [employees](https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2024/04/the-situation-in-the-middle-east-including-the-palestinian-question-briefing-on-the-un-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa.php?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20UNRWA,UNRWA%20healthcare%20centres%20remaining%20operational.) have been killed during the Israeli war in Gaza. Despite the overwhelming need, the U.S. and some countries have pulled funding for UNRWA, based on Israeli allegations that 12 of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. This week, UNRWA issued a [report](https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/summary%5Fon%5Fdetention%5Fand%5Falleged%5Fill-treatmentupdated.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) [alleging](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-04-17/ty-article/.premium/unrwa-israeli-army-forced-staff-to-confess-ties-to-hamas-using-torture/0000018e-ed4f-d5d5-a59f-ef5f32280000?ref=importantcontext.news) that its workers detained by Israel were “pressured during interrogations to make forced confessions against the agency” to support these claims — and that the abuses included “treatment akin to waterboarding.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Donor-advised funds like Fidelity Charitable pool money from numerous funders and allow the donors to choose where to send the money. There are a number of perks to this arrangement, including anonymity — the public has little way of knowing which donor to the fund is directing money to which recipient. It also provides tax benefits: Once a donor’s money is sunk into a donor-advised fund, they receive an immediate tax deduction. Opacity is a main reason why donor-advised funds have become a popular vehicle for funding controversial causes like [anti-vaccine groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled) and hate groups. In 2019, Sludge [reported](https://readsludge.com/2019/02/19/americas-biggest-charities-are-funneling-millions-to-hate-groups-from-anonymous-donors/?ref=importantcontext.news) that Fidelity Charitable had been used to transfer funds to more than 30 organizations identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as hate groups. A progressive donor-advised fund, the Amalgamated Foundation, encouraged other organizations organized this way to block donations to hate groups. Over 100 donor-advised funds [signed on to this campaign](https://amalgamatedfoundation.org/insights-and-initiatives/hate-is-not-charitable?ref=importantcontext.news). Fidelity Charitable has not. The mechanisms used by Fidelity Charitable to both list and delist potential fund recipients remain shrouded in mystery. Fidelity Charitable has long funded right-wing groups as well as SPLC-designated hate groups. Since 2014, Fidelity Charitable has donated [more than $4 million](https://newrepublic.com/article/172927/fidelity-schwab-vanguard-charitable-donor-advised-funds-hate-groups?ref=importantcontext.news) to the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which the Southern Poverty Law Center notes is an anti-Muslim hate group. Over the years, Fidelity Charitable has also given tens of millions of dollars to organizations that support Israel, including groups now backing the country’s war efforts in Gaza. In its 2022 fiscal year alone, Fidelity Charitable funneled $2.7 million to the American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the nation’s most powerful pro-Israel lobby group. AIPAC has been working to oust pro-ceasefire lawmakers and ensure continued U.S. support for Israel’s far-right government and its war in Gaza. Fidelity Charitable also gave $2.2 million to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, which [boasts](https://www.fidf.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) on its website that it is “the sole organization authorized to collect charitable donations on behalf of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces across the United States of America.” The donor-advised fund also delivered $19.5 million to the Central Fund of Israel, which [funds](https://theintercept.com/2021/05/14/israel-settler-evictions-jerusalem-nonprofits/?ref=importantcontext.news) Israeli settlement organizations that work to displace Palestinians. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Fidelity Charitable has long claimed to be “cause-neutral,” with an organization’s eligibility decided by whether or not it is an IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) charity, the donor-advised fund deplatformed UNRWA USA despite its good standing with the IRS. Meanwhile, Fidelity Charitable continues to allow contributions to the pro-Israel groups cited in this article and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Those organizations are still listed as eligible nonprofits on its platform. *“*Fidelity Charitable is a cause-neutral independent 501(c)(3) public charity and supports donor-recommended grantmaking to a wide range of charitable organizations as recommended by its donors,” says a spokesperson for the organization. “These recommended grants do not reflect the views of, or represent an endorsement by, Fidelity Charitable. The spokesperson adds, “Under policies set by its independent board of trustees, Fidelity Charitable conducts a robust review of each grant recommendation to ensure grants are made only to IRS-qualified public charities, that those public charities are not under investigation by governmental authorities regarding potential breaches of applicable law, and that those granted funds are used solely for proper charitable purposes, and without impermissible benefits to donors or any other person. Fidelity Charitable looks at each grant at the time it is recommended to ensure the organization is in good standing.” A [petition](https://www.change.org/p/urge-fidelity-charitable-to-reinstate-unrwa-on-their-giving-platform?ref=importantcontext.news) calling on the Fidelity Charitable to reverse its decision on UNRWA USA funding has been circulating online. It currently has 500 signatures. “The removal of UNRWA from Fidelity Charitable’s giving platform not only undermines these critical efforts but also sends a message that contradicts the spirit of philanthropy itself,” the petition reads. “The UNRWA should not be punished for the unsubstantiated allegations that 12 staff (out of 13,000 staffers in Gaza) were allegedly involved in the events of October 7, 2023.” Fidelity Charitable’s’ removal of UNRWA’s U.S. arm from its platform follows the suspension of approximately $450 million in funding to the relief organization from 16 countries following Israel’s allegations that a handful of its workers were involved in the events of Oct. 7\. To date, no evidence to support these claims has materialized — and UNRWA alleges that the Israeli military abused its workers to extract false confessions. Recently, several countries have lifted their moratoriums on funding to the UNRWA and resumed sending aid to Gaza. However, the U.S., which has historically been the organization’s [largest donor](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-congress-deal-bars-us-funds-unrwa-until-march-2025-sources-say-2024-03-19/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20U.S.,%20UNRWA's%20largest%20donor,on%20a%20rampage%20on%20Oct.) to UNRWA, giving between $300 and 400 million in aid annually, recently passed a ban on federal funding to the organization that will remain effective until March 2025\. Congress is instead considering funneling aid to Gaza through the UN’s World Food Programme and UNICEF. In his plans for Gaza, [released](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-23/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-unveils-israels-plan-for-postwar-gaza-full-demilitarization-and-closing-unrwa/0000018d-d348-df79-a5cd-f37edde10000?ref=importantcontext.news) in February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for dismantling the UNRWA and replacing it with “responsible international aid organizations.” Israel has sought to destroy UNRWA for years, as former State Department official Dr. Annelle Sheline noted in a [recent interview](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fmr-state-department-official-white) with *Important Context*. “I think cutting off aid to UNRWA will go down as one of the most diabolical actions in the end that Israel caused much of the rest of the world to take, just in terms of the levels of support that UNRWA provided to the people in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank,” Sheline said. “UNRWA is something that Israel has tried to get rid of for years, and I think they saw an opportunity here.” *UPDATE: Fidelity Charitable has reinstated UNRWA USA on its donor-advised fund platform as of May 2, 2024\. Read our follow-up story* [*here*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fidelity-charitable-once-again-allowing)*.* ### Kennedy VP Pick Goes Mask-Off Anti-Vax URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/kennedy-vp-pick-goes-mask-off-anti/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:58.000Z When anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. announced Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential pick last month, media outlets were quick to question her views on COVID-19 vaccines. Several, including *Important Context*, [noted](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial) that she had rejected the antivax label while expressing concern for vaccine injury. In an [interview](https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-nicole-shanahan-interview-election-1883389?ref=importantcontext.news) with *Newsweek*, for example, she had defended Kennedy, arguing that “he's not an anti-vaxxer; he's just someone who takes vaccine injuries seriously." But Shanahan has now put that speculation to rest. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) On Tuesday, in a [post](https://x.com/nicoleshanahan/status/1780324062075736161?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Shanahan shared of herself next to her boyfriend, Jacob Strumwasser, vice president of the Bitcoin-related company Lightning Labs, who was wearing a shirt that read, “At least my tin foil hat won’t give me myocarditis”—a reference to a rare but negative side effect of the mRNA COVID vaccines. The jabs are [less likely](https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/08/22/covid-19-infection-poses-higher-risk-for-myocarditis-than-vaccines?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20overall%20risk%20of%20myocarditis,new%20study%20in%20England%20shows.) to cause myocarditis than COVID infection, and the instances are generally less severe. “One of us took 3 doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine, and the other did not. Guess who?” The post read. “Here is the devastating reality: it is not a safe vaccine, and must be recalled immediately. Many people are suffering who took it.” Shanahan then gave a shoutout to two controversial doctors from Texas known for their anti-vaccine views—ear, nose, and throat specialist Dr. Mary Talley Bowden and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough”—who she called “two accounts that provide some helpful insights and resources.” Both [Bowden](https://x.com/mdbreathe/status/1628725263264632833?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) and [McCullough](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34565055/?ref=importantcontext.news) are prolific promoters of quack “early treatments” for COVID like the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin despite the fact that evidence has shown neither is effective against the coronavirus. According to the [profile](https://breathemd.org/drbowden?ref=importantcontext.news) on her practice’s website, Bowden is on the advisory team of the ivermectin-promoting, anti-vax dark money group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance as well as a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a right-wing advocacy group known for its past ties to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and penchant for promoting [conspiracy theories and medical misinformation](https://web.archive.org/web/20101003122126/http://cincinnati.com/blogs/nkypolitics/2010/09/28/paul-medical-group-hiv-doesnt-cause-aids-abortion-increases-breast-cancer-risk/) related to topics like vaccines and abortion. In the 2000s, the group famously [helped](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/11/tea-party-doctors-american-association-physicians-surgeons/?ref=importantcontext.news) tobacco giant Philip Morris combat indoor smoking bans. In August 2020, AAPS [sued](https://casetext.com/case/assn-of-am-physicians-surgeons-v-food-drug-admin?ref=importantcontext.news) the Food and Drug Administration over its revocation of hydroxychloroquine’s emergency use authorization after major studies revealed its ineffectiveness against COVID. Bowden was a party to a later lawsuit against the FDA over its messaging against ivermectin that [ended in a settlement](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/health/fda-ivermectin-lawsuit/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=In%20August%202021%2C%20to%20discourage,You%20are%20not%20a%20cow.). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) McCullough has fought his own battle with the FDA. According to a [report](https://coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2022.08.24%20The%20Trump%20White%20House%E2%80%99s%20Relentless%20Attacks%20on%20FDA%E2%80%99s%20Coronavirus%20Response.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, he was involved in the Trump administration’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get the agency to reauthorize hydroxychloroquine’s emergency use authorization. Bowden and McCullough have also made outlandish claims about the safety of the mRNA vaccines and promoted the false claim that the jabs are responsible for thousands of sudden cardiac deaths. In late January, Bowden, a former member of the [anti-vaccine](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled), ivermectin-promoting group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, [shared](https://x.com/mdbreathe/status/1751991980752539739?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) a clip on X from a crowdfunded anti-vaccine film “Shot Dead,” produced by a right-wing dark money group called “We the Patriots USA.” The clip, which shows family discussing their daughter’s death, features McCullough, claiming to an offscreen interviewer that the mRNA jabs can cause cardiac arrest. “8,986 covid vaccine reported deaths on @OpenVAERS accounting for only 1% of injuries,” Bowden posted, citing unverified alleged vaccine injuries from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database, a notoriously unreliable source. “One family bravely speaks out after @pfizer killed their daughter. @AllenDMartin @WTPatriotsUSA @P\_McCulloughMD Vaccine-induced myocarditis causes a permanent scar. How many children are out there with permanent scars?” In another video [shared](https://x.com/mdbreathe/status/1746887112765350126?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) by Bowden, McCullough states that there ought to be a pause on all new mRNA technology. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Both doctors have faced potential disciplinary action and professional consequences for their anti-vaccine stances—though they are still licensed to practice medicine. In late 2021, Houston Methodist Hospital [suspended](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/houston-methodist-lawsuit-dismissed-bowden-reacts-17757053.php?ref=importantcontext.news) Bowden’s provisional hospital privileges over her spreading misinformation related to the vaccines and ivermectin. Bowden reportedly [emailed](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/River-Oaks-doctor-resigns-from-Houston-Methodist-16623578.php?ref=importantcontext.news) her patients, telling them that her research suggested "the vaccine is not working.” The hospital took the extra step of reporting her to the Texas Medical Board and the National Practitioner Data Bank. Bowden later sued the hospital for defamation but her case was dismissed in March 2023\. The next month, the Texas Medical Board filed a formal complaint against Bowden with the state Office of Administrative Hearings for allegedly violating the Texas Medical Practice Act. The complaint [alleged](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/River-Oaks-doctor-resigns-from-Houston-Methodist-16623578.php?ref=importantcontext.news) that she violated the standard of care and acted unprofessionally by attempting to prescribe ivermectin to a COVID patient, as well as violated doctor-patient confidentiality. Bowden’s hearing is [scheduled for later this month](https://thetexan.news/issues/healthcare/dr-mary-bowden-heads-to-administrative-court-for-texas-medical-board-case-over-covid-19/article%5F42be6b98-fc09-11ee-9ba3-030d4ce4a568.html?ref=importantcontext.news). McCullough, meanwhile, lost his job with Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, in February 2021 for reasons that were not made public. Baylor has since [distanced](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2021/08/13/baylor-health-sues-covid-19-vaccine-skeptic-and-demands-dallas-doctor-stop-using-its-name/?ref=importantcontext.news) itself from his anti-vaccine views and required its employees to be vaccinated. In July 2021, the health group sued McCullough for allegedly [continuing](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2021/08/13/baylor-health-sues-covid-19-vaccine-skeptic-and-demands-dallas-doctor-stop-using-its-name/?ref=importantcontext.news) to use his Baylor titles for media appearances in violation of the terms of his separation agreement. Baylor filed a motion for a restraining order that was later granted by a Dallas County court, arguing that patients may have been avoiding the hospital because of “false affiliations.” In February 2023, the suit was voluntarily dismissed [following a settlement](https://thetexan.news/issues/healthcare/lawsuit-against-dr-peter-mccullough-by-baylor-scott-white-dismissed/article%5F04eec586-e17f-5e6a-85cb-9929a0eed6e9.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Since the suit was filed, Texas A&M College of Medicine, the Texas Christian University, and the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine also reportedly cut ties with the doctor as well. In October 2022, McCullough was [informed](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23242430/abim-decision-on-mccullough.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) that its Credentials and Certifications Committee had recommended revoking his certifications in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease citing his advocacy against the vaccines and claims about COVID. ”In its consideration of this matter, CCC focused particularly on your statements asserting that the mortality risk of COVID-19 is ‘negligible’ for people who are under the ages of 50 or 60, and there is no medical reason for that population to receive COVID-19 vaccines,” the letter read. “The CCC found that those statements are not factual, scientifically based, or consensus driven.” As of the publication of this piece, McCullough [remains](https://www.abim.org/verify-physician?type=name&ln=McCullough&fn=Peter&ref=importantcontext.news) certified by the ABIM. ### Fmr. State Department Official: White House Not “Sufficiently Grappling With the Reality” In Gaza Conflict URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fmr-state-department-official-white/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:59.000Z *Important Context* interviewed a former official with the Biden State Department, who announced their resignation last week over the president’s handling of Israel’s Gaza war. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Annelle Sheline, Ph.D., had been serving as a foreign affairs officer in the State Department’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for the last year. But last week, she publicly announced her departure, citing the devolving situation in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military—and the president’s unwavering support for the war. “Since Hamas’ attack on October 7, Israel has used American bombs in its war in Gaza, which has killed more than [32,000 people](https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-03-22-24/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) — [13,000 of them children](https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/more-13000-children-reported-dead-gaza-famine-nears?ref=importantcontext.news) — with countless others buried under the rubble, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health,” she wrote in an [op-ed](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/27/opinions/gaza-israel-resigning-state-department-sheline/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for CNN. “Israel is [credibly accused of starving](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/un-israel-food-starvation-palestinians-war-crime-genocide?ref=importantcontext.news) the 2 million people who remain, according to the UN special rapporteur on the right to food; a group of charity leaders warns that without adequate aid, [hundreds of thousands](https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2024/02/16/israel-rafah-palestinians-gaza-hunger-starvation/72601130007/?ref=importantcontext.news) more will soon likely join the dead.” Sheline is not the only administration official to leave over the Israel issue. State Department senior official Josh Paul, who was involved in arms transfers to foreign nations, resigned [in October](https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-hamas-dissent-protests-biden-01c52457f840d3a6ec9a852469e2c16f?ref=importantcontext.news) while Department of Education policy adviser Tariq Habash, a Biden appointee who is of Palestinian descent, [followed suit](https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/10/tariq%5Fhabash?ref=importantcontext.news) in January. Initially, Sheline hadn’t planned on making her resignation public given her brief stint in the administration. But, she explained, the urging of likeminded colleagues, who shared her frustration and dismay, drove her decision. “My colleagues and I watched in horror as this administration [delivered thousands of precision-guided munitions, bombs, small arms and other lethal aid to Israel](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/?ref=importantcontext.news) and authorized thousands more[, even bypassing Congress to do so](https://apnews.com/article/us-israel-gaza-arms-hamas-bypass-congress-1dc77f20aac4a797df6a2338b677da4f?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20United%20States%20is%20committed,it%20faces%2C%E2%80%9D%20it%20said.&text=The%20emergency%20determination%20means%20the,requirement%20for%20foreign%20military%20sales.),” she wrote. “We are appalled by the administration’s flagrant disregard for American laws that [prohibit the US from providing assistance to foreign militaries that engage in gross human rights violations](https://www.stimson.org/2023/law-and-policy-guide-to-us-arms-transfers-to-israel/?ref=importantcontext.news) or that [restrict the delivery of humanitarian aid](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section2378-1&num=0&edition=prelim&ref=importantcontext.news).“ [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In her interview with *Important Context*, Sheline explained that the U.S. has leverage over Israel that Biden is not using in the form of conditioning military aid, without which the war could not be fought. She noted that Israel’s war efforts are threatening to not only kill many more innocents, but to descend into a broader regional conflict that could suck in the U.S. For more, watch full video above. ### “Unbought” Kennedy Chooses Major Financial Backer For Running Mate URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/unbought-kennedy-chooses-major-financial/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:06:59.000Z Last month, anti-vaccine activist and independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. posted an [ad](https://youtu.be/-Xtf6dk0ngI?si=ttURJQ7rM9imuB6u&ref=importantcontext.news) on YouTube targeting young voters, declaring himself “the most feared and hated candidate among the elites in Washington, D.C. because I'm not bought and I'm not buyable by corporate interests or by the big lobbyists.” Kennedy has long sought to position himself as a political outsider and thorn in the side of elites even while leaning into his family’s rich political history and offering incentives to donors like a chance to win “an afternoon [sailing](https://www.kennedy24.com/sailing-sweepstakes?ref=importantcontext.news) on the Pacific” with him. When Kennedy announced his run as an independent back in April 2023, campaign manager Dennis Kucinich [declared](https://www.kennedy24.com/rfk-jr-boston-run-president?ref=importantcontext.news) “A Kennedy Democrat is unbought and unbossed,” referencing Shirley Chisholm’s famous autobiography. His campaign slogan even reads, “Declare your independence.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) But as he addressed supporters in Oakland, CA, on Tuesday, the environmental attorney named in the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s “Disinformation Dozen” report as one of the most prolific spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media, announced as his running mate a major financial backer from Silicon Valley. Nicole Shanahan, ex-wife of former Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who she divorced amid [rumors](https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/politics/nicole-shanahan-vp-rfk-jr/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) of an affair with far right billionaire [conspiracy theorist](https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24111405/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-immigration-don-lemon?ref=importantcontext.news) Elon Musk, has a limited resume for someone looking to be second-in-line for the nation’s top job. New to the national political scene, the tech entrepreneur and intellectual property attorney runs a foundation that directs money to popular causes among Silicon Valley tech elites, including extending women’s fertility window, and the environment. But what she lacks in political experience and name recognition, the 38-year-old Shanahan more than makes up for in money. She has been Democratic donor for years, having given to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Marianne Williamson and Joe Biden during the 2020 cycle, as well as a handful of congressional campaigns. More recently, Shanahan has been a major backer of Kennedy’s. She gave the maximum $6,000 to his Democratic presidential primary campaign. After he dropped out and opted to run as an independent, she continued her support. Shanahan was behind the 30-second pro-Kennedy Super Bowl ad that drew backlash from the candidate’s family for immitating an ad from former President John F. Kennedy. Shanahan gave the super PAC American Values 2024 $4 million for the ad and reportedly helped with production. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) In an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pjRr7CAI8s&ref=importantcontext.news) earlier this month with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, Kennedy vowed he “would never choose a vice presidential candidate based on how much money they have.” There is no denying, however, the benefit Shanahan’s wealth brings to the campaign, which is currently facing a costly battle to get on the ballot in all 50 states. As Kennedy’s running mate, she can spend her vast resources on the effort. Shanahan does have a story seemingly tailor-made for politics. Having grown up on welfare in a single-parent home, she became a successful patent attorney and entrepreneur before marrying into the nation’s economic elite. In a email to supporters, Kennedy’s campaign described her as “an accomplished attorney, philanthropist, and entrepreneur who has shattered glass ceilings in the tech industry.” “Her extraordinary accomplishments include founding philanthropic organizations dedicated to reproductive health for older parents and programs to help end poverty,” it read. “But most of all, Nicole is a real person–not a professional politician. She understands the fight we face as Americans is BIGGER than Politics!” But Shanahan’s views on matters like vaccines are bound to raise questions. She has a daughter with Brin who is autistic. Although she denies being an anti-vaxxer—a label she also rejects for Kennedy—she has [said](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/26/who-is-nicole-shanahan-robert-kennedy-running-mate?ref=importantcontext.news) “I do wonder about vaccine injuries.” The speaker list for Tuesday’s VP announcement included prolific Stanford University professor and Hoover Institution fellow [Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity), who has made a number of [dubious claims](https://www.salon.com/2022/12/16/why-elon-musk-and-right-wing-pundits-are-cheering-a-doctor-with-questionable-vaccine-views/?ref=importantcontext.news) related to COVID-19 mitigation measures including lockdowns and mRNA vaccines, as well as anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree. ### Concentration Camps, Transphobia, and Election Denial: Anti-Vaccine Groups Rally Outside Supreme Court In Defense of Misinformation URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/anti-vaccine-groups-rally-outside/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:00.000Z (*Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker at the “Rally to Reclaim Free Speech.”*) Anti-vaccine groups rallied outside the Supreme Court today as the high court heard arguments in a case that could severely curtail the federal government’s ability to regulate online misinformation. Speakers issued dire warnings about censorship, Big Tech, concentration camps, the ruling class, Bill Gates and his “potions” (the COVID vaccines), and COVID-19 lockdowns. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The “Rally to Reclaim Free Speech” was [organized](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/the-rally-to-reclaim-free-speech/?ref=importantcontext.news#event-info) by Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense and sponsored by a number of other anti-vaccine groups including Informed Consent Action Network, activist Del Bigtree’s group, Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which is known for promoting the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a COVID treatment the fact that it is not effective for that purpose, and the [Brownstone Institute](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy), a well-funded dark money group serving as a hub pandemic-related misinformation. Also sponsoring the rally were two anti-vaccine adjacent organizations, TrialSite News and Liber-Net. The former presents itself as a site dedicated to “independent biomedical research-focused journalism” and an antidote to “mainstream media and government” seeking “to censor scientists, doctors, and health advocates with differing opinions, thus repressing opinions and enforcing a singular narrative on all things related to public health.” The site amplifies [research](https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/ivermectin-delivers-statistically-significant-results-against-covid-19-including-omicron-in-saive-trial-e57cf723?ref=importantcontext.news) purporting to show ivermectin as an effective COVID treatment. Liber-Net is a project of Brownstone Institute [fellow](https://brownstone.org/author/andrew-lowenthal/?ref=importantcontext.news) Andrew Lowenthal, who has [claimed](https://networkaffects.substack.com/p/launching-liber-net-a-digital-civil) that the “Covid crisis…ushered in a new level of authoritarianism, much of it made possible by digital technologies, but also by a new ‘progressive’ culture that craves the hammer of state power.” Liber-Net’s website warns that “Under the cloak of countering ‘misinformation,’ governments, NGOs, academics, and Big Tech now often collaborate to suppress information, ideas, and opinions expressed by everyday people. Meanwhile biometric ID systems are being built to control people’s movements and access, and digital currencies threaten citizen’s basic right to economic independence.” The site claims to combat “this new authoritarianism in order to reestablish free speech and civil liberties as the default standard for our networked age” with “journalism, research, media-making, events and network building.” The groups behind the rally are hoping to see the Supreme Court rebuke government efforts to crack down on online misinformation related to COVID-19\. The precedent *Murthy v. Missouri* could set is expansive. Initially filed as *Missouri v. Biden* in May 2022 by two Republican attorneys general, Eric Schmidt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana, the case deals with questions about the limits of government speech. On the line is the ability of government agencies to even make requests to social media companies that they take steps to regulate misleading content on their platforms. This potential is not lost on the groups rallying on Monday. On the [event page](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/the-rally-to-reclaim-free-speech/?ref=importantcontext.news#event-info) for the rally, Children’s Health Defense answers “WHY THIS CASE? WHY NOW?” “SCOTUS’s ruling in this case will have **far-reaching implications** for the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment that Americans have enjoyed since the Founding Fathers,” it explains. “Justices will hear oral arguments while freedom-loving advocates for free speech and no censorship gather outside to exercise our free speech rights. Let your voice be heard!” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Throughout the COVID pandemic, misinformation has been killer—particularly anti-vaccine misinformation. Widespread vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. has led to a significant amount of preventable suffering. The unvaccinated have consistently been infected, hospitalized, and killed by COVID at far higher rates than the vaccinated. For years, the Biden administration has sought to get major social media companies to address misinformation on their platforms about not just the jabs but other topics like the 2020 election and Hunter Biden’s laptop. Those efforts have ultimately consisted of tough public rhetoric—Biden accused Facebook of “killing people” in July 2021 as the Delta wave was taking shape and vaccine uptake [slowed](https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-july-2021/?ref=importantcontext.news)—and communicating with the companies behind the scenes, making requests for changes and content moderation. The *Missouri* lawsuit alleged that the administration had coerced social media giants into censoring and suppressing “free speech, including truthful information, related to COVID-19, election integrity, and other topics, under the guise of combating 'misinformation'." The suit was later joined by a number of private social media users who claimed they had been the victims of government censorship. The new plaintiffs—individuals who had content been flagged as misinformation like Drs. Jay Bhattacharya of the right-wing Hoover Institution and Martin Kulldorff of the Brownstone Institute—were [represented](https://nclalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Second-Amended-Complaint-Missouri-v.-Biden.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) pro bono by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a business-aligned litigation outfit that receives significant funding from petrochemical billionaire and right-wing mega-funder Charles Koch. The case gained more attention after December 2022 when Elon Musk’s so-called Twitter Files releases showed how both the Trump and Biden administrations had communicated with Twitter and made requests for certain tweets to be removed. For example, the White House COVID response team [emailed](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/17/supreme-court-social-media-disinformation-censorship/72936443007/?ref=importantcontext.news) Twitter requesting a tweet from Kennedy baselessly suggesting that baseball legend Hank Aaron’s death had been due to vaccination. Despite the fact that the company only ever acted on a fraction of the government’s requests, that cooperation was painted as proof of censorship by the political right and medical contrarians. Twitter Files COVID edition reporter [David Zweig](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter), who, in January 2022, [argued against](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that children receive COVID boosters, [declared](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1607378386338340867?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that Twitter and the government had "rigged" the COVID debate, censoring legitimate dissent. On July 4 last year, the Trump-appointed district court judge, Terry Doughty, ruled against the government, finding that officials in both the Trump and Biden administrations had coerced social media companies to censor content that would fuel anti-vaccine sentiment in violation of the First Amendment. Doughty issued a sweeping preliminary injunction prohibiting the government from communicating with the companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected speech” and from working with non-governmental actors toward those ends. The Biden administration appealed and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ultimately [vacated](https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/court-reduces-restrictions-on-biden-administration-contact-with-social-media-platforms/?ref=importantcontext.news) much of Doughty’s order. However, it did agree that the government had been “significantly entangled” in the companies’ moderation decision in violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court put a hold on the injunction and agreed to hear the case back in October. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) The administration is [denying](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-411/293780/20231219192259919%5F23-411ts%20Murthy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) that it ever coerced social media companies, noting that officials never threatened any consequences for refusing requests. The case has public policy groups like the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School nervous. The center filed an amicus brief with the high court, explaining the importance to American democracy of having accurate election information, and urging the justices “not to adopt a rule that prevents or chills communications between social media companies and local, state, and federal government officials.” At Monday’s rally, psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty, a plaintiff in the case who lost his job in December 2021 at the UC Irvine School of Medicine over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID, told the crowd that the government had “censored” him and his fellow plaintiffs was because “the things we were saying were threatening to their power; were threatening to their interests; were threatening to their preferred policies; were embarrassing because they were wrong and we were right on things like the harms of lockdowns, on things like natural immunity, on things like the risks and benefits and safety issues with the COVID vaccines.” Kheriaty said the government’s job was not to determine what is true and false, but only what is legal speech and illegal speech, warning that the government’s moderation requests were “the seedbed of totalitarianism.” He suggested that failure to protect speech questioning the safety of COVID vaccines and the integrity of the 2020 election—which he characterized as “speech that challenges the reining ideology”—was the road to “concentration camps.” “If they can do it on issues related to public health; if they can do it on issues related to the elections, they can do it on anything,” he said, going on to say government was censoring on topics like abortion and “gender ideology,” the right-wing term for recognition of the existence of transgender Americans. “Take any lightning rod, debated, contested question in American public life, the federal government had its thumb on the scale and was trying to suppress and censor the speech of ordinary Americans,” he said. Another speaker, Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker, a [child labor advocate and supporter of youth cigarette smoking](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), said that government’s goal was total control over public thought. “Let’s remember today: If we do nothing, the bad guys are certainly going to win regardless of what happens in that court room today,” he warned. “But an unruly public, a public that demands the truth—a public that demands its rights and will accept no compromise—is a public that is difficult to control.” Tucker, whose dark money outfit is [overwhelmingly funded](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/fueled-by-mystery-donors-covid-conspiracy) by a handful of opaque donations, closed by declaring that that the ruling class was “a little bit demoralized because they did not expect this level of their “citizen resistance.” “They had no Plan B,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Let’s control everybody.’ ‘What if that doesn’t work?’ ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’ll work fine. We’ll just be in constant lockdown forever and then Bill Gates will run the world, sell his potions to everybody.’ That seemed to be the plan. Well that didn’t seem to work out too well, did it? I’m telling you my friends, we have to keep this up.” NOTE: *This article has been updated from its email version.* ### WATCH: Interview With Molecular Biologist Philipp Markolin on COVID Origins URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/video-interview-molecular-biologist/ Last updated: 2024-03-14T11:00:30.000Z If you asked a stranger on the street where they thought the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, originated, you might be surprised by the answer. Although once a fringe idea pushed by motivated actors on the political right—many of whom *Important Context* has previously reported on—the laboratory leak hypothesis has gone mainstream. Today, Republican politicians and right-wing operatives are in the majority on the issue as two-thirds of Americans believe COVID is the result of a lab leak. In the last few years, reporting has fueled speculation. There was the news of a [research grant](https://theintercept.com/2021/09/09/covid-origins-gain-of-function-research/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the National Institutes of Health to EcoHealth Alliance, that included a sub grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, to create chimeric viruses in mice—though scientists were clear that none of those viruses could have become SARS-CoV-2. Then, there was the reveal of unredacted emails from NIH scientists who publicly dismissed the lab leak idea in an open letter, indicating that [initially](https://theintercept.com/2023/01/19/covid-origin-nih-emails/?ref=importantcontext.news), they had privately wondered about a possible lab origin. More recently, there was buzz about a [research grant proposal](https://usrtk.org/covid-19-origins/scientists-proposed-making-viruses-with-unique-features-of-sars-cov-2-in-wuhan/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from the head of EcoHealth Alliance to modify viruses with features of SARS-CoV-2\. However, DARPA denied the proposal. So what does the body of available evidence actually suggest? Is the lab leak now really the most likely explanation for COVID’s origins? In short, no. For the full explanation of why it is that natural spillover remains the most likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic, *Important Context*’s Walker Bragman turned to Ph.D. molecular biologist Philipp Markolin. Markolin is a science communicator who runs the Substack newsletter [*Protagonist Future*](https://protagonistfuture.substack.com/). We hope you find the conversation engaging and informative! **One note:** It was 2023 when New Federal State of China sponsored the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). ### Who’s Funding AIPAC’s Political Spending Barrage? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/whos-funding-aipacs-political-spending/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:01.000Z *This piece originally appeared in* [*Sludge*](https://readsludge.com/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* For decades after its founding in the 1950s, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, declined to spend money directly on elections. But that has changed dramatically in recent years, and this year the group is planning to spend a massive amount of money to support pro-Israel candidates and defeat those who have questioned the Israeli military’s killing of more than 30,000 people in Gaza following the deadly October 7 Hamas attacks. [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/03/aipac-israel-spending-democratic-primaries-00144552?ref=importantcontext.news) and other outlets have reported that it is prepared to spend $100 million on ads and other political advocacy efforts ahead of the November elections to defeat progressive Democratic candidates. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Already, the group and its closely-tied allies and affiliates have spent about $30 million in the 2024 cycle, with the bulk of the spending coming from AIPAC PAC, which operates as a conduit for AIPAC supporters to earmark funds to candidates’ campaigns. AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), has been spending millions on a California Democratic primary recently and is sitting on nearly $42 million in cash. An allied super PAC called Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (DMFI PAC) has been spending on pro-President Biden text messages and has nearly $3 million on hand. DMFI PAC, which functioned as AIPAC’s primary outside spending operation until it founded its own super PAC in January 2022, is run by former AIPAC consultant Mark Mellman, and AIPAC has allowed its supporters to [credit](https://theintercept.com/2023/11/27/israel-democrats-aipac-book/?ref=importantcontext.news) their contributions to DMFI towards their AIPAC contributions. The millions of dollars in outside spending [unleashed](https://readsludge.com/2022/05/09/pro-israel-lobby-spends-big-to-defeat-progressive-summer-lee/?ref=importantcontext.news) by DMFI PAC in Democratic primaries in the 2022 cycle was [widely seen](https://theintercept.com/2022/10/16/democratic-party-progressive-israel-aipac-dmfi/?ref=importantcontext.news) as working in parallel with AIPAC’s electoral aims. Sludge analyzed the groups’ Federal Election Commission filings to reveal the top donors to AIPAC and its closely-tied political spending groups so far this election cycle. The chart below totals money donated to AIPAC PAC, DMFI PAC, and UDP from January 1, 2023 through January 31, 2024. The largest donor has been Jan Koum, the billionaire founder of WhatsApp, and the largest donor to the pro-Nikki Haley super PAC SFA Fund. Koum donated a total of $5 million to UDP in September and October of last year. Another large donor, David Zalik, has also been a Haley supporter. Zalik donated more than $80,000 to Haley’s campaign, super PAC, and joint fundraising committee last year, according to FEC records. He has also donated this year to the campaigns of Texas Republicans Rep. Mike McCaul and Sen. Ted Cruz. Zalik, the founder of Goldman Sachs affiliate GreenSky, earmarked $453,800 in political contributions through AIPAC PAC this cycle to dozens of Democratic and Republican candidates and donated $2 million to UDP. His spouse, Helen, also made $453,800 in contributions through AIPAC PAC. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Bernard Marcus, the billionaire Republican megadonor and co-founder of Home Depot, gave UDP $2 million in donations in May and November of last year. Since the start of the 2016 cycle, Marcus and his spouse have contributed over $60.1 million to Republican candidates for Congress and the White House, according to data from [OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors?cycle=2022&ref=importantcontext.news). In 2020, Marcus donated $10 million to pro-former President Donald Trump super PAC Preserve America PAC, and in 206 he donated $5 million to pro-Trump super PAC Rebuilding America Now and $1 million to Make America Number 1, a super PAC that backed Trump and Sen. Cruz. Paul Singer, who gave $1 million to UDP in September, donated $5 million in December to SFA Fund. In 2018, Singer donated $1 million to pro-Trump super PAC Future45, and last year was [named](https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court?ref=importantcontext.news) by ProPublica as a benefactor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Private equity firm founder Paul Levy, who donated $1 million to UDP in November, similarly has funded the pro-Haley super PAC, giving $700,000 on Oct. 30 and an additional $100,000 on Jan. 25. Michael Leffell, founder of investment company Portage Partners, gave UDP half a million dollars in March of last year and another half a million dollars in February. Over the past two decades, Leffell has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and other GOP candidates, according to FEC records. Joseph Cayre, a billionaire businessman who founded the New York City-based real estate company Midtown Equities, gave UDP half a million dollars on Oct. 13\. In the 2022 cycle, Cayre’s donations at the federal level went largely to Republican Party candidates and groups, including at least $50,000 given to the Kevin McCarthy-led joint fundraising committee Take Back the House 2022. This year, DFMI PAC has also been dipping its toes into Democratic primaries, spending $125,000 to back attorney and activist Joanna Weiss over California state Sen. Dave Min in a House race where UDP has unloaded almost $4.6 million attacking Min. In another California primary, Rep. Adam Schiff benefited from nearly $17,000 worth of DMFI spending in February in his run for U.S. Senate, in print ads in outlets like the San Diego Jewish Journal. According to Politico, UDP is monitoring 15 to 20 House races and polling in many of those districts. Among the top [recipients](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-israel-public-affairs-cmte/summary?id=D000046963&ref=importantcontext.news) of donations from AIPAC PAC this cycle have been the corruption scandal-plagued Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). ### Major Dem Group Funnels Millions From Charity to ‘Dark Money’ Arm URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/major-dem-group-funnels-millions/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:00.000Z *This piece was co-produced by* [*Important Context*](https://www.importantcontext.news/) *and* [*Sludge*](https://readsludge.com/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* A public charity associated with one of the nation’s largest Democratic outside spending operations has been raking in millions of dollars and passing money on to one of the organization's political arms, federal tax records reveal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) For years, the Priorities USA Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity, has been [funneling](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/820675521/202313199349304791/full?ref=importantcontext.news) money to an affiliated 501(c)(4) “social welfare” group, Priorities USA. Both nonprofits fall under the same organizational umbrella as Priorities USA Action, one of the largest and most powerful Democratic super PACs in the country. Founded in 2011 by two former aides to Barack Obama, the group is so big, it “has no peer,” [according](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/us/politics/priorities-usa-super-pac-digital-ads.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&mc%5Fcid=d088149dcb&mc%5Feid=UNIQID&ref=importantcontext.news) to the *New York Times*. In the 2020 presidential race, it spent the third highest amount among all outside spending groups. Since 2018, the Priorities USA Foundation has provided an amount of money roughly equal to 70 percent of what it received in contributions and grants over that period to its social welfare affiliate. The percentage has been trending higher in recent years. In 2022, for example, it moved roughly $10 million—equal to nearly 96 percent of what it raised in contributions and grants for the year—to its 501(c)(4) arm, roughly a third of what the social welfare group raised that year. The contribution was marked in its tax filing for “voter access litigation and digital communications,” two areas the social welfare group has been focused on. According to the Priorities USA social welfare group’s [Internal Revenue Service Form 990](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/474596232/202333199349305158/full?ref=importantcontext.news) filing for 2022, the group raised $27 million in contributions and grants and the overwhelming majority of its spending—nearly $26 million—went to “mobiliz\[ing\] Americans on the issues that impact their lives through…long-term research, digital, and communications programs.” The group specified that it “conducted research on how best to reach people most impacted by policy decisions, and ran innovative digital ad programs.” The filing reveals that $20 million went specifically to “advertising and promotion.” Another $4 million was spent for ballot access litigation. While Priorities USA says it spent a significant amount of money on voting issues—in September 2022, the group [announced](https://priorities.org/news-and-press/news-and-press/priorities-usa-invests-5-million-in-digital-ads-designed-to-combat-voter-suppression/?ref=importantcontext.news) $5 million in spending on “combating voter suppression” as part of a $20 million [commitment](https://priorities.org/news-and-press/news-and-press/priorities-usa-announces-20-million-initial-investment-to-address-assaults-on-voting-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) it made in 2021—it said it was spending even more on politics. In January 2022, Priorities USA [announced](https://priorities.org/news-and-press/news-and-press/priorities-usa-announces-30-million-digital-investment-in-battleground-states-ahead-of-the-2022-midterm-elections/?ref=importantcontext.news) a $30 million “investment in digital mobilization and persuasion efforts that will reach voters in battleground states ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.” The group noted that its work would “put Democrats in a strong position to protect and expand majorities in 2022 and build a necessary foundation in presidential battleground states ahead of 2024.” Both Priorities USA’s chairman, Guy Cecil, and executive director, Danielle Butterfield, were quoted in the press release, touting the group’s digital efforts to help Democrats. ”I am confident that Priorities USA is in the best position possible to defend and expand Democratic majorities this November, and create a strong foundation for Democratic victories for years to come,” Cecil’s statement read. “While Joe Biden and Democrats fight for working families in Washington and state capitals, Priorities USA can be counted on to continually engage with voters and earn their support to protect and expand Democratic majorities,” read Butterfield’s. “This investment is only the beginning of Priorities’ efforts to reach voters where they are on the issues they care about.” A donation plea at the bottom of the press release read: “Elect more Democrats.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) While both charities and social welfare groups are tax exempt, donations to the former are tax deductible. However, the Internal Revenue Code stipulates that such organizations are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” With social welfare nonprofits, the opposite is true: Donations are not tax deductible, but the groups are [able to engage](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopicl03.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in political campaigns so long as that intervention does not constitute the group’s primary activity, which is an imprecise metric generally meaning less than half of activities. The IRS determines whether an activity constitutes “political campaign activity” by looking at several factors, including whether or not the statement identifies a candidate, expressly approves or disapproves of a position taken by a candidate, is timed close to an election, references voting or an election, is part of broader advocacy not tied to an election, and is timed with a non-electoral event like a vote on legislation. Legal experts told *Important Context* and *Sludge* that a money transfer from a 501(c)(3) to a politically engaged 501(c)(4) raised questions, particularly around the kinds of activities the funds supported. Law professor Roger Colinvaux at the Catholic University, whose expertise includes nonprofits and philanthropy, said that while the transfers are more than likely legal, they likely not “not the intent at all of the overall legal structure.” “Basically, you can think of the \[501\](c)(3)/(c)(4) money flow as totally fine in theory, as long as the money is used for a genuine charitable purpose or program, and the (c)(3) board is charged with just making sure that those charitable assets are used for charitable purposes,” Colinvaux explains. “So, that's how it's supposed to work. Of course, how it actually works is going to be very different, because the IRS is not not very present in enforcing the law in this area.” Priorities USA did not respond to a request for comment. The practice of passing money from a 501(c)(3) charity to a (c)(4) social welfare group is a common one. The League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, an environmental advocacy charity, [gave](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521379661/202333199349306388/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) $16,000,000 to an affiliated (c)(4), League of Conservation Voters Inc., in 2022\. That same year, the social welfare group, which brought in $68.5 million, gave $30 million to a super PAC, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund. David Willett, the senior vice president of LCV, noted that his organization takes compliance “very seriously.” “LCV entities fully comply with all relevant rules and no LCV Education Fund grants are used for impermissible electoral purposes,” he explained. “LCV Education Fund’s grant to LCV restricts the use of the funds for non-electoral work, and the grant is monitored to adhere to the restrictions. Separately, LCV as a 501c4 is permitted to engage in electoral activities as long as they are not its primary purpose, and we ensure that any donations to LCV Victory Fund are made from funds that are not restricted for non-electoral use.” The charity-to-social-welfare money flow is common on both sides of the aisle. According to its IRS Form 990, by comparison, the Heritage Foundation, the most powerful conservative think tank in the country, gave $400,000 in 2022 to its sister organization, Heritage Action for America, a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group that fights for right-wing policies by lobbying and mobilizing activists. Heritage has an affiliated super PAC called The Sentinel Action Fund, and Heritage Action for America has been its largest donor, providing it nearly $5 million since 2022, according to FEC data. “We deploy our well-respected government relations team to directly meet with and influence lawmakers,” Heritage Action for America’s website boasts. “Outside Washington, D.C., our regional field staff works directly with leading grassroots activists to build support for conservative policies in a lawmaker’s backyard. Both teams work together to hold members of Congress accountable to their constituents, advance conservative policy, and block big-government policy.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) While on its face, Heritage Action is nonpartisan, the group and its affiliate charity generally favor the GOP. Heritage Action’s [first](https://web.archive.org/web/20101231212358/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37698) major advocacy campaign was an effort to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ahead of the 2010 midterms. Today, with the 2024 election heating up and Congress seeking a compromise on immigration reform and foreign aid, the group has a toolkit on its website titled, “Biden’s Funding Request Fails America.” Heritage did not respond to a request for comment. “We've built a system that says that education regarding policy issues is a legitimate charitable activity,” said University of Pittsburgh law professor Phil Hackney, whose expertise is tax exempt organizations. “I have concerns about that because of the way it can be used, but currently, that's the structure of the rules, and both sides are using it. And, you know, I think it has problematic aspects. But I don't think it has anything to do with Democrat or Republican; I think it has to do with individuals who have wealth and are able to contribute into these organizations to shape the way we think about those policies.” **Flavors of (c)(3)** Beyond the question of supporting political campaign activity, another potential issue related to the money flow is the Priorities USA Foundation’s status as a public charity. There are different types of 501(c)(3) organizations: public charities or private foundations. The former have fewer restrictions on how they spend their money, but they must receive a substantial portion of their funding—about a third—from the public. However, it is increasingly difficult to determine how to classify 501(c)(3) groups as more and more donors rely on donor-advised funds (DAFs) to mask their political spending. Donations made through DAFs are tax deductible and anonymous, attributable only to DAF itself. As such, it is impossible to know how many donors have given to any particular group. Between July 2021 and June 2022, the Priorities USA Foundation received $10.5 million through Fidelity Charitable, a DAF affiliated with the financial giant Fidelity that is the largest grantmaking organization in the country. Although Fidelity and Priorities USA Foundation are on different reporting schedules, the money represents a significant amount for the latter, which had net assets of $8.8 million at the start of 2022 and raised roughly $10.3 million in contributions and grants. Colinvaux and Hackney both explained that the DAF money could have come from a single donor or a hundred donors. There is no way to tell, barring voluntary disclosure by either Fidelity or the donors themselves. It is possible that even the Priorities USA Foundation would not know. The Wild West ecosystem of political nonprofits has its roots in the Supreme Court’s 1976 ruling in *Buckley v. Valeo* (1976), that barred government from enacting limits on independent political spending by individuals or groups, and the 2010 ruling in *Citizens United v. FEC* that corporations could spend unlimited sums of money on politics. As Colinvaux explains, that latter decision really opened the door for nonprofits to be used as political operations. In the wake of the ruling, applications for tax exempt status surged, particularly from groups affiliated with the billionaire-aligned Tea Party movement. Facing the influx, the IRS sought to screen out political applicants, [including, it would emerge, progressive organizations](https://www.npr.org/2017/10/05/555975207/as-irs-targeted-tea-party-groups-it-went-after-progressives-too?ref=importantcontext.news). However, conservatives cried foul, claiming they had been unfairly targeted after the agency admitted in 2013 that it had heavily scrutinized groups with names that included words like “Patriots” and “Tea Party.” The controversy prompted President Obama to clean house at the IRS at the higher echelons. In 2015, Congress took action as well with a budget rider that’s been re-upped every year that prohibits the IRS from using funds “to issue, revise, or finalize any regulation, revenue ruling, or other guidance . . . to determine whether a \[501(c)(4)\] organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.” In 2017, the Trump administration Department of Justice entered into settlements in two cases emerging from the controversy. Nonprofits have largely operated with impunity since. ### Exclusive: Congressman Ro Khanna Talks Yemen, Gaza, and War Powers (Paid Subscribers) URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/exclusive-congressman-ro-khanna-talks/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:01.000Z **BEFORE YOU READ ON:* Important Context is pleased to bring you our first exclusive content for paid subscribers: a 15-minute video interview with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California about the developing situations in Gaza and Yemen. Going forward, we will occasionally feature content only accessible to paid subscribers. Our written reporting, however, will remain free, including the piece about the interview in this post.* *Also, one other bit of news: If you read the* [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/10/substack-bans-nazis-newsletters-controversy/?ref=importantcontext.news) *on Jan. 10, you may have noticed that we got a mention in a story about Substack and are planning to move off of the platform. This decision was driven by a number of factors including a concern over some of the content featured on the platform. In any case, our planned move is not happening imminently, and your subscriptions will not be affected when it does.* --- It was the question heard round the internet. As the U.S. continued its assault on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, President Biden was asked by a reporter on Thursday if the U.S. strikes were “working” to deter the group from attacking ships in the Red Sea and candidly acknowledged that they were not. “Well, when you say ‘working’ are they stopping the Houthis? No,” the president said. “Are they going to continue? Yes.” *Important Context* caught up with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) today to discuss the president’s statement, the humanitarian crisis and violence in Gaza, and presidential war powers. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) "The president is admitting the obvious that they are not working, that’s what the Gulf allies are telling us,” Khanna said of the remarks. “I know he's saying he wants to continue but the question is: What's the strategy? What's the endgame?" A ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems, which oversees laws related to the military and defense budget, as well as a member of the House Oversight Committee, Khanna is one of the few key voices in the Democratic Party calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, putting him at odds with the Biden administration and majority of his colleagues. Khanna has also called the strikes in Yemen “unconstitutional.” Explaining his characterization to *Important Context*, Khanna noted that “The president has an affirmative obligation to come to Congress when he’s bombing another country” and that “The only exception is if it’s a national emergency and something is in our imminent self-defense.” The strikes on the Houthis, Khanna argues, do not fall under this exception. “The president’s had the time to go to the U.N., to talk to Canadian, British, Australian leaders,” Khanna said. “He certainly has the time to come to Congress.” Challenging the executive branch over foreign intervention is a fight Khanna is familiar with. In 2019, he shepherded a war powers resolution through the House to end U.S. military involvement in Yemen’s brutal civil war, which saw America aiding an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia, wage a brutal combing and starvation campaign against the Houthis, who ousted Yemen’s internationally recognized government between 2014 and 2015\. It is an achievement Khanna still touts today. While Khanna did not initially call for a ceasefire in Gaza in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas militants, believing Israel needed to bring those responsible to justice, he quickly pivoted as the violence escalated. “This went on and on, and they degraded Hamas’ military capability and I thought, okay, now it’s just civilians who are dying in too large numbers, and a humanitarian crisis, and I also saw that the Qataris were successful in negotiating the release of hostages,” Khanna explains. “And I thought once there was that temporary ceasefire, that should have continued so we could’ve secured the release of all hostages and have a tentative peace.” Today, he is small group a handful of Democrats vocally calling for an end to the fighting. Some of his colleagues have been targeted for similar positions, most notably Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar(D-MN), who are both facing primary challengers backed by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, as it is commonly referred to. Khanna did not mince words discussing these challenges, telling *Important Context* he is backing the incumbents. “I think they draw the ire of many people because they are women of color of Muslim faith, and that gives them much more scrutiny in American political life,” he said bluntly. “But I think both of them will win their elections, and it will be a bit futile to be going after them when we should be focused on making sure Donald Trump doesn’t return to the White House and building every Democratic coalition vote rather than having the coalition fight amongst itself—which would only be to the advantage of Donald Trump.” To watch the full interview, join as a paid subscriber for as little as $5 a month or $55 a year. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Lobbied By Impacted Industries, White House Killed COVID Travel Rule URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/lobbied-by-impacted-industries-white/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:01.000Z *This piece has been updated from its email version.* Last spring, the Biden administration eliminated a key COVID-19 protocol after it had been facing lobbying from affected industries, federal disclosures reveal. In May, the White House announced it was lifting its requirement that international visitors to the United States provide proof of vaccination prior to travel. It was the final blow for a rule that had already been [eased](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/28/health/cdc-eases-travel-restrictions-covid-19/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) weeks earlier by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the lead-up to these decisions, the airline and tourism industries had been lobbying the administration and Congress, federal disclosures reveal. The demise of the vaccine rule highlights how, at key points, the Biden administration’s pandemic policy decisions have aligned with the goals of big business. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The COVID pandemic saw a significant drop in international travel to the U.S. According to data from the Department of Transportation, U.S. airlines carried [60 percent](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ginaheeb/2021/02/16/us-air-travel-dropped-60-in-2020-as-covid-19-hammered-airlines/?sh=76b5072e6978&ref=importantcontext.news) fewer passengers in 2020 than the previous year. Although air travel has since recovered, pandemic restrictions emerged as a target for the airline and tourism industries as they interfered with business operations. The vaccine requirement for international travelers was first imposed by the White House in November 2021 as a way of [easing restrictions](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/20/us-to-ease-travel-restrictions-for-foreign-visitors-who-are-vaccinated-against-covid.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and opening up travel. Under the rule’s original formulation, visitors to the U.S. would be considered fully vaccinated and able to enter the country two weeks after their second dose of a two-dose vaccine or a single dose of a one-shot vaccine like the Johnson & Johnson jab. Last April, however, the CDC eased the rule, allowing travelers to be counted as fully vaccinated if they had received a single dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine after the bivalent boosters became available. The CDC was not the only agency to make the change. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had also begun counting a single bivalent dose as full vaccination under their rules for healthcare workers. At the time, the CDC justified its decision, noting that “some traveler vaccine records might not specify whether recent Moderna or Pfizer doses received were bivalent.” Two weeks later, however, the White House announced that it was lifting the rule altogether. Federal lobbying disclosures reveal that Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as the Air Transport Association of America, an industry trade association representing major North American airlines like Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United, had spent at least $2.9 million on lobbying between [Q1](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/e91cbbd7-e88a-46b6-9bf5-1540ae8d5e32/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Q2](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/9893c036-efe3-4147-a2a4-25aa3a7bf9a5/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) 2023—January to June—targeting both houses of Congress, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), and various federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the CDC. Among the various issues the group lobbied on was H.R. 185, a bill put forward by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), to eliminate the CDC’s vaccine requirement, which passed the House in February. In 2022, A4A spent $4 million between [Q2](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/c22923e4-015d-4955-b051-cf1b2962e54e/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), [Q3](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/fd3311bf-13ec-492b-bb03-45807eb1f350/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [Q4](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/fefe4ae1-c2af-433e-a03d-1202ccbf1cc8/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), lobbying the administration, including EOP, CDC, HHS, and DOT, and both houses of Congress. One of the issues listed on the disclosures was Republican Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez‘s H.R. 7423, a bill to prohibit imposing certain COVID-19 face covering and vaccine mandates. There are limitations to the disclosures. They do not, for example, indicate the position A4A took on either Massie’s or Gimenez’s bill or the White House vaccine rule generally. Nor do they they explain what issues were raised specific to each agency, or detail what meetings took place and when. A spokesperson for A4A would not speak on record. In the past, however, the airlines have sought to roll back mitigation rules impacting travel—and their efforts have coincided with policy changes. In December 2021, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian [and A4A President and CEO Nicholas Calio](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/23/airline-industry-pushes-cdc-to-cut-breakthrough-covid-quarantine-time.html?ref=importantcontext.news) sent separate letters to then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky advocating a shorter isolation period for vaccinated individuals who got sick with COVID. Just [days later](https://www.npr.org/2021/12/29/1068731487/delta-ceo-asks-cdc-to-cut-quarantine?ref=importantcontext.news), the CDC shortened its COVID isolation guidance from 10 days to 5 days. “To address the potential impact of the current isolation policy effectively, we propose an isolation period of no more than 5 days from symptom onset for those who experience a breakthrough infection,” Calio [wrote](https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12.23.21-Letter-to-Rochelle-Walensky.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). “In turn, those individuals would be able to end isolation with an appropriate testing protocol.” The policy change drew backlash on social media, including from public health experts. Dr. Lucky Tran, a science communicator based at Columbia University, [warned](https://x.com/luckytran/status/1475671828219760646?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) that employers would misuse the new guidance to pressure sick workers back into workplaces. “That's bad policy, no matter how much you claim you are ‘following the science,’” Tran wrote. The airlines also sought to roll back the CDC’s pre-departure negative test requirement for travelers. In April 2022, Calio [sent a letter](https://www.airlines.org/news/a4a-president-and-ceo-nicholas-e-calio-calls-on-hhs-cdc-to-end-pandemic-travel-restrictions/?ref=importantcontext.news) to Health and HHS Xavier Becerra and Walensky requesting the rule be dropped along with the travel mask mandate. Roughly two months later, the CDC [announced](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0610-COVID-19-test.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Today%2C%20CDC%20is%20announcing%20that,2022%20at%2012%3A01AM%20ET.) that it was rescinding the testing rule. "The COVID-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase, due to the widespread uptake of highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, the availability of effective therapeutics, and the accrual of high rates of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity at the population level in the United States,” the agency said. Calio lauded the news in a statement, declaring the change would “help encourage and restore air travel to the United States, benefiting communities across the country that rely heavily on travel and tourism to support their local economies.” “We are eager to welcome the millions of travelers who are ready to come to the U.S. for vacation, business and reunions with loved ones,” the statement [read](https://www.airlines.org/news/statement-from-airlines-for-america-on-the-lifting-of-the-pre-departure-testing-requirement/?ref=importantcontext.news). “We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of the traveling public and to ensure that air travel policies are guided by science.” Asked about industry influence on the CDC’s decision-making process, Jasmine Reed, a spokesperson for the agency, told *Important Context* that “While CDC recognizes the value in open dialogue with all stakeholders, including industry, our public health recommendations and guidance is always driven by science and the best interests of the American people.” In addition to the airlines, the tourism industry was also lobbying the administration ahead of the end of the vaccine requirement. Federal disclosures reveal that in [Q1](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/365c4768-33c1-417e-b820-70cd2cdd54f0/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Q2](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/42d5d0ea-6466-4cf5-b914-4aa54f7c970c/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), an industry trade association, paid the lobby shop Klein/Johnson Group a total of $60,000 to lobby the executive office of the president on “Issues related to encouraging safe travel to and within the United States for both business and tourism.” As with A4A, the USTA disclosures provide a limited snapshot. They are not specific as to what issues were discussed and when those discussions took place. When the White House lifted the foreign visitor vaccine requirement, the group’s head lauded the news. “We have survey data we hear from travel buyers on the international side that there are many, many travelers interested in visiting the United States for whom this requirement was a burden,” USTA President and CEO Geoff Freeman [told Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2023/05/02/white-house-covid-vaccination-mandate-for-international-travel/?sh=2dc13d732ced&ref=importantcontext.news). “And they chose other markets because of it. We don’t think we can eliminate this requirement soon enough.” The demise of the vaccine requirement and other travel-related COVID rules are not the only significant changes to the administration’s pandemic strategy made in the face of industry lobbying. In June 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [limited its emergency standard](https://www.levernews.com/grave-danger-in-every-shared-workplace/?ref=importantcontext.news) for COVID to healthcare workers after the reviewing agency held meetings with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s foremost business lobby group. A leaked draft revealed that the original rule was meant to apply to all workers, calling the virus a “grave danger in every shared workplace.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Despite promising on the campaign trail to “[end](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce9%5FpVL37nw&ref=importantcontext.news)” the pandemic, Biden’s time in office has been marked by a normalization of COVID—even as deadly variants like Delta and Omicron killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. With the administration’s focus heavily on vaccine rollout, other federal mitigation efforts and relief programs were allowed to lapse. In May, along with the end of the foreign visitor vaccine requirement, both the public health emergency for COVID and the national emergency came to an end. While the economy has largely recovered, COVID remains a problem. Today, wastewater data indicates the country is in the midst of its [second worst surge](https://www.threads.net/@luckytran/post/C1nbSwQOIqQ?ref=importantcontext.news) since the pandemic began thanks to the new variant, JN.1, which the CDC has warned may either be better at evading immune systems or more transmissible. The holiday season has brought with it a rise in hospitalizations—though deaths, a lagging indicator, have thus far not reflected the increase. Still, CDC numbers reveal that since late August, more than 24,000 Americans have died from the virus at an average of nearly 1,300 Americans [per week](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/?ref=importantcontext.news#trends%5Fweeklydeaths%5Fselect%5F00). The approved COVID vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe illness and death—as well as some protection against infection and even long COVID—and have contributed to lower death numbers than the U.S. suffered in earlier waves. But vaccination rates have remained stubbornly low thanks to widespread skepticism. To date, [less than a third](https://news.gallup.com/poll/547625/new-covid-shot-uptake-lagging-behind-annual-flu-shot-rates.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) of Americans have gotten the new jab, prompting the CDC put out an [urgent warning](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/14/health/low-vaccination-rates-flu-covid-rsv/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Vaccination%20coverage%20for%20Covid-19,higher%20risk%20for%20severe%20disease.) last month. **Update:* A previous version of this piece noted that at the time of publication, the CDC weekly COVID death total for the week ending December 23, 2023, had dipped. We noted that the total COVID deaths for the preceding 19 weeks was over 23,000, at a weekly average of over 1,2000 deaths per week. On 1/5/2024, the number for the week of December 23 was increased, raising the total for the preceding 19 weeks and the weekly average. The new numbers are now reflected in the piece.* ### Fueled By Mystery Donors, COVID Conspiracy Group Grew Budget Last Year URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/fueled-by-mystery-donors-covid-conspiracy/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:02.000Z *David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, contributed research for this piece. This piece has been updated from its emailed version.* An influential COVID-19 conspiracy nonprofit saw a significant increase in its funding in 2022, federal tax records reveal. While most of the money remains unaccounted for, *Important Context* was able to identify the sources for just over a quarter of the group’s total revenue. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The Brownstone Institute is a public health-focused right-wing dark money group. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit was founded in May 2021 by anarcho-capitalist Jeffrey Tucker, who, as *Important Context* has [previously reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), is a supporter of child labor and youth cigarette smoking. The group was initially formed to wage an ideological war on government efforts to stem the spread of COVID through the population. Although relatively small, boasting a budget of less than $2 million, it has been remarkably influential. In February, scientists [affiliated with the group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) testified before a congressional subcommittee as part of a larger GOP-led investigation into the federal pandemic response. Although there is an effective vaccine and treatment, the novel coronavirus has been killing [1000 Americans](https://www.salon.com/2023/12/06/is-still-1000-americans-per-week-while-hospitalizations-rise-reports/?ref=importantcontext.news) per week according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Gallup poll from September found that only about [30 percent](https://news.gallup.com/poll/511217/americans-covid-concerns-rise-restrained.aspx?ref=importantcontext.news) of Americans are still worried about getting COVID, which the CDC warns can cause [long-term health problems](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Some%20people%2C%20especially%20those%20who,kidney%2C%20skin%2C%20and%20brain.). Vaccines can reduce transmission of the virus and can mitigate its worse effects, but uptake has been low amid widespread public skepticism. The CDC [reported](https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-adults.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20percent%20of%20the%20population%20reporting%20receipt%20of%20the%20updated,%29%20among%20adults%20age%2065%2B.) earlier this month that only 7.7 percent of children and 17.2 percent of adults had received the updated shots. Part of the problem is the big money behind groups that spread misinformation and vaccine skepticism—groups like Brownstone. According to Brownstone’s 2022 IRS Form 990, the group increased its total revenue by roughly 50 percent from the previous year. The group brought in roughly $1.8 million, up from $1.2 million in 2021, and as with the earlier amount, the new total came largely in the form of big donations. A staggering 86 percent of Brownstone’s total 2022 fundraising haul, and 82 percent of its $1.8 million total revenue, came from just 9 large donations ranging from $50,000 to $400,000\. Those percentages are close to the figures from 2021 when [nine donations](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy)—from $25,000 to $600,000—accounted for 85 percent of its total fundraising haul and 83 percent of its total revenue. As with 2021, we were only able to identify the funding sources behind a handful of last year’s donations to Brownstone. Those included two of the nine large contributions the group disclosed on its 990. Some of the money came through donor-advised funds, which function as pass-through vehicles for wealthy donors looking to anonymize their giving. The basic idea is simple: Client donors give to the fund, legally transferring control over the money to the fund managers. Those managers then distribute the money with input from the client, and the donations are made under the name of the fund. In recent years, these entities have been increasingly used to funnel money to controversial organizations like [hate groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/blood-money-how-americas-biggest) and [anti-vaccine groups](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled), as *Important Context* has previously reported. Brownstone is a good example of this trend. It received [$100,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/202312859349302266/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) donation through the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund and [$26,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/232888152/202331359349303108/full?ref=importantcontext.news) through the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, both donor-advised funds affiliated with the major financial institutions for which they are named. Most of the donations we identified, however, came through various foundations. The largest of those, [$309,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362167000/202312279349301591/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news)—the second biggest donation Brownstone disclosed—came from the Chicago Community Trust, a community foundation that operates similarly to a donor-advised fund. Another [$30,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/364527728/202341309349101304/full?ref=importantcontext.news) came through the Florida-based Bluebell Foundation, which also gave the group $50,000 in 2021. The other donations we identified were significantly smaller. Brownstone got [$3,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/460503537/202321379349100812/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Nebraska-based Creigh Family Foundation, which gave similar amounts to a number of other right-wing groups including AIER, the Heritage Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the American Enterprise Institute, and more. Another [$3,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237892071/202311219349101331/full?ref=importantcontext.news) came from the Maria Foundation, which also gave to the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, an organization [known for its promotion](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fringe-doctors-groups-promote-ivermectin-for-covid-despite-a-lack-of-evidence/?ref=importantcontext.news) of quack COVID treatments. The [Diamond Mind Foundation](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/view%5F990/476689769/ca9223cda27090536e02166ac3da379e?ref=importantcontext.news) and the [Berger Family Foundation](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462425134/202341519349100404/full?ref=importantcontext.news) each gave $1,000. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Because the money was given through various funds and foundations, we could not identify individual donors behind any of it. Barring voluntary disclosures either by the group itself or the foundations that gave money to it—or new federal disclosure requirements—the mysteries surrounding who is really behind the operation may never be solved. Questions about Brownstone’s funding have swirled since the group’s founding—particularly due to Tucker’s past ties to petrochemical billionaire industrialist and right-wing power broker Charles Koch. Tucker [has worked](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) at a number of libertarian dark money outfits, including groups that have taken money from Koch. For example, he has been the editorial director at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), which received roughly $8,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation between 2020-21, and a content director for the Foundation for Economic Education, which got over $200,000 from the same group in 2021\. He is also a [research fellow](https://www.acton.org/about/people/jeffrey-tucker?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Acton Institute, which received more than $500,000 from Stand Together Fellowships, formerly known as the Charles Koch Institute, between 2020-2021, as well as an [adjunct scholar](https://www.mackinac.org/about/authors/331?ref=importantcontext.news) at the Mackinac Center, which got $850,000. Brownstone has also been aligned with Koch’s network on issues like [climate change](https://brownstone.org/articles/rise-and-rhetoric-of-climate-chicken-littles/?ref=importantcontext.news), [Environmental, Social and Governance](https://brownstone.org/articles/blessed-are-cigarette-makers-in-un-world-of-woke/?ref=importantcontext.news) (ESG) efforts to make corporations more accountable, and of course, public health. Throughout the pandemic, Koch-backed and other right-wing, business-aligned groups [worked to reopen](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) businesses and [schools](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) without new regulations and defeat mask and [vaccine requirements](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news). These groups worked to pressure lawmakers and influence public opinion. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a Koch-funded litigation shop, even filed lawsuits targeting public health efforts. At AIER, Tucker played a role in the COVID wars, helping to organize the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, an influential but widely rebuked document published in October 2020 calling on governments to embrace a pandemic herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection of the “healthy” population. Written by three scientists affiliated with respected schools, the declaration provided the appearance of public health legitimacy to the economic agenda. Tucker has long denied having any financial ties to Koch and has publicly criticized the billionaire for not going far enough to combat public health measures, even accusing him of being a supporter of ‘lockdown.’ Americans for Prosperity, Koch’s flagship political operation, [vocally opposed](https://theintercept.com/2020/03/26/americans-for-prosperity-cdc-coronavirus/?ref=importantcontext.news) stay-at-home orders, but the organizing of people on the ground against those measures early on in the pandemic was notably done by other groups like [FreedomWorks](https://www.vox.com/2020/4/24/21234638/freedomworks-ppp-loan-foundation-coronavirus-conservatism?ref=importantcontext.news), which broke away from Koch world years ago, and [Tea Party Patriots](https://boingboing.net/2022/08/22/the-dark-money-billionaire-funded-tea-party-patriots-has-an-action-guide-for-disrupting-public-health-measures.html?ref=importantcontext.news). “I was astounded in the early lockdowns days that the Koch empire had nothing to say against them or other mitigation,” Tucker [tweeted](https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1650860107042004996?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news) in April, sharing an article critical of the billionaire. “Indeed funds went the other way. Now I see why and how.” More recently, Tucker took aim at the decision by Americans for Prosperity, Koch’s flagship political operation, to endorse Nikki Haley for the GOP presidential nomination at the end of last month. Tucker called the decision “absolutely chilling.” The Brownstone founder had been promoting [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis](https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/07/how-ron-desantis-turned-covid-denialism-into-a-major-political-weapon?ref=importantcontext.news) and independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., both of whom have used COVID denialism and anti-vaccine sentiment to further their presidential bids. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “Just incredible, the Kochs endorsing warmonger Nikki Haley, who says she will have the government require authentic names and users on all social media,” he [tweeted](https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1729517188011192620?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). In another tweet hours later, he returned to the issue, taking aim directly at the right-wing billionaire. “The story of the Koch philanthropic empire is one of tragedy, waste, and betrayal,” he [wrote](https://x.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1729684604536107058?s=61&ref=importantcontext.news). “Probably some good was achieved at some point in the past but now? Wow, when the empire falls, it really crashes hard.” The rift highlights the fact that Brownstone, which Tucker initially billed as the “spiritual child” of the Great Barrington Declaration, has been more extreme than the big groups in Koch’s network. It has become a central hub for fringe opinions not just on the pandemic, but on issues like climate change as well. It has featured and promoted writing from anti-vaccine figures like Dr. Robert Malone as well as radicals like Dr. Paul Alexander, a former Trump administration adviser who began calling for public tribunals and hangings of public health officials after his stint in the White House. Tucker himself also winked at the idea of violent retribution against public health officials who supported restrictions on business in an [article](https://brownstone.org/articles/who-will-be-held-responsible-for-this-devastation/?ref=importantcontext.news) from December 2021 titled “Who Will Be Held Responsible for this Devastation?” that originally ran with the image of a guillotine. *Correction: This piece originally incorrectly claimed that Brownstone’s budget had grown by almost a third from 2021 to 2022\. The actual increase, which is significantly higher, is now reflected in the story.* ### Why We are Republishing Osama bin Laden's "Letter to the American People" URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/osama-bin-ladens-letter-to-the-american/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:03.000Z This week, a letter from Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, became the focus of a news cycle thanks to the social media platform TikTok. Originally published a year after the attacks, “letter to the American people” lays out the deceased al-Qaeda leader’s grievances against the United States and the west, his justifications, and his demands. Many TikTok users posted videos of their reactions to the document, having read it for the first time, with some saying their perspective on geopolitics had changed. Alarmed by surge of interest in the document, TikTok cracked down, attempting to [take down](https://www.semafor.com/article/11/16/2023/tiktok-is-removing-videos-praising-osama-bin-laden-letter?ref=importantcontext.news) as many of the videos as possible on the grounds that they were supporting terrorism. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, UK-based newspaper *The Guardian*, which had hosted the letter for more than two decades, took the surprising step of removing the document from its website, replacing it with an explanation for its actions. “The transcript published on our website had been widely shared on social media without the full context,” the page [now reads](https://www.theguardian.com/info/2023/nov/15/removed-document?ref=importantcontext.news). “Therefore we decided to take it down and direct readers instead to the news article that originally contextualised it.” The reason bin Laden’s letter has drawn attention in 2023 is its focus on U.S. support for Israel and its oppression of the Palestinian people. This support was a major grievance of bin Laden’s. “Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation,” he wrote. “The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals.” Today, Israel’s far right government is prosecuting a brutal and destructive war in Gaza in retaliation for the shocking October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis and resulted in the kidnapping of roughly 240 more. Despite the growing public outcry against the campaign, which has already claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people, including nearly 5,000 Palestinian children, the Biden administration has been reluctant to offer any public pushback. The letter framed the U.S.-Israel relationship as part of a larger trend of western aggression against Islam. “You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon,” he explained. “Under your supervision, consent and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents, attack us on a daily basis.” He also condemned crippling U.S. sanctions imposed on Iraq, which he blamed for the deaths of 1.5 million children, and mistreatment of Muslim detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But bin Laden’s letter is not the manifesto of a revolutionary, but the war cry of a religious fanatic. It contains [antisemitic conspiracy theories](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/11/osama-bin-laden-letter-to-america-tiktok-context.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and demands the U.S. submit to the laws of Islam entirely. What bin Laden orchestrated in retaliation for his grievances was nothing short of the worst terrorist attack ever seen on U.S. soil. For every American alive at the time, the history changing events of 9/11 are forever etched into our collective memories. At 8:46 AM, five hijackers crashed Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston into the World Trade Center’s North Tower in downtown Manhattan. The hijackers, along with 76 passengers and 11 crew members, were killed instantly. Just 17 minutes later, five hijackers crashed another Los Angeles-bound plane from Boston, United Airlines Flight 175, into the South Tower. Once again, everyone on the plane was killed immediately—51 passengers, 9 crew members, and the terrorists. Then, 34 minutes later, at 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77, out of Dulles on its way to Los Angeles, slammed into the Pentagon. Five hijackers had commandeered the craft. They, along with 53 passengers and six crew members, were killed in the impact. At 9:59 AM, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed after burning for 56 minutes. The fall took just 12 seconds and killed 614 people. Three minutes later, United Flight 93, which had taken off from Newark, New Jersey, with 33 passengers, 7 crew members, and four hijackers at 8:43 AM, crashed in an empty Pennsylvania field, killing everyone on board. The passengers had revolted against the terrorists and succeeded in crashing the plane before it reached its target—presumably the Capitol or the White House. At 10:28 AM, the World Trade Center’s North Tower collapsed after burning for an hour and 42 minutes, killing 1,402 people. The collapse of the two towers rippled outward, damaging the surrounding buildings. Later in the day, at 5:30 PM, WTC Building 7 collapsed. All told, 2,977 people died that day in the attacks, including 2,753 in New York according to a full breakdown [published](https://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) by *New York Magazine*. That latter number includes 343 New York City firefighters and paramedics, 23 NYPD officers, and 37 port authority police officers. A stunning 20 percent of Americans knew someone injured or killed in the attacks. Meanwhile, 1,717 families of the victims got no remains. But the death and destruction was not limited to just that day. The debris cloud in New York contained deadly substances like asbestos. Hundreds of firefighters would retire after the attacks, many would end up suffering long-term health complications. According to a 2018 [report](https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2018/deaths-from-911-diseases-will-soon-outnumber-those-lost-on-that-fateful-day?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Seventeen%20years%20out%20from%20the,attributed%20to%209%2F11%20illnesses.) from *USA Today*, “Seventeen years out from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, nearly 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer. More than 2,000 deaths have been attributed to 9/11 illnesses.” In the aftermath of the attacks, the U.S. embarked on a “Global War on Terror ” that would reach into the Middle East and North Africa, and even Central Asia. On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush announced the military campaign: “Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.” Bush initially sought to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan, who had given al-Qaeda safe haven. American and British forces began bombing the country in October 2001, aiming to destroy military and al-Qaeda targets. Although Bush had promised that the people of Afghanistan would know America’s “generosity,” civilian sites were also hit. Making matters worse, bin Laden escaped. In 2003, the Bush administration steered the country into another war in Iraq under false pretenses that Saddam Hussein was developing “weapons of mass destruction.” Although Hussein’s government fell relatively quickly, stabilizing the country would prove more difficult. The conflicts would drag on for years despite multiple declared ends. The U.S. finally left Afghanistan in August 2021, but American troops are still in Iraq. The war on terror would expand to other nations as well including Yemen, Syria, and Pakistan, where bin Laden was killed by U.S. special operations forces in 2011\. Although only about 7,000 American and allied troops have died in these conflicts, the civilian death toll is staggering. According to [Brown University’s Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs](https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human?ref=importantcontext.news), an estimated 3.6 to 3.8 million people had died in post-9/11 war zones as of May 2023, but the total number could be as high as 4.7 million. Moreover, the institute notes that the wars have displaced [38 million](https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2021/Costs%20of%20War%5FVine%20et%20al%5FDisplacement%20Update%20August%202021.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) people—and perhaps as many as 60 million—in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. These individuals “are living in grossly inadequate conditions.” The violence failed to eliminate al-Qaeda, but it did destabilize entire regions of the globe and give rise to terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Meanwhile, cherished freedoms were eroded in the name of security. Laws like the USA PATRIOT Act and the Protect America Act greatly expanded the scope and scale of domestic surveillance. Islamophobia ran rampant as police departments and federal law enforcement agencies targeted Islamic communities, looking to root out potential terrorists. Equally corrosive was the fact the U.S. “tortured some folks,” as President Barack Obama acknowledged in August 2014\. The detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. held detainees from the war on terror, became infamous for human rights violations including indefinite detention and abuse. The lasting impact of 9/11 are the seeds of distrust that have been sown deep in the American psyche. We have seen them blossom into hate crimes and even vaccine skepticism and anti-public health sentiment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These unintended, far-reaching consequences only demonstrate the importance of knowing and understanding history, including individuals like Osama bin Laden. Terrorism does not happen in a vacuum and policy decisions—even good policy decisions—can inspire blowback. For this reason, we believe *The Guardian* erred in its decision to remove “letter to the American people.” The document is part of the historical record. As such, we have included it, in full, below. We do caution readers that what follows are the words of a religious fanatic, a demagogue, an antisemite, a propagandist, a conspiracy monger, and a terrorist. --- > *In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,* > > *"Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory" \[Quran 22:39\]* > > *"Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan."\[Quran 4:76\]* > > *Some American writers have published articles under the title 'On what basis are we fighting?' These articles have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted to outline the truth - as an explanation and warning - hoping for Allah's reward, seeking success and support from Him.* > > *While seeking Allah's help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:* > > *(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?* > *Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?* > > *As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:* > > *(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.* > > *a) You attacked us in Palestine:* > > *(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its\*price, and pay for it heavily.* > > *(ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this.* > > *When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) - and we make no distinction between them.* > > *(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone.* > > *(b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon.* > > *(c) Under your supervision, consent and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents, attack us on a daily basis;* > > *(i) These governments prevent our people from establishing the Islamic Shariah, using violence and lies to do so.* > > *(ii) These governments give us a taste of humiliation, and places us in a large prison of fear and subdual.* > > *(iii) These governments steal our Ummah's wealth and sell them to you at a paltry price.* > > *(iv) These governments have surrendered to the Jews, and handed them most of Palestine, acknowledging the existence of their state over the dismembered limbs of their own people.* > > *(v) The removal of these governments is an obligation upon us, and a necessary step to free the Ummah, to make the Shariah the supreme law and to regain Palestine. And our fight against these governments is not separate from out fight against you.* > > *(d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world.* > > *(e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures.* > > *(f) You have starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5 million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and you did not show concern. Yet when 3000 of your people died, the entire world rises and has not yet sat down.* > > *(g) You have supported the Jews in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and agreed to move your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your weapons, Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation to capture and destroy it.* > > *(2) These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!!* > > *(3) You may then dispute that all the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake:* > > *(a) This argument contradicts your continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.* > > *(b) The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.* > > *(c) Also the American army is part of the American people. It is this very same people who are shamelessly helping the Jews fight against us.* > > *(d) The American people are the ones who employ both their men and their women in the American Forces which attack us.* > > *(e) This is why the American people cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and Jews against us.* > > *(f) Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked, then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns. Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to kill theirs.* > > *The American Government and press still refuses to answer the question:* > > *Why did they attack us in New York and Washington?* > > *If Sharon is a man of peace in the eyes of Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.* > > *(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?* > > *(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.* > > *(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them - peace be upon them all.* > > *It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.* > > *(b) It is the religion whose book - the Quran - will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.* > > *(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.* > > *(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest.* > > *We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.* > > *(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:* > > *(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?* > > *(ii) You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against.* > > *(iii) You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants. You also permit drugs, and only forbid the trade of them, even though your nation is the largest consumer of them.* > > *(iv) You are a nation that permits acts of immorality, and you consider them to be pillars of personal freedom. You have continued to sink down this abyss from level to level until incest has spread amongst you, in the face of which neither your sense of honour nor your laws object.* > > *Who can forget your President Clinton's immoral acts committed in the official Oval office? After that you did not even bring him to account, other than that he 'made a mistake', after which everything passed with no punishment. Is there a worse kind of event for which your name will go down in history and remembered by nations?* > > *(v) You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. The companies practice this as well, resulting in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich.* > > *(vi) You are a nation that exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers to purchase them. You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women.* > > *(vii) You are a nation that practices the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it.* > > *(viii) And because of all this, you have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man, that you brought them AIDS as a Satanic American Invention.* > > *(xi) You have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure the profit of your greedy companies and\*industries.* > > *(x) Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy.* > > *(xi) That which you are singled out for in the history of mankind, is that you have used your force to destroy mankind more than any other nation in history; not to defend principles and values, but to hasten to secure your interests and profits. You who dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, even though Japan was ready to negotiate an end to the war. How many acts of oppression, tyranny and injustice have you carried out, O callers to freedom?* > > *(xii) Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All\*manners, principles and values have two scales: one for you and one for the others.* > > *(a)The freedom and democracy that you call to is for yourselves and for white race only; as for the rest of the world, you impose upon them your monstrous, destructive policies and Governments, which you call the 'American friends'. Yet you prevent them from establishing democracies. When the Islamic party in Algeria wanted to practice democracy and they won the election, you unleashed your agents in the Algerian army onto them, and to attack them with tanks and guns, to imprison them and torture them - a new lesson from the 'American book of democracy'!!!* > > *(b)Your policy on prohibiting and forcibly removing weapons of mass destruction to ensure world peace: it only applies to those countries which you do not permit to possess such weapons. As for the countries you consent to, such as Israel, then they are allowed to keep and use such weapons to defend their security. Anyone else who you suspect might be manufacturing or keeping these kinds of weapons, you call them criminals and you take military action against them.* > > *(c)You are the last ones to respect the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules against the wall with the full support of America.* > > *(d)As for the war criminals which you censure and form criminal courts for - you shamelessly ask that your own are granted immunity!! However, history will not forget the war crimes that you committed against the Muslims and the rest of the world; those you have killed in Japan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq will remain a shame that you will never be able to escape. It will suffice to remind you of your latest war crimes in Afghanistan, in which densely populated innocent civilian villages were destroyed, bombs were dropped on mosques causing the roof of the mosque to come crashing down on the heads of the Muslims praying inside. You are the ones who broke the agreement with the Mujahideen when they left Qunduz, bombing them in Jangi fort, and killing more than 1,000 of your prisoners through suffocation and thirst. Allah alone knows how many people have died by torture at the hands of you and your agents. Your planes remain in the Afghan skies, looking for anyone remotely suspicious.* > > *(e)You have claimed to be the vanguards of Human Rights, and your Ministry of Foreign affairs issues annual reports containing statistics of those countries that violate any Human Rights. However, all these things vanished when the Mujahideen hit you, and you then implemented the methods of the same documented governments that you used to curse. In America, you captured thousands the Muslims and Arabs, took them into custody with neither reason, court trial, nor even disclosing their names. You issued newer, harsher laws.* > > *What happens in Guatanamo is a historical embarrassment to America and its values, and it screams into your faces - you hypocrites, "What is the value of your signature on any agreement or treaty?"* > > *(3) What we call you to thirdly is to take an honest stance with yourselves - and I doubt you will do so - to discover that you are a nation without principles or manners, and that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to.* > > *(4) We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in Southern Philippines.* > > *(5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.* > > *(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.* > > *(7) We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in more disasters for you.* > > *If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: "Do you fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers. Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of believing people. And remove the anger of their (believers') hearts. Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." \[Quran9:13-1\]* > > *The Nation of honour and respect:* > > *"But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad- peace be upon him) and to the believers." \[Quran 63:8\]* > > *"So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be\*superior ( in victory )if you are indeed (true) believers" \[Quran 3:139\]* > > *The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation that desires death more than you desire life:* > > *"Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord, and they are being provided for. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers." \[Quran 3:169-171\]* > > *The Nation of victory and success that Allah has promised:* > > *"It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it victorious over all other religions even though the Polytheists hate it." \[Quran 61:9\]* > > *"Allah has decreed that 'Verily it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.' Verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty." \[Quran 58:21\]* > > *The Islamic Nation that was able to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance.* > > *If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy.* > > *This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?* ### AIPAC Dems Join GOP to Censure Tlaib Over Israel Comments URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/aipac-dems-join-gop-to-censure-tlaib/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:02.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with* [*Sludge*](https://readsludge.com/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to censure one of its own, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), over comments she’d made about the Israeli war in Gaza. The Republican-led effort had the support of a number of Democrats, almost all of whom received funds from the nation’s top pro-Israel lobbying group last election cycle. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, is an[ advocate for an immediate ceasefire](https://bush.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-bush-tlaib-carson-lee-ramirez-lead-colleagues-in-call-for-immediate-ceasefire?ref=importantcontext.news) to end the violence, which has already claimed the lives of[ 39 journalists](https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-2023-11-08/card/journalists-in-gaza-become-part-of-the-story-they-feel-compelled-to-tell-FgsMx2tkJnqWR3cLbEzK?ref=importantcontext.news) and more than 10,000 Palestinians, including at least 4,300 children, according to Palestinian health authorities. This position is supported by a [majority of Americans](https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2023/10/19/voters-agree-the-us-should-call-for-a-ceasefire-and-de-escalation-of-violence-in-gaza?ref=importantcontext.news) and a number of prominent organizations and individuals including [Doctors Without Borders](https://www.barrons.com/news/ngos-say-they-need-gaza-ceasefire-to-provide-care-02d9988f?ref=importantcontext.news), the [World Health Organization](https://www.emro.who.int/media/news/as-gazas-health-system-disintegrates-who-calls-for-safe-passage-of-fuel-supplies-for-health-facilities.html?ref=importantcontext.news), and [Pope Francis](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-11/pope-francis-angelus-appeal-gaza-ukraine-israel-palestine.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has[ warned](https://turkiye.un.org/en/251952-guterres-%E2%80%9Cgaza-becoming-graveyard-children%E2%80%9D?ref=importantcontext.news) that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children.” The [resolution](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/845/text?ref=importantcontext.news), introduced by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), accuses Tlaib of "promoting false narratives" about the October 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas and "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel." The measure took specific aim at Tlaib for a remark in her response to the attack, that Israel’s “apartheid system \[...\] creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.” Multiple human rights groups have called Israel an apartheid state over its treatment of Palestinians, which includes restrictions on their movement and settlement expansion. Other statements highlighted in the resolution include Tlaib’s [blaming of Israel](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tlaib-refuses-apologize-blaming-israel-gaza-hospital-blast/story?id=104085727&ref=importantcontext.news) for a hospital bombing in Gaza last month, which the Pentagon later attributed to a [misfired rocket](https://www.axios.com/2023/10/18/biden-gaza-hospital-israel-other-team?ref=importantcontext.news) from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as her [defense](https://www.axios.com/2023/11/06/rashida-tlaib-river-sea-democrats?ref=importantcontext.news) of the chant "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Pro-Palestinian advocates, including Tlaib, [say the slogan](https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211671117/how-interpretations-of-the-phrase-from-the-river-to-the-sea-made-it-so-divisive?ref=importantcontext.news), which has been in use by Palestinians since the 1960s and was later adopted on by militant groups like Hamas, is a demand for liberation and equality. But many supporters of Israel, including the Anti-Defamation League, say the slogan is a call for the forced removal of Jews from Israel and a denial of the Jewish state’s right to exist. The final vote count was [234 to 188](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023622?ref=importantcontext.news) in favor of censure, with 22 Democrats joining the Republicans in support. According to available [data from OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-israel-public-affairs-cmte/recipients?candscycle=2022&id=D000046963&toprecipscycle=2022&t8-search=Cohen&ref=importantcontext.news), a D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks political spending, all but four of those Democrats accepted money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most prominent pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S., during the 2022 election cycle. AIPAC is listed by OpenSecrets as among the top 20 contributors in the 2022 cycle for 13 of the 22 Democrats. It was the largest donor for six of the 22—Reps. Frankel, Gottheimer, Manning, Moskowitz, Torres, and Wasserman Schultz. For Manning, Pro-Israel America PAC, a pro-Israel group [founded](https://jweekly.com/2019/03/19/former-aipac-officials-launch-political-action-committee-to-direct-funds-to-pro-israel-candidates/?ref=importantcontext.news) by former top AIPAC staffers, was the third top donor. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Additionally, AIPAC was among the top three contributors for Reps. Golden, Pappas, and Wilson, among the top five donors for Ryan and Schneider, and among the top 20 donors for Nickel. All but eight of the 22 Democratic representatives [received contributions](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/democratic-majority-for-israel/recipients?id=D000072202&ref=importantcontext.news) from the PAC of Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a pro-Israel dark money group[ linked to AIPAC](https://readsludge.com/2023/11/02/aipac-dark-money-group-attack-ad-rashida-tlaib/?ref=importantcontext.news) that has been running attack ads against Tlaib. Gottheimer, Moskowitz, and Torres [also got funds](https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/us-israel-pac/C00127811/candidate-recipients/2022?ref=importantcontext.news) from the US Israel PAC, a nonpartisan political action committee founded in 1980 to support pro-Israel lawmakers. The pro-Israel lobby has long targeted leftist Democrats. Tlaib and her colleague, Rep. Ilan Omar (D-MN), the first and only Muslim members of the House, have been two of its favorite targets. In the summer of 2021, Omar accused AIPAC of [endangering her life](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/12/aipac-accused-putting-rep-omars-life-risk-new-islamophobic-ads?ref=importantcontext.news) after the group ran a series of incendiary ads against her. Pro-Israel groups are already spending on attack ads targeting lawmakers who are seen as insufficiently supportive of Israel. United Democracy Project, a pro-Israel super PAC, is [targeting](https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/united-democracy-project-super-pac-targets-lee-bowman-massie-over-anti-israel-votes/?ref=importantcontext.news) Reps. Summer Lee (D-PA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), as well as Republican Thomas Massie (R-KY), over their stances on Israel. All three lawmakers refused to vote for a House resolution standing with Israel and condemning Hamas. Lee and Bowman have called for a ceasefire, along with Tlaib. While AIPAC has seemingly had it in for progressives, it has been willing to embrace far right politicians. For example, it [endorsed](https://www.timesofisrael.com/aipac-defends-endorsement-of-republicans-who-questioned-2020-election/?ref=importantcontext.news) 37 Republicans who voted on January 6, 2021 to sustain objections to the 2020 presidential election results . In a recent post on X [calling out](https://www.timesofisrael.com/ocasio-cortez-calls-aipac-racist-and-bigoted-after-it-criticizes-her-gaza-stance/?ref=importantcontext.news) the group after it criticized her stance on Israel, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused AIPAC of being “racist and bigoted,” declaring “they are an extremist organization that destabilizes US democracy.” “AIPAC endorsed scores of Jan 6th insurrectionists,” she wrote. “They are no friend to American democracy. They are one of the more racist and bigoted PACs in Congress as well, who disproportionately target members of color. ### America’s Biggest Charities Bankrolled RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vax Outfit URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:03.000Z *This report was produced in partnership with* [*Rolling Stone*](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-jr-anti-vax-orgs-funding-major-charities-1234857214/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* In April 2020, as the first wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic was breaking across the U.S., the largest charitable fund in the country, Fidelity Charitable, announced a plan to help mitigate the crisis. “As the nation’s largest grantmaker, Fidelity Charitable is committed to supporting the nonprofit sector and the communities affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to enabling our nearly quarter-million donors to respond effectively to the many needs emerging daily,” the fund, which distributed [$11.2 billion](https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/about-us/news/fidelity-charitable-donors-recommend-record-11-2-billion-in-grants-during-2022.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Donor%20generosity%20fueled%20record%20granting,than%20in%20the%20previous%20year.) in grants last year and is affiliated with Fidelity Investments, [declared](https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/articles/how-fidelity-charitable-is-responding-to-covid-19.html?ref=importantcontext.news). To that end, Fidelity Charitable said it would establish a trustee-led, minimum $1 million initiative to support Covid-response efforts and provide donors with guidance and resources to enable them to best direct their money amid the worst pandemic in a century. “We are focused on helping our donors and the public at large identify the most impactful ways they can donate, use their talents, and harness their voices to help others affected by this crisis,” read the press release. Despite the lofty promises, however, tax records reveal that Fidelity Charitable has funneled millions of dollars through its donor-advised fund program to groups pushing vaccine misinformation and skepticism. A large portion of the donations we identified came between July 2021 and June 2022 — after the first Covid vaccine became available to the public and while the pandemic was ongoing. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) For example, in its 2021-22 fiscal year, it gave roughly $1 million to Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit founded by Robert Kennedy Jr. that sows doubt about vaccine safety, and two of its state chapters. Kennedy, who long promoted the debunked idea that [vaccines can cause autism](https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-election-2024-president-campaign-621c9e9641381a1b2677df9de5a09731?ref=importantcontext.news), has called the Covid shots an “[ethnic bioweapon](https://www.wsj.com/articles/robert-f-kennedy-jr-s-unsubstantiated-bioweapon-claims-find-big-audience-in-china-61472bab?ref=importantcontext.news)” and “[a crime against humanity](https://web.archive.org/web/20231017124300/https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1602383185278640129?s=20).” In a [recent post on X](https://x.com/ChildrensHD/status/1708670627664818210?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), the platform formerly known as Twitter, Children’s Health Defense claimed the mRNA jabs “contaminate” breast milk. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently [recommends](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Recent%20reports%20have%20shown%20that,might%20provide%20to%20the%20baby.) pregnant and breastfeeding people stay current on their Covid vaccines, including the most recent booster.) That same fiscal year, Fidelity Charitable also gave $235,000 to anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree’s Informed Consent Action Network — nearly twice the amount from the previous fiscal year. The group includes a section, “Vaccine Safety Debate,” on its website [implying](https://icandecide.org/vaccine-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the Department of Health and Human Services has not demonstrated the safety of Covid vaccines. Fidelity Charitable is not alone in its anti-public-health spending. Throughout the Covid pandemic, big money flowed to groups supposedly promoting public health but in reality were peddling anti-vaccine misinformation, from some of the largest charities in the country, an analysis by *Rolling Stone* and Important Context has found. We tracked more than $15 million that donor-advised fund sponsors gave in 2020-22 to such groups — the lion’s share of the funds were distributed after the vaccines became available. Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have become a popular vehicle for wealthy individuals and foundations to distribute cash — and remain under the radar. Functionally, these entities operate as passthrough organizations: Donors deposit money into an account managed by a DAF sponsor like Fidelity Charitable, which disburses it with the donor’s input. While donor clients “advise” the sponsor, the sponsor has [full legal control](https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/donor-advised-funds?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Each%20account%20is%20composed%20of,has%20legal%20control%20over%20it.) of the money and where it ends up. Typically, the sponsors’ board of trustees has the final say. “Some speculate that DAFs are facilitating contributions to controversial organizations that might not otherwise occur,” says Roger Colinvaux, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America. “DAFs provide a layer of anonymity between donor and recipient. This is the very nature of a DAF as an intermediary organization.” With Republican-appointed justices dominating the bench since the 1970s, the Supreme Court has been extremely protective of the ability of wealthy Americans to influence politics and the public sphere with their money. Today, individuals with disposable income can drop cash and help spread half truths, misinformation, or outright lies all while remaining anonymous, thus facing no consequences for disseminating the equivalent of malware throughout society’s mainframe. While DAFs come with significant benefits for donors, like the ability to transfer appreciable assets such as stocks without the burden of capital gains tax, the big draw for some is anonymity. Donors can give tax-deductible contributions to groups of their choosing without having their fingerprints on the money. The public won’t see the original donor’s name on any public filings, and recipient organizations don’t even have to report the original donor’s name privately to the IRS. Recipient organizations might not even know the identities of the donors. For this reason, DAFs are a common vehicle for funding entities like [hate groups](https://newrepublic.com/article/172927/fidelity-schwab-vanguard-charitable-donor-advised-funds-hate-groups?ref=importantcontext.news) — or Covid-misinformation operations. Among developed nations, the United States has been hit particularly hard by the airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid. To date, more than 1.1 million Americans have lost their lives and [millions more](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) suffer long-term health complications, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Contributing to the suffering is the widespread proliferation of misinformation online — particularly related to the Covid vaccines, which have been shown to greatly reduce incidence of severe illness and death and somewhat reduce the chances of infection. Some studies suggest the vaccines also reduce the risk of long Covid. According to a May 2022 [analysis](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071284/this-is-how-many-lives-could-have-been-saved-with-covid-vaccinations-in-each-sta?ref=importantcontext.news) by Brown University and Microsoft AI Health, roughly a third of the nation’s total deaths at the time — half since the jabs became available — could have been prevented with vaccination alone. Yet, vaccine hesitancy remains high, potentially [threatening the rollout](https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/coronavirus/health-officials-worry-about-vaccine-hesitancy-as-rollout-begins-for-updated-covid-19-booster?ref=importantcontext.news) of the latest updated boosters. Only 17 percent of Americans got the bivalent dose. A recent Morning Consult poll does [suggest](https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/covid-19-booster-vaccine-poll?ref=importantcontext.news) that a majority of registered voters are likely to get the latest booster. Widespread skepticism has also [affected](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/20/biden-anti-vax-movement-00116516?ref=importantcontext.news) uptake of other vaccines. For example, childhood inoculation against flu is now lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. Covid-related misinformation has also fueled anger toward public-health officials and medical professionals. In February 2022, the American Medical Association [noted](https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/threats-intimidation-against-doctors-and-health-workers-must-end?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Yet%20another%20global%20study%20from,of%20the%20COVID-19%20pandemic.) that while threats of violence against such individuals had been on the rise for a decade, the uptick had become “even more of an alarming phenomenon since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.” The amount of money stealthy flowing to groups pushing vaccine and Covid misinformation from major charities provides insight into how public health became fraught at the time when it was needed most. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“In Their Sole Discretion”** Fidelity Charitable’s [Program Guidelines](https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/content/dam/fc-public/docs/programs/fidelity-charitable-program-guidelines.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) specifically state that “the Trustees of Fidelity Charitable have exclusive ownership and control over all contributed property and all earnings thereon, and may determine in their sole discretion whether an organization shall be an Eligible Grant Recipient, and whether to approve any grant recommendation.” The most recent three years of available federal tax records — from mid-2019 to mid-2022 — suggest, however, that the trustees may not have been completely careful with all of their grant recipients. The fund has passed roughly a whopping $2.7 million to Covid-misinformation and anti-vaccine groups throughout the pandemic. In addition to the donations to Children’s Health Defense groups and Informed Consent Action Network, Fidelity gave close to $180,000 to Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) in the 2022 fiscal year, a physician group known for its promotion of [quack Covid cures](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fringe-doctors-groups-promote-ivermectin-for-covid-despite-a-lack-of-evidence/?ref=importantcontext.news) like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and for [hyping up](https://covid19criticalcare.com/page/3/?s=vaccine&id=6377&ref=importantcontext.news) [alleged safety issues](https://covid19criticalcare.com/protocol/i-recover-post-vaccine-treatment/?ref=importantcontext.news) with the vaccines. The group even advises that long Covid patients, who have [been shown to benefit](https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p491?ref=importantcontext.news) from vaccination, “avoid all Covid vaccinations.” That number was up from $18,000 in the previous period. FLCCC’s co-president, Dr. Pierre Kory, has [expressed](https://x.com/PierreKory/status/1712217110942724233?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) [anti-vaccine views](https://x.com/PierreKory/status/1712440751940935815?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). Another recipient was the Brownstone Institute, a shadowy Covid misinformation and conspiracy hub founded in May 2021 to oppose public-health measures. The nonprofit, which received $64,000, published an [article](https://brownstone.org/articles/who-will-be-held-responsible-for-this-devastation/?ref=importantcontext.news) by its founder in December 2021 titled “Who Will Be Held Responsible for this Devastation?” that [originally ran](https://web.archive.org/web/20211209205715/https://brownstone.org/articles/who-will-be-held-responsible-for-this-devastation/) with a guillotine image and suggested “consequences” for the architects of lockdowns would be welcome. Brownstone also made former Trump administration HHS science adviser Dr. Paul Alexander a fellow, but scrubbed him from its website [following reporting](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/story-developments) by Important Context that highlighted a post on his Substack calling for public trials and hangings of public-health officials. Fidelity Charitable also gave nearly $91,000 to the Epoch Times Association, which publishes the [Falun Gong-backed](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/technology/epoch-times-influence-falun-gong.html?ref=importantcontext.news) [conspiracy-promoting newspaper](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epoch-times-falun-gong-growth-rcna111373?ref=importantcontext.news) *Epoch Times*. The paper has published a number of articles [containing vaccine misinformation](https://healthfeedback.org/outlet/the-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news), including one false report claiming it killed 17 million people. Fidelity Charitable did not respond to a request for comment. **Their Unique Ability** Another major charity fueling anti-public-health sentiment in the U.S. is the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, which is affiliated with investment management titan the Vanguard Group. In December 2020, the organization [announced](https://www.vanguardcharitable.org/news/vanguard-charitable-donors-have-granted-14-billion-covid-19-response?ref=importantcontext.news) that its donor base had given nearly $1.3 billion to “nonprofits that are directly involved in Covid-19-related relief efforts as well as a host of other 501(c)(3) organizations, many of whom faced financial setbacks since the outbreak of the pandemic.” But as with Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable [distributed](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/232888152/202331359349303108/IRS990ScheduleI?ref=importantcontext.news) a significant amount of money to groups working against vaccination efforts. Between its 2020 and 2022 fiscal years, running from July 2019 through June 2022, it gave $2.8 million to organizations pushing vaccine misinformation and skepticism. Most of that money came during its 2022 fiscal year. Vanguard Charitable gave a staggering $1,474,000 to Children’s Health Defense and its California chapter. Another $600,000 went to Informed Consent Action Network. It also gave $50,000 to Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, which [circulated a memo](https://www.cchfreedom.org/word/HFM%5F08%5F20%5F18.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2019 urging people to “think twice before getting the flu vaccine” and, in 2021, [put up billboards](https://www.newsweek.com/billboards-are-warning-texas-drivers-dont-bullied-vaccinations-1633084?utm%5Fterm=Autofeed&utm%5Fmedium=Social&utm%5Fsource=Twitter#Echobox=1632765777) in Texas encouraging people not to be “bullied” into Covid vaccinations. Vanguard Charitable donated $150,000 and $26,000 to Covid-misinformation groups FLCCC and the Brownstone Institute, respectively. It gave $12,500 to the Epoch Times Association. In response to our request for comment, Vanguard Charitable provided a statement over email. “At Vanguard Charitable, we give our donors the right to recommend their donations to the IRS-qualified public charities of their choosing,” it reads. “We support grantmaking to all philanthropic-cause areas, however the grants recommended by donors reflect their values and beliefs; not those of Vanguard Charitable.” Experts, however, told us that the real issue is the business model of DAFs like Vanguard. “DAF sponsors have full legal control over the assets and DAFs and legally can do — or not do — whatever they want,” says Ray Madoff, professor and director of the Forum on Philanthropy and the Public Good at Boston College Law School. “That is because tax benefits are only available if the donors give up control over their donated funds. The issue is their business model.” “One of the problems is the fact that our standards for 501(c)(3) status includes lots of organizations that promote hate and misinformation,” Madoff adds. Catholic University’s Colinvaux notes that refusing donor advice would risk “alienating donors,” saying that “even if some DAF sponsors decide not to fund certain causes, there will always be other DAF sponsors that fund them.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“Deemed Eligible by the IRS”** Some donors to Schwab Charitable, which was founded with support from financial services giant Charles Schwab & Co., used the fund to direct hundreds of thousands of dollars to groups promoting vaccine skepticism. During its 2020-22 fiscal years, giving included $570,000 to FLCCC, more than $400,000 to Informed Consent Action Network, and $18,000 to Health Freedom Defense Fund, which [successfully sued](https://casetext.com/case/health-freedom-def-fund-v-biden-1?ref=importantcontext.news) the CDC and various government officials over the Biden administration’s travel mask mandate. The organization’s website [encourages workers](https://healthfreedomdefense.org/resources/?ref=importantcontext.news) to organize against vaccine mandates at work. Earlier this month, it posted [an article](https://healthfreedomdefense.org/do-you-know-whats-in-a-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled “Do You Know What’s in a Vaccine?” with a graphic reading “Toxic.” Schwab also gave the Epoch Times Association roughly $119,000. In response to our inquiry, Schwab Charitable offered up a comment similar to what Vanguard Charitable provided. “Schwab Charitable facilitates grants recommended by its donors to 501(c)(3) charitable organizations deemed eligible by the IRS and state regulators,” the organization told us in an email. “Grants recommended by donors do not reflect the values or beliefs of Schwab Charitable or its management.” **“Unique Power to Use Your Resources for Good”** In the summer of 2020, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust’s president, Melanie Schnoll Begun, put out a call to action, in a “[global impact review](https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/what-we-do/wealth-management-images/gift/Rising%5Fto%5FToday%5FYour%5FImpact%5Fin%5FReview%282019-2020%29.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news)” for its donors. “Amid an uncertain future, you — as individual donors — have the unique power to use your resources for good,” read the document. “Regardless of funding from major foundations, government and corporations, donors like you are nimble and fill the gaps other forms of support may not reach as quickly. To help you in this mission, our recent landscape surveys, Swing for the Fences and In Solidarity, provide a compelling array of national and local funding opportunities.” Of course, like the other major DAF sponsors addressed in this article, the Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust also bestowed significant funds upon groups helping to fuel vaccine hesitancy between 2020 and 2021, with most of the spending occurring in the second year. (The trust’s 2022 tax records are not yet publicly available.) The fund gave $680,000 to Children’s Health Defense and its New York chapter; $135,000 to the Informed Consent Action Network; $100,000 to the Brownstone Institute; $75,000 to Physicians for Informed Consent in 2021, a physician’s group that casts doubt on the [safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines](https://physiciansforinformedconsent.org/covid-19-vaccine-risk-statement/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [promotes bogus treatments](https://physiciansforinformedconsent.org/covid-19-disease-information-statement/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the virus like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine; and $50,000 to the National Vaccine Information Center, a long-established, well-known anti-vaccine group that [sought to coordinate](https://www.nvic.org/news-events/conferences-workshops?ref=importantcontext.news) messaging with like-minded organizations early in the pandemic. It also gave $50,000 to the Epoch Times Association. (None of these groups immediately responded to requests for comment.) In response to our request for comment, a Morgan Stanley spokesperson said the organizations “remains cause neutral and focused on advancing the strategic philanthropic efforts of our donor population.” “For each grant to a domestic charity chosen by the donor, MS GIFT completes a robust review process, which includes confirming that the recipient organization is in good standing with the IRS, qualifies for exemption from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3), and is not associated with any illegal activities,” they explained. Predictably, ideological DAF sponsors on the political right have been enthusiastic supporters of anti-vaccine groups. DonorsTrust, for example, gave $15,000 to Informed Consent Action Network and $31,000 to the Epoch Times Association in its 2021 fiscal year. Meanwhile, the National Christian Foundation, a religious DAF sponsor that took in $3.1 billion in donations in 2021, gave nearly $1.1 million to FLCCC and more than $630,000 to Children’s Health Defense between its 2020 and 2021 fiscal years. Neither DonorsTrust nor National Christian Foundation responded to requests for comment. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **“In Good Standing With the IRS”** Community foundations, which operate similarly to DAF sponsors in that donors give to the foundation and recommend grants, have also helped fund groups promoting Covid misinformation and vaccine skepticism. For example, ​​Fairfield County's Community Foundation, which is based in Connecticut, gave $200,000 to Children’s Health Defense between its 2020 and 2021 fiscal years. The Chicago Community Trust donated $100,000 to Children's Health Defense in fiscal year 2021\. CommunityGiving, a foundation based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, contributed more than $160,000 to Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom in fiscal year 2022. In response to our request for comment, Krista Carnes, the communications director of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, explains that her organization had “made two donor-advised grants to Children’s Health Defense in 2020 and 2021,” which “were recommended by the same donor.” “FCCF did not make the grants as a discretionary contribution,” Carnes says. “Our policy is to verify that the recipient organization is a 501(c)(3) in good standing with the IRS.” Meanwhile, Chicago Community Trust director of public relations Nina Alcacio pointed out that her organization had adopted an anti-hate policy in 2022 and also helped fund vaccine outreach in Black and Latinx neighborhoods in Chicago. “\[W\]e offer multiple ways for donors to exercise their philanthropy through Donor Advised Funds and other giving vehicles so long as the organization is a 501(c)(3) public charity that does not engage in hateful activities,” Alcacio says. “The grants you reference were made through our Donor Advised Fund program.” **“No Simple Solutions”** With significant funding behind their operations, groups encouraging vaccine skepticism have helped politicize the lifesaving jabs and the pandemic as a whole. With politicization has come radicalization. Scientists like Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., a renowned virologist from the Baylor College of Medicine who co-developed a patent-free Covid vaccine for use in poor countries, have expressed deep concern over growing animosity toward public health and scientists. “As I report in my new book *The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science,* the anti-vaccine movement has transformed into a dangerous and politically charged enterprise,” Hotez says. “During the pandemic, it led to the unnecessary deaths of 200,000 Americans, including 40,000 in my state of Texas alone. That’s why we need to care about this. If we want to save lives, we must find a way to de-link or uncouple the anti-vaccine activism and antiscience from politics in America.” Hotez has felt the impact of this politicization firsthand. He has been a frequent target of anti-vaxxers and the political right. In June, the scientist faced days of harassment after calling out misinformation on Joe Rogan’s podcast from Robert Kennedy Jr. Rogan responded with an invitation to the scientist to debate the anti-vax presidential hopeful on his program, and Elon Musk weighed in supporting the idea. In addition to the online dogpile, two individuals [showed up](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/coronavirus/2023/06/19/454720/peter-hotez-harassed-houston-house-joe-rogan-rfk-attacks/?ref=importantcontext.news) at Hotez’s Houston home. “Most days I’m OK, but when the attacks accelerate after, say, Fox News targets me on an evening broadcast or this latest with Elon-Rogan-Kennedy, the pile on becomes very dark and scary,” Hotez says. Cutting off the funding spigot could help defuse some of the tension, but doing so is no easy task. Although DAF sponsors have full legal control over the funds they distribute, getting them to stop funding anti-vaccine and anti-public-health organizations may prove difficult. It’s a problem, Colinvaux says, where, “there are no simple solutions.” ### “Extremely Online” with Taylor Lorenz URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/extremely-online-with-taylor-lorenz/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:03.000Z When we think of online culture, social media, and big tech, often the first thing that comes to mind is “tech bros”—names like Jack Dorsey, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and Mark Zuckerberg—who developed the platforms we all use today. But millennial *Washington Post* technology reporter Taylor Lorenz is writing the unsung heroes of the internet into the history. Her debut book, “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet,” recently hit store shelves across the country, and there’s even an audiobook. In its pages, Lorenz makes a compelling case that the real innovators the online age have been the content creators, whose uses of platforms like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and others were never foreseen by Silicon Valley in the first place. And of course, many of these innovators have been women. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) “Extremely Online'' is a meticulous and impressive recounting of the winding, anarchic history of our modern internet era, from server load issues at Friendster, to a consequential earthquake felt by Twitter employees; to the evolution of “relatable” influencers; to the rise of TikTok hype houses. At the heart of this sprawling tale are the generations of creators who were often vilified or dismissed at the height of their success. For readers of a certain age, many of the characters and events in the book will be familiar, even if in name only: Julia Allison, Tila Tequila, Heather Armstrong, Paris Hilton, Liz Eswein, and many more. What Lorenz adds is humanity, placing their stories in the larger context of the birth of the multibillion-dollar creator industry and development of online culture. Lorenz gives her subjects the recognition they are long overdue for their contributions. For example, one comes away wondering where we would be today without the often derided “mommy bloggers” like Armstrong, who pushed the bounds of what people could share online while also being some of the first creators to recognize their economic value. A recurring theme throughout the book is how the media has consistently gotten it wrong—not only in its misogynistic treatment of influencers, which has led to a habitual underestimation of consequential women—but also in its arrogant undervaluation on the internet itself. A popular line among the mainstream press set for years has been that “the internet is not real life.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Lorenz’s book thoroughly debunks that assumption, noting the ability of prominent influencers to spark news cycles or generate astronomical dollar figures for major brands through partnerships. One notable example the book highlights is the lucrative partnership between Nordstrom Rack and Instagram influencer Arielle Charnas. Lorenz also spills considerable ink on the industry-wide effects of controversies surrounding Pewdiepie and Logan Paul. “It is quite literally our default reality,” Lorenz says of the internet, discussing the new reality with *Important Context*. “It is more real than the physical world…in some ways.” While “Extremely Online” does delve into some of the more unsavory aspects of our new normal—issues like unscrupulous and dishonest advertising, algorithms so demanding they fuel burnout among creatives, racial disparities in influencer culture, misogyny, and the proliferation of hate and conspiracy theories—readers cannot help but be inspired by the democratic potential of the internet. This potential shines clearly through Lorenz’s history of the popular movements and innovations of every generation of content creators even if the commodification of those popular internet trends—the real underlying the story of the book—by venture capital and other financial heavy hitters echoes the warnings of Mark Fisher’s “Capitalist Realism.” But Lorenz is a true believer. “\[The internet\] was founded on these very utopian ideals,” she tells *Important Context*. “It's just now the internet has been completely co opted by these hyper capitalist, monopolistic tech, social media platforms. You know, that's a problem. It's not the inherent problem with the Internet.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Lorenz’s book also contains a lesson for tech companies, which is especially relevant today to Twitter—now X. Right-wing billionaire and conspiracy theorist Elon Musk purchased the company last year and has overseen a dismal brand transformation marked by an embrace of the far right, a rise in hate and misinformation on the platform, an exodus of celebrities, journalists, advertisers, and other users, and steep loss of value. Although Musk and his fanbase have been reveling at the consternation of “blue checks”—old verified users who drove traffic to the website—since the takeover, Lorenz tells *Important Context* that icebergs lie ahead, likely after the 2024 election cycle. “Musk is just speed running all the mistakes that all the other tech founders have made for a decade,” she tells *Important Context*, explaining that the X owner is charting a course based on personal preference that ignores users. “He seems to universalize his entire experience, where he thinks sort of his version of the app is the version everyone should want to have,” Lorenz says. “And you just can't force users to use and like your product…They will just not use the platform. And I think he's learning that the hard way.” Many of Musk’s changes have been unpopular. He recently, bafflingly removed headlines from links posted to his site. As Lorenz notes in her epilogue, companies that fight their users end up losing out. “tech founders may control the source code, but users shape the product,” it reads. “Extremely Online” is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the political moment we are living in. It is available today at all major book sellers or directly [through the publisher](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Extremely-Online/Taylor-Lorenz/9781982146863?ref=importantcontext.news). *Important Context is an official newsletter of the* [*OptOut Media Foundation*](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to independent and investigative journalism. Download the OptOut app on iOS and Google Play.* ### Big News! URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/big-news/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:04.000Z Dear reader: I wanted to personally thank you for subscribing to this newsletter and supporting independent accountability journalism. There is so much in the works, including a couple big stories, that I am really excited to share it with you in the near future. Today, however, I have a big announcement to make. *Important Context* is now part of the OptOut Media Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that I co-founded with award-winning money-in-politics reporter Alex Kotch. Our mission was to advance independent media and reliable journalism. Brining *Important Context* under OptOut’s umbrella will enable this publication to expand. We are building a brand new website and will hopefully bring on a new reporters going forward. It will also mean my own attention will not be divided between two projects, but rather focused on one. **For subscribers, both paid and free: Nothing will change on your end.** You will continue receiving emails with our reporting and you will not be signed up for anything (NO SPAM!). The *only* change is that subscription funds will go to OptOut directly. This is a step in the right direction for *Important Context*. Not only does it mean more reporting, it means more opportunities to work with other outlets (more on that soon). Thank you again for supporting this work! Sincerely, Walker Bragman ### COVID Denial's Second Act: Climate Change Denial URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/covid-denialists-next-act-climate/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:04.000Z ***NOTE TO READERS: Important Context is becoming part of the OptOut Media Foundation. More details to come in the near future.*** When smoke from Canadian wildfires turned skies a hazy orange along the U.S. eastern seaboard in June, America’s right-wing talking heads got to work not only downplaying the health risks posed by the smog, but denying that the hazardous conditions had anything to do with human-driven climate change. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Among them was Jeffrey Tucker, the founder of the Brownstone Institute, who [posted](https://twitter.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1666605640192606208?ref=importantcontext.news) a fake dialogue on Twitter—now X—hinting that the crisis was merely a tool for social control. “‘Next it will be climate change. You watch,’” Tucker tweeted. "'‘Nah, that's ridiculous.’ six months later ‘Mask up, stay at home, cancel everything including Broadway shows and outdoor sports due to wild fire smoke overtaking the \[United States\]!!!!’ ‘Why is this happening?’ ‘Climate change.’" A longtime right-wing political operative, Tucker founded his shadowy nonprofit in May 2021—[with significant financial backing](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute)—to combat governmental COVID-19 mitigation measures intended to save lives amid the worst public health crisis in a century. Like many big money-funded right-wing groups, Brownstone has been a major source of COVID misinformation, including anti-vaccine propaganda. But with the pandemic emergency declared officially over by the Biden administration, Tucker and his organization have broadened their focus, engaging in the discourse surrounding climate change with increasing frequency. In July, for example, Tucker published a [commentary](https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/climate-change-is-the-new-covid-5411696?utm%5Fsource=ref%5Fshare&utm%5Fcampaign=tw&rs=SHRNCMMW&via=epochtimes) in *The Epoch Times*, a right-wing conspiracy newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Falun Gong movement, titled, “Climate Change is the New COVID.” In it, Tucker asserted that “the whole of mainstream press has shifted completely to climate change panic from COVID-19 panic.” “Everything qualifies as evidence of a new crisis—smoke in the air, rain on the ground, sun in the sky, sand in the wind, you name it,” Tucker wrote. “They're trying to paint a picture of an earth and atmosphere that are crumbling because of our way of life. It’s all happening right on schedule.” According to Tucker, the pandemic had served as a testing ground for creeping green authoritarianism, and “they” now had “the COVID-19 template in place for lockdowns, travel restrictions, consumption limits, restrictionism, face coverings, essential and nonessential distinctions, media tools for tracking and tracing the danger, public service announcements made for your own good, and the forever urge to stay home and stay safe.” The piece echoed an earlier Brownstone [commentary](https://brownstone.org/articles/covid-emergency-climate-emergency-same-thing/?ref=importantcontext.news) from February titled, “COVID Emergency, Climate Emergency: Same Thing,” which warned that the “‘COVID-19 emergency’…has unfortunately set a new and troubling authoritarian precedent that cannot be ignored.” It further suggested that a declared climate emergency “would be far-reaching, with potentially dramatic effects on the economy and society.” Tucker and Brownstone are not alone in their new focus. Prominent COVID contrarians and public health opponents have found themselves in a somewhat difficult position since the official end of the pandemic even though COVID continues to circulate. Having gotten the return to normalcy they wanted, free from new government regulations on businesses and expanded social assistance programs, they face a dilemma: *What to do now?* For many, the answer has been peddling climate skepticism. As the consequences of human-driven climate change become increasingly undeniable and the warnings from the global scientific community more dire, calls for drastic government action to address the crisis are growing louder. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humanity has [nearly run out](https://sciencebasedtargets.org/blog/ipcc-releases-final-warning-to-keep-1-5-c-within-reach?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20IPCC%20report,net-zero%20in%20early%202050.) of time to limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, which would mitigate some of its [worst effects](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/climate/global-warming-ipcc-earth.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Many%20scientists%20have%20pointed%20out,malnutrition%20and%20deadly%20heat%20waves.). Opposing the calls for climate action are powerful monied interests and a long-established, well-funded media and [dark money ecosystem](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-money-funds-climate-change-denial-effort/?ref=importantcontext.news). Some of the most vocal opponents of COVID mitigation efforts have been wading into the new market, applying the same anti-science narratives that worked so well to grow their audiences and sow confusion about the virus, which killed over a million Americans and [left millions more](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) suffering long-haul symptoms. ### “A Broad-Based Attack” The bridge from COVID denial to climate denial is a short one given the significant overlap between the two worlds. *DeSmog* even kept a [running list](https://www.desmog.com/covid-denier-conspiracy-theories/?ref=importantcontext.news) of groups and individuals with a history of promoting climate change denial who had moved over to COVID minimization and conspiracy theories amid the pandemic. Not only are many of the individuals [and groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) promoting both COVID and climate denial the same—along with funders like billionaire industrialist Charles Koch—so too is the playbook. The strategy to delay or prevent government action amid a public health crisis is simple: Undermine the science. In the 1980s, for companies like Exxon, that [meant](https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53640382?ref=importantcontext.news) “emphasize the uncertainty” in order to downplay the risks of burning fossil fuels. To that end, they amplified credentialed voices who, while not necessarily experts in climate science, were willing to buck the consensus and create the illusion of an academic divide. These tactics, and indeed some of the experts, were [borrowed from the tobacco industry](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tobacco-and-oil-industries-used-same-researchers-to-sway-public1/?ref=importantcontext.news), which faced a similar battle amid growing public awareness of the health risks associated with smoking. Another key to undermining science is politicization. Right-wing groups allied with the fossil fuel industry—like the CATO Institute—tended to be right-wing and worked for decades to associate the mainstream acceptance of human-driven climate change with left-wing ideology. With COVID, many of those same organizations hewed closely to this battle plan to fight pandemic interventions. To emphasize uncertainty and create the [appearance of a scientific divide](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/great-barrington-declaration-herd-immunity-scientific-divide?ref=importantcontext.news), right-wing groups like the American Institute for Economic Research and Brownstone [recruited and amplified](https://originals.optout.news/newsletters/norfolk-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) contrarian scientists, many of whom lacked actual expertise in key fields like epidemiology, pediatric medicine, and mental health, but spoke out against public health efforts like business and school closures and mandates. Stanford University health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, for example, a fellow at the right-wing Hoover Institution, became go-to experts on all things COVID for public health opponents despite the fact that he has a [limited background](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity) in epidemiology and actual medical practice. In addition to the usual tactics, opponents of COVID mitigation measures leaned hard into conspiracy theories centering around the loss of liberty. A Brownstone [headline](https://brownstone.org/articles/cisa-behind-attempt-to-control-thoughts-speech-life/?ref=importantcontext.news) from June attributable to the group itself declared, “CISA Was Behind the Attempt to Control Your Thoughts, Speech, and Life.” The piece opened with the line: “Keeping up with the corruption of the Covid regime feels like drinking from a firehose.” Even so, however, conspiracy theories are nothing new in the fight against public health. “Anytime government raises its voice above the level of the smallest amount of social maintenance…announces a mission that would bring people together to solve a major problem—this is the type of ideological illogical response that's in the air,” explained Dan Zegart, an investigative journalist who has been covering the fossil fuel and tobacco industries for years. “And where did it come from? It certainly didn't start with COVID denial.” Dr. Peter Hotez, a renowned vaccine scientist who has frequently found himself the target of online attacks by right-wing operatives, anti-vaxxers, and COVID conspiracy theorists, noted to *Important Context* that “the attacks on COVID science and scientists during the pandemic do bear some resemblance to earlier attacks on climate science and scientists.” Hotez, who developed a patent-free COVID jab for use in poor and developing nations and wrote a book called “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science,” explained that while writing the book, he “would sometimes discuss with climate scientists the similarities so we could compare notes, but the bottom line is that science in America is experiencing a broad-based attack.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Plants Love CO2” Unsurprisingly, many COVID contrarians—both those affiliated with right-wing groups and those unaffiliated—flow freely between COVID and climate denial. One prominent example is Dr. Simon Goddek, a Ph.D. biotechnologist, far-right conspiracy theorist, and [Brownstone Institute 2023 fellow](https://brownstone.org/author/simon-goddek/?ref=importantcontext.news). Goddek, who identifies as “[anti-woke](https://x.com/goddeketal/status/1638677536401149953?s=46&t=hJEZBNS43SwY9COMgq1Sbw&ref=importantcontext.news),” has promoted [race science and vaccine skepticism](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1691827116764016752?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news),[ targeted journalists](https://x.com/goddeketal/status/1696528836438184321?s=46&t=hJEZBNS43SwY9COMgq1Sbw&ref=importantcontext.news) for harassment, and [suggested](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1690348018267009025?ref=importantcontext.news) that “transgenderism” is part of a Marxist “depopulation agenda.” But his first love is fulminating over pandemic mitigation efforts. He has called COVID “[the plandemic](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1667681291775401984?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news)” and made [vague suggestions](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1665841730803970048?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) about a giant, nefarious plot surrounding the crisis. Goddek amassed a sizable online following as a vaccine skeptic as well, pushing quack alternatives to the jabs like [ivermectin and vitamin D](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1672260536959143942?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). Coincidentally, he is also the CEO of a [supplements company called Sunfluencer](https://sunfluencer.com/?ref=importantcontext.news), which primarily sells [vitamin D products](https://sunfluencer.com/product/vitamin-d-supplement/?ref=importantcontext.news). The company’s website was set up in July 2020, [according to ICANN](https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup?ref=importantcontext.news). “Covid = Vitamin D deficiency Change my mind,” Goddek[ tweeted](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1640525361015578625?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in March. Studies have found that vitamin D [does not protect](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/vitamin-d-doesnt-prevent-covid-19-other-respiratory-infections-studies-find?ref=importantcontext.news) against COVID infection. Dr. Robert Morris, a physician and epidemiologist who has advised multiple federal agencies, told *Important Context* that “the large randomized trials consistently show no benefit from vitamin D.” “There is absolutely no compelling evidence to support the notion that COVID corresponds to a vitamin D deficiency,” Morris told *Important Context*. Recently, Goddek’s social media has been littered with musings about climate change and suggestions that the existential crisis is a conspiracy—and that the pandemic was a ploy designed to acclimate the population for coming tyranny. “This psy-op was designed to condition the global population to what is yet to come: 15-minute cities, climate lockdowns, and carbon credit scores,” Goddek[ tweeted](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1696382319269929104?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) on Tuesday, sharing [an article](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12453329/amp/99-PERCENT-Covid-deaths-not-caused-virus-official-data.html?ref=importantcontext.news) from *The Daily Mail* rehashing an old debate over what counts as a COVID death. Similar to his posture on COVID, Goddek denies the well-documented harms of fossil fuel consumption. In July, for example, he had two viral tweets promoting the idea that higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were actually a good thing for the planet despite dire warnings from the global scientific community that greenhouse gas emissions are the primary driver of climate change. Research indicates that steep emissions cuts [are required](https://www.carbonbrief.org/deep-emissions-cuts-this-decade-could-prevent-abrupt-ecological-collapse/?ref=importantcontext.news) to prevent catastrophic loss of biodiversity. In one tweet, Goddek [posted](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1680357372735152128?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) an unsourced image purporting to show that the Earth is in a “CO2 famine,” [borrowing language](https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/FC7C4946-11A3-4967-BF28-8D0386608D3E?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Higher%20carbon-dioxide%20levels%20will,positive%20effect%20on%20plant%20life.) from the [CO2 Coalition](https://www.desmog.com/co2-coalition/?ref=importantcontext.news), a dark money group previously headed by a former CEO of the American Petroleum Institute that was [one of 40 organizations to sign](https://cei.org/sites/default/files/20170508%20CEI%20Paris%20Treaty%20with%20logos%20-%2044%20Final.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) a letter thanking President Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. “This is why #ZeroCarbon is a bad idea,” he wrote. “It’s a dangerous cult.” In his other viral tweet, Goddek argued that more carbon would mean more trees. “Did you know that plants love CO2 so much, farmers pump it into greenhouses?” he[ claimed](https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1680658144400121858?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). “Higher atmospheric CO2 levels would also benefit reforestation by enhancing plant growth and creating more resilient microclimates. It's time to rethink the narrative that CO2 is bad for our planet.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “More of It, Please” Another COVID contrarian dabbling in climate denial is Justin Hart. An executive consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies and presidential campaigns, Hart [founded](https://web.archive.org/web/20230406180058/https://rationalground.com/team/) the website RationalGround.com, dedicated to opposing public health measures, including [testing](https://web.archive.org/web/20230406062634/https://rationalground.com/resources/10-steps/) and masking. He has also [contributed](https://brownstone.org/author/justin-hart/?ref=importantcontext.news) to Brownstone. The site is currently down for maintenance. With climate change, Hart has been mocking the dire warnings of the global scientific community and perceived hypocrisy of political leaders who express concern about the crisis. In a post from March, for example, Hart [filmed himself](https://twitter.com/justin%5Fhart/status/1638242093507428354?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in a San Diego rainstorm, sneering at the idea that climate change would fuel droughts along the west coast. “Climate change,” he chuckled. “More of it, please!” Accompanying the video was a message to his audience: “They predicted climate change would create an ‘unending drought’ here in California and the ‘end of snow.’ 600+ inches of snow in Tahoe and this is San Diego today. By their logic - I suppose we solved climate change! Or is only ‘normal’ weather the proof?!” Hart has also suggested that the government was using climate change as an excuse to cement greater social control. In September, for example, he[ shared a video](https://twitter.com/justin%5Fhart/status/1570972154090651652?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) of White House climate advisor Gina McCarthy discussing climate messaging and the need for tech companies to crack down on disinformation. “Oh look. Govt censorship has moved from Covid to Climate Change - just like we said it would,” he wrote. The idea that the government is coercing big technology companies to censor truth tellers has been a central narrative for COVID contrarians, as well as much of the political right. A group of prominent misinformation-spreading doctors, backed by a Koch-funded litigation outfit, have been [embroiled in a lawsuit](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the Biden administration over its alleged role in social media platforms removing their content. In response to an email inquiry by *Important Context* about his views on climate change, Hart responded that that “BIG issue with Covid and Climate Change activism” is that “it supposes that a scientific assessment presents an axiomatic solution.” “Novel pathogen? Shut down the world,” Hart wrote. “Nevermind the burden on kids or the 70% of cancers that go undiagnosed or the impact on life and death that come from loss of a job. Cow flatulence causing CO2 emissions? Just engineer a serum from the Lone Star tic \[sic\] and [people will hate meat](https://twitter.com/justin%5Fhart/status/1549570850747084800?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news)!” Bites from the lone star tick have been linked to alpha-gal syndrome, which causes intolerance to a protein found in red meat and other products. This link has been the [subject of conspiracy theories](https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-ticks-meat-allergy-gates-foundation-oxitec-660925786138?ref=importantcontext.news), but Hart clarified he was not espousing one. ### “Wealth Requires Energy” Independent writer Alex Berenson, who has the dubious distinction of being[ dubbed](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news) “The Pandemic’s Wrongest Man” in *The Atlantic*, has also dipped his toes into climate contrarianism. Previously known for his writing against legal cannabis and work on Elon Musk’s Twitter Files dumps, Berenson emerged in the pandemic as a loud voice opposing public health measures and COVID vaccines. He was even briefly banned from Twitter for spreading vaccine misinformation but sued his way back onto the platform. Since March 2020, he has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, the [Internet Archive reveals](https://web.archive.org/web/20200327144019/https://www.twitter.com/alexberenson). Increasingly, however, Berenson has used his reach to cast doubt on the seriousness of climate change—though he [claims](https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1246058898991255552?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) he is not a climate denier. Last month, for example, he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1678440909657239552?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), “As climate change hysteria reaches a new level of screeching (1-in-1000 this, world's hottest that), remember that weather-related deaths have PLUNGED since 1970.” “The wealthier the world becomes, the easier managing climate change will be,” Berenson wrote. “And wealth requires energy. Period.” Berenson’s tweet included a graph from a report by the World Meteorological Association. He did not include the preceding and following charts, which showed that the number of weather-related disasters have increased 345 percent since the 1970s and that the economic cost of dealing with weather-related disasters has increased by 687 percent. While weather-related deaths have declined overall, heat-related deaths in the U.S. have been increasing since the 90s. Moreover, there are other dire indicators of climate change, including the [migration of people](https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/environmental%5Fmigration%5Fand%5Fstatistics?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Climate%20migration%20is%20the%20movement,a%20State%20or%20across%20an), the [spread of diseases](https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/diseases-take-flight-climate-change?ref=importantcontext.news), and a rapid decline in biodiversity, which research [suggests](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/ecosystem-collapse-wildlife-losses-permian-triassic-mass-extinction-study?ref=importantcontext.news) could lead to ecosystems totally collapsing. In June, Berenson remarked on another observable indicator of climate change without concern: the anomalous rise of the North Atlantic sea surface temperature. “Covid is well and truly behind us and the virus hysterics have - as it was foretold in the Book of Pandemia - gone back to climate change, their first love,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1668028005279571968?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in the context of the temperature rise. “ALT: Where’s your mask, babe?” In response to our media inquiry, Berenson [took to X](https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1697457569747321020?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) to accuse us of bad faith and publicly decline to comment. His tweet was met with support from a number of right-wing and climate change denying accounts. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “How Does This Happen?” Meanwhile, YouTube comedian Jimmy Dore, who rose to prominence in online left-wing circles during the 2016 election due to his affiliation with The Young Turks YouTube channel and vocal support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has also adopted an increasingly contrarian posture toward climate activism and policy efforts after tumbling down a conspiracy rabbit hole with COVID. Dore’s journey began after Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The comedian began attacking Sanders and left-wing Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whom he branded as frauds for not sufficiently opposing the new administration. This new posture brought him increasingly into alignment with the political right, and it was not long before he was opposing COVID mitigation efforts and pushing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Dore claims to have suffered a lasting injury from the COVID vaccine, but former friends of his have said publicly that he merely had a persistent stiff neck lasting a few weeks—an uncommon but documented temporary side effect of vaccination. The comedian has aligned himself with the Great Barrington Declaration, a controversial document published by a libertarian think tank calling on governments to reject broad public health measures like lockdowns and instead embrace infection as a path to herd immunity. He has embraced fellow vaccine skeptics like [tech millionaire](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036408/silicon-valley-millionaire-steve-kirsch-covid-vaccine-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news)[ Steve Kirsch](https://rumble.com/v26uxx6-steve-kirsch-on-jimmy-dore-show-clip-2.html?ref=importantcontext.news),[ Dr. Robert Malone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPKnOhJRYg&ref=importantcontext.news), and [Robert Kennedy Jr.](https://twitter.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1621290713467027456?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) These days, Dore rages about Pfizer, Bill Gates, the “Big Pharma narrative,” the [pseudoscientific](https://twitter.com/jonathanstea/status/1694488991326974069?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) “[mass formation psychosis](https://twitter.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1657112528802181121?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news),” former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s alleged suppression of quack treatments like ivermectin, and [cabals of global elites](https://twitter.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1695955745882374171?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), namely the Bilderberg Group and George Soros. Once a vocal [supporter](https://twitter.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1168190534126460928?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) of climate activism, Dore has become increasingly critical of climate activists [like Greta Thunberg](https://twitter.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1674730569836658690?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) and green energy policies, which he suggests are part of a larger conspiracy by elites. Last month, for example, Dore [announced](https://x.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1680226991289638912?s=46&t=hJEZBNS43SwY9COMgq1Sbw&ref=importantcontext.news) that he was “DONE listening to the establishment when it comes to fighting Climate Change cuz they’re only using it to oppress & control.” Weeks earlier, he had amplified a tweet with a screenshot from a viral video suggesting Canada’s wildfires all began at the same time—possibly as a result of a coordinated attack. The video [has since](https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2226499139566?ref=importantcontext.news) been [debunked](https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-quebec-fires/fact-check-viral-video-of-satellite-images-is-not-evidence-that-quebec-fires-were-orchestrated-attacks-idUSL1N3851GS?ref=importantcontext.news) by multiple[ fact-checkers](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/jun/13/facebook-posts/no-this-video-doesnt-show-that-weapons-ignited-can/?ref=importantcontext.news). Dore’s tweet included the hashtag #ClimateScam. “How does this happen?” the comedian had asked his audience. Dore has also promoted “Great Reset” [conspiracy theories](https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/great-reset-conspiracy-flourishes-amid-continued-pandemic?ref=importantcontext.news), which were pushed by a [number of right-wing dark money groups](https://www.eenews.net/articles/climate-foes-push-great-reset-conspiracy-theory/?ref=importantcontext.news) that oppose government action to address both climate change and COVID. The phrase “Great Reset” used by then-Prince Charles to describe the sudden drop in industrial activity and travel, which led to a decline in greenhouse gas emissions early on in the pandemic. The conspiracy theorists claim that there is a nefarious plot by global elites to use the pandemic and climate change to restructure society and take away freedoms. In a [video](https://youtu.be/Y9RvhkWYrtE?ref=importantcontext.news) from Jan. 25, Dore called COVID a “plandemic” and said it was the “stirrup-holder for a great reset.” “World Economic Forum founder and spot-on James Bond villain impersonator Klaus Schwab has plans for you – all of us, in fact,” reads the description for the video. “Climate change and the coronavirus pandemic have provided an excellent opportunity to institute a ‘Great Reset.’” Dore has also previously [suggested](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGLlYQuwrRo&ref=importantcontext.news), based on an [out-of-context clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwsr1PDpb2g&t=563s&ref=importantcontext.news), that Fauci “yearned for a pandemic” and funded the research to make it happen. Speaking to *Important Context*, David Gorski, an MD, PhD, and the editor of the popular *Science-Based Medicine* blog, called the journey from COVID to climate denialism “inevitable.” “All science denialism is based on conspiracy theories,” Gorski said. “So it was inevitable that COVID minimizers and deniers would ultimately be attracted not just to more general anti-vaccine conspiracy theories but to to climate science denialism as well, particularly given how much COVID denial, just like climate science denial, tends to be a phenomenon associated with right wing political beliefs.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “No Need to Panic” Going the other direction from climate change skepticism to COVID skepticism is Steve Milloy, founder of the website *JunkScience.com*. A veteran of both the tobacco and [coal industries](https://www.desmog.com/2014/03/06/climate-denier-steve-milloy-now-director-coal-giant-murray-energy-cpac-global-warming-panel/?ref=importantcontext.news), Milloy has a long record of downplaying public health concerns. In June, Fox News featured him on a segment about the Canadian wildfire smoke blanketing the east coast in which he [insisted](https://newrepublic.com/post/173434/smoke-fine-longtime-tobacco-coal-shill-assures-fox-news-viewers?ref=importantcontext.news) that there were no adverse health effects to worry about from smoke inhalation. In the past, Milloy has made similar claims about [PFAS](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1636381934191546368?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), which are known as “forever chemicals” and have been linked to a number of health problems in humans. Although Milloy [has acknowledged](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1498661742406164493?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that COVID is a real crisis, throughout the pandemic he has been a vocal critic of efforts to control the spread of the virus—particularly [business closures](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1378717697345777672?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). In fact, he has [called](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1504437118520672264?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) such efforts “idiocy” and downplayed the seriousness of the virus. As the deadly omicron variant was emerging, which would eventually kill more Americans than its predecessor, the delta variant, Milloy [said](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1464749839409987584?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) there was “no need to panic or impose more worse-than-the-disease lockdowns and mandates.” Milloy now appeals to the paranoia surrounding COVID mitigation measures in his fight against climate action. In recent months, he has been warning that COVID lockdowns were only the beginning; that [climate lockdowns are coming](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1640172715326808066?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in the future. “At least the COVID lockdowns ended,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1632029594101456897?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in March. “The climate ones will not.” ### Judges Keep Questioning Herd Immunity Advocate’s Credibility URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/judges-keep-questioning-herd-immunity/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:04.000Z Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when right-wing lawmakers needed an expert voice to defend rolling back public health interventions to mitigate the spread of the virus, they could reliably turn to Stanford University professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Bhattacharya, a health economist and [senior fellow](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news) at the right-wing Hoover Institution housed at Stanford, is one of the most recognizable opponents of government efforts to contain the spread of COVID. An author of the October 2020 [mass infection-based herd immunity strategy](https://gbdeclaration.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) called the Great Barrington Declaration, Bhattacharya has consistently argued that the virus poses little real threat to most people. To date, COVID has killed more than 1.1 million Americans and left [millions more suffering long-term health side effects](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). Emerging evidence suggests the virus [takes a toll on the heart](https://apnews.com/article/covid19-long-covid-heart-3dd8f26c663e96bffcc2980830626153?taid=64d52964e54c510001bc7eab&utm%5Fcampaign=TrueAnthem&utm%5Fmedium=AP&utm%5Fsource=Twitter). Bhattacharya’s ideas were [rejected](https://apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/public-health-orgs-condemn-sars-covid2-plan?ref=importantcontext.news) by the mainstream of public health—fmr. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins called the professor and his declaration co-authors “fringe epidemiologists,” 14 major public health organizations published an open letter denouncing the document, and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it “unethical.” Still, the professor’s heterodox views have [made him a favorite](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news) of billionaires like Elon Musk, right-wing and business-aligned groups that [fought against public health measures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news), Republican politicians, and their media allies. Bhattacharya has personally advised the Trump administration, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and other GOP-led states on their COVID responses. He has served as an expert witness for Republican lawmakers in multiple congressional hearings and court cases. In an [ongoing lawsuit](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the Biden administration for allegedly censoring dissenting voices amid the pandemic, the State of Missouri noted that it had relied on the professor, who is also a party to the suit, as an expert witness in multiple cases. The complaint in *Missouri v. Biden* claims that “censorship” of Bhattacharya by social media companies acting at the behest of the federal government reduced the “message and impact” of Missouri’s expert witness. But in several other high-profile legal battles, the Stanford professor’s expertise has come under fire—and there is no one to blame but Bhattacharya, himself. Multiple judges have questioned the reliability of his testimony. ### “Little Specific Knowledge” The latest blow for Bhattacharya in court came at the end of last month in a case out of Alberta, Canada. The legal proceedings centered around public health restrictions the province had imposed to address the spread of COVID and where statutory authority rested to enact such measures. While Court of King’s Bench Justice Barbara Romaine ultimately found that the restrictions had been unlawfully imposed, she had some choice words in [her written opinion](https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-07-31-DECISION-Ingram-v-Alberta-Chief-Medical-Officer-of-Health-FILED-July-31-20238.pdf?mc%5Fcid=15345efd14&mc%5Feid=0d5021d036&ref=importantcontext.news) about the Stanford professor, who served as an expert witness for the applicants bringing the legal challenge. Romaine pointed out major problems with Bhattacharya’s testimony that deeply undermined his credibility, including the basic fact that he “had little specific knowledge about the events and public health measures taken in Alberta.” She also noted that during cross-examination, “\[h\]e denied that his main expertise pre-Covid-19 was in financial issues as they relate to patient care and outcomes, but a list of his publications pre-2018 belied this denial.” Romaine’s opinion paints an unflattering portrait of a man who has advised governors and even a president on public health policy. It portrays him as someone incapable of acknowledging his own errors—even when confronted with them. For example, in his written testimony, the professor claimed that flu deaths and COVID deaths were counted differently by the Canadian governmental agency Statistics Canada, resulting in the latter being overly inflated. During cross examination, however, Bhattacharya was confronted with a report from a senior mortality classification specialist with Statistics Canada contradicting his claim, and yet he was unmoved. “\[Bhattacharya\] stubbornly refused to admit that his statement with respect to Statistic Canada method of counting Covid-19 deaths was inaccurate, suggesting that he would have to have a conversation with Ms. Wood before he would accept her opinion,” Romaine wrote. “Dr. Bhattacharya was reluctant to accept any evidence or opinion that may cast doubt on his opinions.” At another point in his testimony, Bhattacharya had pointed to Sweden, which initially rejected broad public health measures in line with the recommendations of the Great Barrington Declaration, as a model of a strong pandemic response. When confronted with the fact that Alberta’s COVID mortality rate was a fraction of Sweden’s, the professor stated that an age-adjusted analysis was necessary to make the comparison. However, when asked if he had conducted such an analysis, he acknowledged that he had not. In his testimony, Bhattacharya had also referenced a retracted article to justify his position, but as Romaine noted in her opinion, he failed to disclose the fact of its retraction until cross examined about it. “He conceded that he \[was\] aware that the article had been retracted…on December 14, 2021, but he did not raise that fact until he was cross-examined on it,” she wrote. Romaine ultimately came to the conclusion that Bhattacharya was “advancing a personal agenda,” explaining that his evidence "was contradictory with previous published opinions and as was not based on an analysis of events and health care initiatives as they actually unfolded in Alberta." [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Advancing a Personal Agenda” The Alberta decision was not the first time a judge had made unflattering observations about Bhattacharya as an expert. In October 2021, for example, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw offered up harsh criticisms of Bhattacharya in his [decision](https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/22/tennessee-gov-bill-lees-mask-opt-out-order-violates-federal-law-judge-rules/8449956002/?ref=importantcontext.news) temporarily blocking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order to allow parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates on the grounds that it violated federal law. In fact, Romaine referenced Crenshaw’s statements about the professor in her ruling. Bhattacharya had served as the key expert for the state of Tennessee, defending the order. The professor argued: 1) that children were at low risk from COVID; 2) that children were inefficient spreaders of the virus; 3) that no high-quality evidence existed supporting requiring children to wear masks; 4) that masking harms child learning and development. In his 36-page opinion, Crenshaw called Bhattacharya’s testimony “troubling and problematic for several reasons,” and explained that it was “replete with contradictions that undercut his credibility.” For example, to justify his position that masks were ineffective, Bhattacharya had cited a study out of Bangladesh. However, the study’s author, Dr. Jason Abaluck, testified that the professor reached the wrong conclusion about the findings. “Dr. Bhattacharya stressed that the absence of evidence is not the same as claiming evidence has ‘no impact.’ Yet, his opinions regarding the Bangladesh study clearly violate this scholarly principle,” Crenshaw wrote. “Dr. Bhattacharya concluded there was ‘no measured difference in hospitalization or mortality.’ But Dr. Abaluck credibly explained that the study, in fact, did not examine hospitalization or mortality because such data does not exist.” Crenshaw ultimately concluded that “the court is not persuaded by, or confident in, Dr. Bhattacharya’s expert opinion,” noting that the professor had oversimplified the conclusions of the study, “suggesting he may have been apt to do so with other studies upon which he relied.” “He offered opinions regarding the pediatric effects of masks on children, a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak,” Crenshaw wrote. “His demeanor and tone while testifying suggest that he is advancing a personal agenda. At this stage of the proceedings, the Court is simply unwilling to trust Dr. Bhattacharya." [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Outside the Mainstream Consensus” Another October 2021 court ruling containing criticism of Bhattacharya cited by Romaine came out of Manitoba. The lawsuit, which was brought by a group of seven churches and three individuals, dealt with COVID restrictions imposed by the province, which they alleged interfered with their right to hold religious gatherings. Bhattacharya had served as an expert witness for the group. In his opinion, Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, did not mince words, [writing](https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-churches-lose-court-challenge-against-covid-19-restrictions-1.5632506?ref=importantcontext.news) that “questions can be and were raised respecting the weight that should attach to some of \[Bhattacharya’s\] opinions and views on the specific topics of immunology and virus spread,” noting the professor’s “absence of a more consistent and more specialized long-term academic focus and a more obviously rooted practical and clinical experience.” Joyal wrote that “many of Dr. Bhattacharya’s opinions and prescriptions on the subject of the preferred and most effective public health responses to the pandemic fall outside the mainstream consensus that has developed amongst most medical and scientific experts and governments the world over.” ### “No One Advocated For Any CDC Recommended Policy” Two months earlier, in August 2021, a Florida judge in a lawsuit over an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis banning the imposition of school mask mandates, had noted that the state’s expert witnesses, which included Bhattacharya, represented a minority view in public health. The case hinged on whether mask mandates were exempted under a newly passed Florida law giving parents ultimate authority to oversee issues related to their children’s health with exceptions for limited government actions that are necessary to protect public health. Bhattacharya, a longtime ally and adviser of DeSantis, had served as one expert witness for the state. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper did not single out Bhattacharya in [the opinion](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21054277/order-scott-et-al-v-desantis-et-al-doe-mask-lawsuit.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) he delivered from the bench that DeSantis had exceeded his statutory authority. However, he did note that “the CDC, Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the wide majority of the medical and scientific community in this country recommend universal indoor masking for all schools, students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K through 12 schools, regardless of vaccination status and social distancing.” Cooper pointed out that Bhattacharya had been a participant in a round table discussion DeSantis had organized to discuss school masking policies in late June 2021, and that “\[n\]o Round Table participant proposed a face mask mandate with no parental opt-out.” “All participants present proposed or suggested a parental opt-out policy,” Cooper noted of the discussion,” he said. “No one advocated for any CDC recommended policy or guideline.” He went on to add that the CDC, “by the overwhelming weight of evidence is considered the preeminent medical authority in this country about infectious diseases,” calling the body “the gold standard.” Cooper’s ruling was ultimately reversed on appeal. The appellate court said it had "serious doubts" about legal issues in the case including standing and jurisdiction. In response to our request for comment for this story, Bhattacharya would only say that “\[w\]ith lockdowns, school closures, and mandates, the Canadian and American ruling classes threw the working class under the bus.” ### Blood Money: How America’s Biggest Charities Are Bankrolling Hate Groups Without Anyone Noticing URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/blood-money-how-americas-biggest/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:06.000Z *Adapted from a photo by* [*Quinn Dombrowski*](https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/4458252531/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* *NOTE: This piece was written in partnership with* [*The New Republic*](https://newrepublic.com/?ref=importantcontext.news). It was *originally cross-published by TNR and OptOut’s general newsletter on 08/09/2023\. We are republishing it here since Important Context is now the home of OptOut’s original reporting. Last week’s* [*investigation*](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/americas-biggest-charities-bankrolled) *with* [*Rolling Stone*](http://rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rfk-jr-anti-vax-orgs-funding-major-charities-1234857214/?ref=importantcontext.news) *was a follow-up to this article.* The last few years have seen a wave of anti-trans Republican legislation introduced across the country, and much of it has become law. To name just a few examples: In 2016, North Carolina and South Dakota banned transgender kids from using public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Over two years ago, Idaho banned transgender women students from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. And last year, Alabama became the second state to ban gender-affirming care for minors and the first to [criminalize doctors](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/?ref=importantcontext.news) who provide it, threatening them with up to 10 years in prison. The same organization was [behind](https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/law-firm-linked-anti-transgender-bathroom-bills-across-country-n741106?ref=importantcontext.news) [these](https://www.them.us/story/hate-group-reportedly-behind-2021-anti-trans-bills?ref=importantcontext.news) [laws](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/?ref=importantcontext.news): [Alliance Defending Freedom](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/alliance-defending-freedom?ref=importantcontext.news), a Christian legal powerhouse that [drafts](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/?ref=importantcontext.news), lobbies for, and defends [anti-LGBTQ legislation](https://www.them.us/story/hate-group-reportedly-behind-2021-anti-trans-bills?ref=importantcontext.news) and policies. This year alone, 500 bills have already been introduced around the country. And ADF’s power is only growing: The nonprofit organization’s annual gross receipts doubled from $52 million in the 2016 fiscal year to $104 million in fiscal year 2022. It’s perhaps not surprising, given the rise of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on the right in recent years, that ADF’s hateful agenda would be so well funded. But research by *The New Republic* and the OptOut Media Foundation has found that much of the organization’s money actually comes from charities tied to America’s largest investment firms, including Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab. Other notorious anti-LGBTQ organizations, such as the Family Research Council, as well as groups espousing anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and white nationalist ideology, also get much of their funding from these major mainstream charities. Over the last decade, dozens of organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center have received more than $200 million from these types of charity funds, as well as from community foundations. What’s more, these funds allow Americans to donate to bigoted organizations without revealing their identity—while also getting a tax break for it. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Each year, some 140 million American adults give [around $500 billion](https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-giving-statistics/?ref=importantcontext.news) to charities, donations they can then deduct from their taxes. And one way of giving has become increasingly popular with wealthy Americans: donor-advised funds, which are charitable accounts managed by third parties. When someone deposits money into a donor-advised fund, they immediately earn a charitable tax deduction; plus, they can transfer appreciable assets such as stock into the account without having to pay the capital gains tax that would normally accompany the sale of one’s earnings. For a fee, financial professionals reinvest the money to make it grow. Whenever clients feel like it—as in, many years later, if ever—they can “advise” the fund manager on how much and to which organizations their donations should go. The fund manager almost always obliges. “DAFs are popular and fast-growing because of the tax benefits and the convenience,” Roger Colinvaux, a law professor at the Catholic University of America, told me. “Donors get the best tax benefits available, without having to fully give up control of their funds.” But here’s the catch: When someone puts money or assets into a donor-advised fund, it’s no longer their money. They get the charitable tax deduction, since they’re actually donating to the donor-advised fund sponsor, a 501(c)(3) charity that then legally owns the money and has full discretion over where it goes. That also allows the donors to remain anonymous, both to the public and even to the IRS. So if someone wanted to fund, say, a white nationalist hate group but didn’t want the media or the government to catch wind of it, they’d use a donor-advised fund. That’s exactly what many Americans are doing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/2b48b206-1d47-4b43-8674-b19fefb5213e_2875x2612.png) Fidelity Charitable is the biggest public or private charity in the nation by donations received, having taken in over $15 billion in contributions in the 2021–22 fiscal year. (While the organization is incorporated separately from Fidelity Investments—the former is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the latter a private for-profit—it employs Fidelity Investments to manage its clients’ money, handing over some of the clients’ fees in exchange.) Over the last eight fiscal years, Fidelity Charitable doled out more than $25 million to Southern Poverty Law Center–designated hate groups. ADF got the most, at $8.7 million, and among the other anti-LGBTQ recipients, the Family Research Council ($1.9 million), Family Watch International ($1.1 million), and the [American Family Association](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-family-association?ref=importantcontext.news) ($800,000) topped the list. Like [ADF](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/07/24/alliance-defending-freedom-through-years?ref=importantcontext.news), the [Family Research Council](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council?ref=importantcontext.news) has attempted to link homosexuality and pedophilia. “While activists like to claim that pedophilia is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two,” [wrote](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/tony-perkins?ref=importantcontext.news) Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on his group’s website in 2010\. “It is a homosexual problem.” [Family Watch International](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-watch-international?ref=importantcontext.news), which promotes anti-LGBTQ policies around the world, also [links gay men and pedophilia](https://familywatch.org/fwi/documents/FWIpolicybriefoutcomesfamilystructure.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). The [American Family Association](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-family-association?ref=importantcontext.news), which advocates for “traditional moral values” in media, has called homosexuality “a poor and dangerous choice” and claims it’s a threat to public health. The biggest known funder of SPLC-designated hate groups in the United States by far is the National Christian Charitable Foundation, an ideological donor-advised fund sponsor that pulled in over $3 billion in contributions in 2021\. It has funneled over $130 million into anti-LGBTQ hate groups from 2014 to 2021, including: $93 million to ADF, $20 million to the Family Research Council, $14.6 million to the American Family Association, and $1.2 million to [Liberty Counsel](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/liberty-counsel?ref=importantcontext.news). It’s not just anti-LGBTQ groups that are receiving windfalls from these funds. We tracked over 1,100 contributions from 91 donor-advised fund sponsors and community foundations (which operate the same way as donor-advised funds) to 60 organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, amounting to nearly $210 million since 2014\. (These don’t include many donations from 2022 and 2023, since most of those tax records are not yet available.) In addition to Fidelity Charitable, several other donor-advised fund sponsors linked to reputable investment firms are high on the list: Schwab Charitable, at third, has given $12 million to hate groups since 2014, and Vanguard Charitable, at fifth, has given $7.2 million. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) While much of this money is funding anti-LGBTQ organizations, it’s also going to other hate groups. Fidelity Charitable has committed $240,000 to white nationalist hate groups since its 2015 fiscal year, most of it going to the [VDARE](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/vdare?ref=importantcontext.news) Foundation and the New Century Foundation, which publishes [*American Renaissance*](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-renaissance?ref=importantcontext.news). These two notorious organizations are known for spreading racist myths, and both have been cited in white nationalist mass shooters’ [manifestos](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/06/07/buffalo-murderers-manifesto-cites-white-nationalist-groups-bankrolled-by-donorstrust/?ref=importantcontext.news) or [social media posts](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/05/08/allen-texas-killer-posted-neo-nazi-incel-content-online?ref=importantcontext.news). Fidelity Charitable also donated $9 million to anti-Muslim groups, including $4 million to the [David Horowitz](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz?ref=importantcontext.news) Freedom Center and $2.2 million to the [American Freedom Law Center](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-yerushalmi?ref=importantcontext.news). Vanguard Charitable, meanwhile, has donated millions to anti-immigrant outfits, such as the Center for Immigration Studies and [Federation for American Immigration Reform](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/federation-american-immigration-reform?ref=importantcontext.news), since fiscal year 2014\. Both groups fearmonger about immigrants in an effort to restrict immigration to the U.S., and they are influential in conservative politics, the former having been [closely tied](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/11/14/emails-detail-millers-ties-group-touted-white-nationalist-writers?ref=importantcontext.news) to Stephen Miller and the Trump White House, and the latter frequently sending its representatives to lobby and testify before Congress. None of the donor-advised fund sponsors named in this story replied to requests for comment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/40516634-1027-43b3-9623-8a30ee66f9b5_2875x4896.png) Major donor-advised fund sponsors rarely change their giving policies, likely fearful of lawsuits from angry clients. But smaller foundations do sometimes bow to pressure. The Inland Northwest Community Foundation, a charity that rebranded as the Innovia Foundation, [resisted](https://readsludge.com/2021/03/05/donor-advised-funds-must-stop-supporting-hate/?ref=importantcontext.news) calls to stop funding the VDARE Foundation for years. But in 2020, after the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations published a [report](https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/dev%5Fhate%5Ffree%5Fphilanthropy%5Ffinal1.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) that included Innovia’s financing of VDARE, the foundation came out with an anti-hate policy and cut off hate groups. As Innovia’s ex-CEO Mark Hurtubise wrote in *Sludge*, the Council on Foundations, the accrediting body for community foundations, could incorporate a serious diversity, equity, and inclusion policy into its national standards. And during the last session of Congress, when Democrats controlled both houses and the White House, lawmakers could have held hearings on how the IRS grants tax-exempt status to hate groups and on its lax oversight of donor-advised fund sponsors. With the House now in the hands of Republicans, who often collaborate with some of the hate groups funded by donor-advised fund managers and recently succeeded in cutting funding to the IRS, this is extremely unlikely. ### We Want Them Infected: New Book Takes Aim At Pandemic Misinformation Doctors URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/we-want-them-infected-new-book-takes/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:05.000Z Since the Biden administration declared an official end of the COVID-19 pandemic, opponents of public health interventions have been spiking the proverbial football, claiming vindication for their position that the virus, which has killed more than 1.1 million Americans to date, was never that serious to begin with. But one doctor is refusing to allow them to rewrite history. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Dr. Jonathan Howard is out with a new book from Redhawk Publications that takes aim at doctors who spread harmful misinformation throughout the pandemic, telling the truth about their records in the worst public health crisis the U.S. has seen in 100 years—mainly just by quoting them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/20ffcd51-c197-48a0-aa3c-2d645169e753_428x644.png) *We Want Them Infected*, which chronicles how the doctors embraced the idea that infection ought to serve as a path to herd immunity and eventually anti-vaccine narratives, borrows its title from a quote by former Trump administration science advisor Dr. Paul Alexander. Alexander made the same statement in private emails to his colleagues, expressing his support for mass infecting the nation’s youth with SARS-CoV-2. “Those four words sum up the entire book,” Howard says. A neurology and psychiatry specialist at New York University’s Langone Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center, Howard was a frontline doctor when COVID first hit New York. But if you ask him about this work, he will downplay the significance of his pandemic work. “I’m not really sure that I helped patients other than just by being nice and making sure that they weren’t alone as much as I could,” he says. “But I saw a lot. I saw more people die in April 2020 than I had in my entire career previously, and that included some young, healthy people—not many, but some…The whole hospital was just nothing but COVID.” Still, these personal experiences on the frontlines set him apart from many of his subjects, who for the most part, are not practicing medicine. For example, one individual highlighted in *We Want Them Infected* as a COVID misinformation spreader is [Stanford University professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya](https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/the-loudest-voice-who-is-gop-covid-19-expert-jay-bhattacharya/?ref=importantcontext.news), a health economist affiliated with the billionaire-backed, right-wing Hoover Institution and one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for embracing infection as the path to herd immunity. The declaration claimed that broad public health measures would cause more harm than good. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) Howard’s experiences in the early days of the pandemic helped lay the groundwork for his book. “During the first wave, I still had a ton of respect for people like \[Dr.\] John Ioannidis,” he explains. “When he was saying the virus was already widespread and most people already had it, I had no reason to doubt him. He’s a brilliant, famous scientist. It’s only when things settled down a bit and I really delved into what he said that I realized he was saying things that no one who worked in a hospital would say.” Ioannidis is the medical expert Howard says got COVID most wrong by his estimation, and is one of the inspirations for the book. Howard notes that Ioannidis was “one of America's most respected famed statisticians” but emerged early on in the pandemic as a minimizer and opponent of viral mitigation measures. Howard highlights a March 17, 2020 [article](https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *STAT* in which he significantly underestimated the seriousness of the virus. “If we assume that case fatality rate among individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2 is 0.3% in the general population — a mid-range guess from my Diamond Princess analysis — and that 1% of the U.S. population gets infected (about 3.3 million people), this would translate to about 10,000 deaths,” Ioannidis asserted. He continued on to add that “Some worry that the 68 deaths from Covid-19 in the U.S. [as of March 16](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html?ref=importantcontext.news) will increase exponentially to 680, 6,800, 68,000, 680,000 … along with similar catastrophic patterns around the globe” and mused, “Is that a realistic scenario, or bad science fiction?” With his new book, Howard is naming names despite a tendency among those in his profession to remain above the fray of politics. But Howard is critical of what he describes as a reluctance in medicine to confront misinformation spreaders, noting “a lot of people just didn't appreciate how big a problem medical misinformation was even in the middle of a pandemic.” He says many are afraid of silencing “heterodox voices.” To his point, many of the most prolific misinformation spreaders have framed criticism of their work as efforts to silence dissent. Bhattacharya, for example, who personally advised the Trump administration and a number of states on COVID policy, is currently [suing](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Biden administration for allegedly coercing social media companies to “censor” him. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “I think there's sort of an indifference in the medical community to medical misinformation that we don't think of it as a high priority,” Howard says, explaining why he believes *We Want Them Infected* was necessary. “I mean, 90%, 99% of doctors are focused on their little specialty. The main disease that I treat is MS and 90% of my colleagues are focused on MS and only MS.” Howard also believes fear of reprisal and harassment has cowed many medical experts. Indeed, the climate is fraught. Business-aligned right-wing dark money groups and Republican politicians have been waging an [information war](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) on public health measures and have successfully politicized everything from [masks](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the vaccines, to quarantine measures. Several of the individuals named in *We Want Them Infected* have lent their voices to those efforts, including Bhattacharya. The result is that speaking out today against misinformation carries risks. “I think that there can be a lot of pushback from this,” Howard says. “You know, I haven't faced a ton of hate yet, but people who are more famous, such as Peter Hotez, have gotten horrible messages and emails, which I talk about, and they've been doxxed and threatened and family members have been threatened. So who wants that in their life?” Indeed, in June, renowned vaccine scientist Hotez, who developed a patent-free vaccine for use in poor nations, was [harassed outside his home](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/coronavirus/2023/06/19/454720/peter-hotez-harassed-houston-house-joe-rogan-rfk-attacks/?ref=importantcontext.news) following a Twitter spat with podcaster Joe Rogan. The scientist had called out Rogan for platforming the [anti-vaccine conspiracy theories](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash) of Robert Kennedy Jr. Rogan, in turn, challenged the scientist to debate the 2024 Democratic presidential hopeful on his show. Right-wing billionaire and conspiracy theorist Elon Musk jumped in to attack Hotez, resulting in a days-long online pile-on of the scientist. Although Howard’s social media presence is smaller than that of Hotez, the doctor has faced his share of attacks from some of the doctors named in *We Want Them Infected* and their allies, who accuse him of publishing smears. Howard appears to relish this kind of pushback, confronting them with their own past statements, which are included in his book. He often responds to his critics with [screenshots of pages full of direct quotes](https://twitter.com/19joho/status/1681012458830397443?s=2&ref=importantcontext.news) and points out that while he can quote them, they are unable to do the same. Bhattacharya, for example, posted a 473-word screed about Howard and his book, [accusing the doctor](https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1663736161188335618?ref=importantcontext.news) of illustrating “perfectly a certain covidian mindset that is too perfect to pass up.” Howard’s [response](https://twitter.com/19joho/status/1664458591313567749?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news)? Direct quotes from the Stanford professor. Asked why he chose to speak out, Howard explains that *We Want Them Infected* was a story he felt uniquely equipped to tell, noting that he has long had “an interest” in the anti-vaccine movement since one of the doctors he trained with, Dr. Kelly Brogan, “morphed” into one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine voices years ago. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) “During the pandemic, I gradually noticed doctors who had stellar credentials and reputations, began to echo the talking points she had used to minimize viruses like measles and HPV and to fear monger about vaccines,” he explains. “Unlike Dr. Brogan, these doctors mixed good advice—telling older, vulnerable people to avoid the virus- with bad advice, claiming it was harmless for healthy people under age 65."And unlike Dr. Brogan, who saw her media footprint shrink, they spread their message widely in prominent newspapers, TV, podcasts and social media.” “They also directly influenced politicians at the highest level,” Howard adds, referencing Bhattacharya and his Great Barrington Declaration colleagues. *We Want Them Infected* is a thorough retelling of the politicization of the pandemic, targeting bad actors and public health opponents. It is available through [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Want-Them-Infected-anti-vaccine-Americans/dp/1959346032/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?keywords=we+want+them+infected+jonathan+howard&qid=1691129332&sprefix=We+want+them+%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1&ref=importantcontext.news) or [directly from the publisher](https://redhawkpublications.com/We-Want-Them-Infected-p547021769?ref=importantcontext.news). ### Who is Funding the Brownstone Institute? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/who-is-funding-the-brownstone-institute/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:05.000Z *Last updated 10/1/24.* A shadowy dark money group that has been waging information warfare on public health efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic took big money from nonprofit foundations and funds in 2021, tax records reveal. Since its establishment in May 2021, the Brownstone Institute has become a prolific and central hub of COVID-related misinformation and conspiracy thinking. Brownstone authors, who include prominent public health contrarians and conspiracy theorists, and COVID minimizers, downplay the seriousness of the virus while hyping up concerns about the supposed harms of mitigation measures. The group has also encouraged anti-vaccine sentiment, platforming prominent vaccine skeptics and misinformation spreaders like [Dr. Robert Malone](https://brownstone.org/author/rwmalonemd/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Naomi Wolf](https://brownstone.org/author/naomi-wolf/?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Brownstone has worked to give an academic veneer to its agenda, which is ultimately supported by business interests. For example, in May 2022, Brownstone [organized](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic) the so-called Norfolk Group, a motley crew of contrarian doctors that released an outline for a congressional inquiry into the federal COVID response in early February. That outline echoed the “[Roadmap for COVID-19 Congressional Oversight](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/forging-post-pandemic-policy-agenda-road-map-covid-19-congressional?ref=importantcontext.news)” report released weeks earlier by influential Washington D.C.-based conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, which receives funding from a number of right-wing billionaires. Brownstone is the continuation of the work of one man: Jeffrey Tucker, an [advocate for child labor and tobacco use](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails). Tucker started the institute after helping to organize the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, a widely-rebuked but official-sounding open letter from October 2020 that called on governments and scientists to reject broad public health measures in favor of allowing mass infection to deliver herd immunity. The document was written and signed at a conference hosted by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), the libertarian think tank at which Tucker worked. Brownstone initially purported to be the declaration’s “spiritual child.” *Important Context* has reported extensively on Brownstone and its mysterious funding. In January, we [revealed](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) that 83 percent of the group’s $1.2 million total revenue for 2021—and 85 percent of its $1 million fundraising haul—had come from just nine large anonymous contributions ranging up to $600,000\. At the time, however, we were unable to identify the donors. Now, with more tax filings released, we are able to put organization names to nearly 330,000 of the nonprofit’s funding. That money represents four of the nine large contributions and one that the group did not publicly disclose on its 2021 IRS Form 990\. The funders were identified with help from David Armiak of the Center for Media And Democracy, who helped with our previous report. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## Big Money The donations to Brownstone we were able to identify came through donor-advised funds—passthrough organizations that manage charitable contributions for clients—and private foundations. How donor-advised funds work: A client will open an account with the fund, depositing money and transferring legal control to the fund managers, who then dispense the cash to charitable causes with input from the client. There are several key benefits of using these funds, but the main draw for political donors is anonymity. Donations appear under the name of the fund itself rather than the client, enabling secretive giving. The largest donation to the COVID misinformation dark money operation with a source we were able to identify was [$100,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/527082731/202203199349314745/full?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, a donor-advised fund affiliated with banking giant Morgan Stanley. Sometime between July 2021 and June 2022 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, another donor-advised fund, which is affiliated with Fidelity Investments, gave $64,000. Brownstone also received $50,000 from the [Bluebell Foundation](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/364527728/202221249349102002/full?ref=importantcontext.news), a Florida-based nonprofit that has funded a number of charitable causes from universities to public broadcasting. In addition to Brownstone, the foundation funded another group with a particular focus on COVID: U.S. Right To Know, which describes itself as “a nonprofit investigative public health research and journalism group working globally to expose corporate wrongdoing and government failures that threaten our health, environment and food system.” The group’s [website](https://usrtk.org/about-u-s-right-to-know/?ref=importantcontext.news) features a section “COVID-19 origins.” It is possible that the virus escaped from a laboratory. Two U.S. intelligence agencies lean in favor of that theory as do a [majority of Americans](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/19/us/politics/covid-origins-lab-leak-politics.html?ref=importantcontext.news). However, available evidence has consistently pointed to natural origins. Another $50,000 came from the [Crary Social Ecology Fund](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/260667193/202211319349105921/full?ref=importantcontext.news), a California-based 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that Cause IQ notes “primarily funds charitable activities.” The foundation is overseen by two trustees: John L. Crary, who is [listed](http://www.walkersresearch.com/profilePages/Show%5FExecutive%5FTitle/Executiveprofile/J/John%5FL%5FCrary%5F100006424.html?ref=importantcontext.news) on the Walker’s Research business directory as president of the financial advisory and investment firm Juniper Capital LLC and a director of the Salinas-based Scheid Vineyards, and Barbara W. Crary. Brownstone was just one of several groups that promote anti-vaccine misinformation to receive Crary money. For example, Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group that [promotes](https://twitter.com/Covid19Critical/status/1681130695521968129?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) quack COVID treatments like ivermectin and hypes up concerns about the safety of the mRNA vaccines, got $55,000\. Last week, the group’s founder, critical care physician Dr. Pierre Kory, invited his Twitter followers to [join him in celebrating](https://twitter.com/PierreKory/status/1681359549301923841?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) “the millions of lives saved by ivermectin in Covid,” calling it “an uplifting story as well as a tragic one due to one of History’s most massive global Disinformation campaigns.” Kory, [an ally](https://twitter.com/PierreKory/status/1582499964496023552?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) of anti-vaccine activist and Democratic 2024 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., also [retweeted](https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1681173539179892736?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) notorious anti-vaccine entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, who asked his followers, “Is the CDC totally blind to all the adverse events from the COVID vaccines?” “I think they are,” Kirsch wrote. “What do you think? Kory has frequently amplified Kirsch’s anti-vaccine posts, including another [tweet from July 7](https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1677374766607667200?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in declaring, “We are throwing down the gauntlet on whether vaccines can trigger autism,” asking, “Will anyone qualified pick it up?” Kirsch announced he was “assembling a panel of experts (some with h-index over 100 such as Peter McCullough and Paul Marik) who claim vaccines cause autism,” and “would like to know if there is any licensed doctor or academic…or scientist at CDC, FDA, or NIH in America who disagrees with this position would like to question the panel in a live public ‘grand rounds.’” “This is important to get right,” Kirsch wrote. “Their side refuses to be questioned, but our side is open to respectful public challenges from our scientific peers.” Crary money also went to Informed Consent Action Network ($100,000) and Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense ($50,000). The last large Brownstone donor we were able to identify is the [Woodshouse Foundation](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136983078/202201309349101305/full?ref=importantcontext.news), which gave $50,000\. Among the range of groups the foundation gave to are two Koch-backed libertarian groups. Woodshouse gave $75,000 to AIER, and $30,000 to the Reason Foundation, which publishes *Reason Magazine*. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## Smaller Donations *Important Context* was able to put names to smaller donations as well. The Schwab Charitable Fund, for example, a donor-advised fund operated by financial titan Charles Schwab and Co., gave Brownstone roughly $6,000\. Another $4,000 to the institute came from the Nebraska-based Creigh Family Foundation, which is overseen by corporate and securities attorney James C. Creigh. Creigh is a partner at the national law firm Kutak Rock LLP. According to his profile, he is “a nationally recognized lawyer with extensive experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other transactional matters” and “has led more than 250 financing and acquisition transactions in both legal and business capacities.” Another $3,500 came from the [Quest Family Foundation](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/273773219/202211339349100431/full?ref=importantcontext.news), a well-funded nonprofit that gives to a number of right-wing groups including fundamentalist Christian organizations and hate groups. In 2021, Quest gave $6,000 to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The foundation also gave $10,000 to the [Family Research Council](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council?ref=importantcontext.news) and $5,000 to the [American Family Association](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-family-association?ref=importantcontext.news), both of which are designated as anti-LGBTQIA+ hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Quest gave $16,000 to the influential Council for National Policy (CNP), a secretive group that provides networking for right-wing donors and operatives, and $2,500 to the Leadership Institute, a dark money group that trains young conservatives to get involved in politics. CNP co-founder Morton Blackwell is the institute’s president. Quest also gave $5,000 to Judicial Watch and $1,000 to Turning Point USA. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ## Questions Remain The donations we identified amount to roughly half of the nine donations that comprise most of Brownstone’s 2021 revenue. Much remains shrouded, including the largest donation to the group: $600,000. As more tax records become available, it is possible questions surrounding Brownstone’s funding will be answered. ### Who Pays For Right-Wing Media? URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/who-pays-for-conservative-media/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:07.000Z *Last Updated: 8/10/23* Big money flowed to right-wing and conservative media nonprofits from major billionaire-backed foundations and funds in 2021, tax records reveal. Organizations like the Reason Foundation, the Daily Caller News Foundation, the Prager University Foundation, and others raked in large sums of money from groups affiliated with ultra wealthy right-wing families including Koch, DeVos, and Mercer—all of whom have a vested interest in deregulation, privatization of public goods, and cutting or eliminating taxes. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) To an extent, the role of big money in sponsoring ideologically right-wing and conservative media is fairly understood thanks in large part to billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s sprawling empire, which notably includes the Fox Corporation, *New York Post*, and *The Wall Street Journal* among numerous other properties. There is also Ben Shapiro’s *Daily Wire*, which received millions in seed funding from petroleum billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks; the Mercer family’s storied relationship with Breitbart; Glenn Beck’s *The Blaze* securing [investments](https://barrettnewsmedia.com/2023/03/10/the-blaze-secures-new-round-of-investor-funding/?ref=importantcontext.news) from members of the DeVos family. But the right-wing media ecosystem is critically dependent upon a handful of wealthy individuals and families. The most recently available federal tax filings (2021) reveal that right-leaning media nonprofits received hundreds of thousands of dollars from billionaire-backed groups and funds that allow donors to mask their identities. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Reason Magazine One notable nonprofit media venture backed by wealthy and corporate interests is the libertarian Reason Foundation. The nonprofit was founded in the late 1970s as the nascent libertarian movement was being organized [with help from billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and his deceased brother David](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/23/david-koch-helped-build-libertarian-empire-it-turned-out-be-paper-tiger/?ref=importantcontext.news). Charles has been [published](https://reason.com/1975/12/01/anti-capitalism-and-business/?ref=importantcontext.news) in *Reason Magazine*, the outlet owned by the nonprofit, and prior to his death, David was a trustee of the organization—a fact noted at the end of a *Reason* [article](https://reason.com/2015/02/25/of-kochs-and-unions/?ref=importantcontext.news) published in 2015, which called on the brothers to spend even more money to influence politics. Over the years, Koch money has flowed to the foundation. In 2021 alone, it received [$1.4 million](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23452970/stand-together-fellowships-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news)—or almost 10 percent of its $14.6 million end of year net assets—from Stand Together Fellowships, formerly the Charles Koch Institute, and another [$4,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation. *Reason*’s coverage has largely aligned with its benefactor’s ideological bent. For example, Koch has been waging a decades-long [war on climate science](https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-charles-koch-successfully-peddled-the-snake-oil-of-climate-change-denial?ref=importantcontext.news) and government regulation. The magazine has routinely [published content](https://reason.com/category/energy-environment/climate-change/?ref=importantcontext.news) critical of climate regulation and efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and [skeptical of climate science](https://reason.com/2023/03/21/is-the-climate-time-bomb-really-ticking-toward-imminent-catastrophe/?ref=importantcontext.news). In April, *Reason* ran [an article](https://reason.com/2023/04/19/the-push-to-eliminate-fossil-fuels-is-hurting-poor-people/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled “The Push To Eliminate Fossil Fuels Is Hurting Poor People.” Notably, *Reason* Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey does acknowledge that climate change is real, man-made, and has [acknowledged](https://reason.com/2015/04/03/what-evidence-would-persuade-you-that-ma/?ref=importantcontext.news) that global warming “could likely pose a significant problem for humanity,” but argued that the “scientific evidence does not mandate any particular program.” The COVID-19 pandemic has seen more alignment between *Reason* and Koch-linked groups—even as they [worked to undermine public health measures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) and sow confusion about the science with the ultimate aim of restoring economic normalcy. The magazine published articles opposing policies like quarantine, or “[lockdowns](https://reason.com/search/lockdown/?ref=importantcontext.news)” as they call them, as well as [mask](https://reason.com/2021/11/16/muriel-bowser-mask-mandate-washington-dc-covid-19/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [vaccine requirements](https://reason.com/2021/09/01/vaccines-are-good-vaccine-mandates-from-the-government-are-bad/?ref=importantcontext.news). The timing of these releases coincided with broader efforts by Koch-linked groups to undermine mitigation measures. For example, on March 28, 2020, just days after Koch’s flagship political operation, Americans For Prosperity, [called](https://americansforprosperity.org/afp-responds-to-states-shutting-down-all-non-essential-businesses/?ref=importantcontext.news) to allow states to reopen, *Reason* ran [an article](https://reason.com/2020/03/24/only-social-darwinians-worry-about-the-harm-caused-by-covid-19-lockdowns-andrew-cuomo-says/?ref=importantcontext.news) attacking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over business closures. “New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to show that he [cannot be trusted](https://reason.com/2020/03/24/only-social-darwinians-worry-about-the-harm-caused-by-covid-19-lockdowns-andrew-cuomo-says/?ref=importantcontext.news) to properly weigh the costs and benefits of COVID-19 lockdowns,” the piece opened. “While conceding the [unavoidable tradeoff](https://reason.com/2020/04/13/the-false-debate-about-reopening-the-economy-is-the-one-that-ignores-the-enormous-human-cost-of-sweeping-covid-19-control-measures/?ref=importantcontext.news) between lives and livelihoods, he insists that preventing even one death is worth any amount of economic pain.” As of writing this article, the Charles Koch Foundation is missing from the Reason Foundation’s “Torchbearer Society” [page](https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/reason-supporters-july-2022.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), which acknowledges organizations and individuals who donated $1,000 or more in 2021\. Stand Together is listed. Other Reason Foundation funders, whose economic interests align with the libertarian agenda, include: - The Sarah Scaife Foundation ([$700,000](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sarah%5FScaife%5FFoundation&ref=importantcontext.news)), one of the billionaire Scaife family foundations. As the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) notes the foundations were directed by the late billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife and established with money inherited from the Mellon industrial, oil, aluminum and banking fortune. - DonorsTrust ([$135,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news)), a right-wing donor-advised fund that is a preferred funding conduit for donors in Koch’s political network. Members of the Koch, DeVos, and Mercer families have used the fund. - The Searle Freedom Trust ($850,000), a nonprofit founded in 1988 by the late philanthropist Daniel C. Searle as a vehicle to promote conservative, free market principles. Searle was the President of G. D. Searle & Co. the pharmaceutical company that developed aspartame. [According to CMD](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Searle%5FFreedom%5FTrust?ref=importantcontext.news), inherited money from the company was used to set up the trust. Today, the trust is a major funder of right-wing causes and groups, including those in Koch’s network. It is overseen by Kimberly Dennis, the president of the board of DonorsTrust. - Tobacco giant Philip Morris International. - The Bader Family Foundation, a nonprofit overseen by [Hans Bader](https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/hans-bader?ref=importantcontext.news), a [former senior attorney](https://cei.org/experts/hans-bader/?ref=importantcontext.news) for the Competitive Enterprise Institute who, despite being a longtime critic of federal education policy, [previously worked](https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/10/16/devos-hires-staunch-critic-of-federal-education-regulations-222818?ref=importantcontext.news) for the Department of Education in the Trump administration. *Reason*’s communications director Chris Mitchell told *Important Context* that “[NewsGuard gives Reason.com a score of 100/100](https://api.newsguardtech.com/label/reason.com?ref=importantcontext.news): ‘This website adheres to all nine standards of credibility and transparency.’” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Daily Caller A major right-wing media nonprofit recipient of big money was The Daily Caller News Foundation, which is behind *The Daily Caller*. Billing itself as “a 24-hour news publication providing its audience with original reporting, thought-provoking commentary and breaking news,” the outlet is better understood as a part of a broader right-wing messaging apparatus. The nonprofit foundation received [$400,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from DonorsTrust and $230,000 from Searle Freedom Trust in 2021. It also got [$50,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23820549/bradley-foundation-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Describing itself as “a private, independent grantmaking organization based in Milwaukee,” the foundation began in 1942 after the death of industrialist Lynde Bradley, co-founder of the Allen-Bradley Company. Since the 1960s, it has been a major funder of conservative and right-wing public policy efforts with assets today of more than $1.1 billion dollars. The Bradley Foundation also funds the Heritage Foundation, the Mercatus Center, the Federalist Society, the Manhattan Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute among others. According to [an article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie?ref=importantcontext.news) by “Dark Money” author Jane Mayer, the foundation has spent years funding groups that promote concerns about election fraud. Moreover, Cleta Mitchell, who sits on the foundation’s board of directors, was[ on the phone call](https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/953823383/attorney-on-call-with-trump-and-georgia-officials-resigns-from-law-firm?ref=importantcontext.news) with Donald Trump in January 2021 when the president tried to pressure Georgia election officials to find thousands of votes to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results. The Bradley Foundation’s support for the Daily Caller Foundation goes back years. From 2017-21, the foundation has given the media nonprofit $300,000 (it did not donate in 2018). *The Daily Caller* has incidentally [spilled much ink](https://dailycaller.com/buzz/voter-fraud/?ref=importantcontext.news) over supposed “voter fraud” issues over the years. In April 2021, the outlet even [published](https://dailycaller.com/2021/04/05/democrats-joe-biden-voter-suppression-for-the-people-act-georgia/?ref=importantcontext.news) “A Handy Guide to All The Things Democrats Call ‘Voter Suppression.” Last month, it [ran the story](https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/23/georgia-official-downplays-existence-voting-machine-issues-ahead-2024-despite-expert-concerns/?ref=importantcontext.news), “George Officials Downplay Existence of Voting Machine Issues Ahead of 2024 Election Despite Expert Concerns.” While the outlet has [published a number of pieces](https://dailycaller.com/buzz/dominion-voting-systems/page/3/?ref=importantcontext.news) fact checking viral right-wing election fraud claims around the 2020 election and Dominion Voting Systems, it has also elevated trumped-up reports about the integrity of the election. “REPORT: Pro-Biden Operatives Gave Native Americans Gift Cards, Jewelry In Exchange For Votes in Nevada,” ran a headline back in December 2020\. The story cited reporting from the *Washington Examiner*, which focused on a nonpartisan Native American voter outreach project, the Nevada Native Vote Project. According to the story, one of the organizers was caught on video in a Biden-Harris mask. In June 2021, Trump repeated the claim and was [fact checked](https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jun/10/fact-checking-trumps-statement-native-americans-we/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Politifact, which noted that the video had been cited in an unsuccessful lawsuit by Trump allies in the state seeking to overturn the results of the election. The judge in the case dismissed the video, noting it failed to establish that the voter outreach project "gave or offered to give any person anything of value for the purpose of manipulating or altering the outcome of the election." Another large contributor to the Daily Caller Foundation was the [Ed Uihlein Family Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ed%5FUihlein%5FFamily%5FFoundation?ref=importantcontext.news), a major right-wing funding operation run by billionaire Richard Uihlein. The group, which gave [$25,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23589400/ed-uihlein-family-foundation-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), has funded groups involved in union-busting efforts like the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation. *The Daily Caller*’s coverage has an anti-union slant, especially against teachers’ unions. When Los Angeles teachers went on strike to demand higher wages in March, the publication [framed the move](https://dailycaller.com/2023/03/21/strike-cancels-classes-school-district/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a harm to children. “Massive Strike Cancels Classes For 400,000 Kids In Nation's Second-Largest School District,” the headline read. The outlet has also celebrated right-to-work legal victories. For example, after the Supreme Court handed down its controversial ruling in *Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters* last month, which held that a concrete company could sue workers who walked off the job to strike, leaving concrete running in trucks, *The Daily Caller* headline [read](https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/01/scotus-rules-against-union-bosses-liability-property-damage/?ref=importantcontext.news), “Supreme Court Rules 8-1 Against Union Bosses Seeking to Dodge Liability For Property Damage.” Labor advocates worry that the decision [will weaken organized labor](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-glacier-northwest-vs-teamsters-decision-ruling-labor-strike-limits/?ref=importantcontext.news), making walk offs more complicated. ### PragerU Another outfit buoyed by right-wing wealth is libertarian activist Dennis Prager’s Prager University Foundation (PragerU), which produces online videos aimed at young people to spread free market ideology. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the foundation brands itself “a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education” and claims to rely on donations “to keep our videos free and to reach millions of young people.” But the organization is hardly supported by small donors. The foundation has long had financial ties to wealthy interests. In 2015, the fracking billionaire Wilks brothers—Dan and Farris—were the [biggest funders of PragerU](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2015/04/30/conservatives-spend-millions-proselytizing-school-children/?ref=importantcontext.news) with Farris Wilks’ Thirteen Foundation giving $1 million. In 2021, PragerU received $100,000 from the Bradley Foundation and another $18,000 from the Bradley Impact Fund, an associated donor-advised fund that also diverts money to right-wing organizations including hate groups like the anti-immigrant David Horowitz Freedom Center. PragerU also got $400,000 from DonorsTrust and $150,000 from Searle Freedom Trust. The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation also gave [$50,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/382902412/202203189349100525/full?ref=importantcontext.news). Prager’s videos reflect the monied interests behind the foundation. They have taken aim at environmental regulations and promoted the use of fossil fuels. A PragerU video from April [declared](https://www.prageru.com/video/fossil-fuels-the-big-picture?ref=importantcontext.news) “the world needs more fossil fuels,” claiming that the benefits of their usage outweigh the negative side effects. A December 2021 [video](https://www.prageru.com/video/are-pipelines-safe?ref=importantcontext.news) asks viewers “Are Pipelines Safe?” and answers in the affirmative. The video narrator laments the [death of the Keystone XL Pipeline](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/09/keystone-xl-pipeline-dead?ref=importantcontext.news), describing the project as “lots of upside, almost no downside.” Throughout the pandemic, PragerU put out content lamenting “[lockdown devastation](https://www.prageru.com/video/ep-234-lockdown-devastation-just-as-predicted-and-finally-reported?ref=importantcontext.news)” and the “[dangers of ‘health above all’](https://www.prageru.com/video/ep-245-the-danger-of-health-above-all?ref=importantcontext.news)” as policy. The latter video, from July 2022, features Dennis Prager sitting by a fire supporting the anti-vaccine Canadian truckers’ “Freedom Convoy” and accusing the left of winning elections by appealing to the human desire “to be taken care of.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### RealClear Media The RealClear Foundation, the nonprofit behind *RealClearPolitics* and *RealClearEnergy*, raked in large donations from billionaire-backed right-wing groups and funds. RealClear got $850,000 from the Uihlein Foundation, $150,000 from the Bradley Foundation, $2.2 million from DonorsTrust, and $400,000 from the Searle Freedom Trust. Stand Together Fellowships, meanwhile, paid the foundation $150,000 for “media services.” More centrist than the other nonprofits in this article, RealClear Foundation still skews right—an unsurprising reality given its funding and relationships. RealClear Opinion Research, for example, recently [conducted a poll](https://www.federationforchildren.org/new-poll-school-choice-support-soars-from-2020/?ref=importantcontext.news) about “school choice,” a longtime right-wing idea to draw funding away from public schools by giving parents the ability to use tax dollars for private (or public) school for their children. The question recycled framing—and near exact language—from pro-school choice groups like [EdChoice](https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/what-is-school-choice/?ref=importantcontext.news), a nonprofit that received funding from Koch’s Stand Together Fellowships ($800,000) and DonorsTrust ($28,000) in 2021: - **The question:** *School choice gives parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which *best serves their needs*. Generally speaking, would you say you support or oppose the concept of school choice?* - **EdChoice:** *School choice allows public education funds to follow students to the schools or services that *best fit their needs* —whether that’s to a public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment families choose. Watch this video to see how an educational choice system works.* RealClear’s media operation has run pro-school choice pieces as well. In May, it published a [commentary](https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2023/05/03/why%5Fthe%5Fschool%5Fchoice%5Frevolution%5Fshould%5Fgive%5Famericans%5Freason%5Ffor%5Foptimism%5F110855.html?ref=importantcontext.news) declaring that the “school choice revolution” should make Americans optimistic. On energy issues, meanwhile, it has run a number of pieces critical of government efforts to transition away from fossil fuels as well as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) activism, which seeks to change corporate behavior. Just this month, *RealClearEnergy* ran a [piece](https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/07/09/joe%5Fbidens%5Fclimate%5Fpolicies%5Fweaken%5Fthe%5Fus%5Fand%5Fstrengthen%5Fchina%5F964705.html?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “Joe Biden’s Climate Policies Weaken the U.S. and Strengthen China,” which leads off with the claim that “President Biden’s commitment to end fossil fuels has been ineffective in reducing the demand for oil – but very effective in both weakening the U.S. and empowering our primary global adversary, China.” “Assuming that a reduction in global carbon emissions is necessary to fight ‘climate change’ (a [disputed proposition](https://www.amazon.com/Unsettled-Climate-Science-Doesnt-Matters/dp/1950665798?ref=importantcontext.news)), it nonetheless makes little sense environmentally, economically, or strategically to hobble the American fossil fuel sector (cancelling pipelines, discouraging financing, restricting leases, and slow walking permits) before sufficient sources of renewable energy with a proven capacity to meet global demand can be demonstrated,” it adds. It published [another piece](https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/07/13/american%5Fenergy%5Findependence%5Fis%5Fa%5Fnational%5Fsecurity%5Fpriority%5F965702.html?ref=importantcontext.news) making the national security case for stripping away red tape from natural gas projects. Last month, meanwhile, *RealClearMarkets* [ran](https://www.realclearmarkets.com/blog/2023/06/26/what%5Fcomes%5Fafter%5Fan%5Fesg%5Fcraze%5Fthats%5Fnot%5Fready%5Fto%5Fdie%5F942838.html?ref=importantcontext.news), “What Comes After An ESG Craze That's Not Ready to Die?” which made the case against ESG activism. ### Project Veritas Perhaps unsurprisingly, Project Veritas, the political sting outfit founded by right-wing activist James O’Keefe that is known for its deceptively edited videos, raked in big money from billionaire-connected funds. The project got $1.2 million from DonorsTrust. The actual donor identities, however, remain unknown as donor-advised funds do not have to disclose them. The funds themselves manage and legally control the money from donors, but take input as to how it gets spent. Veritas has gone after the political right’s favorite targets: Democratic politicians, including President Joe Biden, groups like [Planned Parenthood](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/planned-parenthood-is-not-harvesting-baby-parts-71830/?ref=importantcontext.news) and the [American Federation of Teachers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/05/08/u-s-judge-denies-teachers-union-bid-to-stop-release-of-project-veritas-video/?ref=importantcontext.news), media outlets like the [*New York Times*](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/media/project-veritas-new-york-times/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news)*,* [*The Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/womans-effort-to-infiltrate-the-washington-post-dates-back-months/2017/11/29/ce95e01a-d51e-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news), NPR, and others, and other entities. In other words, it has sought to undermine the hated liberal establishment. (In February, the group [forced O’Keefe out](https://www.npr.org/2023/02/21/1158505780/project-veritas-james-okeefe-forced-out-financial-malfeasance?ref=importantcontext.news) amid complaints about his treatment of staff and use of funds.) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Epoch Times The Epoch Times Association, which publishes *The Epoch Times*, received $31,000 from DonorsTrust. The publication is affiliated with Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement that has clashed with the country’s communist government. In recent years, however, it has become [a force in American right-wing politics](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/technology/epoch-times-influence-falun-gong.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Former President Donald Trump has even shared articles from the site. The publication itself is a hub for misinformation, including [COVID-related misinformation](https://healthfeedback.org/outlet/the-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news). Naturally, it has published many pieces against public health measures like “[lockdowns](https://www.theepochtimes.com/covid-19-lockdowns-damaged-a-generation-former-chief-medical-officer%5F5346621.html?ref=importantcontext.news),” which big money interests on the right have opposed for years. *Epoch Times* has even featured writing about the pandemic from Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the dark money Brownstone Institute, which *Important Context* has [reported](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) [extensively](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails). A Koch network veteran, Tucker and his nonprofit have been vocal opponents of government efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. ### The American Spectator The American Spectator Foundation, which publishes the right-wing the storied *American Spectator* magazine, a mainstay in right-wing politics, received big money from the Bradley Foundation ($50,000) and DonorsTrust ($305,000). Since its founding in the 1960s, *The Spectator* has been a beacon of conservative thought, having launched the careers of prominent figures on the right like Bill Kristol and Greg Gutfeld. The magazine publishes works advocating free markets, [cutting taxes](https://spectator.org/cancel-the-personal-income-tax-american-spectator-print-magazine/?ref=importantcontext.news), small government, and opposition to unions, with a [dose of culture war fervor](https://spectator.org/woke-hollywood-actors-strikeout/?ref=importantcontext.news). On Saturday, the magazine published a [piece](https://spectator.org/why-moms-for-liberty-frightens-the-democrats/?ref=importantcontext.news) defending Moms For Liberty, a parents’ rights organization formed in 2021 that was recently designated an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group has become known for its aggressive tactics at school board meetings and support for book bans, and came under fire recently after one of its chapters quoted Adolf Hitler in a newsletter. At its annual summit earlier this month, Tiffany Justice, one of the founders of Moms For Liberty, [proudly cited the incident](https://twitter.com/highbrow%5Fnobrow/status/1677716097494134784?ref=importantcontext.news) to whoops from the crowd and declared, “I stand with that mom!” The *Spectator* article asserts that the negative attention Moms For Liberty has received is the result of it challenging the Democrats’ “teacher union paymasters.” Predictably, the magazine has a hostile posture toward climate change activism. In February, for example, it ran a [piece](https://spectator.org/the-left-is-willing-to-bankrupt-america-for-climate-change/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “The Left Is Willing to Bankrupt America for Climate Change” which excoriates “climate catastrophists” and asserts that the left would tackle the crisis facing the planet by lowering the standard of living for all Americans. “Like the most intolerant zealots of the past, they believe they have the only truth and will override forcibly all who contradict them,” it reads. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### The Daily Signal Right-wing think tanks also double as media operations, putting out think pieces and commentaries. But sometimes, they have their own media outlets. The Heritage Foundation, for example, owns *The Daily Signal*. Heritage was founded in the 1970s with money from beer dynasty scion Joseph Coors. Today, it is perhaps the most influential right-wing think tank in Washington D.C. Heritage is famously connected to Koch and other prominent right-wing billionaires. For example, the think tank is an associate member of the State Policy Network, which we have previously [noted](https://originals.optout.news/newsletters/grassroots-parents-rights-group-gets-big-mystery-money/?ref=importantcontext.news) is “a [web of rightwing and libertarian state-based nonprofits](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State%5FPolicy%5FNetwork&ref=optout-news) that receive money from major corporate interests, including the DeVos and Koch families, as well as the Walmart owners the Walton family.” In 2021 alone, Heritage received funding from Koch-linked groups including Stand Together Fellowships and the Charles Koch Foundation—albeit in small amounts of $8,000 and $15,000 respectively. It also got money through DonorsTrust ($361,000) and the Bradley Impact Fund ($139,000), as well as from the Bradley Foundation ($325,000). In previous years, it has received funding from Searle Freedom Trust ($100,000 in 2020). The content published by *Daily Signal* reflects its ownership—and its donors. On climate issues, the publication is pro-fossil fuels. For example, in November, it published a commentary critical of green energy titled, “Critical Facts Ignored in the Climate Change Debate.” “Many Western countries are enacting policies to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) to less reliable and costly ‘green’ energy sources (mostly wind and solar) while ignoring the critical benefits that hydrocarbons provide,” the piece begins. Another piece from the previous month, “America’s Schools Warm to Climate Change, Without Question,” claims “it’s still not clear [how much temperatures will rise in the future](https://www.wsj.com/articles/unsettled-review-theconsensus-on-climate-11619383653?ref=importantcontext.news) and the [effect that might have on society](https://unherd.com/thepost/bjorn-lomborg-7-myths-about-climate-change/?ref=importantcontext.news)” and cites a source who denies the global scientific consensus on climate change. In March, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [released a report](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/climate/global-warming-ipcc-earth.html?ref=importantcontext.news) warning that in order to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, humanity would have to slash carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050\. Warming above that 1.5-degree threshold will mean impacts on the planet that are significantly more difficult to grapple with and would most likely result in millions of deaths globally. “While the Biden administration and progressive groups who help shape the school curriculums argue that it is imperative to [end](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ7MMsheHzQ&ref=importantcontext.news) or limit the use of fossil fuels, there is vigorous debate among scientists and policymakers about the best way to balance mitigation measures with economic and other trade-offs that, critics say, are largely ignored in schools,” the Signal piece reads. On COVID, *The* *Daily Signal* aligned with its ownership, which had been part of a broader right-wing effort to oppose and undermine public health measures. In February 2022, for example, it republished [a story](https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/02/03/lockdowns-did-little-or-nothing-to-stop-deaths-from-covid-19-study-shows/?ref=importantcontext.news) from *The Daily Caller* declaring that “lockdowns” had little impact on viral spread. The story centered on a supposed “Johns Hopkins meta-analysis” of lockdowns. But the meta-analysis in question was a working paper that had not been peer-reviewed or endorsed by the school. In fact, it would be criticized by faculty at Johns Hopkins for being “[unscientific](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/02/18/fact-check-working-paper-isnt-proof-lockdown-dont-work-experts-say/6749032001/?ref=importantcontext.news)” later in the month. The paper’s flaws, which appear nowhere in the republished *Caller* story, include redefining “lockdowns” broadly and relying on a handful of studies, including working papers, most of which were conducted prior to September 2020\. But the narrative was one *The Daily Signal* preferred. Another [piece](https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/01/15/relying-on-lockdowns-social-distancing-and-masks-isnt-working-to-curb-covid-19/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “Relying on Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Masks Isn’t Working to Curb COVID-19,” published in January 2021 had the same conclusion. ### “The Affirmative Case” Organized efforts by right-wing economic elites to establish an alternative narrative ecosystem to the so-called liberal establishment—one favoring their policy preferences—go back decades. In his infamous 1971 memo, “Attack on American Free Enterprise System,” which was commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s foremost business lobby group, future Supreme Court justice Lewis Powell outlined a blueprint for a corporate counterrevolution in the U.S. At the time, consumer advocates like Ralph Nader had scored important victories and left-wing activism was surging. A corporate attorney, Powell was alarmed. “Strength lies in organization, in careful long-range planning and implementation, in consistency of action over an indefinite period of years, in the scale of financing available only through joint effort, and in the political power available only through united action and national organizations,” he wrote. Powell suggested American business dedicate “10 percent of its total advertising budget” to the propaganda war, recommending confronting liberalism within America’s institutions, the courts, the schools, and of course, in the media. “Radio and the press are also important, and every available means should be employed to challenge and refute unfair attacks, as well as to present the affirmative case through these media,” he wrote. Discussing Powell’s battle plans [in a 1974 speech](https://kochdocs.org/2019/06/07/charles-koch-anti-capitalism-big-business/?ref=importantcontext.news), Charles Koch argued that education would be the most effective tool to make that affirmative case. “Unlike educational programs that produce new advocates, the alternative approaches utilizing the media, the courts, and politics fall in the category of self-defense,” Koch explained. “But self-defense is necessary, and I recommend that it be done aggressively.” Over the next few decades, he and other wealthy right-wing individuals would build a sprawling messaging apparatus consisting of various think tanks to make the pro-business case, and media organizations to disseminate it. This infrastructure came fully online after the infamous 2010 Supreme Court decision in *Citizens United v. FEC*, which held that corporations were people—at least as far as their right to spend unlimited sums of money on politics. The decision built a precedent Powell helped establish in 1976 in the case of *Buckley v. Valeo*: Spending money was protected speech under the First Amendment. Thank you for reading *Important Contex*t. This post is public so feel free to share it. ### In Current Affairs This Week: A Personal Note URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/in-current-affairs-this-week-a-personal/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:07.000Z I wanted to send out this personal message. This week, *Important Context*’s Walker Bragman was in *Current Affairs* with an article about how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis carved out a niche for his presidential campaign within the Trump-loyal Republican base. To briefly recap the piece, the governor has been leaning heavily into COVID denialism, encouraging frustration over past viral mitigation efforts and embracing the right-wing medical fringe, including individuals who have encouraged anti-vaccine sentiment, even deploying them to craft Florida’s public health policy. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) For the article, we spoke with Dr. Peter Hotez, a renowned vaccine scientist who developed a patent-free COVID vaccine for use in poor nations at a time when companies like Pfizer and Moderna were prioritizing wealthy countries. Hotez expressed his alarm at how mainstream COVID denialism and anti-vaccine sentiment is. As the doctor pointed out, two presidential candidates this cycle are running on anti-public health platforms—DeSantis and anti-vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr. How much of the anti-public health messaging is sincere and how much is cynical politicking is an open question. The pandemic has enabled the worst in many people, generating fear, uncertainty, and confusion among the population along with the grief. It has been a destabilizing event that demagogues—like some of the people we report on—have taken advantage of. Unfortunately, however, the question of DeSantis‘ sincerity matters less and less. Should he win the GOP presidential nomination against an increasingly embattled Donald Trump, the Florida governor will bring his anti-public health case to the general electorate—with the full force of the right-wing messaging apparatus and Republican Party behind him. It is a chilling prospect. You can read the full article in *Current Affairs* [here](https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/07/how-ron-desantis-turned-covid-denialism-into-a-major-political-weapon?ref=importantcontext.news). Thank you again for supporting *Important Context*. We will be back with more accountability journalism soon! ### Major ”Grassroots” Parents’ Rights Group Rakes in Big Right-Wing Money URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/major-grassroots-parents-rights-group/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:06.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original emailed version.* A prominent parents' rights organization received substantial funding from billionaire-funded nonprofits and donor-advised funds in the first year of its existence, federal tax records reveal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Parents Defending Education (PDE) presents itself as “a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas”—namely “ideologically driven curriculum with a concerning and often divisive emphasis on students’ group identities: race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender.” But the group took hundreds of thousands of dollars from dark money groups and funds associated with influential conservatives who advocate for the privatization of public education. The parents’ rights movement has gained momentum in recent years across the United States, with activists raging at school board meetings over a range of topics from COVID-19 mitigations to LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and the alleged teaching of “critical race theory'' in schools. Republican politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have supported these activities even as school board members, educators, and administrators have [faced increasing threats of violence](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-education-threats/?ref=importantcontext.news) from radicalized individuals. DeSantis even [endorsed a slate of school board candidates](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/12/ron-desantis-helped-moms-liberty-members-get-school-boards-settle-political-scores/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the 2022 midterms that included members of Moms For Liberty (MFL), a parents’ rights group that was recently [designated as an extremist organization](https://www.splcenter.org/year-hate-extremism-2022/introduction?ref=importantcontext.news#hateextremism) by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He and fellow 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump [are scheduled to speak](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/06/05/trump-and-desantis-both-to-speak-at-moms-for-liberty-summit-at-end-of-month/70291188007/?ref=importantcontext.news) later this month at MFL’s national summit. But the parents’ rights movement is hardly grassroots. Organizations like PDE and MFL emerged amid a [larger campaign](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) [against COVID public health measures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) orchestrated by right-wing, billionaire-backed groups looking to return the country to a pre-pandemic normal. These organizations have amassed significant funding through large donations despite their relatively short existence. *Important Context* has previously reported that MFL received [nearly 60 percent](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/grassroots-parents-rights-group-gets) of its fundraising haul for that year from just five large donations. The new revelations about PDE’s shed more light on the central role big money has played in facilitating the parents’ rights movement. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### A Political Operation PDE was established in 2021 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit by right-wing operative Nicole Neily. The group was not Neily’s first foray into education. A previous nonprofit venture she stated, Speech First, aimed at protecting “free speech,” or far right spaces, on college campuses through litigation. That group has brought a number of lawsuits over the years, taking aim at issues like policies aimed at curbing [harassment and bullying](https://record.umich.edu/articles/speech-first-agrees-to-settle-lawsuit-over-free-speech-at-u-m/?ref=importantcontext.news). A veteran of the political influence network of Charles Koch, Neily has worked for several right-wing advocacy organizations over the years backed by the billionaire-industrialist like the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Independent Women’s Forum. Koch is a longtime [opponent](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/10/16/koch-network-says-it-wants-remake-public-education-that-means-destroying-it-says-author-new-book-billionaire-brothers/?ref=importantcontext.news) of public education in America. Throughout the pandemic, dark money groups in his network used COVID mitigation measures as wedge issues to [rile up parents](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news), directing anger at teachers’ unions. Koch-backed groups have embraced the calls for parents’ rights, which translates to giving right-wing and religious parents more say over what is taught in public schools. For example, the influential right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation, which [awarded a prize](https://www.heritage.org/press/moms-liberty-awarded-heritages-salvatori-prize-citizenship?ref=importantcontext.news) to MFL last year, has [promoted ](https://www.heritage.org/education/report/protecting-children-and-families-parents-bills-rights?ref=importantcontext.news)the idea of a “parents’ bill of rights.” House Republicans answered the calls with the [Parents Bill of Rights Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22chamberActionDateCode%3A%5C%222023-03-01%7C118%7C1000%5C%22+AND+billIsReserved%3A%5C%22N%5C%22%22%5D%7D&s=4&r=1&ref=importantcontext.news) in March, which [was](https://www.iwf.org/2023/03/03/house-gops-parents-bill-of-rights-is-the-first-step-toward-a-robust-pro-family-agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news) [warmly](https://www.iwf.org/2023/03/12/give-parents-back-their-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) [welcomed](https://www.iwf.org/2023/03/14/why-parents-need-a-bill-of-rights/?ref=importantcontext.news) by IWF and Koch’s flagship operation, [Americans for Prosperity](https://americansforprosperity.org/americans-for-prosperity-new-bill-gives-parents-opportunity-to-customize-their-kids-education/?ref=importantcontext.news). The work PDE does runs parallel to that of Koch groups. The organization has cultivated parental anger at public schools and teachers unions over COVID safety and school curricula. It has played a key role in efforts to [ban books](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/07/book-bans-pen-america-school-districts?ref=importantcontext.news) from schools that deal with topics like race or LGBTQIA+ issues. In May 2021, PDE sent [a letter](https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ED-coalition-letter-w-logos.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona with other parents’ rights groups, including MFL, expressing concern over federal efforts to focus on anti-racism and the legacy of slavery. PDE provides activists with resources they need to get involved in the movement, including a whole page on its website dedicated to attacking the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union. The site also [features](https://defendinged.org/map/?ref=importantcontext.news) an “IndoctriNation” map of the U.S. showing "incident reports" on individual school districts. For example, one report notes: “The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District uses guide for transgender students created by Human Rights Campaign and Gender Spectrum; guide pushes schools to keep gender identity of students secret from parents.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Big Money Ties Despite its self-proclaimed grassroots mantle, PDE got big cash injections from billionaire-funded foundations and funds in the first year of its existence. The contributions were first identified by the [Center for Media and Democracy](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Parents%5FDefending%5FEducation?ref=importantcontext.news). A whopping $250,000 was given to PDE by the Searle Freedom Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded with wealth from G.D. Searle & Company, the pharmaceutical company that created the artificial sweetener aspartame, to promote free enterprise and conservative values. The trust is overseen by Kimberly Dennis, a co-founder and chairperson of the board of DonorsTrust, a donor-advised fund [used by](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos/?ref=importantcontext.news) members of the right-wing billionaire Koch, Mercer, and DeVos families [as well as](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/peter-thiels-secretive-spending) Peter Thiel’s personal foundation. DonorsTrust has been identified as a major [funder](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/06/17/donors-pumped-millions-white-nationalist-group?ref=importantcontext.news) of groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups, like the notorious white nationalist VDARE Foundation. Over the years, the Searle Freedom Trust has funded a number of business-aligned right-wing think tanks and nonprofits—many of which are in Koch’s network. In 2021, it gave $150,000 to DonorsTrust. It gave $500,000 each to the Cato Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Another $80,000 went to the Hoover Institution, which is housed at Stanford University. The Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation got $600,000\. The American Legislative Exchange Council, which is known for providing model legislation to lawmakers, got $325,000\. Meanwhile, nearly $1 million went to the State Policy Network (SPN), a nonprofit entity that funds a web of state-based libertarian think tanks. The Trust also gave $1.2 million to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an influential right-wing think tank that also received money from the DeVos family that year, and $870,000 to the Federalist Society, a right-wing legal group dedicated to reshaping the judiciary. It gave sizable donations to right-wing media groups including $150,000 to the Prager University Foundation, $400,000 to the Real Clear Foundation, and $230,000 to the Daily Caller Foundation. The trust has been fueling right-wing lawsuits against regulations and green energy projects as well, giving millions to various groups for “litigation.” For example, it gave $300,000 to the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), which joined a lawsuit in 2021 challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s [authority](https://nclalegal.org/west-virginia-v-epa/?ref=importantcontext.news) to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. It gave another $200,000 to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which launched a [lawsuit](https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-vineyard-wind-project-violates-federal-law?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2021 challenging the Biden administration’s approval of the Vineyard Wind Project. Another [$200,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/376624335/202222829349100102/IRS990PF?ref=importantcontext.news) to PDE came from the Edelman Family Foundation, which was founded in 2016 by hedge fund billionaire Joseph Edelman. The foundation gave big money to other right-wing groups in 2021 as well, including $250,000 to AEI and $18,000 to another parents’ rights group, Parents Unite Inc., which [publicly opposes](https://www.parentsunite.org/title-ix?ref=importantcontext.news) the Biden administration’s proposed [changes to Title IX](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1168460726/biden-title-ix-transgender-sports-ban?ref=importantcontext.news), which would make broad sports bans on transgender Americans illegal. PDE got [$130,000](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/276359747/202213199349109381/full?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2021 from The Bader Family Foundation, a well-funded 501(c)(3) nonprofit with $77 million in net assets which is overseen by trustee [Hans Bader](https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/hans-bader?ref=importantcontext.news), a [former senior attorney](https://cei.org/experts/hans-bader/?ref=importantcontext.news) for CEI and vocal critic of federal education policy who [was tapped](https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/10/16/devos-hires-staunch-critic-of-federal-education-regulations-222818?ref=importantcontext.news) by Betsy DeVos to work in the Trump administration’s Department of Education. The foundation also gave $60,000 to the Heritage Foundation, and $21,000 to CEI. Between July 2021 and June 2022, the Schwab Charitable Fund, a major donor-advised fund that serves as a funding conduit for some of the wealthiest individuals in the country, funneled [$91,000](https://www.schwabcharitable.org/resource/schwab-charitable-schedule-i-form-990?ref=importantcontext.news) to PDE. The fund has been used to make contributions to a number of right-wing groups like Heritage ($765,000), Cato ($282,000), DonorsTrust ($224,000), SPN ($73,250), NCLA ($11,500), and the right-wing Hillsdale College ($2,726,690), which also got funding from Koch that year. Schwab also routed $5,000 to VDare. Other entities that made sizable contributions to PDE include the Bertrand Hopper Memorial Foundation($35,000) and the Achelis & Bodman Foundation ($25,000). DonorsTrust, meanwhile, gave PDE $20,000 and donated an additional $200,000 on behalf of the group to the Project on Fair Representation, which bills itself as “a legal defense foundation that supports litigation that challenges racial and ethnic classifications and preferences.” The foundation recently submitted an [amicus brief](https://projectonfairrepresentation.org/project-on-fair-representation-submits-amicus-brief-to-scotus-in-alabama-redistricting-case/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Supreme Court in the racial gerrymandering case, *Alabama v. Milligan*, which centered around a decision by the state legislature to split the Black Belt population in the southern part of the state, removing one of two African American opportunity districts from their Congressional delegation. The foundation’s brief argued on the side of the state, arguing for the court to throw out a [decades-old test](https://blog.ucsusa.org/michael-latner/the-us-supreme-court-upholds-the-voting-rights-act-and-election-science-for-now/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Alabama%20had%20argued%20that%20the,to%20the%20challenge%20was%20unambiguous.) for determining violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The court ultimately ruled against the state. All told, about $660,000 of PDE’s $3.1 million fundraising haul for 2021 has been identified as originating from foundations and funds—perhaps over $750,000 depending on the timing of the Schwab contribution. Much of the money may never be sourced as corporations and individuals do not have to publicly disclose their spending. PDE did not respond to a request for comment. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “A Thinly Veiled Threat” Schools have long been a battleground in the U.S., but they have become particularly contentious today due to the influence of well-funded right-wing organizations like PDE. As increasingly dire right-wing rhetoric has radicalized parents, [threats of violence](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-education-threats/?ref=importantcontext.news) against teachers and school [officials](https://www.kvoa.com/townnews/criminal%5Flaw/man-who-threatened-citizen-s-arrest-on-vail-school-officials-sentenced/article%5F9a71c6ee-7179-11ed-91d1-23df41b2a123.html?ref=importantcontext.news) have grown. Last week, a school board meeting in Glendale, California, saw [violent protests](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/07/lgbtq-violence-protest-glendale-unified-school-district?ref=importantcontext.news) erupt amid public comment over a proposal to recognize June as Pride Month. Police have struggled to grapple with the problem and some school boards have reacted by [tightening security](https://www.edweek.org/leadership/after-threats-and-unruly-meetings-school-boards-invest-in-security/2023/04?ref=importantcontext.news). In September 2021, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) [sent a letter](https://www.npr.org/sections/back-to-school-live-updates/2021/09/30/1041870027/school-boards-federal-help-threats-violence?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Biden administration asking it to intervene and provide extra protection for public schools and school boards over what it called “acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials,” suggesting that “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” While the Department of Justice (DOJ) responded quickly, [announcing](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-addresses-violent-threats-against-school-officials-and-teachers?ref=importantcontext.news) that it was opening lines of communication between the federal law enforcement and state, Tribal, territorial, and local law enforcement, the language of the NSBA letter set off a firestorm. Predictably, it enraged the parents’ rights community and the broader political right, which seized on the opportunity to shift the national conversation away from the threats of right-wing violence to free speech and alleged censorship. Neily, herself, helped organize the backlash with a public [letter](https://defendinged.org/press-releases/joint-statement-in-response-to-nsba/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the NSBA, signed by 23 groups—mostly local parent activist groups. “Your letter to President Biden is a thinly veiled threat, intended to intimidate into silence and submission the very constituents that your members ostensibly represent,” the letter read. “Our organizations unequivocally oppose violence and find it deeply troubling that you imply otherwise about concerned citizens who care deeply about their community’s children – and who are concerned by the direction that America’s schools have taken.” Nearly half of the state school board associations left NSBA or announced plans to do so. A number of states formed a separate school board association called the Consortium of State School Boards Association. The backlash prompted NSBA to issue a [public apology](https://www.nsba.org/News/2021/letter-to-members?ref=importantcontext.news) for the letter in late October 2021, proclaiming it had inappropriately taken sides.” The organization promised a formal review, which would ultimately find that NSBA leadership had acted independently of the White House but had been in close contact with the Biden administration before sending the letter to urge action. Following the episode, parents’ rights groups and Republicans have been pressing their perceived advantage. In March, Neily [testified](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgpGARiMPY&t=65s&ref=importantcontext.news) in a hearing about the NSBA letter and subsequent DOJ actions before the GOP-controlled House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, claiming that “In the days following the release of DOJ’s memo, we fielded dozens of requests from concerned parents who worried whether they should continue their advocacy work or simply stay home.” “The NSBA apologized for its letter on October 22, 2021, yet curiously the attorney general has yet to rescind DOJ’s memo,” Neily fumed. “Accordingly, it appears to remain in effect to this day.” *Correction: A previous version of this article said that the donation to PDE from Schwab Charitable definitely occurred in 2021\. However, the contribution was made in Schwab’s 2022 fiscal year, which ranges from July 2021 to June 2022.* ### Leaked Brownstone Institute Emails Reveal Support for Child Labor, Underage Smoking URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:06.000Z *This piece has been updated from its original email version.* Newly obtained internal emails from the Brownstone Institute reveal support for child labor and underage cigarette smoking at the COVID-19 misinformation group. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The emails, which were obtained by *Important Context,* come from a Google email group and comprise a single conversation spanning two days—Wednesday, March 15, and Thursday, March 16\. They contain several different threads and some content is missing. Additionally, different time zones make tracing through-lines somewhat challenging. *Note: The email addresses of the individuals in this piece and potentially identifying information have been redacted.* What the emails do show, however, is Brownstone founder Jeffrey Tucker and several Brownstone contributors, including one of the institute’s 2023 fellows, discussing the merits of “the good old days” when children smoked tobacco and performed labor. The group lamented how young people today don’t share their values and are allegedly coddled and entitled. In the course of the conversation, Tucker admitted to supporting “youth” cigarette smoking and labor. At one point, he confessed that he had even provided his high schooler son with cigarettes to get him away from marijuana. Later in the conversation, Tucker wrote that he would “fully \[repeal\] the 1936 ‘child labor’ law,” because “it is cruel and robs kids of a good life.” “I got around the law with a job at 12 (tuning church organs),” he wrote. “But these days, it is much more difficult. We condemn the kids to a life of desk sitting, only allowing them remunerative work at the age of 16 just when they have packed their schedules full of other useless stuff. So you have people entering the workforce at the age of 24 never having been in a job. They immediately sue their employers for discrimination or whatever.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/11a9fbc8-b8c6-4d50-a652-e16dfb5310cd_732x367.png) *(Note: Above screenshot is highlighted by Important Context for emphasis.)* A veteran of various nonprofits in billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s political influence network as well as a neo-confederate and neo-confederate leaning groups, Tucker has long supported rolling back child labor laws—going as [far back as 2013](https://twitter.com/jeffreyatucker/status/308983048073007105?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) when he [took part](https://schoolsucksproject.com/200e-jeffrey-tucker-child-labor-mens-fashion-and-career-advice/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the “School Sucks Project,” a libertarian crusade against formal schooling. In a November 2016 [op-ed](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/?ref=importantcontext.news), “Let the Kids Work,” which he wrote for the [Koch-funded](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) Foundation for Economic Education—where he was a director—Tucker laid out his case. The piece was a response to a *Washington Post* photo montage of child laborers from the early 20th century. He called photos of child workers “beautiful;” he suggested compulsory education was more coercive than the “system” of child labor; he claimed that youth sports like wrestling and gymnastics proved that kids enjoy danger. With the COVID pandemic, Tucker turned his focus to public health. He founded Brownstone in May 2021 with the purpose of combatting government interventions put in place to reduce the spread of the virus. The group, which *Important Context* has previously [reported](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) received most of its revenue in 2021 from just nine large, anonymous contributions, became a mainstay in a larger war on public health measures waged by business-aligned right-wing groups to minimize economic disruption. Brownstone has been a prolific—even central—hub for COVID-related misinformation, downplaying the harms and dangers of the virus while overstating those of mitigation policies. The group has been influential at the national and state level with allies advising the Republican Congress and the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But three years into the pandemic, those mitigations are largely gone and the fallout remains. Employment in certain sectors of the economy remains stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels. The leisure and hospitality sector has been the hardest hit, falling short by [almost a million](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/us-employment-pre-pandemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) jobs as of late January according to the World Economic Forum. Additionally, [millions of Americans](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) are suffering long COVID, research suggests. The condition is [keeping many out of work](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/health/long-covid-work.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and is a likely source of lost productivity. In recent months, Republican states have responded to these economic woes by starting to roll back restrictions on child labor. In March, following revelations of children as young as 13 working in meatpacking plants in her state, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill into law making it easier for businesses to exploit the labor of young people. The Brownstone emails provide a clear picture the war on COVID mitigation measures has primed the pump for a war on child labor laws. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Maybe I have a tin ear” The conversation began benignly enough with Jeffrey Tucker lamenting that his Wikipedia page made him “sound like a crazy person.” The Brownstone founder was irked by the fact that he’d been unable to make changes on the site and blamed “trolls.” The first response came from Debbie Lerman, a 2023 Brownstone fellow who has made a number of bizarre claims. Lerman has [called](https://brownstone.org/articles/vaccine-harms-are-biodefense-plans-collateral-damage/?ref=importantcontext.news) the COVID vaccines “genetic vaccines,” [suggested they do not work](https://brownstone.org/articles/cia-agent-cloaks-lockdown-propaganda-in-concern-for-china/?ref=importantcontext.news)—perhaps even against the original variant, and [claimed](https://brownstone.org/articles/cia-agent-cloaks-lockdown-propaganda-in-concern-for-china/?ref=importantcontext.news) that “lockdowns” were a plot by a “biosecurity cabal.” “Your wikipedia page is not being attacked by rando lay people who happen to think you're a Koch-funded neo-Confederate Q-Anon follower,” Lerman wrote back to Tucker. “IT IS THE NATIONAL SECURITY/BIOSECURITY NETWORK that is trying to discredit you in the eyes of anyone from the MSM bubble who might otherwise be interested in reading/engaging with your writings/Brownstone.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/5adc69f0-582d-46a4-914c-40292ff90af8_732x343.png) Unfazed by Lerman’s strange claim, Tucker responded by calling his Wikipedia page “absurd” and noting that “I do have people I periodically tap for edits if it gets really bad but generally I ignore it.” “The only part that always makes me laugh about my supposed views is that I favor 1) youth labor and 2) youth cigarette smoking,” he added. “I mean, that part is kind of true. Maybe I have a tin ear but I can't really see the issue here.” Tucker said he does “keep my opinions on these topics off Brownstone however.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/d4748933-7ceb-4e2d-b9c5-1b08652d651d_717x199.png) At that point, Brownstone contributor Robert Blumen, who has also written for the Mises Institute, a group with which Tucker is affiliated and which the Southern Poverty Law Center reported has “[strong neo-confederate principles](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-confederate?ref=importantcontext.news),” chimed in. Blumen offered up an anecdote about antiwar activist pages getting edited by a single, potentially automated user slowly over time. “Robert - fascinating!” Lerman responded. I think that person was hired by a much broader and deeper propaganda network. Here are some great articles I've been reading about CIA involvement in controlling the narrative through MSM/liberal media.” The links Lehrman added were to articles from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine propaganda outfit, [Children’s Health Defense.](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash) Lerman also replied to Tucker’s confession that he supports “youth labor” and “youth cigarette smoking,” telling him she was “deep into investigating Mr. Walker Bragman et al and they love to say you're in favor of child labor.” (In apparent retaliation for *Important Context*’s [previous reporting](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) [on Brownstone](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/story-developments), Lerman has been “investigating” the author of this piece, sending a barrage of inquiries and making the outlandish suggestion that he may be linked to “the military/department of defense and other national security-related organizations.” In response to a request for comment on this story, Lerman accused the author of “spying” on her and Brownstone and declared, “I think Walker and *Important Context* have been recruited by what we now know is the Censorship Industrial Complex…to discredit Jeffrey and Brownstone due to our dissenting narratives on Covid etc.” Lerman went on to lament that “the former radical left is now aligned w\[ith\] Big Pharma, Big Media and the intelligence-military network.”) “I think I agree with you on both work and smoking issues, since I believe you mean teen-agers when you say ‘youth,’” Lerman told Tucker. “The propagandists and their minions like to conflate ‘youth’ with ‘children’ to make you sound more fiendish.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “That’s another story” Tucker took Lerman’s encouragement as an invitation to prove her wrong. In his response, Tucker linked his 2016 op-ed, “Let the Kids Work,” stating that “this is the article that somehow got me in heaps of trouble.” “I still can’t see what’s wrong with it,” he wrote before turning to the smoking issue, which he admitted was “a bit different.” Tucker explained that he had provided his own son with cigarettes when he was in high school to keep him off marijuana. “I did in fact get my son into the cigarette business (accidentally) by trying to incentivize him to drop the weed (which I despise),” Tucker wrote. “Sadly, he found that he could sell cigarettes I provided him and make a profit, so the whole high school was suddenly swept up in coughing fits. That was sort of regrettable.” “He did save me from getting arrested for distributing contraband. He paid off the witnesses with cigarettes,” Tucker added. “But that's another story.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/5590b38a-5b12-4624-b12a-4ae3bd448f56_736x246.png) Tucker followed up with another email a few minutes later containing a photo of child laborers looking into the camera while smoking. “I mean, these kids seem happier than kids today,” Tucker wrote. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/e1601cb5-e1bb-4efa-b9d6-6696a0e94164_747x597.png) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Get a job, kid” Tucker’s musings on child labor elicited general support from Brownstone authors. Minutes after his photo email, [Laura Rosen Cohen](https://brownstone.org/author/laura-rosen-cohen/?ref=importantcontext.news), who has [defended](https://brownstone.org/articles/canada-culture-of-death/?ref=importantcontext.news) the anti-vaccine trucker convoy for Brownstone, offered her take on the issue, writing, “I am in favor of child and teenager labour. Absolutely. Get a job, kid!!” Physician [Randall Bock](https://brownstone.org/author/randall-s-bock/?ref=importantcontext.news), who has only written one article for the institute, also waded in, telling Tucker, “That's a great photo.” “Reminds me a bit of Peaky Blinders – with its fair share of smoking as well; but with far more independence and wherewithal than kids are allowed or presented with, in this age of Obama's JULIA, pajama boy – and 26-year-old parental health insurance dependents,” he wrote. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/81771261-28fe-4fbc-84e2-af6034a77b5a_736x270.png) Meanwhile, [self-described](https://twitter.com/JenniferSey/status/1566575440071991296?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) “open schools mom”[Jennifer Sey](https://brownstone.org/author/jennifer-sey/?ref=importantcontext.news), a former top Levi Strauss executive who [parted ways with](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1082107309/can-a-corporate-exec-speak-as-a-mom-about-covid-rules-consider-the-levis-saga?ref=importantcontext.news) the company over disagreements about her online advocacy against school closures and mask mandates, which she argued were causing undue harm to children, complimented Tucker’s pro-child labor article. “Jeffrey—I like that you mention gymnastics as evidence of young people liking danger. It’s true!” Sey wrote. “Sadly not so much anymore. They want safe spaces. Disagreement is violence. I wish I hadn’t broken so many bones and landed on my head so many times but at least I’m not a wimp. I can endure physical and psychic pain stoically.” “Ah the good old days,” she quipped. “Next I’ll be shouting ‘get off my lawn!’” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/cb0f4fa4-2bc5-4fcf-aafe-7f39c8f7861c_741x406.png) Haley Kynefin—whose Brownstone [author page](https://brownstone.org/author/haley-kynefin/?ref=importantcontext.news) notes that she is a “writer and independent social theorist with a background in behavioral psychology” and who has previously [written](https://brownstone.org/articles/covidianism-inverts-the-heroic-archetype/?ref=importantcontext.news) about how “Covidianism inverts the heroic archetype”—added her take to the discussion. “I mean, what are we all here for anyway?” she wrote. “A child needs to be prepared to enter society as a functional human being. Otherwise they will have severe hangups and problems (happening).” In response to a request for comment about her remarks, Kynefin sent *Important Context* the following response, included in full: > Oh sure, I'd be happy to elaborate. But I have a tit-for-tat system. You don't get something for nothing. I want to see someone else's private emails before I give you more information about mine! Something actually exciting - like private communications between government officials and corporations showing the extent of regulatory capture, corruption, revolving door government and misuse of public funds. > > And it has to be something you got access to yourself. Not something that's already out there! No cheating. Then I will write a story about that which will probably be way more exciting than whatever you're writing. And in exchange for your troubles, I will give you more fodder for your high school newsletter gossip column. > > That's it now! You can't get something for nothing! Pay up! Seth Smith, a librarian who has written several articles for Brownstone [including](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-cure-was-vastly-worse-than-the-disease/?ref=importantcontext.news) one titled, “The Cure Was Vastly Worse Than the Disease,” recounting his own mild case of COVID, jumped into the conversation to offer a critique of compulsory education and note that he had a job at age 9\. “I think there is nothing more threatening to the establishment than school choice and most especially home and unschooling I would even argue it is a threat to the military-industrial complex,” he wrote. “I also started working, delivering weekly shoppers, at 9 years old with my brother in a town just south of the Iowa border in the late 1970s, early 1980s in some of the worst winters of the 20th century. It did nothing but good for me.” The next morning, another Brownstone contributor weighed in. Roger Koops, a Ph.D. chemist and pharmaceutical and biotech industry veteran who has [cast doubt](https://brownstone.org/articles/did-covid-vaccines-save-tens-of-millions-of-lives/?ref=importantcontext.news) on research suggesting vaccines have saved millions of lives, recounted how he’d worked when he was 10-years-old. “I started mowing lawns at the age of 10 for money,” he wrote. “Many of my friends ran paper delivery routes getting up at 5 am, going to the newspaper outlet, rolling the papers, and then taking off on their bicycles to throw the papers at each doorstep. Then they went to school.” Koops concluded: “Children have been taught that they will always be provided for at no cost to themselves. What a horrible upbringing! It is no wonder they now think that they are all the center of the universe.” In his response, Tucker went full throttle, openly expressing his support for repealing federal prohibition on child labor. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Influence Despite the fringe perspectives and misinformation Brownstone routinely features, the group has gained influence. With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, the group has a national platform with which to promote its agenda. It was Brownstone that organized the so-called [Norfolk Group](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic), a group of COVID contrarian scientists that released an 80-page outline for a congressional inquiry into the pandemic. In late February, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing signaling the start of such an investigation. The Republican expert witnesses were all members of the Norfolk Group. Brownstone also wields influence at the state level. When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his Public Health Integrity Committee to investigate the federal pandemic response and COVID mitigation measures, the members were overwhelmingly affiliated with Brownstone. ### Chinese Dissident Secretly Recruited Right-Wing Writers to Publish Flattering Articles URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/chinese-dissident-secretly-recruited/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:07.000Z *This article was written in partnership with the*[ *OptOut Media Foundation*](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Operatives representing right-wing Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who was charged in March for orchestrating a vast financial fraud scheme, have been secretly recruiting prominent conservatives—including the head of the New York Young Republicans Club—to write opinion pieces on his behalf in order to bolster his image as a dissident, according to an investigation by *Important Context* and the *OptOut Media Foundation*. Many of the pieces were published in high-traffic right-wing outlets. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Once a powerful businessman, Guo has been a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party since fleeing his home country in 2014 after being [accused](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163676898/chinese-business-tycoon-guo-wengui-fraud-arrest?ref=importantcontext.news) of bribery, rape, kidnapping, and other charges. Guo’s vocal advocacy has earned him a devoted following among the Chinese diaspora and made him a favorite of the American right as it postures against the rising eastern power. Guo is perhaps best known as the longtime business partner of Steve Bannon, a right-wing extremist and former top aide to Donald Trump, with whom Guo has launched multiple ventures purportedly aimed at overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party. Guo’s collaboration with established right-wing figures in the U.S. was aimed at manipulating the media to bolster his credibility. A source with knowledge of the Guo network’s operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their livelihood, outlined to *Important Context*/*OptOut* how representatives working on behalf of Guo would recruit the writers to place their names on opinion pieces that spoke glowingly of him and his efforts while criticizing his adversaries. The writers would take prompts as well as pre-prepared drafts, which they could then edit. The pieces were distributed to various media outlets, including far-right Newsmax, *Gateway Pundit*, *Townhall*, *The Washington Times*, and *Headline USA*, under the conservative writers’ bylines. *Important Context/OptOut* obtained and reviewed documentation showing that writers involved in the arrangement included New York Young Republicans Club President Gavin Wax, *Bannon’s War Room* co-host Natalie Winters, podcaster Kelly Walker, and former Trump aide and congressional candidate Karoline Leavitt. (None of the four writers, nor any of the outlets—Newsmax, *Gateway Pundit*, *Townhall*, *The Washington Times*, and *Headline USA—*responded to our requests for comment.) We saw communications related to placing pieces about Guo in conservative media outlets, as well as two drafts bylined by Wax and Winters that were subsequently published on conservative sites. The source, who had direct knowledge of the arrangement, helped identify published articles they said had originated from the network. Guo has spent many years building up an image of himself as a dissident, which prosecutors now say was central to his financial fraud. He would, the Justice Department [alleges](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ho-wan-kwok-aka-miles-guo-arrested-orchestrating-over-1-billion-dollar-fraud-conspiracy?ref=importantcontext.news), convince followers to invest in his various business ventures while spending the money on himself and his family. The investigation by *Important Context/OptOut* provides a glimpse into one way Guo worked to successfully rehabilitate his image, contributing to a shift in public perception of Guo from a fugitive to a Chinese freedom fighter. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘Complex Conspiracy to Defraud Thousands’ Guo, who is also known by the names Miles Guo, Ho Wan Kwok, and others, was once one of the wealthiest men in China, with dealings in real estate development and finance. In 2014, however, he fled the country amid Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown. In the years since his self-imposed exile, Guo has cultivated an image as a persecuted dissident, making various allegations against China’s Communist Party, including accusing officials of having illegitimate children. The Chinese government, in turn, has sought his arrest. But Guo has found staunch allies in the American political right. Guo and Bannon co-founded multiple groups allegedly aimed at toppling the Chinese Communist Party, including the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation in 2018\. Then, in August 2020, the pair launched a group called the New Federal State of China, which they framed as a government in waiting, ready to overthrow the Communist Party and establish a new democratic state. The pair live-streamed the launch from Guo’s yacht in New York’s Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty in the background. In March of this year, Guo was arrested in his Manhattan apartment and indicted on 12 criminal counts including wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. The charges stemmed from his alleged role in what the federal prosecutor called “a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion dollars.” Guo also faces a parallel civil case from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to the fraud scheme. The Justice Department alleges that Guo’s image as a dissident was essential to his fraud. According to a[ press release](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ho-wan-kwok-aka-miles-guo-arrested-orchestrating-over-1-billion-dollar-fraud-conspiracy?ref=importantcontext.news) from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the mogul used the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society “to amass followers who were aligned with his purported policy objectives in China and who were also inclined to believe Kwok’s statements regarding investment and money-making opportunities.” The billionaire then solicited investments from his supporters for his various ventures, including a cryptocurrency. While Guo made promises of returns on the investments, the billionaire was pocketing the money, lavishing himself with expensive purchases, including a 50,000 square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and two $36,000 mattresses, as well as financing for a $37 million luxury yacht. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Conservative Voices The conservative writers engaged by Guo’s network have deep connections to the far right and Bannon. Through his role at the New York Young Republican Club, Wax has hobnobbed with[ white nationalists](https://angrywhitemen.org/2020/08/03/new-york-young-republican-leader-has-ties-to-far-right-extremists/?ref=importantcontext.news) and right-wing politicians. The attendees at the group’s annual gala in December, at which Wax spoke, included Bannon, Donald Trump, Jr., Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and Peter and Lydia Brimelow of the white nationalist hate group VDARE. One of the Guo network drafts reviewed by *Important Context/OptOut* named Wax as the author. In a communique between people working with the pro-Guo network, Newsmax was mentioned as a possible outlet for Wax’s work. Another document listed prompts for stories to be put out by the network. The first item offers a possible headline: “Exposed: DOJ-Employed Attorney Secretly Met with Chinese Ambassador to sell out America.” The prompt goes on to say that the article should be about a meeting between a former Justice Department lawyer and a Chinese diplomat. On February 23, 2023—well after the prompts were distributed—a piece authored by Gavin Wax appeared in Newsmax with the headline, “ DOJ-Employed Attorney Secretly Met with Chinese Ambassador.” The article [claimed](https://www.newsmax.com/gavinwax/balloon-guo-higginbotham/2023/02/17/id/1109144/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Justice Department employee’s contacts were in the service of a Communist Party campaign against Guo: “The aim is to put Guo behind bars so he can no longer effectively agitate against communist totalitarianism.” The following month, the Wax piece was [republished](https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/doj-employed-attorney-secretly-met-with-chinese-ambassador/?ref=importantcontext.news) in *Gateway Pundit* as content sponsored by a mysterious entity called “NewNoah,” which has sponsored multiple articles mentioning Guo in the outlet and in Newsmax. A second draft reviewed by *Important Context/OptOut* was bylined by Winters, who normally works as the lead investigative reporter at *National Pulse*, though there is no evidence the site published content from Guo’s network. A right-wing outfit headed by Raheem Kassam, a longtime Bannon ally, *National Pulse*[ bills itself](https://thenationalpulse.com/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) as an independent investigative news outlet. Winters is also a co-host and executive editor of Bannon’s show, *War Room*. The draft we saw was eventually [published](https://headlineusa.com/ccp-spy-drone-invade-no-fly-zone/?ref=importantcontext.news) in *Headline USA*, a far-right online media outlet. Winters was interviewed in March by the New Federal State of China, the group founded by Guo and Bannon. The interview was filmed at the annual conference of the Conservative Political Action Coalition, or CPAC. Guo’s group was a [partnering sponsor](https://web.archive.org/web/20230227143912/https://www.events.cpac.org/sponsors) of the event. Winters praised the group for “doing such a wonderful job at kind of interlinking the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses not just to the people of China…but to us here in the United States.” Guo[ shared](https://gettr.com/post/p2acdyx464c?ref=importantcontext.news) the interview on the social media platform Gettr, which he is heavily invested in and, according to [recent](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/26/gettr-guo-wengui-social-media/?ref=importantcontext.news) [reports](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/04/guo-wengui-gettr-miller/?ref=importantcontext.news), likely controls. Winters had been promoted by Guo’s organization before. In January, she published an[ article](https://americasvoice.news/mother-jones-targets-chinese-whistle-blowers/?ref=importantcontext.news)in *Real America’s Voice* taking aim at progressive reporting outfit *Mother Jones* over a[ story](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/06/guo-wengui-lin-wood-steve-bannon-million-maga-march/?ref=importantcontext.news) about Guo’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Guo funded his supporters’ attendance at the “Million MAGA March” after the election and gave money to help finance a lawsuit in Georgia challenging mail-in ballots. Winters accused the reporter of using “the mainstream media’s deceptive and deceitful tactics to smear opponents of the Chinese Communist Party.” *Mother Jones* was “peddling falsehoods” about Guo and New Federal State of China, Winters said, and engaged in “character assassination.” Days after publication, New Federal State of China[ interviewed](https://gettr.com/post/p26i73z22bc?ref=importantcontext.news) Winters about her piece. The article was[ republished](https://www.issuewire.com/mother-jones-targets-chinese-whistle-blowers-1755556310737238?ref=importantcontext.news) on the website *IssueWire*—along with a media contact for *FreedomTalk*, the podcast of Kelly Walker, who the network source said was involved in the writing arrangement. A senior writer for *The Epoch Times*, Walker was[ arrested](https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-involved-in-zip-tie-incident-at-tucson-area-school-found-guilty/article%5Fdd01048e-5635-11ed-baf4-af1beb7db8b6.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in April 2021 for attempting to zip tie two Tucson school officials because of their COVID-19 isolation rules. In October 2022, he was found guilty of misdemeanor charges related to the incident and[ sentenced](https://www.kvoa.com/townnews/criminal%5Flaw/man-who-threatened-citizen-s-arrest-on-vail-school-officials-sentenced/article%5F9a71c6ee-7179-11ed-91d1-23df41b2a123.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to jail and probation, and ordered to pay restitution. One of the Guo network prompts, “First Amendment: Our First Line of Defense Against the CCP,” appears to reference an article in *The Washington Times* by Walker, which has since been taken down. A Google [search](https://www.google.com/search?q=Kelly+John+Walker+%22In+a+direct+conflict+of+interest+against+the+interests+of+the+U.S.%22+Washington+Times&client=opera-gx&hs=b0J&sxsrf=APwXEdcfQIWFUTtjqmn2hZ-fdXdzr1JuWA%3A1684165846839&ei=1lRiZMvTMr2kqtsPq5uvyAs&ved=0ahUKEwjLlqzY1vf-AhU9kmoFHavNC7kQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=Kelly+John+Walker+%22In+a+direct+conflict+of+interest+against+the+interests+of+the+U.S.%22+Washington+Times&gs%5Flcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQA0oECEEYAVDHBFioKmCyLWgBcAB4AIABiAGIAbADkgEDNC4xmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp&ref=importantcontext.news) still turns up a link to the piece, but it is no longer available and is not documented on the Internet Archive. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/810e7a84-0489-44dc-83ea-2e7bd16b4d91_787x212.png) “Use this article to talk about how the first admentend \[sic\], freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, is the most critical right in our fight against the CCP,” the Guo network prompt reads. “And our enemies, the CCP and its enablers, absolutely hate it. Talk about how U.S. media is afraid of criticizing the CCP, how Shan weijian’s lawyers sent a letter to The Washington Times after they published Walker’s article…The takeaway should be to reveal to Americans the extent to which our 1st admd. has already been invaded and the way to fight back is to support more media outlets that are courageous enough to stand with the NFSC.” In December, Walker[ posted a video](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmVhrybDg-Y/?hl=en&ref=importantcontext.news) on his *FreedomTalk* Instagram account from New Federal State of China. He has also been the author of posts listed as sponsored content, which paint Guo as a victim of alleged China-linked corruption within the U.S. government. The articles were sponsored by NewNoah and another shadowy entity, “Token Team.” Last month, for example, NewNoah sponsored a [Walker piece](https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/doj-fights-to-stop-guo-wengui-from-testifying-in-pras-michel-trial/?utm%5Fsource=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fcampaign=doj-fights-to-stop-guo-wengui-from-testifying-in-pras-michel-trial) for the far-right website *Gateway Pundit*, claiming the Department of Justice was trying to silence Guo. In March, NewNoah had sponsored a similar [post](https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/exculpatory-evidence-is-miles-guo-being-denied-due-process/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Walker in Gateway Pundit, suggesting that the billionaire was being treated unfairly by the DOJ. An abbreviated version of the same [article](https://www.newsmax.com/specials-readmore/china-milesguo-lawsuit/2023/04/04/id/1115001/?ref=importantcontext.news) later appeared in Newsmax as sponsored content attributed to Token Team. Meanwhile, “Newnoah Consulting Inc.,” was the sponsor of a Feb. 9 Walker [post](https://www.newsmax.com/specials-readmore/chinesecommunist-lawfare-political/2023/02/06/id/1107498/?ref=importantcontext.news) in Newsmax, which similarly portrayed Guo as a persecuted dissident. “As the highest-profile defector from Communist China, Guo is an invaluable asset of unparalleled strategic importance of U.S. national security,” wrote Walker in the sponsored Newsmax article. “And the CCP has been abusing the American judicial system to silence Mr. Guo through infiltration, bribery, and threats.” Token Team also sponsored a Newsmax post by another writer, Matt Palumbo—a content manager for *The Dan Bongino Show* and author with bylines in outlets such as *New York Post* and Canadian right-wing site *The Post Millennial*—[claiming](https://www.newsmax.com/specials-readmore/china-prasmichael-lawsuit/2023/04/04/id/1114997/?ref=importantcontext.news) Guo’s March arrest was really an effort to prevent him from exposing corruption. Another conservative writer implicated in the Guo writing arrangement is Karoline Leavitt, a former Trump aide who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a New Hampshire congressional seat in 2022. A review of her work shows that Leavitt has written multiple pieces lauding Guo, including one *Townhall* [column](https://townhall.com/columnists/karolineleavitt/2023/03/02/the-american-denominator-in-ccps-global-dominance-communist-moneyman-and-american-traitors-n2620128?ref=importantcontext.news) matching a story prompt from Guo’s network. The prompt reads, “Professional Communist Moneyman: How Chinese Billionaires Are Bankrolling the CCP’s Foreign Expansion,” clarifying that “this article should focus on three people: Bruno Wu, Shan Weijian, and Jho Low.” “These three CCP billionaires, or white gloves, are the primary source of illegitimate funding for the CCP’s unrestricted warfare abroad, including the CCP’s #1 priority goal of removing Miles,” it says. Leavitt’s article, meanwhile, is titled, “The American Denominator in CCP’s Global Dominance: Communist Moneyman and American Traitors.” The piece names all three men, referring to them as “white gloves.” Other Leavitt pieces mentioning Guo include a February [article](https://headlineusa.com/leavitt-influence-china-silence-critics/?ref=importantcontext.news) published in *Headline USA* in which she called him the “CCP’s No. 1 enemy,” asserting that the Communist Party “continues to work through back channels in the United States to silence him.” In another [piece](https://headlineusa.com/leavitt-ccp-cyber-attack-american-law-firm/?ref=importantcontext.news) in March, she called Guo a “political dissident” and “a renowned critic” of the Chinese authorities. ### Michelle Obama and COVID-Minimizing Economist Hawk Kids' Drinks URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/michelle-obama-and-covid-minimizing/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:08.000Z Former First Lady Michelle Obama has teamed up with a controversial economics professor, who downplayed the dangers of COVID-19 in schools, to hawk nutrition products for kids. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) As first lady, Obama earned praise and criticism for making childhood obesity a cause with her “[Let’s Move!](https://letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/about?ref=importantcontext.news)” campaign, an initiative focused on getting kids active and ensuring schools were serving healthy lunches. On the surface, PLEZi Nutrition, which Obama joined as a co-founder and “strategic partner,” appears to be an extension of those efforts—a non-governmental, market-based solution to the larger problem of added sugar. According to Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the average American, including children and teens, consumes [17 teaspoons](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/added-sugar-in-the-diet/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20average%20American%20adult%2C%20teenager,from%20processed%20and%20prepared%20foods.) of sugar daily due thanks to added sugars in food and drinks. This heightened sugar intake is fueling problems like obesity. Nearly 20 percent of American children and adolescents are obese according to the [CDC National Center for Health Statistics](https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=For%20children%20and%20adolescents%20aged,to%2019%2Dyear%2Dolds.), which can lead to other health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and breathing and joint problems. The American Heart Association has [recommended](https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars?ref=importantcontext.news) cutting back on added sugar. PLEZi’s stated mission is to “be a model of change...to show how food and beverage brands can support the health of our next generation.” But, the venture, which is [backed](https://juggernautcap.com/2023/05/juggernaut-capital-partners-announces-investment-in-plezi-nutrition/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Juggernaut Capital Partners, the private equity firm of Obama Foundation [mega-donor](https://www.obama.org/contributors/?ref=importantcontext.news) John Shulman, is more accurately understood as a beverage company, selling processed drinks aimed at young people. To advise her new business, Michelle Obama has [assembled a pool of talent](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/michelle-obama-announces-the-launch-of-plezi-nutrition-a-public-benefit-company-with-a-purpose-to-help-raise-a-healthier-generation-of-kids-301815239.html?ref=importantcontext.news) that includes [Brown University economics professor Emily Oster](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr08CIZLYc%5F/?%5F%5Fd=dis&ref=importantcontext.news), a controversial figure for her parenting advice, which has included [support for drinking alcohol during pregnancy](https://depts.washington.edu/fasdpn/pdfs/astley-oster2013.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news), and her public health musings like arguing that treatments were [not a cost-effective way](https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/0725/044.html?sh=63850e7368a4&ref=importantcontext.news) to combat AIDS in Africa. But what Oster is perhaps best known for today is her work related to COVID-19—more specifically, her advocacy against school closures in the face of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Oster’s public prognostications have made her a favorite of the political right, which has been [fighting to undermine public health measures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) since the start of the pandemic in order to minimize economic disruption. But Oster’s contributions have helped perpetuate the public health crisis, which has killed more than 1.1 million Americans to date and left as many as [23 million](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) Americans suffering long COVID as of November 2022. ### “This Is Not My Field” Early in the pandemic, before vaccines were available, parenting blogger Oster emerged as a leading voice for school reopening. The author of “Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong—and What You Really Need to Know” (2013) and the *New York Times* bestselling “Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool” (2019), Oster had made a name for herself with her brand of economic thinking applied to motherhood. Oster purported to use data to challenge medical orthodoxy, like recommendations against drinking alcohol during pregnancy. According to both the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/alcohol-use.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20known%20safe,exposed%20to%20alcohol%20before%20birth.) and the [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists](https://www.acog.org/womens-health/infographics/alcohol-and-pregnancy?ref=importantcontext.news), there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption while pregnant. Oster had a significant, built-in readership that skewed well-off, white, and female, perfectly positioning her to become a voice for women who had been [forced out of work by the pandemic](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/22/coronavirus-pandemic-women-workforce-500329?ref=importantcontext.news) and were increasingly frustrated by it. In May 2020, the *Washington Post* [published](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/schools-open-coronavirus-summer-camps-child-care/2020/05/10/94676384-907c-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news) what would be the first of many Oster pieces arguing in favor of reopening schools. In "Opening Schools Might Be Safer Than You Think,” Oster argued that “small-scale early data” was encouraging, suggesting that children were less infectious than adults. Reopening would become her mission. After President Trump [tweeted](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-insists-schools-open-fall-local-authorities-hold/story?id=71648610&ref=importantcontext.news), in capital letters, “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN” in early July 2020, Oster began researching school COVID safety, creating a dashboard to collect data from schools in 47 states. Oster has been one of the most prolific voices for returning schools to normalcy amid the pandemic. Her work has found a home in major publications like *The Atlantic*, [*The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/opinion/sunday/deliberate-parenting.html?ref=importantcontext.news)*,* and *WaPo* as well as on various cable news channels. She has been profiled in the [*NYT*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/us/emily-oster-school-reopening.html?ref=importantcontext.news), [*Rolling Stone*](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/emily-oster-economist-school-reopening-1135105/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [*Vox*](https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22556296/emily-oster-covid-schools-expecting-better-cribsheet?ref=importantcontext.news). Even Trump’s former CDC director, Robert Redfield, [cited](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/24/health/cdc-schools-coronavirus-website-redfield/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) her work when he endorsed school reopening on November 24, 2020\. At the time, Oster told the press, “It is totally bananas,” explaining she was doing the best she could but noting, “This is not my field. It’s crazy.” ### “Enormous Costs” In retrospect, Oster’s work [notoriously understated the risks](https://proteanmag.com/2022/03/22/motivated-reasoning-emily-osters-covid-narratives-and-the-attack-on-public-education/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the virus to children and teachers while overstating the alleged harms of closures. For example, in an October 9, 2020, [article](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *The Atlantic* titled, “Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders,” Oster claimed transmission in schools was low enough, and severe cases among children rare enough, that the costs of school closures—learning loss felt particularly by working-class students of color and student mental health distress—outweighed the risks presented by the virus. “One might argue, again, that any risk is too great, and that schools must be *completely safe* before local governments move to reopen them,” Oster wrote, straw-manning her opposition, which included teachers’ unions. “But this approach ignores the enormous costs to children from closed schools.” As we have previously [reported](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash), suicides among young people [declined](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2022/12/28/teen-suicides-fell-during-lockdown-rose-when-in-person-schooling-resumed-study-finds/?sh=54a6009e64d7&ref=importantcontext.news) in 2020 [during the closures](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1470785708394754052?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) as did mental health emergency room presentations. No study has isolated the impacts of closures from the broader impacts of living through a pandemic. Even the links between learning loss and closures are [surprisingly tenuous](https://www.salon.com/2022/10/25/us-test-scores-fell-during-the--but-experts-say-dont-school-closings/?ref=importantcontext.news). On the other hand, an estimated [275,000 American children](https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood%5Fcalculator/?ref=importantcontext.news#/country/United%20States%20of%20America) had lost a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID as of December 2022. In their March 2022 takedown of Oster in *Protean Magazine*, Brown University postdoctoral research fellow Abigail Cartus and social epidemiologist Justin Feldman, a visiting scientist at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, noted major flaws in “Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders.” “Oster’s signature style is [approaching research claims](https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/lots-of-studies-are-bad?s=r) with skepticism,” they wrote. “Yet she failed to state the critical limitations of her data in her *Atlantic* op-ed—*except* the limitations that biased the analyses in ways that reinforced her policy preferences.” DC-based internist Dr. Ida Bergstrom, who has treated COVID and long COVID patients, told *Important Context* that Oster’s position on school closures was “myopic and very privileged” for failing to take into account various considerations including multigenerational households and older teachers or school workforce. Bergstrom said Oster had been wrong to downplay COVID spread in schools and the risks to kids, explaining that while young people have had lower morbidity or mortality than adults, COVID has still been “very significant” compared to other causes of death for those age groups. “Throughout the pandemic, \[Oster\] misled parents by telling them what they most wanted to hear and claimed it was driven by ‘data,’ although her data was flawed,” Bergstrom said. Indeed, in a [piece](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/go-ahead-plan-family-vacation-your-unvaccinated-kids/618313/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *The Atlantic* from May 2021, Oster asserted “Your Unvaccinated Kid Is Like a Vaccinated Grandma” and told parents to take summer vacations with their families without regard for the pandemic. “We still have a ways to go, but the speed of the vaccination process in recent days makes quasi-normalcy by July seem not completely out of reach,” she wrote. By August, however, the country was in the throes of another COVID wave, driven by the delta variant. Schools turned out to be [sites of “significant” viral spread](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/981770?ref=importantcontext.news). The virus [forced](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/schools-grapple-thousands-isolation-or-quarantine-delta-variant-rages-n1277882?ref=importantcontext.news) many to quarantine large numbers of students amid outbreaks. Bergstrom told *Important Context* that Oster has yet to reckon with long COVID in children, noting that research suggests it could impact up to 25 percent of infected children. In September, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its [guidance](https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/post-covid-19-conditions-in-children-and-adolescents/?ref=importantcontext.news) on long COVID, explaining that pinning down an exact estimate for prevalence among children and adolescents is difficult, but estimates range as low as 2 percent and as high as 66 percent. According to AAP, the most likely range is between 2 and 10 percent—which still represents millions of American kids. Bergstrom explained that physicians are now seeing “the myriad of cardiovascular and neurological ramifications of this virus.” “\[Oster\] would not be a trusted or valued expert that I would ever look to for advice on children, children's health, or children's nutrition,” she said. “She has already shown that she is more interested in finding or promoting the data to suit her own, privileged agenda, one where the ‘rules’ don't apply to her.” ### Right-Wing Money Despite the at times withering criticism of her work, Oster has attracted the attention of right-wing money. As Cartus and Feldman observed in their *Protean* piece, the Brown University professor has found allies in groups like the [Manhattan Institute](https://www.manhattan-institute.org/family-business?ref=importantcontext.news), the [Competitive Enterprise Institute](https://cei.org/blog/cdc-alcohol-and-pregnancy-scare-tactics-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news), as well as the Cato Institute. The reason for these alliances, the scientists suggest, is Oster’s rejection of the [precautionary principle](https://theloop.ecpr.eu/how-we-can-learn-from-south-korea-and-singapore-in-their-responses-to-covid-19-the-precautionary-principle/?ref=importantcontext.news). “Long embraced by environmentalists, trade unionists, and public health experts, the precautionary principle comes into play in scenarios of scientific uncertainty about risks of harm; it holds that decisionmakers should err on the side of minimizing or eliminating a potential hazard, even if this might prove to have been an overreaction once more research becomes available,” they wrote. “Business interest groups, in seeking to expand corporate freedoms, use and promote the exact *opposite* interpretation of uncertainty.” Billionaire advocates of school privatization have also latched onto Oster. In December 2020, Oster was one of the authors of a [Schools and the Path to Zero](https://globalepidemics.org/2020/12/18/schools-and-the-path-to-zero-strategies-for-pandemic-resilience-in-the-face-of-high-community-spread/?ref=importantcontext.news) guidance, sponsored by the New America Foundation, a group partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates is a member of the so-called “[big three](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/09/why-are-tfa-and-a-california-billionaire-investing-in-minnesota-school-board-race/?ref=importantcontext.news)” privatization advocates. Meanwhile, Oster’s National COVID-19 School Response Dashboard was created in September 2020 with [help from](https://covidschooldashboard.com/?ref=importantcontext.news) the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the Walton Family Foundation. Oster had first [proposed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/25/how-media-has-us-thinking-all-wrong-about-coronavirus/?ref=importantcontext.news) such a project in an August 2020 op-ed for *WaPo*, arguing it would enable better risk assessment and calm parents’ and teachers’ fears of in-person learning amid a pandemic. In September 2021, the Mercatus Center, a right-wing think tank based at George Mason University, helped her [launch](https://www.parentdata.org/p/special-edition-today-covid-19-school?ref=importantcontext.news) a Data Hub mapping school operations to provide a tool for researchers to study the impact of closures. Almost immediately, it began pushing out “[preliminary research](https://www.covidschooldatahub.com/preliminary%5Fresearch?ref=importantcontext.news),” purporting to show a correlation between loss of in-person learning and lower standardized test scores. Subsequent research has found only a tenuous connection between back-to-school policies and academic performance. The money for the data hub came from Republican billionaire megadonor Peter Thiel through a grant to Mercatus’s Emergent Ventures program. Oster’s new project was also [bankrolled](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/education/emily-oster-covid-data-schools.html?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Walton Family Foundation, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Arnold Ventures, the investment fund of billionaire John Arnold. In a January 2022 [Twitter post](https://twitter.com/ProfEmilyOster/status/1481617354073075712?s=20&t=X9jdd6xtQautLMBQNv2w5Q&ref=importantcontext.news), Oster thanked her wealthy benefactors while assuring her followers that their money had no influence on her work. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Capitalist Grifting Disguising Itself” Experts told *Important Context* that they were skeptical of Obama’s new project. PLEZi is the latest money-making venture associated with the former First Family. The Obamas have found success in [paid speaking gigs](https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-gets-paid-a-200000-speaker-fee-2017-4?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Michelle%20Obama%20Gets%20Paid%20a%20%24200%2C000%20Speaker%20Fee), [Netflix production deals](https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a27323589/barack-michelle-obama-list-netflix-shows/?ref=importantcontext.news), and in setting up their own charitable foundation to which major capital interests like Goldman Sachs, Boeing, AT&T, Google, Walgreens, and billionaire Stephen Cloobeck have lavished with funding. The Obamas themselves have given more than $1 million in tax-deductible donations to their foundation. The former First Lady herself has also written two [bestselling books](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/15/michelle-obama-book/?itid=lk%5Finline%5Fmanual%5F2&ref=importantcontext.news), done an [arena tour](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2018/09/20/tickets-to-michelle-obamas-book-tour-are-going-fast-and-raising-some-eyebrows/?itid=lk%5Finline%5Fmanual%5F2&ref=importantcontext.news) with surprisingly expensive tickets, and even [appeared](https://ew.com/tv/black-ish-season-8-premiere-michelle-obama/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the hit ABC sitcom, “Black-ish.” All the while, the Obamas have [hobnobbed](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/08/barack-obama-richard-branson-kitesurfing-trip-necker-island?ref=importantcontext.news) with the rich and famous, including a Tahiti vacation on the yacht of billionaire [David Geffen](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4416814/Barack-Michelle-Obama-pose-superyacht-Tahiti.htmlhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4416814/Barack-Michelle-Obama-pose-superyacht-Tahiti.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Social epidemiologist Feldman suggested that as a private venture ostensibly aimed at solving a social problem, PLEZi fit squarely within the neoliberal framework of the former Obama administration. “What interests me about this is that PLEZi is capitalist grifting disguising itself as a public health effort,” Feldman told *Important Context*. “It’s a for-profit company backed by a major Obama Foundation donor. In that sense, it aligns with Oster’s previous work.” Bergstrom was similarly unenthusiastic about PLEZi, telling *Important Context*,“I think the ways to get Americans, including children, to eat more nutritiously is to move away from packaged, processed food selections and more towards whole foods like actual fresh fruits or vegetables.” “I don't think promoting an expensive alternative to sodas that are ‘less bad’ is the goal we should be setting,” she said. PLEZi produces various juice drinks with flavors like “Orange Smash,” “Sour Apple,” “Tropical Punch,” and “Blueberry Blast,” which contain fruit concentrates and extracts like stevia leaf, sodium citrate, citric acid, magnesium lactate, and the [all-encompassing](https://www.bhg.com/recipes/healthy/eating/what-is-natural-flavor/?ref=importantcontext.news) “natural flavor.” The juice comes in 8-ounce bottles, which Bergstrom notes is more than AAP recommends for fruit juice intake for children younger than 7. “I also do not think there is a reason to introduce children to Stevia, an added sweetener,” she followed up. Beyond the product itself, Bergstrom expressed skepticism over Oster’s involvement in the project, noting that “She has zero subject matter expertise in children or nutrition.” ### Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Homecoming URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-pandemic-cash/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:08.000Z Anti-vaccine activist and environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently announced that he is running for president as a Democrat, has been raking in cash throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting misinformation. The influx of money has been aided by an ongoing right-wing campaign to undermine public health measures, and Kennedy has made strong allies across the aisle. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Kennedy, 69, entered the 2024 presidential race last month with [surprising tailwinds](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3958414-robert-f-kennedy-jr-presidential-bid-backed-by-14-percent-of-biden-voters-survey/?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=In%20a%20USA%20Today%2FSuffolk,percent%2C%20according%20to%20the%20survey.). His poll numbers against incumbent Joe Biden have consistently been in the double digits. Some of Kennedy’s early strength is likely due to legacy—he is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. But Kennedy is [well known for his environmental advocacy](https://grist.org/article/griscom-kennedy/?ref=importantcontext.news) too. In the 1980s, following an [arrest and guilty plea](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/us/robert-kennedy-jr-admits-he-is-guilty-in-possessing-heroin.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for possession of heroin, Kennedy began volunteering with the [Natural Resources Defense Council](https://www.nrdc.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) (NRDC) to satisfy a [condition of his probation](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/04/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-a-quiet-victory-for-robert-f-kennedy-jr.html?ref=importantcontext.news). Environmentalism blossomed into a career after he was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1985\. Over the years, Kennedy has worked with NRDC and other groups on causes like clean water, even founding the global environmental network Waterkeeper Alliance in 1999\. Kennedy has won awards for his efforts, including the Sierra Club’s [William O. Douglas Award](https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/Award%20winners%20by%20award-updates%20for%202020.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2005, which “recognizes those who have made outstanding use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals, particularly those with national significance.” In February 2013, Kennedy was one of many prominent activists and celebrities [arrested](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0214/RFK-Jr.-arrested-Celebs-enviros-arrested-at-Keystone-pipeline-protest?ref=importantcontext.news) protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline. Today, however, much to the [dismay of his family](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/us/robert-kennedy-covid-vaccine.html?ref=importantcontext.news), Kennedy is best known as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement. He has long promoted discredited, unscientific claims about vaccine safety. The Center for Countering Digital Hate listed him as one of the “[Disinformation Dozen](https://counterhate.com/research/the-disinformation-dozen/?ref=importantcontext.news)”—a group of the most prolific spreaders of online misinformation about COVID vaccines. Those vaccines have [saved millions of lives](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=on%20our%20methods.-,Findings,million%20more%20COVID%2D19%20infections.), but Kennedy and his dark money group, Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011 under the name World Mercury Project, have sought to ensure that fewer people get them. In the summer of 2021, CHD even [targeted](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/06/08/1004214189/anti-vaccine-film-targeted-to-black-americans-spreads-false-information?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vaccine propaganda at Black communities. At the time, Black Americans were dying from COVID at [a significantly higher rate](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/19/covid-deaths-us-race/?ref=importantcontext.news) than white Americans. The group has also [sponsored](https://ca.childrenshealthdefense.org/ca-events/defeat-the-mandates-rally-april-10-los-angeles-ca/?ref=importantcontext.news) anti-vaccine mandate rallies in different cities. At one such event, in January 2022, Kennedy sparked outrage when he [invoked Anne Frank](https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/politics/robert-f-kennedy-nazi-germany-offensive-anti-vaccine-speech/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to claim that vaccine mandates were more difficult to escape than Nazi Germany. Kennedy’s family is not supporting his campaign, but family isn’t everything. He has found a new home. Anti-vaccine advocacy has been lucrative and earned him key allies on the right, who want to see him shake up and divide the Democratic Party in the upcoming presidential election. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Cash Injection According to federal tax filings, CHD, which Kennedy took over in 2015, has seen ballooning revenues since the start of the pandemic. Of course, the group has passed this success on to Kennedy—today the chairman and chief legal counsel. On its 2019 IRS Form 990, the group reported nearly $3 million in revenue. A year later, however, the number had more than doubled to $6.8 million. A year after that, it had once again more than doubled, hitting a whopping $15.6 million, most of which came through contributions. However, given that the group did not fill out its Schedule B, we cannot know how the donations break down. Email requests to Kennedy’s campaign and CHD to provide a list of CHD’s top donors and donation amounts were opened but went unanswered. Kennedy has seen a significant financial benefit from his group’s cash explosion. According to the tax filings, in 2019, CHD paid Kennedy $255,000\. The number grew to $345,000 in 2020; to nearly $500,000 in 2021\. Kennedy is by far the group’s highest-paid officer. The runner-up was vice chair Mary Holland, who was paid $52,000 in 2019 and $180,000 in both 2020 and 2021. In addition to his CHD income, Kennedy does [paid speaking engagements](https://www.speakerbookingagency.com/talent/robert-f-kennedy-jr?ref=importantcontext.news). Our unanswered inquiry to the campaign included a question about his fees. The Speaker Agency, which represents Kennedy, gave us a quote of $27,500 for a virtual keynote appearance for an event in August. Meanwhile, in November 2021, Kennedy published a best-selling book about the career of Dr. Anthony Fauci in November 2021, accusing the infectious disease scientist of participating in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy.” CHD’s website [boasts](https://childrenshealthdefense.org/about-us/board-directors/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the book, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health,” was a smashing success having sold more than a million copies and sitting on the New York Times Best Sellers List for 17 weeks. ### “A Multigenerational Democrat” Kennedy has framed his 2024 presidential bid as an effort to restore the Democratic Party of old—to return to a time when it was less beholden to economic elites and big corporations. In a Twitter thread last week, he [lambasted](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1650936360461631488?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) the party and the Biden administration for being “riddled with Neocons, war hawks, Wall Street people, and former corporate lobbyists.” “I’m a multigenerational Democrat,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1650920041162973184?ref=importantcontext.news). “Remember when we upheld the interests of the poor and middle class against big corporations and Wall Street? Remember when we were the party of peace, civil liberties, and people power? I aim to reclaim my party and its traditional values.” But integral to Kennedy’s pandemic-era success, and perhaps his electoral prospects, has been his alignment with the political right. Since March 2020, right-wing groups like those in billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s political network have been working to defeat and undermine public health measures seen as potentially disruptive to business, including [lockdowns](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news), [school closures, and masking](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news). As a [commentary](https://www.heritage.org/trade/commentary/latest-un-report-forecasts-grave-economic-consequences-covid-19-shutdowns?ref=importantcontext.news) from the DC-based conservative think tank Heritage Foundation noted back then, “While earlier concerns had focused on disruptions of supply chains linked to China, current fears are much more strongly connected to the downturn in global demand due to quarantines, lockdowns, business closures, and employment furloughs.” Before long, however, the right-wing anti-public health campaign encompassed vaccination efforts as well—particularly federal vaccine requirements and mandates, [which business groups opposed](https://www.levernews.com/the-corporate-campaign-against-pandemic-protections/?ref=importantcontext.news). On Twitter, Kennedy initially [touted](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1244710538933870597?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) lockdowns as having “not just slowed[ #COVID](https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=importantcontext.news)\-19, it reduced lethal air pollution + associated[ #mortality](https://twitter.com/hashtag/mortality?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=importantcontext.news).” He shared [a story](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1245021784426020865?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) criticizing Donald Trump for failing to take early action against the virus as well as a [mutual aid link](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1263183873594347520?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) to help those struggling with the virus. But Kennedy’s attitude shifted dramatically as the crisis wore on and vaccines were developed. “HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1262471198966976514?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in May 2020\. “The former [#pharma](https://twitter.com/hashtag/pharma?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=importantcontext.news) executive tapped by President [#Trump](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=importantcontext.news) to lead the federal government's hunt for a [**#COVID**](https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=importantcontext.news)\-19 vaccine has more than $10 million in stock options in one of the companies receiving federal funding.” By August 2020, Kennedy had joined Dr. Simone Gold, the founder of pro-Trump doctor group America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), which has [hawked quack COVID cures](https://time.com/6092368/americas-frontline-doctors-covid-19-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news), as a [headliner](https://www.facebook.com/DaystarTV/videos/3357728570986392) on the “Ministry Now” program of deceased televangelist and anti-vaxxer Marcus Lamb. Lamb [died from COVID complications in November 2021](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/marcus-lamb-anti-vaccine-christian-broadcaster-dies-covid-battle-rcna7139?ref=importantcontext.news). During his interview, Kennedy showered Gold—today a [convicted Capitol rioter](https://abcnews.go.com/US/dr-simone-gold-leading-anti-vax-figure-sentenced/story?id=85445732&ref=importantcontext.news)—with praise, calling her “an amazing woman,” “so brave,” and “so amazingly smart.” He suggested that the “vaccine industry” and Bill Gates had worked to suppress hydroxychloroquine in order to fast-track the jabs. “They’ve now put tens of billions of dollars to fast-track the vaccines,” he said. “That whole business model collapses if hydroxychloroquine is shown to work.” Hydroxychloroquine [does not work as a treatment for COVID](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X%2822%2900085-0/fulltext?ref=importantcontext.news). By February 2021, Kennedy and CHD had [joined groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) like the Koch-funded [Independent Women’s Forum](https://www.iwf.org/2021/02/08/the-hidden-costs-of-school-closures/?ref=importantcontext.news) in promoting false narratives about lockdowns and school closures, [claiming](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1357319475431956480?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that they were allegedly causing a spike in suicides among children and teens. In reality, however, suicides among young people [declined](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2022/12/28/teen-suicides-fell-during-lockdown-rose-when-in-person-schooling-resumed-study-finds/?sh=54a6009e64d7&ref=importantcontext.news) in 2020, [corresponding with closures](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1470785708394754052?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). They increased again as the country reopened. Moreover, no studies have isolated the impact of closures from the general impacts of living through a pandemic. Dr. Tyler Black, a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia Department of Psychiatry, told *Important Context* that “Overall, mental health ER visits decreased significantly during the closure periods throughout the US,” though he added that “when it comes to specific presentations and populations, we see differences.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “A Homecoming” More than a mere incidental alliance, Kennedy has been cultivating right-wing allies, using his anti-vaccine advocacy and COVID-related misinformation as a bridge. In July 2021, he was [photographed](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-vaccine-activist-robert-f-kennedy-jr-challenging-biden-in-2024/?ref=importantcontext.news) backstage at a “[Reawaken America](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133477897/reawaken-america-brings-together-some-of-the-u-s-most-prolific-conspiracy-theori?ref=importantcontext.news)” event with former Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and anti-vaxxer Charles Bollinger, all of whom have promoted Trump’s election fraud lie. That same month, CHD illegally gave a [$50,000 donation](https://popular.info/p/republican-attorneys-general-association?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Republican Attorneys General Association. Kennedy’s November 2021 book about Fauci has secured him interviews with big-name conservatives like [Tucker Carlson](https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-airs-covid-conspiracy-interview-with-rfk-jr-2021-11?ref=importantcontext.news), [Megyn Kelly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3w8hzZIVZk&ref=importantcontext.news), and [Dennis Prager](https://dennisprager.com/kennedy-the-real-anthony-fauci-bill-gates-big-pharma-and-the-global-war-on-democracy-and-public-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) as well as speaking gigs. In March, for example, he gave a [speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1yUOGGC%5FI8&ref=importantcontext.news) about Fauci and the public health establishment at [Hillsdale College](https://freedomlibrary.hillsdale.edu/programs/cca-iv-big-pharma/anthony-fauci-and-the-public-health-establishment?ref=importantcontext.news), a small conservative college that receives funding from Koch’s network including [$55,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2021\. Kennedy remarked that being at Hillsdale felt “almost like a homecoming because of the incredible role this institution played during COVID-19 when it was the only college left in the country that really stood up for freedom.” Kennedy’s right-wing allies see in him the potential to disrupt the Democratic Party and undermine public health. Recently, it was [reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-vaccine-activist-robert-f-kennedy-jr-challenging-biden-in-2024/?ref=importantcontext.news) that GOP strategist and former Trump aide Steve Bannon had been urging Kennedy to run for months, hoping his candidacy would cause “chaos” and spread anti-vaccine sentiment. Kennedy has [denied](https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1644767644086857729?ref=importantcontext.news) Bannon played any role in his decision to run. Back in February, notorious COVID misinformer and anti-vaxxer [Steve Kirsch](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036408/silicon-valley-millionaire-steve-kirsch-covid-vaccine-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news), who [appeared](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rfkjr/episodes/Big-Tech-Censorship-with-Steve-Kirsch-e1ikf0i?ref=importantcontext.news) on Kennedy’s podcast to discuss vaccines last May, [announced](https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1625002700013182977?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) on Substack that he was forming a super PAC to draft the prolific anti-vaccine activist to run and was looking for volunteers. “I can’t think of anyone more qualified to clean up the mess and unite the country than RFK Jr.,” Kirsch wrote. “So I’m putting together a Super PAC to encourage him to run for President on the Democratic side against Biden.” When Kennedy [filed his candidacy](https://apnews.com/article/robert-kennedy-jr-presidential-campaign-9fb5ed5c8e1fd31d2a4458d44b086593?ref=importantcontext.news) on April 5, the news was met with right-wing enthusiasm. Talk show host Steve Deace of *The Blaze* [posted a photo](https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4003532?ref=importantcontext.news) with the anti-vaxxer on Twitter accompanied by the caption, “As long as he doesn’t go trans, a man with high character and courage like RFK Jr will be tempting.” Weeks later, in a [CNN interview](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/04/30/robert-f-kennedy-jr-smerconish-transgender-athletes-smr-intv-vpx.cnn?ref=importantcontext.news), Kennedy said he was not in favor of allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports, calling them “biologically male.” Human rights groups like the [American Civil Liberties Union](https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked?ref=importantcontext.news) and [Human Rights Campaign](https://www.hrc.org/resources/get-the-facts-about-transgender-non-binary-athletes?ref=importantcontext.news) have pushed back on transgender athlete bans as discriminatory and unscientific. “Can the Presidential race in 2024 please be RFK Jr v. Trump?” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/JeninYounesEsq/status/1643742875040235521?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) [Jenin Younes](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/koch-funded-hack-goes-to-congress), an attorney working for the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government whose previous work as a litigation counsel for the Koch-funded litigation outfit New Civil Liberties Alliance involved fighting to protect COVID misinformation spreading doctors from [career consequences](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) and “[censorship](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news).” Charlie Kirk was also [laudatory](https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-i-would-vote-robert-f-kennedy-jr-president-over-mitt-romney-any-day?ref=importantcontext.news) of the new Democratic candidate. The founder of the [billionaire-funded](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/candace-owens-blexit-operation-bankrolled) Turning Point USA, a right-wing dark money group aimed at high school and college students, called Kennedy “one of the most articulate and thoughtful political activists going after the administrative state and the fourth branch of government.” “I would vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president over Mitt Romney any day,” Kirk said. “I would vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president over Lady Graham any day.” Kennedy’s official campaign launch in Boston on April 19 was [conspicuously missing](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/19/robert-kennedy-2024-campaign-00092842?ref=importantcontext.news) members of his own famous family—several are openly supporting Biden’s reelection. However, the event was [attended](https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-rfk-potential-for-political-disruption%5F5209458.html?utm%5Fsource=ref%5Fshare&utm%5Fcampaign=tw&rs=SHRNCMMW&via=epochtimes) by Jeffrey Tucker, the founder of the [Brownstone Institute](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy), a dark money group that has been a prolific hub of COVID-related misinformation. Tucker, who has [promoted](https://brownstone.org/articles/what-is-crimson-contagion/?ref=importantcontext.news) Kennedy’s book about Fauci, is a [child labor advocate](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) with reported [ties to neo-Confederate groups](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) as well as a longtime veteran of Koch’s political influence network. He is one of the main organizers of the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, an influential open letter from October 2020 that advocated for COVID herd immunity through mass infection and minimal intervention. Brownstone was originally billed as the “spiritual child” of the declaration. Kennedy and Tucker posed for a photograph together at the launch event. Tucker later wrote of his experience in [an article](https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-rfk-potential-for-political-disruption%5F5209458.html?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “The RFK Jr. Potential for Political Disruption,” which was published by *The* *Epoch Times*, a far-right online conspiracy magazine that regularly promotes COVID-related and anti-vaccine misinformation. The nonprofit behind the publication received [$31,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2021 from DonorsTrust, a preferred funding conduit of Koch network donors. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/b8896f9b-2a27-43dc-a4e4-9e11d2ac8378_1131x805.png) “To be sure, he has been on record as being among the climate-change alarmists in even recent history,” Tucker wrote. “Have his views on this topic shifted in light of the fake COVID-19 science of the past three years and the lockdown experience? Perhaps so. Many people on the left have begun to rethink this topic and perhaps Kennedy is among them.” Brownstone published [an excerpt](https://brownstone.org/articles/robert-f-kennedy-jr-on-lockdowns/?ref=importantcontext.news) from Kennedy’s launch speech criticizing the so-called “lockdowns” that same day. Fox News, meanwhile, has [given Kennedy’s campaign ample coverage](https://www.foxnews.com/search-results/search?q=Robert%20F.%20Kennedy%20Jr.&ref=importantcontext.news). On the day of the launch, the anti-vaxxer was [interviewed](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6325412395112?ref=importantcontext.news) by Tucker Carlson during primetime. Days later, he [was on Neil Cavuto’s show](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6325701473112?ref=importantcontext.news). The right-wing love for Kennedy has even led to some conservatives suggesting him as a possible running mate for Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP 2024 front-runner. For example, AFLDS spokesperson and creative director John Strand, an underwear model who, like Gold, was [convicted](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/john-strand-male-model-convicted-jan-6-riot-1234598601/?ref=importantcontext.news) for storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, [called](https://twitter.com/JohnStrandUSA/status/1651639335979032576?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) the pairing a “winning ticket.” Tagging Roger Stone, he even [offered it](https://twitter.com/JohnStrandUSA/status/1650333614662459392?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in response to a tweet asking for “your dream 2024 presidential ticket.” Bannon too has [floated the idea](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna82057?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “A Chilling Message” Experts told *Important Context* they worry about the effect Kennedy’s campaign might have on the nation. They fear that it will serve to further validate the dangerous junk science and vaccine skepticism he promotes. Acclaimed vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, who [developed a patent-free COVID vaccine](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/10/corbevax-texas-coronavirus-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news), told *Important Context* that he is concerned because three 2024 presidential hopefuls—Kennedy, DeSantis, and Trump—have “pursued an aggressive antiscience agenda.” Hotez is the author of a [new paper](https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1096/fba.2023-00032?ref=importantcontext.news) examining the threats posed by “anti-science conspiracies” to biomedicine, which calls out, among other things, the right-wing politicization of vaccines. “DeSantis and RFK Jr seeking to undermine vaccine science and scientists, and Trump promoting dangerous therapies such as hydroxychloroquine,” Hotez said. “My worry is that the 2024 US Presidential election could send a chilling message to our nation’s research universities and institutes that America no longer welcomes science \[and\] scientists, ignoring our important historical contributions to the success and global stature of the USA.” Through his work and family name, Kennedy has amassed a devoted online fan base with more than a million followers on Twitter alone. Early polling shows consistent support in the double digits, outpacing progressive spiritualist Marianne Williamson. A [*USA TODAY*](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/19/rfk-jr-campaign-poll-biden-voters/11690888002/?ref=importantcontext.news)[/Suffolk University Poll](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/19/rfk-jr-campaign-poll-biden-voters/11690888002/?ref=importantcontext.news) released on the day of Kennedy’s campaign launch saw him with 14 percent. By contrast, progressive spiritualist Marianne Williamson, who [declared](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/marianne-williamson-announces-another-longshot-presidential-bid-rcna73265?ref=importantcontext.news) her candidacy back in March, had just 5 percent support. Eight days later, an [Emerson College poll](https://emersoncollegepolling.com/strongapril-2023-national-poll-strong-strongbiden-and-trump-on-track-for-2024-rematch-strong/?ref=importantcontext.news) showed Kennedy with 21 percent, bearing Williamson by 13 points. Still, a recent Fox News poll found that while Biden was solidly favored with 62 percent support, the anti-vaccine crusader had [19 percent](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/27/robert-kennedy-jr-democratic-primary/?ref=importantcontext.news). The national Democratic Party [supports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/20/biden-reelection-announcement-next-week/?ref=importantcontext.news) Biden’s reelection bid and does not plan to sponsor any primary debates. But with his pandemic profits and right-wing friends, Kennedy’s war chest could prove deep enough to give Democrats a real headache. "While the legitimacy and real threat of a serious RFK Jr. political campaign, on the basis of name recognition and his millions of dollars and social media followers dedicated to disinformation about vaccines, is very much on-brand for the American political climate, I truly hope as a northern neighbor that it follows the general direction of trying to challenge an incumbent,” said Black, noting incumbent presidents are generally safe from primary challengers. *NOTE: This article has been updated to include Kennedy’s virtual speaker fee.* ### "Koch Funded Hack" Goes to Congress URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/koch-funded-hack-goes-to-congress/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:09.000Z *Update 4/1/24: According to the website LegiStorm, which posts details about politicians and their staffers, Younes’ congressional work* [*ended*](https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/461144/Jenin%5FMunther%5FYounes.html?ref=importantcontext.news) *in July 2023\. She currently has a* [*profile*](https://nclalegal.org/jenin-younes-profile/?ref=importantcontext.news) *on New Civil Liberties Alliance’s website listing her as litigation counsel and acknowledging her previous work “as senior special counsel on the House Judiciary Committee’s Weaponization of Government Subcommittee’s investigation into the government’s role in censoring speech on social media.” She recently participated in a NCLA panel* [*discussion*](https://youtu.be/8UpghXnhdd8?si=aXbXqzee-MWYaUNg&ref=importantcontext.news) *about her litigation work for the group alongside its president, Mark Chenoweth, who introduced her as NCLA litigation counsel.* Earlier this month, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-wing legal outfit that receives significant funding from billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, experienced a shake-up. Litigation counsel Jenin Younes, who has been spearheading [separate](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) [lawsuits](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) for NCLA to protect COVID misinformation, exited the group. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In a Twitter post from April 12, Younes thanked her colleagues and expressed pride in her work representing COVID contrarians in their legal fights against public health measures and social media companies. “I never dreamed that I would bring among the first vaccine mandate challenges in the US on behalf of the brilliant and intrepid[ @ToddZywicki](https://twitter.com/ToddZywicki?ref=importantcontext.news), or that I’d be part of uncovering a vast censorship regime operated at the highest levels of federal government, representing incredible people like[ @DrJBhattacharya](https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @MartinKulldorff](https://twitter.com/MartinKulldorff?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @akheriaty](https://twitter.com/akheriaty?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @HealthFreedomLA](https://twitter.com/HealthFreedomLA?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @MarkChangizi](https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @danielkotzin](https://twitter.com/danielkotzin?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @michaelpsenger](https://twitter.com/michaelpsenger?ref=importantcontext.news), or that I’d succeed in getting a law designed to muzzle doctors with dissenting covid views enjoined ([@TracyBethHoeg](https://twitter.com/TracyBethHoeg?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @PeterMazolewski](https://twitter.com/PeterMazolewski?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @akheriaty](https://twitter.com/akheriaty?ref=importantcontext.news)[ @AzadehKhatibi](https://twitter.com/AzadehKhatibi?ref=importantcontext.news)),” she wrote. Younes promised to continue her work “from my new position” before giving a defiant shoutout to the author of this piece and our past reporting. “Also my sincere apologies to Walker Bragman, who will no longer be able to call me a Koch funded hack, though I’m sure he can come up with something equally creative and untrue,” she [wrote](https://twitter.com/JeninYounesEsq/status/1646157133786804225?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). Days later, Younes announced that she had been tapped by Republican Congressman Jim Jordan as a senior special counsel to the GOP Congress’s subcommittee on the weaponization of government, which was established to seek out targeting of the political right by federal agencies and recently came under fire for preparing to [retaliate](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/republicans-rally-to-trump-after-indictment?ref=importantcontext.news) against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing charges against former President Donald Trump. While her role change does mean Younes will no longer be employed by a group that accepts significant funding from Koch, Jordan himself has strong links to the right-wing billionaire. ### Koch-Funded Litigation Outfit Despite her protestations, Younes’ old employer, NCLA, gets a significant amount of money from Koch. The group received more than $2 million from the Charles Koch Institute (today known as [Stand Together Fellowships](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/08/30/charles-kochs-shape-shifting-influence-machine/?ref=importantcontext.news)) from 2020-21, more than [$3 million](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch%5FFamily%5FFoundations&ref=importantcontext.news#Contributions%5Fof%5Fthe%5FCharles%5FG.%5FKoch%5FFoundation) from the Charles Koch Foundation between 2017-21, and another $3 million from [DonorsTrust](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DonorsTrust&ref=importantcontext.news), a preferred funding conduit of Koch network donors, from 2018-21. NCLA was even founded with [seed funding](https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/koch-behind-the-challenge-to-bakers-powers/?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation and is headed by a former in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Its work is exactly what one might expect: It wages a war on government action from a pro-business position. For example, NCLA filed an amicus brief in a case challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The group has also been waging war on the public health measures put in place to address COVID-19\. It is this battle that Younes’ work has focused on. For example, she led NCLA’s fight against the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate. More recently, she and NCLA joined a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its alleged role in the “censorship” of prolific COVID contrarians. Representing a number of prolific COVID misinformation spreaders, NCLA claims that the federal government “coerced” social media companies into removing disfavored content. Some legal experts [have cast doubt](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the seriousness of the allegations. Younes was also the NCLA attorney in a California lawsuit challenging the state’s pandemic misinformation law, which empowers the state’s medical board to bring action against doctors who peddle COVID misinformation. Her clients in that suit were contrarian doctors. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Other Koch Connections While it may have been her most direct connection to the billionaire industrialist, NCLA was not Younes’ only Koch link. Beginning in the fall of 2020, Younes, a former public defender and self-proclaimed former Democrat, was publishing pieces with the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a libertarian think tank [in Koch’s network](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy), criticizing lockdowns and other public health measures taken in response to COVID. In her first article, she claimed lockdowns would cause “more death than the coronavirus itself.” The group’s then-editorial director, Jeffrey Tucker, himself a [longtime veteran](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) of Koch World—with reported ties to neo-confederate groups—was so impressed with Younes that before her first piece was even published, he’d invited her to a key meeting late in the summer of 2020 with Dr. Martin Kulldroff, a Swedish biostatistician at Harvard Medical School. That meeting would lead to the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter co-authored by Kulldorff and signed at an AIER conference in October 2020 that called on governments to reject broad public health measures and embrace mass infection as a path to herd immunity. Younes wrote for AIER until June 2021\. She is also listed as a [contributor](https://fedsoc.org/contributors/jenin-younes?ref=importantcontext.news) to the right-wing Federalist Society, a well-funded organization with national reach into law schools that works to groom future right-wing judges and lawyers. Younes has spoken at events organized by student chapters and a litigation practice group. The Federalist Society, which has been instrumental in the right-wing takeover of the nation’s judiciary, has been supported by Koch and other right-wing megadonors. The organization received $2 million from Stand Together Fellowships between [2020](https://standtogethertrust.org/app/uploads/2021/12/Charles-Koch-Institute-Form-990-Public-Disclosure-Copy-2020.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) and [2021](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23452970/stand-together-fellowships-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### New Boss Same As The Old Boss All that is behind Younes now. However, Congressman Jordan has also been a longtime ally of the Koch family and its political operations. According to the Center for Responsive Politics’s database, OpenSecrets, Koch Industries, Koch’s family company, is Jordan’s [fourth largest career donor](https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/jim-jordan/summary?cid=N00027894&cycle=CAREER&type=I&ref=importantcontext.news). Between 2020-22, the company’s PAC gave the congressman’s leadership and campaign committees a combined total of $40,000\. The donations made Koch Industries his top donor in the 2020 election cycle and his fifth top donor in the next. Jordan was also a darling of the Tea Party movement and a founding member of the so-called Freedom Caucus. The role of Charles and his deceased brother David Koch in the rise of the Tea Party movement has been [thoroughly reported](https://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/?ref=importantcontext.news). The congressman maintains a close relationship with Americans for Prosperity, Koch’s flagship political operation, giving interviews and accepting awards. In 2015, for example, the group bestowed him with its highest honor, the Washington Award. David Koch [personally presented](https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/20599773448/?ref=importantcontext.news) the award at the Defending the American Dream Summit in Columbus, Ohio, that year. Accepting the honor, Jordan [called](https://www.sidneydailynews.com/2015/08/21/afp-to-present-washington-award-to-jordan/?ref=importantcontext.news) AFP “a national leader in the fight for economic freedom for all.” This past December, Jordan was one of [73 GOP members of Congress](https://americansforprosperity.org/americans-for-prosperity-launches-pioneers-for-prosperity-congressional-awards/?ref=importantcontext.news) to [receive](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=685235029652021) AFP’s Pioneer for Prosperity Award for opposing the Inflation Reduction Act. Younes is hardly the first veteran from a Koch-funded organization to get recruited by a member of Congress. The Heritage Foundation, an influential right-wing think tank in DC that has received funding from Koch for years including 2021, boasts that its [congressional fellowship program](https://www.heritage.org/the-heritage-congressional-fellowship?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Ryan%20Anderson%2C%20David%20Azerrad%2C%20Tim,conservative%20intellectuals%20and%20policy%20experts.) has graduated nearly 800 staffers since its launch in 2002. *AUTHOR’S NOTE TO READERS: I want to thank you for sticking with us. I know this month has seen fewer Important Context stories than normal. Rest assured, though, that big pieces are in the works. They’re just taking a little extra time. So stay tuned for more!* ### Peter Thiel's Secretive Spending URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/peter-thiels-secretive-spending/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:09.000Z *This report was written in partnership with the* [*OptOut Media Foundation*](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*. Updated 10/16/23\. See bottom for details.* The Thiel Foundation, the nonprofit charity of billionaire and right-wing megadonor Peter Thiel, gave millions of dollars in 2021 to a secretive donor-advised fund that has funneled money into groups that spread COVID denial as well as hate groups, federal tax records reveal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The founder of Silicon Valley tech giant Palantir Technologies, Thiel has made a significant amount of money as a result of the lucrative government contracts his company has secured over the years—and particularly during the pandemic. Since the 2016 election cycle, when he put more than $1 million towards electing Donald Trump, the tech billionaire has become [increasingly political and openly far-right](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-steve-bannon-peter-thiel-214490/?ref=importantcontext.news). A personal friend of Trump’s, Thiel [stepped down](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/technology/peter-thiel-facebook.html?ref=importantcontext.news) from Meta’s board of directors in February 2022 to focus on the midterms. The billionaire would throw his money behind far-right Republicans like Ted Cruz, JD Vance, and Blake Masters. Beyond Thiel’s direct spending on Republican elections, the billionaire’s foundation gave millions to [DonorsTrust](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DonorsTrust?ref=importantcontext.news), a donor-advised fund sponsor that has been a reliable financial backer of COVID denialism, vaccine skepticism, and hate. Donor-advised fund sponsors manage their clients’ money for a fee. Donors open accounts with the sponsor, depositing cash and transferring appreciable assets like stock intended for charitable donations. The client then “advises” the sponsor on which charities should receive donations. Clients’ donations are legally attributed to the sponsor, so their names are typically kept hidden from the public. According to its 2021 IRS Form 990, the Thiel foundation gave $4.2 million to DonorsTrust. The organizations that may have received his money remain unknown. Separate inquiries about Thiel’s funding recipients to both the foundation and DonorsTrust went unanswered. ### Masking Funders of White Nationalist Hate DonorsTrust is one of the most prolific funding vehicles for right-wing groups. For many years, it has been a preferred conduit of donors in billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s political network, but Koch isn’t the only heavy hitter associated with the fund. The Mercer family, known for its backing of nationalist Steve Bannon, and other big-name conservatives have used it as well. Its president is a [member](https://newrepublic.com/article/167002/council-national-policy-documents-right-wing-conspiracy?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Council for National Policy, a secretive and influential Christian nationalist group. DonorsTrust is notorious for [bankrolling hate groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/11/19/donorstrust-gives-600k-donation-to-white-nationalist-hate-group/?ref=importantcontext.news). From 2019-21, the group gave over $1.6 million to the VDARE Foundation. VDARE is designated as a [white nationalist hate group](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/vdare?ref=importantcontext.news) by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which notes that the organization has “provided a crucial bridge between the more mainstream anti-immigrant movement, including major players in the Republican Party, and the white nationalist fringe.” In 2020, DonorsTrust also gave $600,000 to the New Century Foundation, another hate group, which SPLC describes as “a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites — although in hifalutin language that avoids open racial slurs and attempts to portray itself as serious scholarship.” The foundation publishes a notorious online magazine called American Renaissance. As the Center for Media and Democracy [reported](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/11/19/donorstrust-gives-600k-donation-to-white-nationalist-hate-group/?ref=importantcontext.news) in November 2021, the $600,000 DonorsTrust contribution was greater than the foundation’s annual revenue in any year since 2010. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Pandemic Misinformation Throughout the pandemic, DonorsTrust has also been a reliable source of funding for groups spreading COVID misinformation and waging war on public health measures. The organization even set up a [special program](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/03/30/the-rights-dark-money-atm-launches-funding-stream-to-exploit-pandemic-for-movement-goals/?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2020 called the “Growth and Resilience Project” to fund groups working to reopen the economy, against regulations, and spread public health narratives that normalize government “intrusion into our lives and livelihoods.” One of the organizations funded through the program was the Mercatus Center, a right-wing think tank based at George Mason University. Mercatus received $30,000 for “Expanding Access to Free-Market Education.” The Thiel Foundation has also funded Mercatus—consistently since 2019\. According to its IRS Form 990, the foundation gave $250,000 in 2021\. In 2020, Mercatus launched Emergent Ventures with a [$1 million grant](https://www.mercatus.org/emergent-ventures?ref=importantcontext.news) from Thiel’s foundation. Emergent Ventures is one of the backers of Brown University professor Emily Oster’s research through her COVID-19 School Data Hub. Oster became infamous early in the pandemic for her op-eds in favor of school reopenings, which [understated the risks](https://proteanmag.com/2022/03/22/motivated-reasoning-emily-osters-covid-narratives-and-the-attack-on-public-education/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the virus to children and teachers. [Founded](https://www.parentdata.org/p/special-edition-today-covid-19-school?ref=importantcontext.news) in September 2021, the hub tracks modes of school learning—in-person, remote, and hybrid—to continue making the case against closures. The list of sponsored projects under DonorsTrust’s “Growth and Resilience Project” has not been updated on DonorsTrust’s website since at least March 30, 2021, and the site states that the program ended in the summer of 2020. However, DonorsTrust’s [2021 IRS Form 990](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) reveals that the organization has continued supporting groups that spread pandemic-related misinformation and oppose public health measures. For example, it gave $8 million to the State Policy Network (SPN), an organization that supports a web of libertarian state-based policy groups. SPN has long opposed government public health measures to control the virus. In the summer of 2020, before COVID vaccines were available, the group [began amplifying](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) its affiliates' pushes for school reopening. The next year, the network came out [against](https://spn.org/articles/state-response-to-vaccine-mandate/?ref=importantcontext.news) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses, as well as [mask mandates](https://spn.org/articles/week-in-review-april-30-2021/?ref=importantcontext.news). DonorsTrust also gave $361,000 to the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank that emerged early on in the pandemic as an influential advocate for reopening. In June 2020, Heritage published a [reopening plan](https://thf%5Fmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/NCRC%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) that criticized “lockdowns” and called for a “data-driven, precise approach to the disease” that would allow “many parts of the country to safely restart business activities, prepare to reopen schools as soon as possible, and begin to move toward some level of normalcy in daily life.” “While suppression measures were meant to slow the spread of the virus, they have also slowed the spread of prosperity and caused unprecedented economic devastation,” the report charged. The plan recommended targeted protections for the vulnerable, particularly in nursing homes. An October 2022 fundraising email from Heritage boasted that its recommendations had been adopted by 35 states, though the organization did not provide details when requested by *Important Context/OptOut*. In its 2020 annual report, Heritage also [boasted](https://www.heritage.org/annual-report-2020/fighting-for-lives-and-livelihoods/?ref=importantcontext.news) that “the Trump administration and Congress *continually* looked to The Heritage Foundation and our National Coronavirus Recovery Commission in their response to COVID-19.” More recently, Heritage has urged a GOP-led congressional inquiry into the U.S. pandemic response—a call that other right-wing dark money groups have echoed. In January, the group released a [report](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/forging-post-pandemic-policy-agenda-road-map-covid-19-congressional?ref=importantcontext.news) called “Forging a Post-Pandemic Policy Agenda: A Road Map for COVID-19 Congressional Oversight,” which highlighted what it saw as “key weaknesses” of the federal response. Those included the imposition of “lockdowns,” “costly school closures,” the CDC’s eviction moratorium, “veiling the origin of COVID-19,” and “suppressing of scientific dissent”—specifically, the so-called Great Barrington Declaration, a widely repudiated open letter from October 2020 published by a libertarian think tank that called for governments to reject broad public health measures in favor of a herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection. The Trump administration embraced the document and its authors, who met with the president and senior officials to advise on COVID policy. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) DonorsTrust also doled out $1 million to the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a litigation outfit headed by a former in-house counsel for Koch Industries that has been waging a legal war to protect COVID misinformation and take down pandemic interventions. NCLA helped defeat the CDC’s eviction moratorium and OSHA’s vaccine-or-test mandate for big businesses, and it is currently representing key spreaders of pandemic-related misinformation in [two](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) [lawsuits](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news). DonorsTrust also gave nearly $400,000 to the Tea Party Patriots Foundation in 2021\. That summer, the group’s “social welfare” arm, Tea Party Patriots Action, published a [how-to guide](https://www.teapartypatriots.org/stop-medical-mandates-how-to-guide/?ref=importantcontext.news) for parents to “stop medical mandates” like mask and vaccine requirements, lockdowns, and school closures. Another $112,000 went to the Independent Women’s Forum, a dark money group that has received funding from Charles Koch and [circulated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/independent-women-s-forum-template-letter-opposing-school-mask-mandates/4a991d69-67f2-42b2-8fa7-f9abc0a2fb08/?ref=importantcontext.news) a form letter in 2021 for parents to send to schools to oppose mask mandates. The American Institute for Economic Research, the libertarian think tank that helped organize and sponsored the Great Barrington Declaration, got $55,000 from DonorsTrust in 2021\. Meanwhile, the Epoch Times Association, the nonprofit behind Epoch Times, the far-right online conspiracy magazine that routinely espouses COVID and anti-vaccine misinformation, received $31,000\. Also of note is the donor-advised fund sponsor’s $15,000 contribution to CNP. The Christian nationalist organization gave Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, one of the authors of the GBD, a platform to rail against lockdowns and closures at its [2022 annual conference](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news). While DonorsTrust gives to a host of right-wing nonprofits, especially those affiliated with SPN, it also gives to non-political organizations as well. DonorsTrust’s money has flowed to colleges and universities and even the American Red Cross. Correction 10/16/23: A previous version of this piece incorrectly said New Civil Liberties Alliance was founded by a former in-house counsel for Koch Industries. The group was founded with seed funding from the Charles Koch Foundation and is currently headed by a former in-house counsel for Koch Industries. ### Livestream Tonight: Important Context Joins Debunk The Funk With Dr. Wilson URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/livestream-tonight-important-context/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:13.000Z Tonight at 9 PM Eastern, *Important Context* will be joining Dr. Dan Wilson, a molecular biologist who runs a YouTube channel, “Debunk the Funk With Dr. Wilson,” dedicated to tackling science-related misinformation. Dr. Wilson, who has previously done vaccine research, has been a friend of *Important Context*, providing quotes for stories. On Wilson’s YouTube channel, we will go through and react to the February 28 hearing of the Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which inaugurated a Republican-led inquiry into the federal government’s COVID-19 response. The investigation promises to conclude that the U.S. did too much to stop the spread of the virus. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) To date, COVID has killed more than 1.2 million Americans. According to an estimate from the Imperial College of London, roughly [280,000](https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood%5Fcalculator/?ref=importantcontext.news#/country/United%20States%20of%20America) American children have lost a primary or secondary caregiver to the virus. A report from the Department of Health and Human Services from November found that as many as [23 million](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) Americans were suffering long-term symptoms as of the date of publication. COVID infection has been linked to a host of ailments including [cardiovascular problems](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/heart-problems-after-covid19?ref=importantcontext.news) and [diabetes](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00912-y?ref=importantcontext.news). Predictably, the February 28 congressional hearing featured a number of familiar faces from *Important Context*’s reporting. The Republican members of the subcommittee brought in as experts Great Barrington Declaration co-authors Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff and Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary. All three men are members of the so-called [Norfolk Group](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic), a supergroup of fringe scientists who have been vocal opponents of pandemic interventions. Organized by the [Brownstone Institute](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy), a right-wing dark money COVID misinformation hub, Norfolk Group released an 80-page blueprint for a congressional investigation into the pandemic response mere weeks before the February 28 hearing. To watch us provide important context to the hearing, see the link below: [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### Pfizer Spends Big on IP Lobbying With Billions On the Line URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/pfizer-spends-big-on-ip-lobbying/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:10.000Z *This piece was written in partnership with* [*Sludge*](https://readsludge.com/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Last year, as it was raking in cash from its COVID vaccine and newly authorized oral treatment Paxlovid, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer spent big bucks to safeguard its intellectual property (IP), federal lobbying disclosures reveal. The nearly $900,000 lobbying tab came amid a global fight over how best to ensure fair access to COVID tools like vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Uneven distribution of such tools has been an ongoing problem throughout the pandemic, which has killed more than six million people worldwide by official numbers. Estimates of its true death toll, however, [range into the tens of millions](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates?ref=importantcontext.news). Wealthier nations have [hoarded](https://www.citizen.org/article/letter-urging-pfizer-to-address-paxlovid-inequality/?ref=importantcontext.news) critical supplies while lower-income countries in the Global South have struggled with procurement. One solution that has gained traction at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is an intellectual property waiver for COVID tools. The idea has faced stiff opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer in particular has [long been lobbying](https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/05/big-pharma-shatters-q1-lobby/?ref=importantcontext.news) to stave off any such waiver. The company’s spending on the issue through last year, including $140,000 in the fourth quarter alone, shows how significant and persistent a threat those global discussions are to its bottom line and provides insight into how the pharmaceutical giant has prioritized profits over global equity and human lives. ### Global Battle For Equity Efforts to address intellectual property barriers to equitable delivery of COVID tools go all the way back to October 2020\. That month, the governments of India and South Africa proposed a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver at the WTO. The proposal, which had the support of 62 member states and more than 100 low-income nations, was expansive. It would have temporarily [waived](http://directdoc/?ref=importantcontext.news) intellectual property protections for COVID technologies including vaccines, diagnostic kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, preventative medicines, and treatments. The TRIPS waiver proposal stalled for months due to opposition from the U.S., member states of the European Union, the UK, and other nations even as COVID ripped across the globe, killing millions and leaving many with long-term complications. All the while, global efforts to ensure vaccine access without breaking patents have been unsuccessful. The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative, led by GAVI Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the WHO, has fallen [far short](https://time.com/6096172/covax-vaccines-what-went-wrong/?ref=importantcontext.news) of its goals. In May 2021, the Biden administration broke ground by announcing its support for a vaccine technology IP waiver at the WTO. Notably, the administration did not endorse the India/South Africa proposal. “The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines,” U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai announced on May 5\. “We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) needed to make that happen.” Just over a year later, on June 17, 2022, the WTO’s Ministerial Conference adopted [a ministerial decision](https://www.keionline.org/wp-content/uploads/W15R2.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) on the TRIPS Agreement for COVID vaccines and vaccine components, allowing eligible WTO members to use, without the consent of the right holder, patented “ingredients and processes necessary to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine” through any instrument available in their law regardless of whether or not they have laws on the books governing compulsory licenses, which are licenses created by statute for the use of copyrighted materials. The decision directed WTO members to “decide on its extension to cover the production and supply of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics” as well within six months. The WTO missed the deadline, punting the decision to this year. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Almost Useless” Significant as the WTO’s ministerial decision was—during the negotiations, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala [called](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8970575/?ref=importantcontext.news) the forthcoming agreement “a major step forward”—critics noted that it fell far short of the TRIPS waiver proposed by India and South Africa in 2020\. For one thing, it only applied to vaccines—not diagnostics, therapeutics, personal protective equipment, or ventilation. What’s more, it made only minor clarifications under TRIPS, including eliminating a requirement that members seek prior authorization from patent holders before using their patented vaccine technology and waiving certain export restrictions. Worse, only developing country WTO members without “existing capacity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines” were eligible under the agreement to take advantage of the waiver. Those members with such capacity were “encouraged to make a binding commitment not to avail themselves of this Decision.” Following the release of the decision, James Love, the director of Knowledge Ecology International, a prominent non-governmental organization that is focused on issues like IP and governance, [wrote](https://www.keionline.org/37830?ref=importantcontext.news) that it was “a limited and disappointing outcome overall that is most accurately described as a narrow and temporary exception to an export restriction, not a waiver.” Speaking to *Important Context*, Love notedthat there were “strings attached” with the new agreement that rendered it “almost useless.” “Instead of a waiver of its own rules, they came up with new rules and they're highly conditional,” he said. Love explained that vaccines made in accordance with the decision could not be exported to high-income countries and that countries would have to amend their laws to take advantage of the agreement. He said that no country has made use of the June 2022 ministerial decision to date. To his point, there remains today a [significant gap](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in global vaccination rates between high and low income countries despite the WTO’s ministerial decision. As Harvard’s Bill of Health [noted](https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/11/08/what-happened-to-the-covid-19-vaccine-patent-waiver/?ref=importantcontext.news) in November, “only 23% of the population in low-income countries has received a dose, while 82% of the population in high- and upper-middle-income countries has been vaccinated.” Ideally, Love said there would be a more permanent exception to IP protections during pandemics. However, that conversation, he explained, is now happening at the WHO and is “much more important at this point” than ongoing deliberations at the WTO. Last month, the WHO released a [zero draft](https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf%5Ffiles/inb4/A%5FINB4%5F3-en.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) of its forthcoming Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord, which includes recommendations for waiving patents during pandemics. According to law firm and lobby shop Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, it [could have](https://www.akingump.com/en/news-insights/a-potential-once-in-a-lifetime-treaty-the-pandemic-prevention-preparedness-and-response-accord-heats-up-in-geneva.html?ref=importantcontext.news) “significant implications for a range of stakeholders involved in pandemic response, including medical product manufacturers.” “The WHO proposal goes farther than the WTO would have gone,” Love said. “It actually mandates \[countries\] to use exceptions \[to IP protections\], and it's broader than just the WTO rules.” To Love’s point, the draft includes language that “In the event of a pandemic, the Parties…will take appropriate measures to support time-bound waivers of intellectual property rights that can accelerate or scale up manufacturing of pandemic-related products during a pandemic, to the extent necessary to increase the availability and adequacy of affordable pandemic-related products.” The document also states that its parties “will apply the full use of the flexibilities provided in the TRIPS Agreement” and “shall encourage all holders of patents related to the production of pandemic-related products to waive, or manage as appropriate, payment of royalties by developing country manufacturers…and shall require, as appropriate, those that have received public financing for the development of pandemic-related products to do so.” Love told *Important Context* that while there is already opposition at the WHO to the scope of the intellectual property provisions of the zero draft, the body doesn’t have to “operate by consensus.” “It's easier to get something intellectual property through the WHO than the WTO,” he said. ### Cash Cow The COVID pandemic has been a cash cow for drug manufacturers like Pfizer. Last year, Pfizer alone reported a [record $100 billion](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/the-covid-pandemic-drives-pfizers-2022-revenue-to-a-record-100-billion.html?ref=importantcontext.news) in earnings thanks largely to its lifesaving COVID tools. The company’s mRNA vaccines, which rely on a technology [developed out of](https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448/?ref=importantcontext.news) years of publicly-funded research, accounted for $37.8 billion of the impressive haul. Another $18.9 billion came from sales of Paxlovid, the 5-day post-infection oral treatment course that received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in December 2021 and was the first effective treatment of its kind. The company [sought](https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-announces-submission-new-drug-application-us-fda?ref=importantcontext.news) full approval for its new drug in June 2022\. The month before Paxlovid’s authorization, the U.S. government awarded the company a [$5.3 billion contract](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/01/1075876794/feds-contract-with-pfizer-for-paxlovid-has-some-surprises?ref=importantcontext.news) for 10 million courses. It would [double that order](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-supply-10-mln-additional-courses-covid-19-pill-us-govt-2022-01-04/?ref=importantcontext.news) in January 2022 and spend an additional $2 billion in December to supplement with 3.7 million more courses for 2023\. Although sales are [projected to fall](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/pfizer-sees-covid-19-vaccine-sales-falling-64-2023-paxlovid-declining-58?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=The%20analyst%20consensus%20projected%202023,post%2Dinfection%20treatment%20in%202022.) this year, the projections remain substantial at $8 billion. An intellectual property waiver would threaten the new revenue stream. When the Biden administration announced its support for a patent waiver in May 2022, pharmaceutical stock prices [dropped off](https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/1390023742194061312?ref=importantcontext.news). ### Pharmaceutical Intervention The pharmaceutical industry and Pfizer, in particular, have fought hard to prevent any proposed waivers of IP protections. According to an October 2022 [report](https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-11-10/who-killed-the-vaccine-waiver?ref=importantcontext.news) from *The Bureau of Investigation Journalism*, days after the Biden administration announced its support for an IP waiver for vaccines, Pfizer met with UK trade policy minister Greg Hands, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, and international trade secretary Liz Truss. Last February, Pfizer Chairman Albert Bourla wrote an [open letter](https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why%5Fpfizer%5Fopposes%5Fthe%5Ftrips%5Fintellectual%5Fproperty%5Fwaiver%5Ffor%5Fcovid%5F19%5Fvaccines?ref=importantcontext.news) publicly advocating against a COVID-related IP waiver, claiming such a policy would disrupt the flow of raw materials and “disincentivize” research. “I worry that waiving of patent protection will disincentivize anyone else from taking a big risk,” Bourla wrote. “We deployed $2 billion before we knew whether we could successfully develop a vaccine because we understood what was at stake.” (Although its research began beforehand, Pfizer did receive a [$1.95 billion advance order](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/health/was-the-pfizer-vaccine-part-of-the-governments-operation-warp-speed.html?ref=importantcontext.news) for 100 million doses of its vaccine from the U.S. government as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.) Even though it was ultimately a far cry from the October 2020 TRIPS waiver proposal from India and South Africa, the WTO’s June 2022 ministerial decision still rankled the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the major industry trade group to which Pfizer paid [$411,000](https://www.pfizer.com/about/programs-policies/political-partnerships?ref=importantcontext.news) in membership dues in 2021, put out a [press release](https://phrma.org/resource-center/Topics/Trade/PhRMA-Statement-on-the-TRIPS-Waiver-Agreement?ref=importantcontext.news) slamming the decision. “The top trade officials from 164 nations gathered in Geneva, Switzerland and failed the global population,” wrote PhRMA president and CEO Stephen Ubl. “Rather than focus on real issues affecting public health, like solving supply chain bottlenecks or reducing border tariffs on medicines, they approved an intellectual property waiver on COVID-19 vaccines that won’t help protect people against the virus.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### High-Dollar Lobbying Federal lobbying disclosures reveal that Pfizer paid big bucks to major law firms and lobby shops last year to protect its intellectual property rights for lifesaving technologies like Paxlovid. The company spent at least $860,000 on the effort. Starting ahead of the WTO agreement last year, Pfizer paid Akin Gump $150,000 to lobby on its behalf. It began with [$50,000](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/496cb4a2-bb70-4b83-9235-c13d7bf48e4d/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the second quarter to lobby on “issues related to international protection of intellectual property rights, USTR transparency.” Following the June 2022 WTO ministerial decision on vaccines—and the ensuing discussions about expanding its scope to include other COVID tools—the pharmaceutical giant spent another $100,000 split evenly between quarters [three](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/496cb4a2-bb70-4b83-9235-c13d7bf48e4d/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [four](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/6b0f033e-ba89-4a54-b051-6910ec530382/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) to lobby on Issues related to the “waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID therapeutics and diagnostics.” Pfizer spent $110,000 last year with Altrius Group, a D.C.-based lobby shop, to lobby on “Compulsory licensing of US IP by foreign governments; WTO COVID TRIPS waiver proposal; Promotion of robust IP protection for biopharma innovations before WTO and in current and future FTAs.” The breakdown was [$20,000](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/cabc314c-da40-4765-be09-751412f112a3/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) in the first quarter and $90,000 split three ways between quarters [two](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/8af2ecb3-6971-4f04-aac7-d125bc0ed0f6/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), [three](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/cbf4ff14-2017-42cb-8c4e-468bc0aa670f/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [four](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/ec28d58f-8a15-4133-81cc-d6b0e9891a78/print/?ref=importantcontext.news). The company paid NVG, LLC, $240,000 last year, $60,000 per quarter, to lobby on a small number of issues including “intellectual property, data exclusivity, and patent eligibility.” In the [third quarter](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/463a1699-07ee-4878-ac80-54157a535292/print/?ref=importantcontext.news), it lobbied on “issues related to TRIPS waiver expansion” specifically. Between the [first](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/d26f736d-9b7b-4320-a97c-36fc2456951b/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [second](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/70278d5f-13bc-43b1-8e0f-b4015d28c94a/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) quarters,, it paid lobby shop Roberti Global $120,000 to lobby the House and Senate on “issues involving international trade, including IP protections.” Pfizer spent another [$60,000](https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/0c0ce9f7-eff5-4067-b399-b704ef9b1ddb/print/?ref=importantcontext.news) per quarter, totaling $240,000, last year retaining the services of Duberstein Group, Inc., to lobby on a handful of issues including the TRIPS waiver. ### Political Influence Pfizer has tools besides lobbying to wield influence in politics. The company is a prolific spender, contributing to both major parties. According to [OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/pfizer-inc/summary?id=D000000138&ref=importantcontext.news), in the 2022 cycle alone, the company’s PAC gave $90,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $75,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, $31,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $30,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, and $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee. That spending is merely what came from the organization itself and does not include the total counting contributions from individuals, like company executives. Shortly after the Biden administration’s [statement](https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2021/may/statement-ambassador-katherine-tai-covid-19-trips-waiver?ref=importantcontext.news) in May 2021 in support of a TRIPS waiver for vaccines, 16 Republican senators, almost all of whom had received money from PhRMA or Pfizer’s PACs in the previous election cycle, sent a [letter](https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/trips.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo denouncing the idea. Some of the signers co-sponsored an [amendment](https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/crapo-files-amendments-to-protect-american-companies-intellectual-property-rights-and-enforce-global-trade-rules?ref=importantcontext.news) filed by Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho that sought to make it harder for the U.S. to agree to waive COVID vaccine patents under the TRIPS Agreement. A *Sludge* analysis of OpenSecrets data [found](https://readsludge.com/2021/12/21/senators-against-generic-covid-19-vaccines-have-gotten-2x-pharma-cash/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the amendment’s 18 GOP co-sponsors had received “on average, nearly twice as much in pharmaceutical and health products campaign donations over their careers as have the 32 GOP senators who did not co-sponsor it.” Pfizer’s spending was not just limited to national politics. According to Political Moneyline, last year, the company [spent](https://www.politicalmoneyline.com/tr/tr%5FMG%5FIndivDonor.aspx?sMP=1&sText=Pfizer&sCycle=2022&ref=importantcontext.news) hundreds of thousands of dollars at the state level including $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association, $525,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, $225,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association, $150,000 to the Democratic Attorneys General Association, $430,000 to the Republican State Leadership Conference, and $165,000 to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Pfizer has also benefited from the [revolving door](https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/?ref=importantcontext.news) between the public and private sectors. The company brought Donald Trump’s former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. [Scott Gottleib](https://www.pfizer.com/people/leadership/board%5Fof%5Fdirectors/scott%5Fgottlieb-md?ref=importantcontext.news), onto its board in 2019 and made him chair of its Regulatory and Compliance Committee. ### “Grassroots” Parents’ Rights Group Gets Big Mystery Money URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/grassroots-parents-rights-group-gets/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:10.000Z *This report was written in partnership with the* [*OptOut Media Foundation*](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*. Research contributed by Alex Kotch.* A prominent conservative parents’ rights group working to reshape school boards across the country is mostly bankrolled by a handful of large contributions, federal tax records reveal. In the two years since its inception, Moms for Liberty (MFL) has emerged as a national force, boasting more than [200,000 members](https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/meet-moms-for-liberty-the-group-leading-lgbtq-book-bans-in-pa-schools/?ref=importantcontext.news), or so-called “joyful warriors,” and 200 chapters in 44 states. The 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit has a connected 501(c)(3) charity and several political action committees. Although MFL purports to be a grassroots outfit “dedicated to fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government,” its IRS Form 990 suggests otherwise, revealing that in 2021, large mystery contributions provided much of the driving force behind the operation. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Moreover, MFL’s sudden rise to prominence is largely attributed to the megaphones of right-wing pundits like Tucker Carlson and Glenn Beck, as well as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the state in which MFL was founded. MFL provides a window into how the political right’s dark money network—aided by the likes of the conservative political and media machine—has been fueling the so-called parents’ rights movement, building up nonprofits that disingenuously brand themselves as grassroots community organizations while doing the bidding of business interests, advancing a socio-political agenda that jeopardizes progress in U.S. education and the health and safety of children and teachers. The movement has grown in recent years. While public schools have always been fierce battlegrounds in the right-wing culture war, the COVID-19 pandemic fueled radicalism around the issue of children and learning. Public school closures and later COVID mitigation efforts [quickly became wedge issues](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) for big money-aligned groups concerned by a sluggish job market and seeking to undermine public education and teachers’ unions. Enter MFL. Founded at the height of the pandemic by former and current school board members as a response to public school COVID mitigation measures like masking and quarantining the group’s strategy is simple, but effective: Bully school boards into submission or [elect new members](https://www.newsweek.com/moms-liberty-ride-wave-anti-wokeness-school-board-victories-1757693?ref=importantcontext.news). In the 2022 midterms, MFL-endorsed candidates [saw some success](https://www.wsj.com/articles/school-board-candidates-who-pushed-parental-rights-see-mixed-results-11668249004?ref=importantcontext.news) according to the group’s founder: about half of the 270 candidates the group supported won their races. As MFL has expanded so too has its agenda. In addition to combating COVID safety measures in schools and teachers’ unions, MFL has been[ rallying parents](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/08/the-most-powerful-moms-in-america-are-the-new-face-of-the-republican-party/?ref=importantcontext.news) against transgender accommodations in schools, the teaching of “Critical Race Theory,” or discussion of systemic racism and LGBTQIA+ rights. The group, which is also pro-gun, has pushed for school library [book bans](https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/meet-moms-for-liberty-the-group-leading-lgbtq-book-bans-in-pa-schools/?ref=importantcontext.news), going so far as to create a [book rating system](https://bookriot.com/moms-for-liberty-is-lying-about-books/?ref=importantcontext.news) to [facilitate such bans](https://www.newsweek.com/moms-liberty-banned-book-list-schools-1756574?ref=importantcontext.news). ### “School Board Moms” When MFL first appeared in January 2021, the nation was in the throes of a deadly winter COVID wave. Hospitalizations had reached their [highest point](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/past-reports/01152021.html?ref=importantcontext.news) since the start of the pandemic in December 2020\. The ongoing public health crisis was also causing significant [disruption](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/economy/january-2021-jobs-report/index.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to the economy, further delaying the long-awaited recovery. Labor force participation fell the month MFL began as the leisure and hospitality sectors lost tens of thousands of jobs. Business-aligned right-wing groups had [long been](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) fighting to restore economic normalcy amid the pandemic, waging a war on public health measures, and [schools quickly emerged as a battlefront](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news). An April 2020 school reopening [guide](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/safely-back-to-school-after-coronavirus-closures?ref=importantcontext.news) from consultancy McKinsey & Co. estimated that 27 million Americans needed childcare to work. But the effort to restore school normalcy lacked a meaningful boots-on-the-ground presence, creating the perfect opening for former Florida school board moms Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice to launch MFL. Descovich, a mother of five who is credited with the original idea for MFL, served on the Brevard County school board until losing her August 2020 primary and her bid for reelection to a newcomer over her opposition to teacher raises and mask requirements. That fall, she connected with Justice, a mother of four, who had left her own school board position in Indian River County and shared Descovich’s concerns with pandemic mitigation measures in schools. Together [with Bridget Ziegler](https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2022-07-19/florida-teachers-say-theyre-being-silenced-amid-the-rise-of-moms-for-liberty?ref=importantcontext.news), a Sarasota County school board member whose husband, Christian Ziegler, is a Sarasota County Commissioner and vice chairman of the Florida GOP, the duo formed MFL. The group was formally established on January 1, 2021, as a “social welfare” nonprofit—a designation that gave it latitude to wade into politics. Ziegler stepped away from the organization after February 2021, at which point Descovich and Justice began downplaying her role in founding the group. In October of that year, MFL [drew scrutiny](https://www.yahoo.com/video/exclusive-moms-liberty-pays-21k-224403833.html?ref=importantcontext.news) after campaign finance records revealed the group had paid more than $21,000 to a company Ziegler’s husband founded. The new group grew quickly, which Descovich and Justice explained in a November 2021 *Washington Post* [opinion piece.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/08/moms-for-liberty-education-elections/?ref=importantcontext.news) “Parents were suddenly within earshot of teachers’ lessons,” said the op-ed. “Many were astonished to find that, instead of being simply taught reading, writing and arithmetic, their kids were being fed lessons on highly divisive topics of questionable academic benefit.” Members of MFL became known for their aggressive style, [haranguing](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/moms-for-liberty-parents-rights/2021/10/14/bf3d9ccc-286a-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news) school board members and raising hell over such “highly divisive topics,” from a photo of sea horses mating in an elementary school textbook to fourth graders learning how to spell “scary” words such as “isolation” and “quarantine.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Right Wing Darlings Watchdog groups have provided a different explanation for MFL’s meteoric rise, noting how, rather than growing organically, the group had been launched seemingly out of the gate into the national spotlight by influential right-wing media figures and political leaders. A July 2022 [report](https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/how-right-wing-media-launched-moms-liberty?ref=importantcontext.news) from media watchdog Media Matters For America (MMFA) noted that in the weeks and months following MFL’s inception, co-founder Descovich appeared on *The Rush Limbaugh Show*, and the group was promoted by conservative news outlets *Breitbart*, *Fox News, Newsmax*, and *The Daily Wire*, as well as right-wing pundits Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, and Steve Bannon. In June 2021, mere months after the group’s founding, conservative media personality Megyn Kelly hosted a fundraiser for MFL. “Right-wing media undeniably catapulted Moms for Liberty to prominence by essentially providing the group with free recruitment services,” read the MMFA report. “The claim that Moms for Liberty is a grassroots entity is seriously undermined by the fact that the actual organizing was done on a massive scale by high-profile right-wing media.” According to the report, MFL claimed that 10 months into its formal existence, it had already sprouted 135 chapters in 35 states. By July 2022, the number had allegedly reached 200 chapters in 38 states and more than 100,000 members. (The report does explain that the group appeared to be inflating its membership figures.) MFL also owes much to DeSantis. The Florida governor has made COVID minimization and opposition to public health measures central to his platform for a potential 2024 presidential run. He has openly courted MFL and its supporters. In the 2022 midterm cycle, DeSantis endorsed a number of MFL’s school board candidates, including co-founder Ziegler. He was even the keynote speaker at MFL’s first annual conference in Tampa, Florida, in July 2021, which drew a crowd of roughly 500 attendees. DeSantis gave a meandering [50-minute speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1lGIk6arxU&ref=importantcontext.news) in which he called on the mostly white audience to stand firm in their fight against “woke” pressures. “Now is not the time to be a shrinking violet,” said DeSantis. “Now is not the time to let them grind you down. You’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight.” For the 2024 election cycle, MFL has [been working](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/590101-gov-desantis-moms-for-liberty-target-5-tampa-bay-area-school-board-members-in-2024/?ref=importantcontext.news) with DeSantis to oust select school board members in Florida. *Fox News* [reported](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/590101-gov-desantis-moms-for-liberty-target-5-tampa-bay-area-school-board-members-in-2024/?ref=importantcontext.news) that the targets were chosen for their votes in favor of school mask mandates and failing to protect “parental rights” and “students from woke ideologies.” ### Dark Money Connections Since its inception, MFL has been dogged by questions about its ties to larger right-wing political influence networks. An October 2022 [report](https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/foot-soldiers-for-ron-desantis?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Independent Media Institute’s “Our Schools” initiative highlighted connections between MFL and the Council for National Policy (CNP), [described](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/28/us/2004-campaign-conservatives-club-most-powerful-gathers-strictest-privacy.html?ref=importantcontext.news) by the *New York Times* as “a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country.” The report noted that speakers at MFL conferences have been linked to CNP. For example, Betsy DeVos, former President Donald Trump’s secretary of education, was a [featured speaker](https://www.momsforliberty.org/news/betsy-devos/?ref=importantcontext.news) at MFL’s 2022 annual conference. During the appearance, DeVos called for [the dissolution](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/17/betsy-devos-abolish-department-of-education?ref=importantcontext.news) of the department she headed. Our Schools noted that DeVos and her family have supported CNP. Her mother was listed as a member of CNP’s board of governors and one of its “Gold Circle Members,” according to a 2014 [CNP membership directory](https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/cnp%5Fredacted%5Ffinal.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and was still on the [roster](https://documented.net/investigations/documented-has-obtained-a-recent-council-for-national-policy-membership-list?ref=importantcontext.news) as of January 2022. Another CNP connection came through the Leadership Institute, a Virginia-based dark money outfit dedicated to training conservatives to get involved in politics. The group’s president, Morton Blackwell, is a member and founder of CNP. The institute is also an [associate member](https://spn.org/directory/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the State Policy Network (SPN), a [web of right-wing and libertarian state-based nonprofits](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State%5FPolicy%5FNetwork&ref=importantcontext.news) that receive money from major corporate interests, including the DeVos and Koch families, as well as the Walmart-owning Walton family. In 2021, DonorsTrust, another SPN associate member and a preferred funding conduit for wealthy conservatives including donors in billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s network, donated [$259,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) to the Leadership Institute and $15,000 to CNP. The institute was the largest sponsor of MFL’s 2022 annual conference. MFL co-founder Ziegler, who has since left the group, is the current [director of school board programs](https://leadershipinstitute.org/contactUS/staff/?staff=7000711&ref=importantcontext.news) there. MFL’s website [directs parents](https://www.momsforliberty.org/resources/?ref=importantcontext.news) to the institute and another CNP-connected sponsor of its 2022 conference, the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation, a D.C.-based conservative think tank. As the “Our Schools” report points out, MFL’s ties to Heritage run deep. In June 2022, MFL [was given](https://www.heritage.org/press/moms-liberty-awarded-heritages-salvatori-prize-citizenship?ref=importantcontext.news) the Heritage’s Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship, an award made possible by [a permanent endowment](https://www.heritage.org/article/the-salvatori-prize-american-citizenship?ref=importantcontext.news) from deceased right-wing philanthropist Henry Salvatori. In [2021](https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/event/preserving-american-history-schools?ref=importantcontext.news) and [2022](https://www.heritage.org/education/event/empowering-families-education?ref=importantcontext.news), MFL leaders were presenters at Heritage Foundation forums. “Our Schools” notes another connection between MFL and right-wing dark money via Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the political network of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. TPUSA is [funded](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Turning%5FPoint%5FUSA?ref=importantcontext.news#Funding) by a host of wealthy conservative interests. In 2021, for which some public records are not yet available, the group received big donations from the foundations of Florida-based multimillionaire [William A. Dunn](https://www.dunnfoundation.org/about.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) ([$1.3 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22038965-dunn-foundation-%5F990%5F2021?ref=importantcontext.news)) and right-wing megadonor Richard Uihlein ([$250,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23608210-uihlein-family-foundation-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news)), as well as from a number of donor-advised fund managers and community foundations such as the right-wing Bradley Impact Fund ([$7.4 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23560615-bradley-impact-fund-inc-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news)) and DonorsTrust ($744,000), religious funds National Christian Foundation ($268,000) and Christian Community Foundation ($79,000), and mainstream charity vehicles Schwab Charitable Gift Fund ($664,000), National Philanthropic Trust ($212,000), and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program ($100,000). These donor-advised fund managers and community foundations distribute money from their clients, whose identities generally remain hidden from the public. This year’s annual MFL [conference](https://www.momsforliberty.org/summit23-sponsors/?ref=importantcontext.news) is being sponsored once again by the Leadership Institute as well as Parents Defending Education (PDE), a deep-pocketed parents’ rights group founded by Koch network veteran Nicole Neily in March 2021\. True North Research has [linked](https://truthout.org/articles/tax-docs-link-right-wing-parents-group-to-leonard-leos-dark-money-network/?ref=importantcontext.news) PDE to conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, who helped architect the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court, and the Tea Party Patriots, an organization whose foundation has received funds from DonorsTrust ($388,000 in 2021) and Fidelity Charitable, and whose political action committee has been [bankrolled](https://wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/uihleins-owners-of-wisconsin-company-gave-millions-to-group-sponsoring-the-jan-6-march-for-trump/?ref=importantcontext.news) by Uihlein and his wife, Liz. The group’s “social welfare” arm, Tea Party Patriots Action, released a [how-to guide](https://www.teapartypatriots.org/stop-medical-mandates-how-to-guide/?ref=importantcontext.news) for parents to protest “medical mandates” such as mask and vaccine requirements and lockdowns, in the summer of 2021. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### “Real Grassroots” Despite bountiful evidence to the contrary, MFL has long maintained that it is nothing more than a group of concerned parents. In December of last year, for example, in response to a [dossier](https://truenorthresearch.org/2022/09/dark-money-buys-school-board-races-for-gop-2022/?ref=importantcontext.news) produced by research firm True North Research on right-wing dark money efforts to undermine public education, which included MFL, the group [tweeted](https://twitter.com/Moms4Liberty/status/1601042043920424961?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), “We aren’t puppets. We are real grassroots,” followed by an American flag emoji. But new tax documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy provide a clearer picture. The group’s [IRS Form 990](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23307322/moms-for-liberty-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) reveals that a small handful of sizable contributions are sustaining the group. In the past, Descovich has [claimed](https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/10/the-right-wing-money-and-influence-behind-moms-for-liberty/?ref=importantcontext.news) that T-shirt sales comprised most of the group’s funding—statements in line with the group’s grassroots facade. “We do sell a lot of T-shirts,” she [told](https://www.the74million.org/article/74-interview-moms-for-liberty-cofounder-tina-descovich-on-her-groups-stunning-growth-facing-threats-herself-as-a-school-board-member-and-googling-koch-brothers/?ref=importantcontext.news) a reporter for *The 74* in November 2021. But that same year, almost 70 percent of MFL’s total $370,000 in revenue came from contributions and grants. Of that, 40 percent came from a single anonymous $100,000 donation. Nearly 60 percent of its contributions and grants total—40 percent of its overall revenue—came from just five anonymous donations. Only about $28,000, or less than 8 percent of MFL’s total revenue, came from “other revenue,” which includes sales of merchandise. MFL did not provide the identity (or identities) of its funder(s) to *Important Context*/OptOut. It is not legally compelled to provide such information. “Moms For Liberty follows all reporting requirements as a non-profit,” Descovich told *Important Context*/OptOut. “We are a member-led organization and are proud to say that we currently have 270 chapters in 44 states—the definition of grassroots.” ### New Scientist Group Calling For Pandemic Answers Has Ties to Right-Wing Dark Money URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/new-scientist-group-calling-for-pandemic/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:11.000Z *This piece was written in partnership with the* [*OptOut Media Foundation*](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*. Updated 10/16/23.* A new medical group behind an 80-page “blueprint” for a potential congressional commission to investigate the harms of the U.S. government's COVID-19 response has ties to the political right and dark money. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The Norfolk Group purports to be [eight independent scientists](https://www.norfolkgroup.org/about-the-authors?ref=importantcontext.news) from different political backgrounds who are not working “on behalf of any institution, public or private” but are rather seeking answers to explain how the U.S. has fared so poorly throughout the pandemic. “Certainly, deaths are unavoidable during a pandemic,” the group declares. “However, too many U.S. policy makers concentrated efforts on ineffective or actively harmful and divisive measures such as school closures that generated enormous societal damage without significantly lowering COVID-19 mortality, while failing to protect high-risk Americans. As a result, Americans were hard hit both by the disease and by collateral damage generated by misguided pandemic strategies and decisions that ignored years of pandemic preparation guidance crafted by numerous public health agencies, nationally and internationally.” Benign as the Norfolk Group may appear at first blush—an ABC News affiliate [called it](https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/highly-regarded-scientists-publish-blueprint-for-congressional-commission-on-feds-covid-response?ref=importantcontext.news) “a small group of renowned infectious disease experts”—the reality is murkier. The group represents the latest volley in an ongoing war on public health measures waged by the business-aligned right wing. With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, it may well prove highly influential. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dark Money Origins On the third page of the Norfolk Group white paper is an acknowledgment that the authors came together through a meeting organized by the Brownstone Institute, a shadowy COVID misinformation nonprofit. *Important Context* and the OptOut Media Foundation[previously reported](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) that Brownstone received most of its funding from just nine anonymous large donations in 2021. “Seven of us started the work at an in-person meeting in Norfolk, Connecticut, organized by the Brownstone Institute in May of 2022,” the document reads. “We wrote and edited the bulk of this document during the subsequent six months. In honor of the place where we met, we call ourselves the Norfolk Group.” Since it was first established in May 2021, Brownstone has promoted a number of extreme positions including [advocacy for child labor](https://brownstone.org/articles/their-schools-shut-so-why-not-let-teens-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) and an [end to public education](https://brownstone.org/articles/american-public-schools-rip/?ref=importantcontext.news). Its main purpose, however, has always been opposing public health mandates. Brownstone was founded by anarcho-capitalist Jeffrey Tucker, who has [ties to neo-Confederate groups](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) and is a longtime veteran of billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s political influence network, as the “spiritual child” of the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD). The GBD was an influential open letter that arose out of an October 2020 conference hosted by the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank on the edges of Koch’s network where Tucker worked—he was instrumental in organizing the effort. The document, which was [rejected](https://apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/public-health-orgs-condemn-sars-covid2-plan?ref=importantcontext.news) by the mainstream scientific community, called on governments and scientists to eschew broad public health measures in favor of embracing mass infection as a quick path to herd immunity. Brownstone has become a hub of COVID-related misinformation, including anti-vaccine narratives, downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. As we have previously [reported](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/story-developments), the institute has even tacitly encouraged violence against public health officials. Brownstone gave a fellowship to former Trump Health and Human Services science adviser Paul Alexander, who had previously called for hanging public health officials who tried to limit the spread of COVID. Brownstone founder, Tucker published an article on the group’s website with a guillotine image suggesting “consequences” for such officials. ### Right-Wing Ties The scientists involved in the Norfolk Group have all been vocal opponents of public health measures—the group is a combination of GBD alums and [signatories](https://www.urgencyofnormal.com/our-statement?ref=importantcontext.news) and [organizers](https://www.urgencyofnormal.com/our-team?ref=importantcontext.news) of the [error-ridden](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/01/doctors-urgency-normal-toolkit-schools-covid-normal-botched-effort-backfire/?ref=importantcontext.news) Urgency of Normal toolkit, which aimed at getting children back into schools without COVID mitigation measures in place. Some have connections to the political right beyond Brownstone and are favorites of conservative institutions. Norfolk Group members and GBD co-authors Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, for example, are darlings in the world of right-wing dark money. They have been interviewed, promoted, imbued with various honors, and booked for speaking gigs by various business-aligned right-wing groups and institutions. Bhattacharya, the more prolific of the two scientists, is a senior fellow at the conservative public policy think tank, the Hoover Institution, which is housed at Stanford University where he is a professor of health policy and economics. Hoover has [received funding](https://www.desmog.com/hoover-institution/?ref=importantcontext.news) from Koch and other wealthy conservatives [including the Walton Family.](https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/grants-database?grantee=00000169-91e6-d2a9-a7eb-bffe2e630000&ref=importantcontext.news) In 2021, it got more than [$500,000](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from DonorsTrust, a preferred funding conduit of the Koch network and even more [extremist funders](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/06/17/donors-pumped-millions-white-nationalist-group?ref=importantcontext.news). At some point [since mid-December](https://web.archive.org/web/20221219045140/https://www.hoover.org/profiles/jay-bhattacharya), Bhattacharya’s profile page on Hoover’s website was altered. His role is now listed as “courtesy.” He was previously a research fellow at the institution. Bhattacharya has been a featured speaker at conferences hosted by [Hoover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UO3Wd5urg0&ref=importantcontext.news), [Council For National Policy](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/?ref=importantcontext.news), and the American Institute for Economic Research. He [helped](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A244/207571/20220106153204637%5F220103a%20Motion%20and%20Brief%20for%20efiling.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) the [American Commitment Foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American%5FCommitment?ref=importantcontext.news), a dark money group co-founded by a former vice president of the Koch flagship political operation, Americans For Prosperity, with its Supreme Court amicus brief supporting a challenge to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses. Just this week, he was [hosted](https://twitter.com/uchifedsoc/status/1625601016837054478?s=46&t=qRfCfnxL9sORH5mkLYkZpA&ref=importantcontext.news) by the University of Chicago chapter of the [Federalist Society](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Federalist%5FSociety%5Ffor%5FLaw%5Fand%5FPublic%5FPolicy%5FStudies?ref=importantcontext.news), the infamously [well-funded conservative legal group](https://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-leonard-leo-barre-seid?ref=importantcontext.news) dedicated to stacking the judiciary with extreme right-wing judges. The group got $3.7 million from DonorsTrust in 2021\. The university is also [famous](https://jacobin.com/2021/02/postwar-economics-right-wing-marshall-steinbaum-interview?ref=importantcontext.news) as a hub of laissez-faire economic thought, which provided much of the intellectual framework behind the modern conservative movement. The Stanford professor and Kulldorff are teaching fellows at Hillsdale College’s Academy of Science and Freedom. Hillsdale received [$55,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation and another $17,000 from DonorsTrust in 2021\. The scientists are [being represented](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) pro bono by Koch-funded litigation outfit New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) in a lawsuit against the Biden administration for allegedly coercing social media and technology companies to ‘censor’ them. NCLA, which is headed up by a [former in-house counsel](https://nclalegal.org/mark-chenoweth/?ref=importantcontext.news) for Koch Industries, received [$1 million](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23452970/stand-together-fellowships-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from Stand Together Fellowships—formerly the Charles Koch Institute—in 2021, as well as [$15,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation and another [$1 million](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719/donorstrust-2021-990.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from DonorsTrust. Bhattacharya and Kulldorff have helped Republican lawmakers craft COVID policy at the federal and state level and have been called to [testify](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr%5F%5F54T%5F-SM&ref=importantcontext.news) as experts before Congress. They directly advised the Trump White House and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and currently serve on DeSantis’ new [Public Health Integrity Committee](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news) to investigate federal pandemic response measures. Another Norfolk scientist, Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, is similarly connected on the right. Høeg is a consultant epidemiologist for Florida’s Department of Health. Like Bhattacharya and Kulldorff, she is a member of DeSantis’ Public Health Integrity Committee. Along with fellow Norfolk Group and Urgency of Normal member, Dr. Ram Duriseti, Høeg is being [represented](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/12/21/koch-funded-litigation-group-fights-to-protect-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) pro bono by NCLA in a lawsuit against California over a new misinformation law, which empowers the state’s medical board to punish doctors who promote COVID-related misinformation. Meanwhile, Dr. [Marty Makary](https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/01/12/what-to-know-about-glenn-youngkins-newest-covid-19-adviser/?ref=importantcontext.news), a surgical oncologist, Johns Hopkins professor, and Norfolk Group member, made the rounds on conservative media as a critic of the federal pandemic response and a [COVID minimizer](https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6316159825112?ref=importantcontext.news#sp=show-clips) before being tapped by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia as a COVID adviser last January. Last month, in its “post-pandemic” roadmap, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, [highlighted](https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/forging-post-pandemic-policy-agenda-road-map-covid-19-congressional?ref=importantcontext.news) Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, Høeg, and Makary. Like Hoover, the foundation has gotten funding from many prominent conservatives over the years including Kochs and [the Waltons](https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/grants-database?grantee=00000169-91e6-d2a9-a7eb-bffe2c2f0000&ref=importantcontext.news). In 2021, it received $15,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation, $8,000 from Stand Together Fellowships, and $361,000 from DonorsTrust. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### Dubious Narratives Implicit, dubious, and unproven assumptions underlie the Norfolk Group’s document. The inquiries begin with the perspective that the Great Barrington Declaration and Urgency of Normal were fundamentally correct; that government officials censored their ideas to the detriment of the national pandemic response; that mitigation efforts such as lockdowns, school closures, widespread testing, vaccine mandates, and masking—particularly masking of children—did more harm than good. There is an entire section, for example, dedicated to “collateral lockdown harms,” beginning with a declaration that “the collateral damage associated with pandemic lockdown policies is enormous, cutting across multiple areas of physical and mental health, education, culture, religion, the economy, and the social fabric of society.” Among the harms listed is an increase in 2020 in deaths from heart disease and stroke, [conditions that have](https://www.stroke.org/en/news/2022/03/31/after-covid-19-experts-say-watch-for-these-potential-heart-and-brain-problems?ref=importantcontext.news) [been linked](https://www.today.com/health/covid-heart-attack-young-people-rcna69903?ref=importantcontext.news) [to COVID infection](https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2022/01/covid19-increasing-stroke-risks.php?ref=importantcontext.news). “How much of this increase was collateral lockdown damage?” Norfolk Group asks. “Why was this problem not foreseen by the health agencies and politicians implementing lockdowns?” Despite the fact that none of the scientists involved in the Norfolk Group are credentialed child development experts—Duriseti works in pediatric emergency medicine, has [written](https://cap.stanford.edu/profiles/viewResume?facultyId=4010&name=Ram%5FDuriseti&ref=importantcontext.news) about pediatric abdominal pain, and researched diagnosing pediatric appendicitis—the group’s paper dedicates much ink to exploring the various possible psychological harms to children from COVID mitigation measures. Straying beyond their field is a problem several of the scientists involved in Norfolk Group have been criticized for in the past, including those behind Urgency of Normal and Bhattacharya. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw [called](https://urldefense.com/v3/%5F%5Fhttps:/www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/22/tennessee-gov-bill-lees-mask-opt-out-order-violates-federal-law-judge-rules/8449956002/%5F%5F;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!Yj6GIft0SgJbyTvJsh9gnY4CifdxzyFc3kU8u2SMkA0OGGQ2qdfTSF6dI%5FY8kZ93VEg-50mlRA$?ref=importantcontext.news) the latter’s testimony in a case over school mask mandates “troubling” and “problematic,” explaining that the Stanford professor had “offered opinions” involving “a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak.” “His demeanor and tone while testifying suggest that he is advancing a personal agenda,” Crenshaw noted. A substantial section of the Norfolk Group document deals with the alleged harms of school closures. The group suggests that the closures may have fueled a mental health crisis in young people. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that suicide rates for young people [dropped off](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1576618033191297029?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) during the early months of the pandemic and [have not otherwise deviated](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1600733158609408000?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) [from pre-pandemic trends](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1553077951658430465?ref=importantcontext.news). Similarly, there was [no spike](https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1600733161272774656?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in mental health emergency room visits for young people. The Norfolk Group paper also takes issue with masking requirements for children, rehashing familiar, unproven narratives about speech and developmental delays as well as breathing difficulties while demanding randomized, controlled trials to demonstrate efficacy. “Children face the least risk of COVID-19 and face the highest risk of harm from prolonged masking,” the paper states. “Why were the youngest and most vulnerable children in the Head Start programs, overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, some of the very last to be allowed to remove their masks in the Fall of 2022?” In August, the American Academy of Pediatrics [recommended](https://twitter.com/AmerAcadPeds/status/1563241284935958530?ref=importantcontext.news) that children wear masks, explaining that concerns about developmental delays were overblown. Dr. Diane Paul, Senior Director of clinical issues in speech-language pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, had a similar assessment. “At this point, we haven’t seen any large-scale, long-term studies related to mask use during the pandemic and speech/language delays or disorders in children, Paul told *Important Context*/OptOut after reviewing the Norfolk Group section on masking children. “What we do know is that research shows that children look at a communication partner’s eyes and use voices (tone, inflection) to recognize words and understand emotions. Masks don’t interfere with these language learning processes.” Paul noted that “It’s true that typically developing children look at faces during the language learning period,” but clarified, “they don’t stare at faces all the time.” “We also know that in some cultures, adults regularly wear face coverings without a detrimental effect on their child’s speech and language development,” she said. Paul did acknowledge that students with speech and language disorders may have “additional difficulties in educational or social settings communicating with maks,” but added that “teachers, speech-language pathologists, and many others who work with children found many ways to improve communication and compensate for such challenges when mask wearing was widespread—at a time when most of us were working under less-than-ideal circumstances.” “And we recognize too that most children, with and without diagnosed speech and language disorders, spent most of their time during the pandemic with their families who did not wear masks at home,” Paul said. Overstating the harms of COVID mitigation efforts while downplaying the harms of the virus is a feature of the Norfolk Group’s white paper, just as it was for the Great Barrington Declaration and Urgency of Normal before it. While the document bemoans learning loss from school closures, for example, it fails to address caregiver death. According to an [estimate](https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood%5Fcalculator/?ref=importantcontext.news#/country/United%20States%20of%20America) by the Imperial College of London, nearly 280,000 American children have lost a primary or secondary caregiver to the virus. Similarly, the only mentions in the document of long COVID are in a brief section questioning whether or not the condition poses a serious enough concern to warrant current levels of funding allocated to researching it by the National Institutes of Health. A November [report](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from HHS found that at the time, as many as 23 million Americans were suffering long COVID and that “it can be extremely disruptive, dismantling their ability to work, their sense of self, and their entire existence.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘Officials Have Questions To Answer’ The 80-page Norfolk Group paper actually reads a bit like score-settling for the scientists involved. It takes particular aim at perceived enemies of the Great Barrington Decalration like Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. Birx notably [refused](https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-subcommittee-s-year-end-staff-report-highlights-oversight-work-releases?ref=importantcontext.news) to participate in a roundtable discussion with Bhattacharya and Kulldorff back in the summer of 2020, calling them “a fringe group without grounding in epidemics, public health or on the ground common sense experience.” “Did policy experts know about pre and early pandemic statements in which experts cast doubt on the ability of quarantine and lockdown measures to stop community spread without excessive collateral damage?” the document asks. “Why did Dr. Birx purposely avoid meeting with public health experts who had specifically proposed such measures?” Other targets include Drs. Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins, respectively the former directors of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the NIH. Both had been dissenting voices in the Trump White House as the administration embraced the Great Barrington Declaration. Bhattacharya and Kulldorff blame the two public health officials for the widespread rejection of their ideas, highlighting an email exchanged between them in which Collins suggested that the declaration required a “quick and devastating published take-down.” The exchange occurred [three days](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) after a well-publicized White House meeting between the declaration co-authors and HHS Secretary Alex Azar. The Norfolk Group paper frames Fauci and Collins as proponents of a “lockdown philosophy” and suggests they worked covertly to undermine dissent against COVID mitigation efforts. “Why was so much influence on public health policy accorded to Drs. Collins and Fauci?” Norfolk Group asks. “They control the largest source of infectious disease research funding in the world. How many infectious disease scientists, who should have been strong voices during the pandemic, kept quiet for fear of losing the research funding on which their livelihood depends?” Fauci, the NIAID, and the NIH are defendants in Bhattacharya and Kulldorff’s NCLA lawsuit. “The pandemic response is the worst assault on the working class since segregation and the Vietnam War and both Trump and Biden officials have questions to answer,” Kulldorff told *Important Context*/OptOut. The Norfolk Group takes aim at teachers' unions as well, which have fought for safer schools and classrooms throughout the pandemic. The group blames the unions for “lobbying for school closures” and asks questions like, “What role did teachers unions play in shifting the burden of risk to grandparents and day care workers (who may have been older) to care for children during school days?” ### ‘Hard To Take Anything From The Group Seriously’ Experts *Important Context*/OptOutspoke with were critical of the new Norfolk Group. Dr. Robert Morris, for example, an epidemiologist who has advised several federal agencies including the CDC and the NIH, pointed out that only one member of the group—Høeg—has a Ph.D. in epidemiology. Even then, he explained, her only previous work in the field was related to ophthalmological epidemiology. She practiced [physical medicine](https://www.norcalorthoassociates.com/team/hoeg.php?ref=importantcontext.news) before the pandemic. “I'm not suggesting that any of them is not smart,” Morris said. “But you can be the best brain surgeon in the world—you would not do well on a heart transplant. There's differences between these fields.” “And somehow, epidemiology looks really easy but again and again, these people prove how hard it is by doing it poorly,” he added. Indeed, Bhattacharya was launched into the spotlight by right-wing media early in the pandemic with a deeply flawed seroprevalence study that significantly underestimated the severity of the virus. In May 2020, Buzzfeed [revealed](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/stanford-coronavirus-neeleman-ioannidis-whistleblower?ref=importantcontext.news) that the researchers had accepted money from the founder of JetBlue Airways, David Neeleman, a vocal opponent of business closures, without disclosing it. Morris noted that his own Ph.D. is in Environmental Engineering; that he has a master’s in biostatistics and epidemiology and an MD but clarified “I did epidemiologic research for 15 years and wrote about 50 papers, so I feel I can call myself an epidemiologist. And I taught epidemiology for 15 years.” Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist and associate professor of artificial intelligence in public health at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, told *Important Context*/OptOut, “It’s hard to take anything from the group seriously given the history of the Brownstone Institute and the ‘experts’ within it, who have a long history of misrepresenting evidence and platforming misinformation.” Gurdasani has long been a vocal critic of the Great Barrington Declaration, [calling](https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1474777953292947456?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) it “dangerous pseudoscience.” She is a co-founder of a response declaration called the John Snow Memorandum. Eleanor Murray, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, told *Important Context*/OptOutthat the Norfolk Group document left her with “two initial impressions.” “First, the fact that they refer to COVID-19 as in the past reflects a lack of understanding about the epidemiology of the disease,” Murray said. “Second, there seems to be a general lack of knowledge that after-action evaluation reports are standard and expected in public health. Once health departments are actually at a place where they are no longer bouncing from crisis moment to crisis moment with COVID-19, after-action reports will of course happen.” [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘No Easy Choices’ Dr. Julia Raifman, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health who leads the COVID-19 U.S. State Policy Database, cautioned against taking the wrong lessons from the pandemic. “The mitigation measures we took were costly but the alternative was even more costly,” she said. “There were no easy choices, but I appreciate the leaders who chose temporary setbacks to education and the economy over even greater permanent loss of life.” Raifman explained that “closures helped avoid many more people dying while we learned about how to mitigate spread of the virus, while health care workers learned how to provide better care for people infected, and while scientists developed a vaccine.” Raifman did point out, however, that “economic supports” were “key to any such closures,” noting that the assistance provided by Congress and two presidential administrations “during this period actually led to a record decline in poverty.” ### ‘A Blueprint’ While the effort may struggle to find mainstream scientific legitimacy, the Norfolk Group has a clearer goal: “\[T\]o present a blueprint containing key public health questions for a COVID-19 commission.” With Republicans in control of Congress, it is likely the group will succeed in this measure—especially now that Fox News has [picked up](https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/elon-musk-says-washington-post-needs-thorough-housecleaning-twitter-users-suggest-purchase-paper?ref=importantcontext.news) on it. For months, Republicans in the House and Senate have been promising to investigate various aspects of the pandemic, including [COVID’s origins](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/22/fauci-says-he-will-cooperate-with-house-republican-probe-into-covid-origins.html?ref=importantcontext.news) and the actions of public health officials—[namely Fauci](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-vow-investigate-fauci-steps-december/story?id=88741486&ref=importantcontext.news)—in responding to the crisis. Over the summer, in the lead-up to the midterms, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy [tweeted](https://twitter.com/SpeakerMcCarthy/status/1561785386787029005?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that "Dr. Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of COVID.” “He owes the American people answers,” McCarthy wrote. “A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable." Last month, following a tumultuous speakership fight, the new GOP House majority took steps to follow through on McCathy’s promise, establishing a select subcommittee with broad powers to investigate the government’s pandemic response. *Rolling Stone* reported that [conspiracy theorist](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/marjorie-taylor-greene-house-covid-committee-1234668012/?ref=importantcontext.news) Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has compared masking to the Holocaust, had been appointed to sit on the subcommittee, which is part of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Already there are indications that the new body will promote the same narratives as the dark money groups fighting against public health measures. After a so-called Twitter Files thread by writer and COVID contrarian David Zweig, which *Important Context* has previously [covered](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter), Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RepJamesComer/status/1607927549459415041?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in December, for example, that “Big Tech shouldn't be in the business of hiding facts.” *Jeffrey Tucker and Kulldorff’s Norfolk Group colleagues did not respond to our inquiries.* *A previous version of this piece incorrectly stated that Høeg was credentialed in infectious disease epidemiology.* ### Jimmy Dore's 'Very Pro-Employer' Work Contracts URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/jimmy-dore-anti-worker-contracts/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:11.000Z Popular YouTube personality and comedian Jimmy Dore, who presents himself as a champion of labor and the working class, had contractors sign a harsh labor agreement in the summer of 2020, documents obtained by *Important Context* reveal. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) The 57-year-old Dore originally rose to national prominence within progressive circles due to his decade-long affiliation with The Young Turks (TYT) YouTube channel. There, he became known as one of the loudest, most passionate proponents of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. However, his online star has risen since striking out on his own in 2019\. Today, he boasts more than a million YouTube subscribers and over 433,000 Twitter followers. He has appeared on cable news and the podcasts of Joe Rogan and Russell Brand. In 2020 Dore was [reportedly](https://www.dirt.com/entertainers/performers/jimmy-dore-house-los-angeles-1203355700/amp/?ref=importantcontext.news) able to purchase a $1.9 million, 2,800-square-foot compound in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. [According to](https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/tytcomedy/monthly?ref=importantcontext.news) the YouTube analytics site SocialBlade, Dore’s average monthly subscriber growth surged in 2022, more than doubling the monthly average from the previous year. The increase coincides with the comedian’s full-bore embrace of conspiracy theories. For example, Dore has suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic is an [excuse](https://youtu.be/Y9RvhkWYrtE?ref=importantcontext.news) for economic elites to engineer greater social control; that the vaccines are a Big Pharma scam and actually [increase susceptibility](https://twitter.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1619033977784012801?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) to the virus; that the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was a [homosexual lovers’ quarrel](https://twitter.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1588663713531564032?s=46&t=6T0hU8bH1ldmxWAFKAGmuQ&ref=importantcontext.news); that federal law enforcement [helped facilitate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--fTF7zhk4g&ref=importantcontext.news) the January 6 Capitol insurrection in 2021; that the arrest of youth climate activist Greta Thunberg in Germany last month may have been [staged](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL%5FmG6I1jy8&ref=importantcontext.news). The core of Dore’s appeal, however, stems from his reputation as a bare-knuckles populist; a pugilistic, truth-telling everyman willing to hold all sides accountable on behalf of workers—especially Democrats. With a learn-as-you-go approach to news, the YouTuber has spent years raging against the machine, bemoaning the ills of ‘sellout’ politicians, journalists, corporations, and capitalism. In a December live stream, for example, Dore[ huffed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpWJ0BXzdtg&ref=importantcontext.news) about how President Biden and congressional Democrats had leveraged the 1926 Railway Labor Act to prevent a rail strike before the holidays, imposing an unpopular labor agreement on the workers that lacked any paid sick days. In typical Dore fashion, he ignored the fact that Republicans co-signed the deal and had even lobbied for a worse contract just [weeks earlier](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/09/14/strike-looms-sanders-blocks-gop-bill-force-rail-workers-deal-no-sick-days?ref=importantcontext.news). ”So Joe Biden and the Democrats—Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, The Squad—they voted to screw you,” Dore told his viewers, adding that a labor strike “would have set the tone for labor in the country.” “Labor is winning,” he said. But documents obtained by *Important Context* reveal that labor is not necessarily winning at Dore’s own show. An independent contractor agreement, which was used by Dore’s production company, 4 Dore Productions (4DP), in the summer of 2020, contains several harsh provisions that disadvantage workers, including forced arbitration. Former friends and colleagues of Dore’s told *Important Context* that the agreement was not out of character for the comedian. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘Very Pro-Employer’ The agreement from 4DP includes clauses that are very protective of the company and Dore, legal experts told *Important Context*. The document contains a thorough, nine-part, three-page-long confidentiality section effectively prohibiting contractors from discussing anything they learned about Dore, his wife, or their collaborators on the job including details about their business, personal lives, finances, investments, and more. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/24acc70e-94e8-46e3-ae81-8870850d07e5_1018x335.png) The agreement is a stark departure from Dore’s public commentary. In the past, Dore [criticized](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjAcgsXhwrM&ref=importantcontext.news) former president Trump’s use of [confidentiality agreements](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a63607/trump-volunteers-non-disparagement-agreement/?ref=importantcontext.news) with volunteers, calling them “very right-wingy.” “If those people want to do that—you are a volunteer and you want to do that—again, you’re just a moron,” Dore cracked. “If you want to play in traffic, I guess I can’t stop you either. Like, go ahead.” The consequences for workers who breach Dore’s confidentiality section—or another extensive section requiring contractors to sign away rights to their work product—can be severe under the agreement. Breaches and even threatened breaches constitute “immediate and irreparable harm,” entitling Dore’s company to equitable (nonmonetary) relief, meaning contractors could be ordered to refrain from the activity. The agreement further stipulates that breaches entitle Dore’s company to liquidated damages, which are agreed-upon damages for failing to meet a specific contractual obligation, in the amount of $10,000 per breach. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/2d7b9cdf-111f-4649-be09-14f12d9dd5c1_1033x551.png) These provisions are “the hallmark of a very pro-employer employment contract, ”Alan Hyde, a distinguished professor and Sidney Reitman Scholar at Rutgers Law School, told *Important Context*. Hyde noted that the provisions were of dubious enforceability—particularly the liquidated damages clause due to its high dollar figure. ”They have to be reasonable forecasts, at the time of contracting, of the harm, which this one isn’t because it’s $10,000 irrespective of what the harm is.” Philip Harvey, a Law and Economics professor also at Rutgers Law School, agreed that Dore’s contract was heavily tilted in favor of himself, calling it “very employer-friendly.” Harvey told *Important Context* Dore’s attorney had been clever, drafting a contract with a financial amount that was high enough to disincentivize minor breaches of confidentiality, like being “loose-lipped at a bar,” but low enough for courts to allow in the event of major breaches, like writing a best-selling book containing personal details about Dore. ### Forced Arbitration The 4DP contractor agreement includes forced arbitration for disputes except in certain circumstances [like union busting](https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unfair-labor-practices.html?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Unfair%20Labor%20Practices%20by%20Employers,engage%20in%20protected%2C%20concerted%20activities.).In arbitration, parties submit disputes and claims to a chosen arbitrator—in this case, one affiliated with the American Arbitration Association—rather than going through the courts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/043ff304-e6f3-4087-ac54-b9b719bb17f9_1085x632.png) Although common in many work contracts, sometimes preferred in union workplaces, and often faster than litigation, arbitration can present obstacles to relief for workers. For example, it deprives workers of their ability to be heard by a jury. The 4DP contract spells this out explicitly, stating, “The Parties understand that by signing this Agreement, they give up their rights to a civil trial in a court of law and waive their right to a trial by jury.” “Juries have jobs and they know that bosses overreach,” Hyde told *Important Context*. “Arbitration is much more favorable for employers—they can keep it secret; they don't have to have publicity; they don't have to face a jury.” Once a decision has been rendered by an arbitrator, workers have little recourse. As the [National Association of Consumer Advocates](https://www.consumeradvocates.org/for-consumers/arbitration/?ref=importantcontext.news) warns, “Arbitrators aren't required to take the law and legal precedent into account in making their decisions. There is no appeal or public review of decisions to ensure the arbitrator got it right.” Arbitrators are notoriously pro-employer. A 2021 [study](https://www.nelp.org/publication/forced-arbitration-cost-workers-in-low-paid-jobs-9-2-billion-in-stolen-wages-in-2019/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) revealed that in 2019, forced arbitration in the U.S. allowed private-sector employers to keep more than $9.27 billion in wages owed to non-union workers making less than $13 an hour. A [study](https://www.epi.org/publication/the-arbitration-epidemic/?ref=importantcontext.news) from 2015 from the Economic Policy Institute, meanwhile, found that workers were roughly half as likely to prevail against their employers in arbitration as they were in litigation, and, even then, the awards were only about one-fifth as high. Arbitration can also be expensive. Harvey called the arbitration clause “the provision that is most unfavorable to the subcontractor,” noting that under the terms of the agreement, the costs of arbitrating are shared between the parties, and the prevailing party is entitled to attorneys’ fees. “First, the fee for an American Arbitration Association arbitration is not peanuts—I don't know what it is lately; I haven't looked, but divided by two parties, it's probably going to be a couple of thousand dollars,” Harvey said. “That's just for start,” he added. “Then the arbitrator has to be compensated on the basis usually of a daily charge, and that daily charge may be $800, $1,000 a day divided by two…now add your lawyer's fees to that.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/b2aefd41-eda1-4423-a0db-7908d10e2bbf_1050x816.png) [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) ### ‘A Day In The Life Of Working With Jimmy Dore’ Former friends and colleagues of Dore’s told *Important Context* that they were not surprised by the mismatch between the comedian’s rhetoric and the employer-friendly provisions in 4DP agreement. “I don’t think he’s grounded in ideology, so I don’t think he views treating all workers the same way I would,” said fellow comedian Dave Anthony, a former longtime friend of Dore’s. Dan Evans, a former TYT associate producer who worked on Dore’s show, “Aggressive Progressives,” offered up a similar diagnosis, explaining, “he is not really that ideological” but “knows a couple of his buzzwords” and ”knows how to do his canned rants that he's been doing for almost a decade at this point.” “I mean, that sort of contract lines up with the kind of person who may have had issues with workers in the past and wants to protect themselves,” Evans said. “But in like, broader context, this is a person who causes issues with people he works with.” Evans told *Important Context* that he had a number of run-ins with the comedian at TYT and described him as a “wild card” who was “prone to temper issues and like flying off the handle.” Evans said Dore would “kind of expect producers to be on his like beck and call in a certain way.” “He would yell at folks,” Evans explained. He described one incident in which the comedian got into an on-air shouting match with another host over YouTube’s removal of Alex Jones—Dore disapproved of the removal. According to Evans, Dore was “popping in the veins, like yelling at the top of his voice” and refused to cut to break. “I literally just walked into the studio and shouted over him that we're going to break and then we cut the cameras,” he said. “That's a day in the life of working with Jimmy Dore.” Last April, Dore [recalled](https://mobile.twitter.com/jimmy%5Fdore/status/1512319091205304324?ref=importantcontext.news) the events as an example of his former TYT colleagues not listening to him. Evans also told *Important Context* that Dore made his colleagues—particularly his women colleagues—uncomfortable with his temper and “sexually weird remarks,” noting that sometimes “it felt like he was doing crowd work in a comedy club.” “He was like riffing off people's appearances to entertain an audience,” Evans said. One target of Dore’s was TYT host and journalism professor Ana Kasparian, who told *Important Context* that Dore is “very insecure” and “cannot stand women who have strong opinions or a strong voice.” She called Dore a “massive fraud” and said he treated her and TYT producers poorly. Dore has publicly [boasted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Ya5WzWr%5Fs&ref=importantcontext.news) about ‘humiliating’ Kasparian with a comment about her “inappropriate” clothing. In retelling his story, Dore proudly [proclaimed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br66d-gTV-o&ref=importantcontext.news) that he does not have a human resources department. Kasparian has a different recollection of Dore’s remark, telling *Important Context* he’d actually commented on her “sexy” legs on the day she’d brought her students in to tour the studio. “I'm pretty young at that time…and it was really, really important for me to be taken seriously by the students—especially because it was the first time I was teaching at the university level,” Kasparian told *Important Context*. “And I think the reason why he made a comment about my ‘sexy’ legs in front of the students was because he wanted to undo any respect that I earned with them.” Cenk Uygur, TYT’s founder and CEO, confirmed for *Important Context* that Dore’s conflicts with his colleagues and producers were a factor in the split that occurred between the company and the YouTuber in 2019. Anthony told *Important Context* that “Jimmy was always fairly nice to everyone when we were friends” and in his experience, the YouTuber had not displayed a temper. However, he acknowledged that Dore had changed over the years. Dore did not respond to repeated requests for comment. *This piece has been updated for clarity. A previous version incorrectly asserted SocialBlade’s data indicated that much of Dore’s audience growth had occurred since the latter half of 2021\. The language now correctly reflects that Dore’s monthly average subscriber growth increased from 2021 to 2022.* ### Changes At COVID Conspiracy Nonprofit Follow Important Context Report URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/story-developments/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:16.000Z Last week, *Important Context* and the [OptOut Media Foundation](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news) published a lengthy [report](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy) on the mysterious funding behind the Brownstone Institute, a shadowy nonprofit COVID-19 misinformation hub with connections to Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Since then, the dark money group appears to have undergone a shake-up. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) In our story, we noted that Brownstone had tacitly encouraged radicalism among its supporters. We highlighted a Dec. 2021 Brownstone [article](https://brownstone.org/articles/who-will-be-held-responsible-for-this-devastation/?ref=importantcontext.news) by the group’s founder, Jeffrey Tucker, which featured an image of a guillotine and called for “consequences” for public health officials and policymakers who had sought to limit the spread of COVID. We also highlighted the group’s affiliation with Dr. Paul Alexander, who served as a science adviser to the Department of Health and Human Services science adviser during the Trump administration and had infamously [advocated](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/trump-appointee-demanded-herd-immunity-strategy-446408?ref=importantcontext.news) for mass infection as the path to COVID herd immunity. Alexander was announced as a paid Brownstone fellow in November despite the fact that a month earlier, he had [called to hang](https://palexander.substack.com/p/hang-them-high-fauci-francis-collins) former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, and other public health officials in a post on his Substack. Those calls continued while he was affiliated with Brownstone. Our story highlighted a particularly deranged [rant](https://palexander.substack.com/p/fauci-birx-francis-collins-azar-bourla) of Alexander’s from December. That same month, Brownstone had been [confronted](https://twitter.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1604944034556149760?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) on Twitter about its fellow’s calls for violence but did not respond. However, in the days following the publication of our story, which directly quoted the violent tirade, Brownstone appeared to quietly [part ways](https://web.archive.org/web/20230120090213/https://brownstone.org/about/) with Alexander. He is no longer [listed as a 2023 fellow](https://brownstone.org/about/?ref=importantcontext.news) on the group’s ‘About’ page. His [author bio](https://brownstone.org/author/paul-elias-alexander/?ref=importantcontext.news) page also [no longer](https://web.archive.org/web/20221120082628/https://brownstone.org/author/paul-elias-alexander/) mentions the fellowship. He has similarly [been cut](https://twitter.com/%5Fjohnbye/status/1617990804320161792?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) from Brownstone’s November [announcement](https://brownstone.org/articles/brownstone-fellows-for-2023-named/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the 2023 fellows. These changes appear to have been hastily made. The announcement still celebrates “the first seven fellows” despite now only showing six. There even remains a direct reference to Alexander that seems to have escaped notice. Included in the announcement were statements of gratitude to Brownstone’s donors from each fellow. Originally, Alexander’s was featured [first](https://web.archive.org/web/20221126185647/https://brownstone.org/articles/brownstone-fellows-for-2023-named/), which readers may discern from an awkward callback to “Paul” in the new leading statement from Brownstone fellow and senior scholar Tom Harrington, a Professor Emeritus of Hispanic Studies at Trinity College. “I am truly humbled to be given the opportunity to continue doing what is no doubt the most important work I have ever been called on to do, in conjunction with by far the most impressive set of thinkers I have ever been associated with,” Harrington wrote. “And, again as Paul suggests, it is your intellectual and spiritual generosity and never-ending devotion to the truth that has set the tone for the project.” Three days after our story was published, Alexander melted down about it on his Substack. In a post, which has since been [edited](https://palexander.substack.com/p/bragman-optout-media-lunatic-writer), he republished our piece [in full](https://web.archive.org/web/20230122145339/https://palexander.substack.com/p/bragman-optout-media-lunatic-writer) and claimed we had mischaracterized his support for violent retribution against public health officials who tried to mitigate the spread of COVID. “I have always said, if a proper legal court with a judge says they must hang for the deaths they have caused, then they must hang!” Alexander wrote. “I will not argue against a judge's ruling, would you?” Inquiries from *Important Context* to both Tucker and Alexander have gone unanswered. *This story has been updated with more details about Alexander’s calls for violence.* [Upgrade to Paid](https://importantcontext.substack.com/subscribe) ### Big Mystery Donors Fund COVID Conspiracy Nonprofit URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:12.000Z *This original report was produced by* [*Important Context*](https://importantcontext.substack.com/) *and the* [*OptOut Media Foundation*](https://optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)*.* Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported roughly 3,900 American deaths from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 11—more than died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001\. The number, which represented a 44% increase from the previous week and added to a national pandemic death toll already well above one million, hardly made the news. Such was the case in November when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a [report](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/11/21/hhs-releases-long-covid-report-providing-insights-and-opportunities-support.html?ref=importantcontext.news) on long COVID revealing that as many as 23 million Americans were suffering post-viral symptoms. The country’s media, and to a large extent, policymakers, have moved on from the ongoing crisis—a reality that is, at least in part, a testament to the work of one man: Jeffrey Tucker, the founder of the Brownstone Institute, a shadowy new nonprofit dedicated to waging war on public health measures. With his receding white hair, comically small circular glasses, and signature bowtie, Tucker looks positively academic. He can almost sound the part too. Tucker once [told](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDN-CUx6wY0&ref=importantcontext.news) an interviewer from libertarian think tank the John Locke Foundation that he’d arrived at the name for his institute by looking to history. Brownstone, he explained, was a common building block in the 1800s before the advent of steel. He’d felt it an apt metaphor for the group’s purpose. “I think going back to that time at the birth of the modern is really important now,” Tucker said. “We need to rediscover the principles of the founding, the principles of the enlightenment, get optimistic about the use of science within the framework of integrity, and deal with crises like pandemics within the framework of freedom and human rights. Those are all things that we discovered in the 19th century that we’ve somehow forgotten in the 21st century.” Tucker has long had one foot in the distant past. In 2016, he advocated for the [return of child labor](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/?ref=importantcontext.news). A report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) from 2000 [noted](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2000/neo-confederates?ref=importantcontext.news) that he had written for the white supremacist, neo-Confederate League of the South and was listed on the organization’s website as a founding member. Tucker denied his membership. In the 1980s, he was an assistant to Lew Rockwell, a fellow League of the South founding member and then editor of former Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s [infamous racist and homophobic newsletter](https://reason.com/2008/01/16/who-wrote-ron-pauls-newsletter/?ref=importantcontext.news)—Tucker himself is suspected of contributing writing but has declined to comment about it. He and Rockwell worked together for years at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, which has “[strong neo-Confederate principles](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-confederate?ref=importantcontext.news),” according to the SPLC, and which Rockwell founded with financial backing from Paul. With his Brownstone Institute, a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Tucker has sought to turn the clock back on public health—and perhaps [on child labor laws as well](https://brownstone.org/articles/their-schools-shut-so-why-not-let-teens-work/?ref=importantcontext.news). The organization has become a prolific and prominent source of misinformation related to the COVID pandemic, including vaccine misinformation, with connections to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. Just last month, *Mother Jones* [reported](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news) that a majority of the members of DeSantis’ new “Public Health Integrity Committee,” which he established to scrutinize federal public health recommendations, had ties to Brownstone. That same month, DeSantis’ surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, spoke at a [conference](https://brownstone.org/miami/?ref=importantcontext.news) the group hosted. Despite Brownstone’s prevalence, however, funding for the institute remains shrouded in secrecy thanks to America’s lax disclosure rules. But, new federal tax filings obtained by the [Center for Media and Democracy](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/?ref=importantcontext.news)and provided to *Important Context* and the OptOut Media Foundationreveal that the organization has little popular support. Instead, it is bankrolled mostly by large donations of up to $600,000. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) #### ‘An Elite Protected Class’ Tucker, who has [called for](https://brownstone.org/articles/reparations-for-the-business-victims-of-lockdowns/?ref=importantcontext.news) “reparations for the business victims of lockdowns,” fancies himself a populist these days, standing up for the little guy against out-of-touch “[elites](https://twitter.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1433775581246763013?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news)” imposing unnecessary public health measures that help the powerful at their expense. “I know of no exceptions: every person I've heard claim that lockdowns are completely normal and much needed is a member of an elite protected class,” Tucker [tweeted](https://twitter.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1331619481077035008?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in November 2020. But the man behind the Brownstone Institute has made his career in the world of well-financed, big business-aligned libertarian nonprofits. Tucker is a veteran of groups in the political orbit of right-wing billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. As recently as 2017, he worked as a director for the Foundation for Economic Education, which has gotten Koch support for years, including [$205,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2021\. DonorsTrust, a money conduit that Koch network donors and other conservatives use, also gave the foundation [$295,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719-donorstrust-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) that year. The fund is the [biggest known donor to white nationalist groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/11/19/donorstrust-gives-600k-donation-to-white-nationalist-hate-group/?ref=importantcontext.news), the Center for Media and Democracy found. From 2017-21, Tucker worked as the editorial director and vice president of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a libertarian think tank that has also received funding from the Charles Koch Foundation, including a [nominal amount in 2021](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news). The group also received $55,000 that year from DonorsTrust. Tucker is currently an adjunct scholar at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which received [$500,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23452970-stand-together-fellowships-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) in 2021 from Stand Together Fellowships (formerly the Charles Koch Institute), $150,000 from the Koch-funded [State Policy Network](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/State%5FPolicy%5FNetwork?ref=importantcontext.news) (SPN), and another $150,000 from DonorsTrust. He is a [research](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyatucker?ref=importantcontext.news) [fellow](https://www.acton.org/about/people/jeffrey-tucker?ref=importantcontext.news) at the free market think tank [Acton Institute](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Acton%5FInstitute?ref=importantcontext.news). An associate member of SPN, Acton received $250,000 from Stand Together in 2021 and over $1.4 million from DonorsTrust in 2021\. Tucker is also [listed](https://heartland.org/about-us/who-we-are/?keyword=tucker&profiletype=policy-experts&ref=importantcontext.news) as a policy adviser to the [Heartland Institute](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heartland%5FInstitute?ref=importantcontext.news), a free market, climate science-denying think tank and SPN affiliate that has received money from Koch in the past. In 2021, Heartland received $26,000 from DonorsTrust. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) #### ‘Spiritual Child of the Great Barrington Declaration’ Throughout the pandemic, business-aligned groups and the political right have been pushing back against public health measures. Koch-backed organizations have been in the fight since March 2020, messaging [against business closures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) and later, [school closures and masking](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news) in an effort to [minimize economic disruption](https://www.heritage.org/trade/commentary/latest-un-report-forecasts-grave-economic-consequences-covid-19-shutdowns?ref=importantcontext.news). The Brownstone Institute arose out of those efforts; specifically, an October 2020 conference Tucker helped organize while at AIER. Held at AIER’s headquarters in Great Barrington, Mass., the conference spawned an influential open letter—the “Great Barrington Declaration”—calling on governments and scientists to reject broad public health measures in favor of pursuing herd immunity through mass infection and “focused protection” only of the vulnerable. Similar ideas had been proposed in a [reopening plan](https://thf%5Fmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/NCRC%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation months earlier. The declaration and its authors, three scientists from prestigious universities—Drs. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and the Koch-funded Hoover Institution, Martin Kulldorff (then) of Harvard, and Sunetra Gupta of Oxford–were promoted by the political right, including [the Trump White House](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/health/coronavirus-great-barrington.html?ref=importantcontext.news), [DeSantis](https://www.flgov.com/2021/04/12/governor-ron-desantis-holds-roundtable-with-public-health-experts-to-discuss-big-tech-censorship/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [Koch-tied groups](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news), to undermine scientific consensus around public health measures. The mainstream scientific community rejected the declaration. After the document was published, 14 major public health organizations, including the American Public Health Association, denounced it in an [open letter](https://apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/public-health-orgs-condemn-sars-covid2-plan?ref=importantcontext.news), while World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it “unethical.” But the damage was done. The document had provided an academic veneer to a laissez-faire economic agenda: reopening businesses, without protections for workers, despite the circulating virus. The declaration signaled that public health was the new front in the war over the size and scale of government. Tucker left his role at AIER to commit full-time to that war. Brownstone, which he founded in May 2021, would be his primary weapon. Initially billed as the “spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration,” the group brought on Bhattacharya and Kulldorff as senior scholars and Gupta as a contributor. The Brownstone founder’s efforts were welcomed by Koch-tied organizations. For example, Tucker was interviewed in October 2021 about his new institute by the John Locke Foundation, which got [$150,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23314160-state-policy-network-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) that year from SPN. A year later, Hillsdale College—which gave Bhattacharya and Kulldorff [teaching fellowships](https://dc.hillsdale.edu/News-and-Events/Recorded-Events/Test-Recorded-Event-1/?ref=importantcontext.news)—[brought Tucker in](https://brownstone.org/video-podcast/jeffrey-tucker-speaks-at-hillsdale-college/?ref=importantcontext.news) as a lecturer on the economic consequences of lockdowns and vaccine mandates. In 2021, Hillsdale received [$55,000](https://charleskochfoundation.org/app/uploads/2022/11/Charles-Koch-Foundation-Form-990-PF-2021-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) from the Charles Koch Foundation, [$30,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23309719-donorstrust-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) from DonorsTrust, and [$17,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23311106-donors-capital-fund-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) from Donors Capital Fund, another funding conduit of the Koch network. Tucker denies that Koch has played a significant role in supporting the policy agenda articulated in the Great Barrington Declaration and blasted out by Brownstone. “That’s a hell of a conspiracy theory…Koch orgs have been tragically acquiescent toward lockdowns,” Tucker [wrote](https://twitter.com/jeffreyatucker/status/1317090646314930177?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) in October 2020 in response to a tweet pointing out the link between Koch and AIER. [Donate Subscriptions](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) #### Misinformation Hub Since its inception, Brownstone has been churning out articles downplaying the seriousness of COVID to portray government mitigation measures—“[lockdowns](https://brownstone.org/articles/lockdowns-fail-they-do-not-control-the-virus/?ref=importantcontext.news),” [masking](https://brownstone.org/articles/shed-the-mask/?ref=importantcontext.news), [travel restrictions](https://brownstone.org/articles/end-travel-restrictions-now/?ref=importantcontext.news), and mandates—as overreach at the expense of the common people. The pieces are generally misleading, rife with misinformation and [faulty analysis](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/brownstone-uses-flawed-data-analysis-to-minimize-covid-in-nyc-an-nyc-hospitalists-perspective/?ref=importantcontext.news), and promote a narrative that the institute and its writers are underdog truth-tellers against a powerful establishment. Experts *Important Context* spoke to were highly critical of Brownstone. Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves called the organization “a collection of conspiracy theorists, disgraced scientists, radical libertarians, \[and\] anti-vaxxers, all of whom think they’re half-Galileo, half-Spartacus when it comes to their views on COVID-19 and public health more generally.” “Despite the fact that their work is incoherent, unmoored from any real scientific evidence, they maintain that it’s a vast conspiracy that has kept them from being heard, even as many leading figures were the darling of the Trump Administration and current politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis,” he continued. “We’re in tin-foil hat territory.” Epidemiologist Eleanor Murray, an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, said she hadn’t been paying attention to Brownstone. “The initial Great Barrington Declaration was clearly not a scientific document,” Murray said. “I teach and do research and advise students and consult with health departments; I don’t have time for them.” Brownstone articles have suggested that school closures [could be linked](https://brownstone.org/articles/school-closings-and-violent-youth-a-potential-link/?ref=importantcontext.news) to school shootings like the May 2022 attack on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas; that New York’s spring 2020 COVID wave, which saw New York City hospitals forced to [rely on freezer trucks](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/new-york-refrigerated-truck-bodies.html?ref=importantcontext.news) to store human remains, [wasn’t actually serious](https://brownstone.org/articles/more-questions-about-spring-2020-covid-in-new-york-city-hospitals/?ref=importantcontext.news); that [”the children” have been poisoned](https://brownstone.org/articles/have-the-children-been-poisoned/?ref=importantcontext.news) by exposure to masks, tests, disinfectants, and hand sanitizer. Unsurprisingly, Brownstone has been a hub for vaccine-related misinformation as well, with multiple pieces questioning the safety and efficacy of the mRNA COVID vaccines. The institute has even featured [writing](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-madness-of-groupthink/?ref=importantcontext.news) from [notorious anti-vaxxer Dr. Robert Malone](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html?ref=importantcontext.news), who [falsely claims](https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/jan/06/who-robert-malone-joe-rogans-guest-was-vaccine-sci/?ref=importantcontext.news) to have invented mRNA vaccines. In September, a Brownstone [article](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-vaccine-narrative-is-as-leaky-as-the-vaccines/?ref=importantcontext.news) declared, “The vaccine narrative is as leaky as the vaccines” and claimed that “the ‘abundance of data’ demonstrates that vaccines do not prevent infection, transmission, hospitalization and deaths for the under-60s.” Earlier this month, the group published a [piece](https://brownstone.org/articles/did-national-security-imperatives-compromise-covid-19-vaccine-safety/?ref=importantcontext.news) titled, “Did National Security Imperatives Compromise COVID-19 Vaccine Safety?” “We now know \[the vaccines\] do not prevent infection nor transmission and have not prevented a continuing high incidence of COVID-19,” it falsely stated. “Furthermore they are associated with an unprecedented incidence of serious adverse events and deaths compared to any other drugs in the history of the pharmaceutical industry.” To substantiate the claim of “unprecedented incidence of serious adverse events and death,” the authors relied on VAERS data, which numerous fact-checkers have noted is [unreliable](https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-vaers-faers/fact-check-vaers-and-faers-data-shown-does-not-prove-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-events-and-deaths-idUSL2N2OE1ZA?ref=importantcontext.news). The COVID vaccines have saved [millions](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives?ref=importantcontext.news) of lives. While breakthrough infections are not rare, studies have found that vaccination reduces transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the jabs, including the bivalent dose, for everyone ages six months and older. Major medical groups like the [American Medical Association](https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-urges-covid-19-booster-newly-eligible-children-and-teens?ref=importantcontext.news), the [American Academy of Family Physicians](https://twitter.com/aafp/status/1602383678885199882?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), and the [American Academy of Pediatrics](https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2022/american-academy-of-pediatrics-applauds-cdc-approval-of-safe-effective-covid-19-vaccines-for-children-ages-6-months-and-older/?ref=importantcontext.news) backed the recommendation. As *Mother Jones* [noted](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news), Brownstone has [promoted quack COVID cures](https://brownstone.org/articles/early-outpatient-treatment-for-covid-19-the-evidence/?ref=importantcontext.news) like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and [celebrated anti-vaccine demonstrations](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-dc-rally-and-the-rise-of-the-resistance/?ref=importantcontext.news). The group has tacitly encouraged radicalism from its supporters. Tucker himself authored an [article](https://brownstone.org/articles/who-will-be-held-responsible-for-this-devastation/?ref=importantcontext.news) that ran with an image of a guillotine about holding public health officials and policymakers “accountable” for trying to save lives from a deadly, airborne pathogen. Tucker suggested that “consequences” would “set a fabulous precedent for the future.” Brownstone fellow Paul Alexander, a former Trump administration HHS science adviser who famously [advocated for mass infection](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/trump-appointee-demanded-herd-immunity-strategy-446408?ref=importantcontext.news), published an error-ridden, semi-coherent [tirade](https://palexander.substack.com/p/fauci-birx-francis-collins-azar-bourla) on his blog calling for violent retribution against public health officials who sought to limit the spread of COVID. “You beasts, you Fauci and Birx and Walensky and Hotez and Francis Collins and Howard Njoo and Tam, all of you, you know you had zero science to back up your lockdown lunacy, but you were power-drunk and IMO malfeasant, you illogical, irrational, absurd, inept and incompetent malfeasant untermensche, you beelzebubs,” Alexander raved. “This must be Nuremberg 2.0, you must swing from gallows for what you did!” he concluded. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) #### Nine Donations Brownstone’s 2021 [IRS Form 990](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23560342-brownstone-institute-2021-990?ref=importantcontext.news) belies its populist appeals. Based on the group’s tax filings, a handful of large donations accounted for more than 83% of its total revenue. Brownstone brought in nearly $1.2 million in 2021 in contributions and grants, with $1 million, or 85%, coming from just nine donations ranging from $25,000 to $600,000\. Donation amounts for the remaining $179,000 were not disclosed. Details surrounding the large contributions remain a mystery. *Important Context/OptOut Media Foundation* was unable to identify any grants to the institute from other tax-exempt organizations. It is possible that more information will be revealed over the summer when the tax filings of donor-advised fund managers—charities that manage individual donation accounts for their clients—come due. It is also possible that individual donors or corporations gave directly, meaning their identities will likely remain secret, barring transparency from Brownstone. The group notably [pledges](https://brownstone.org/donate/?ref=importantcontext.news) on its website, “We do not and will not share donor names.” Tucker did not respond to our request for basic details about Brownstone’s funding. ### Candace Owens’ ‘Blexit’ Operation Bankrolled By Wealthy White Conservatives URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/candace-owens-blexit-operation-bankrolled/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T00:07:12.000Z ***Note: This story was produced in partnership with the*** [***Center for Media and Democracy***](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/?ref=importantcontext.news) ***and*** [***The OptOut Media Foundation***](https://www.optout.news/?ref=importantcontext.news)***.*** Candace Owens promised big things in October 2018 when she launched her Blexit Foundation. “Today, in this room, I’m so excited because we’re going to launch in front of the world a movement—a movement that will forever be remembered as a piece of American history,” Owens [proclaimed](https://www.foxnews.com/video/5854796494001?ref=importantcontext.news) in a speech she dubbed the "Black State of the Union." Speaking to Fox News later, Owens [described](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/what-is-blexit-candace-owens-explains-plan-to-lead-black-exit-from-democratic-party-impact-2020?ref=importantcontext.news) her new 501(c)(3) nonprofit as an organization created to lead “a Renaissance” and “the Black exit from permanent victimhood, the Black exit from the false idea that we are somehow separate from the rest of America.” Owens promised to deliver nothing short of a tectonic shift in American politics: a realignment of a critical Democratic voting bloc—namely Black Americans—to the GOP. More than four years later, however, the political movement she promised has failed to materialize. Black voters continue to vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Although recent years have seen [more Black men](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/07/10-facts-about-black-republicans/?ref=importantcontext.news) shift to the right politically, as of this past October, only 4% of Black voters said they would cast a ballot for a Republican congressional candidate. While Owens’ movement has struggled to catch on within the communities she has targeted, one demographic totally bought into it: wealthy white conservatives looking to influence elections. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **An Unexpected Journey** Owens’ personal political journey has been a complicated one. In high school, she [sued](https://www.thehour.com/norwalk/article/Schools-pay-37-500-to-Owens-family-8240741.php?ref=importantcontext.news) the Board of Education in Stamford, Connecticut for failing to protect her from racist threats from other students. With the help of the NAACP, she got a $37,500 settlement from the case. She then became a liberal blogger, only to later reinvent herself as a MAGA activist and [conspiracy](https://www.thedailybeast.com/candace-owens-pushes-unhinged-vax-conspiracy-about-bob-sagets-death?ref=importantcontext.news) [theorist](https://twitter.com/realcandaceo/status/1610395536364044288?s=46&t=OBRrTUP3JVauMTwgbKTn2w&ref=importantcontext.news). In 2018, Owens began working as communications director for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s dark money group for college students, Turning Point USA (TPUSA). But she [resigned the following year](https://thegrio.com/2019/05/07/candace-owens-quits-turning-point-usa-after-members-demand-she-resign/?ref=importantcontext.news) after video surfaced of her [defending Hilter’s German nationalism](https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/429180-candace-owens-if-hitler-just-wanted-to-make-germany-great-and/?ref=importantcontext.news) at the launch of a UK branch of TPUSA. “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK fine,”[ Owens said](https://twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1093923658446323712?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1093923658446323712&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsone.com%2F3852017%2Fcandace-owens-resigns-turning-usa%2F&ref=importantcontext.news) when asked about her definition of nationalism. “The problem is he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everyone to be German…. To me that’s not nationalism.” “I don’t really have an issue with nationalism,” Owens added. “I really don’t. I think it’s important to retain your country’s identity and to make sure that what’s happening here—which I think is incredibly worse in terms of the decrease of the birth rate that we’re seeing in the UK—is what you want to avoid.” The remarks prompted several campus chapters of TPUSA to [post a public letter](https://thegrio.com/2019/05/07/candace-owens-quits-turning-point-usa-after-members-demand-she-resign/?ref=importantcontext.news) calling on Owens to resign. However, once she did, the conservative activist continued to maintain a close relationship with the organization. Last month, she [spoke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIjYT00o%5Fek&ref=importantcontext.news) at the group’s AmericaFest 2022 celebration. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) **Old White Money** With her Blexit Foundation, Owens seeks to facilitate rightward political journeys for other Black Americans. On its colorful website, the group boasts that it is “dedicated to the advancement of urban and minority communities by encouraging youth to seek and take advantage of opportunities in 21st Century America.” It promises to “promote educational initiatives” and “pursue criminal justice reform.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3e/7f/3e7f3370-c666-4e81-95b7-b6dc168cbbb7/content/images/2026/09/f63fcaf9-0eac-44f0-935f-516000bd1a29_692x725.png) At its core, however, the organization promotes decades-old conservative capitalist ideas like “the importance of free markets and entrepreneurship as the antidote to poverty.” Owens and her group present themselves as a counterforce to Black Lives Matter, reject the concept of systemic racism, and see any type of social safety net as oppressive. In a 2018 interview, she [denied](https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/979039536104771584?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that police brutality targeted at Black and brown Americans is a widespread problem. At the Blexit launch, she said progress “can only come from a change of mindset.” “Black Lives Matter protests end with rioting, looting, and the destruction of minority communities,” Owens tweeted in 2020\. “BLEXIT protests end with 2,000+ black and Latino Americans singing the national anthem.” Since its inception, the Blexit Foundation has clearly set itself up to cater to wealthy white conservatives, receiving significant support from them as a result. The family foundation of Texan [**Darwin Deason**](https://www.forbes.com/profile/darwin-deason/?sh=7548b0a623c2&ref=importantcontext.news), a white billionaire businessman from Dallas known for being one of the largest shareholders of Xerox, gave $190,000 to Blexit in 2020\. He and his son, Doug, who is a Blexit Foundation board member and [TPUSA adviser](https://www.tpusa.com/dougdeason?ref=importantcontext.news), have funded a number of conservative causes over the years, including TPUSA and Charles Koch-backed operations such as Americans for Prosperity, Stand Together Foundation, and Texas Public Policy Foundation. A big GOP political donor, the elder Deason once donated [$5 million](https://www.opensecrets.org/search?order=desc&q=darwin+deason&sort=A&type=donors&ref=importantcontext.news) to a super PAC backing former Texas Governor Rick Perry for president, and gave the pro-Trump America First Action $1 million in 2018\. Doug Deason, meanwhile, spent hundreds of thousands to help elect Trump in 2016. The Dunn Foundation, belonging to white billionaire [**William Dunn**](https://www.desmog.com/william-dunn/?ref=importantcontext.news), gave Owens’ group $500,000, split evenly between 2019 and 2020\. Dunn has also funded TPUSA, PragerU, anti-Muslim hate group the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and right-wing donor-advised fund sponsor DonorsTrust. Dunn’s wife, Rebecca, is a [TPUSA adviser](https://www.tpusa.com/rebeccadunn?ref=importantcontext.news). The Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation—the charity of conservative Israeli-American billionaire [Isaac Perlmutter](https://www.forbes.com/profile/isaac-perlmutter/?sh=7fdd7d6cafbf&ref=importantcontext.news), the chairman of Marvel Entertainment, and his wife—donated $250,000 to the Blexit Foundation in 2020\. The Perlmutters have also contributed to TPUSA. The [foundation](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Thomas%5FW.%5FSmith%5FFoundation?ref=importantcontext.news) of investor [**Thomas W. Smith**](https://popular.info/p/the-obscure-foundation-funding-critical?ref=importantcontext.news) donated $100,000 to the Blexit Foundation in 2020\. Smith is a [major funder](https://popular.info/p/the-obscure-foundation-funding-critical?ref=importantcontext.news) of the anti-critical race theory movement and is also known for financing [TPUSA](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/04/01/koch-foundation-criticizes-turning-point-usa-even-koch-network-funds-group/?ref=importantcontext.news), [denying climate change](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/21/the-dirty-dozen-the-biggest-nonprofit-funders-of-climate-denial/?ref=importantcontext.news), establishing the foundation behind right-wing media site [*The Federalist*](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/06/15/revealed-the-federalist-foundations-tax-records/?ref=importantcontext.news), and hosting other conservative causes. Automobile auction billionaire [**Willis Johnson**](https://www.forbes.com/profile/willis-johnson/?sh=f4a4fad3d57d&ref=importantcontext.news) gave the Blexit Foundation $100,000 in 2020 through his private foundation, the Willis and Reba Johnson Foundation. Johnson is a prolific donor to Christian causes and gave the scandal-plagued National Rifle Association’s foundation $100,000 in 2020. The Maston Family Foundation, the charity of Maston Money CEO [**Mark Maston and his wife Melissa**](https://www.matsonmoney.com/our-company/about/?ref=importantcontext.news), gave $10,000 to Blexit in 2020\. That same year another $20,000 came from the GoGo Foundation, which has donated to TPUSA, the American Legislative Exchange Council ([ALEC](https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC%5FExposed?ref=importantcontext.news)), PragerU, State Policy Network, True the Vote, Freedomworks, and other conservative projects. The foundation is tied to the prominent **Rensselaer family**. The modern-day Rensselaers, who [descend from the Dutch](https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/sc23282.htm?ref=importantcontext.news) co-founder of the Dutch West India Company, have played a prominent role in American politics going back centuries. Megadonor [**Rebekah Mercer**](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rebekah%5FMercer&ref=importantcontext.news) joined the [board](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q54%5FpY8QfujQ5hJJ4ryissqQeFC0-B4P/view?ref=importantcontext.news) of the Blexit Foundation in 2021\. She and her father, [Robert](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert%5FMercer?ref=importantcontext.news), are among the most ultra-right-wing funders in the U.S., having bankrolled extremist rabble-rouser Steve Bannon’s career, as well as climate denial organization the Heartland Institute. While tax records do not link the Mercers to the Blexit Foundation, it’s very likely that the family is funding it given the younger Mercer’s position on the board. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Mystery Money and Politics** Other funding for the Blexit Foundation has come from groups not affiliated with any particular individual or family. The Center of the American Experiment, for example, gave Blexit $50,000 in 2020\. A libertarian think tank, it was founded by [**Mitch Perlstein**](https://www.americanexperiment.org/about/staff/mitch-pearlstein?ref=importantcontext.news), who served in the Department of Education during the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, and is headed today by former litigator [**John Hinderaker**](https://www.americanexperiment.org/about/staff/john-hinderaker?ref=importantcontext.news). The center has also funded TPUSA, PragerU, and David Horowitz’s Freedom Center. Significant funds have also come from donor-advised fund sponsors, which manage charitable accounts for their clients and hide the donors’ names from the public. The National Christian Foundation gave almost $440,000 to the Blexit Foundation between 2019 and 2021 on behalf of its anonymous clients. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the largest charity in the U.S., gave $317,000 to the Blexit Foundation in 2020 and 2021, and Schwab Charitable Fund contributed close to $50,000 between 2019 and 2021. The Bradley Impact Fund, a donor-advised fund sponsor tied to the right-wing megafunder the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, donated to Blexit for the first time in 2021, giving $10,000\. Bradley’s largest grant recipient in 2021 was TPUSA, which scored over $7.4 million. As a tax-exempt nonprofit, the Blexit Foundation is barred from engaging in “political campaign activity.” But it treads a fine line. The group saw more than a seven-fold explosion in its funding in 2020, coinciding with the presidential election. As *The Daily Beast* first [reported](https://www.thedailybeast.com/blexits-finances-are-slumpingbut-its-paycheck-to-candace-owens-keeps-coming?ref=importantcontext.news) in October, the group’s income shrank significantly in 2021—even though Owens continued to collect a sizable salary of $250,000\. During the 2020 election year, Blexit also paid $1.8 million to Olympic Media, a firm that does political advertising. Weeks before the election, it held a pro-police [rally](https://dcist.com/story/20/10/10/trump-rally-white-house-dc-candace-owens/?ref=importantcontext.news) in Washington, D.C., on the same day Trump held an official event on the south lawn of the White House—the first public appearance by the president since being hospitalized for Covid. At the event, Trump delivered a [15-minute speech](https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2020/10/10/21510754/trump-first-speech-post-hospitalization-pitch-black-voters?ref=importantcontext.news) aimed at wooing Black voters, focusing on law enforcement and investment in Black-owned businesses. According to ABC News, emails revealed that Blexit had invited numerous Black voters to attend a "HUGE outdoor rally" and urged them to fill out a form to get [reimbursed](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/candace-owens-blexit-group-pays-attendees-travel-trumps/story?id=73531036&ref=importantcontext.news) for their travel and lodging expenses. Later, the group notified its supporters that they would receive an invitation from the White House to attend the Trump rally. As *Vox* reporter Katelyn Burns noted at the time, “While it was labeled an official White House function with no campaign staff involved to avoid violating the Hatch Act—which bans certain political activity by federal employees—the address was very much a campaign speech. The president began his remarks by saying, ‘We’ve got to vote these people \[Democrats\] into oblivion.’” *Please note that a majority of the funding identified in this article is from 2020, and due to gaps in the U.S. nonprofit disclosure law, it only accounts for roughly $1.2 million of the Blexit Foundation’s $7.45 million haul that year.* ### Elon Musk's New Twitter Files Reporter Has Ties to Great Barrington Declaration URL: https://www.importantcontext.news/musk-great-barrington-declaration-reporter/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T02:43:18.000Z *(David Zweig at the American Institute For Economic Research)* A few years ago, David Zweig was a fairly typical liberal voice on Twitter. The independent writer, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Harry Potter professor Severus Snape, was offering up standard Democratic fare — Donald Trump bad, [pragmatic voting good](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1237744397535641606?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). Today, however, Zweig says he defies political identification. “I'm not interested in labeling myself politically or otherwise,” he told *Important Context*. “I have a diverse range of views on a diverse range of topics.” Zweig is at the center of the COVID-19 Twitter Files dump — a job he says he got through former *New York Times* editor turned conservative activist Bari Weiss. In recent years, Zweig has made a name for himself as a COVID contrarian adopting positions that have brought him into alignment with powerful business interests and the political right, which have been waging a war on public health measures. He even assisted a libertarian think tank with ties to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch in the promotion of The Great Barrington Declaration, a controversial open letter proposing a herd immunity strategy based around mass infection and minimal government intervention. The ideas in the document helped inform the disastrous U.S. COVID response, which has seen limited governmental action and staggeringly high [death](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/from-our-experts/u-s-officially-surpasses-1-million-covid-19-deaths?ref=importantcontext.news#:~:text=Experts%20say%20the%20tragic%20milestone,vaccinations%20could%20have%20prevented%20fatalities.&text=The%20United%20States%20officially%20surpassed,Johns%20Hopkins%20Coronavirus%20Resource%20Center.) and [long COVID](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) numbers. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **A New Beat** Before the pandemic, Zweig, a former musician and *Conde Nast* fact-checker, had been published in a number of mainstream outlets on a range of topics. He wrote about [sports](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/01/what-the-nfl-wont-show-you/252240/?ref=importantcontext.news),[ television](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/why-cant-americans-watch-british-tv-shows-as-soon-as-they-air/257132/?ref=importantcontext.news),[ comedy](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/the-humane-audacity-of-louis-cks-ticketmaster-flouting-tour/259315/?ref=importantcontext.news), and [business](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/how-you-know-where-youre-going-when-youre-in-an-airport/372537/?ref=importantcontext.news) for *The Atlantic*, [opined](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/realestate/escape-from-brooklyn.html?ref=importantcontext.news) about relocating out of Brooklyn to the suburbs for *The New York Times*, [criticized](https://newrepublic.com/article/142708/david-brooks-tyranny-data?ref=importantcontext.news) *NYT* columnist David Brooks for *The New Republic*, and [mused](https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/escaping-twitters-self-consciousness-machine?ref=importantcontext.news) about the impact of Twitter metrics on our collective psyche *The New Yorker*. But when the COVID pandemic struck, Zweig found a new beat. In May 2020, the writer emerged as an early advocate for school reopenings, making [his case](https://www.wired.com/story/the-case-for-reopening-schools/?ref=importantcontext.news) in *Wired*. Zweig insisted that children were “largely unaffected by Covid-19 and minimally contagious when they get infected.” Like [many white parents](https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-05-12/angry-white-parents-and-the-new-realities-of-public-school?ref=importantcontext.news), he was fed up with closures. As time went on, Zweig’s skepticism of public health measures expanded in scope. Before long, he was writing polemics for *New York Magazine* not only against school closures but [social distancing](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/the-problem-with-the-cdcs-six-foot-rule-for-schools.html?ref=importantcontext.news), [remote learning options](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/why-public-schools-shouldnt-offer-a-remote-option-this-fall.html?ref=importantcontext.news), and [school masking](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/the-science-of-masking-kids-at-school-remains-uncertain.html?ref=importantcontext.news) as well. His triumphal return to *The Atlantic*, after a seven-year absence, came in December 2021 with [an article](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/mask-guidelines-cdc-walensky/621035/?ref=importantcontext.news) opposing school mask mandates. The next month, Zweig [argued](https://www.thefp.com/p/why-are-we-boosting-kids?ref=importantcontext.news) against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration approving COVID boosters for children as young as 12 over concerns about the risk of myocarditis. To make his argument, Zweig pointed out that other nations had not made similar recommendations. He also interviewed Dr. Monica Gandhi, a San Francisco-based physician who has become notorious for her [wrong predictions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaSTb5kNT4s&ref=importantcontext.news) about the pandemic. “We have demanded that young people bear the heaviest burden of our policies for the sake of those who are more vulnerable,” Zweig wrote. “Now we risk asking them to sacrifice even more.” Reviewing Zweig’s anti-booster article for *Important Context*, Dr. Dan Wilson, a molecular biologist who has done vaccine research and hosts a [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/DebunktheFunkwithDrWilson?ref=importantcontext.news) dedicated to exposing junk science, expressed concerns. “Adverse events for COVID vaccines are most\[ly\] rare in children \[ages\] 11 and under, and generally rare in adolescents. The vast majority of the time, these adverse events are self-resolving,” Wilson explained. “Meanwhile, we know that COVID carries a much larger risk on multiple levels and we know that 3 doses of the ancestral mRNA vaccine…offers protection broad enough to better encompass omicron variants. So whether or not to recommend 3 doses to all who are eligible is not the fight that these people who claim to care about the science should be fighting.” Zweig’s position notably diverges from those of major medical groups like the [American Medical Association](https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-urges-covid-19-booster-newly-eligible-children-and-teens?ref=importantcontext.news), the [American Academy of Family Physicians](https://twitter.com/aafp/status/1602383678885199882?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), and the [American Academy of Pediatrics](https://twitter.com/AmerAcadPeds/status/1478906353456492547?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). More recently, Zweig [penned](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/18/opinion/an-absurd-disturbing-cancel-campaign-public-health/?ref=importantcontext.news) an op-ed for *The Boston Globe* defending CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen against “an absurd and disturbing cancel campaign” after more than 500 public health experts published a [letter](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yiI9z6TS4UOFxYCmMmVb0TTqPV05HxI25BJvkC9wG50/edit?ref=importantcontext.news) calling to drop her from the list of speakers at the annual American Public Health Association’s conference this past November. The experts objected to Wen’s about-face on COVID mitigations like masking and her [embrace of a corporate-backed push](https://twitter.com/drleanawen/status/1508534098406658056?s=46&t=NuDnnTpy6e2VVHfT1SiULw&ref=importantcontext.news) to return to normal. “The letter reads like a parody of woke righteousness,” Zweig chided. “Yet it has been signed by epidemiologists, physicians, researchers, administrators, and PhD candidates and postdocs in public health, at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Johns Hopkins, UC Berkeley, and Emory, among other institutions.” **The Great Barrington Declaration** At some point in 2020, Zweig’s work caught the attention of then-Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Martin Kulldorff, at the time a biostatistician and Harvard Medical School professor who opposed COVID mitigation measures. Kulldorff invited the journalist to a conference he had been planning on the subject of herd immunity. Aiding him in the endeavor was Jeffrey Tucker, an[ advocate for a return of child labor](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/?ref=importantcontext.news) and founding member of the[ neo-Confederate](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2000/neo-confederates?ref=importantcontext.news) group, League of the South. Tucker, the editorial director of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a libertarian think tank that receives some funding from Koch, offered up his group’s headquarters in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to host the multi-day event. The plans would come together in October 2020 and spawn the Great Barrington Declaration, authored by Kulldorff and two other scientists from prominent universities: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, and then of Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University. The document gave the veneer of academic legitimacy to an idea that had been circulating on the capital-aligned right for some time — namely targeting pandemic interventions to the vulnerable only— and gave it a name: “focused protection.” Several months earlier, the Heritage Foundation had released a[ reopening plan](https://thf%5Fmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/NCRC%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=importantcontext.news) containing similar proposals. Zweig was[ granted](https://www.aier.org/article/reaching-immunity-a-private-summit-of-epidemiologists-against-lockdowns-video/?ref=importantcontext.news) “full access and freedom to ask anything" of the Declaration’s authors and was even the primary interviewer for the[ promotional video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtiInz1DWuA&ref=importantcontext.news) AIER cut for the document. While his work earned him[ praise](https://thebillwaltonshow.com/videos/liberty-or-lockdown-with-jeffrey-tucker/?ref=importantcontext.news) from Tucker, Zweig told *Important Context* he was not compensated for this work. On the day the Declaration was published, Zweig took to Twitter and[ lauded](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1313106811575250944?s=46&t=NuDnnTpy6e2VVHfT1SiULw&ref=importantcontext.news) the document and its website, which[ AIER hosted and maintained](https://www.aier.org/article/the-great-barrington-declaration-and-ad-hominem-argumentation/?ref=importantcontext.news). “🔥’Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice’🔥,” Zweig tweeted, complete with fire emojis. “The Great Barrington Declaration, by renowned epidemiologists from Harvard, Oxford and Stanford. Co-Signed by health experts, including Nobel Laureates, from top institutions across the globe.” [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) **A “Rigged” Debate** In his Twitter Files [thread](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1607378386338340867?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news), Zweig claimed that the social media company, acting under pressure from federal agencies, had "rigged" the COVID debate. Zweig alleged that Twitter had censored factual dissent against the public health establishment and federal policy — though his subsequent [reporting](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1607384015731888135?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) revealed that the company had actually been resistant to governmental pressure. “Inevitably, dissident yet legitimate content was labeled as misinformation, and the accounts of doctors and others were suspended both for tweeting opinions and demonstrably true information,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1607386027269709826?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). To make his case, Zweig highlighted several incidents where the company took action against accounts challenging “the establishment.” One example Zweig [chose](https://twitter.com/davidzweig/status/1607386380325326853?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) was Twitter flagging as misinformation a tweet from Martin Kulldorff claiming COVID vaccines were only necessary for older people and that natural immunity would suffice for younger people, especially children. “Kulldorff’s statement was an expert’s opinion—one which also happened to be in line with vaccine policies in numerous other countries,” Zweig tweeted. “Yet it was deemed ‘false information’ by Twitter moderators merely because it differed from CDC guidelines.” In a statement from August, the World Health Organization (WHO) [noted](https://www.who.int/news/item/11-08-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-for-children?ref=importantcontext.news) that “benefit-risk assessments clearly underpin the benefit of vaccinating all age groups, including children and adolescents to reduce the number of infections, hospitalizations, deaths and long-COVID.” There are numerous examples of credentialed experts spreading misinformation throughout the pandemic. America’s Frontline Doctors, a Trump-supporting physicians’ group, [sold](https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/?ref=importantcontext.news) quack COVID cures while promoting vaccine skepticism. Kulldorff has been a prolific misinformer. The biostatistician has suggested that the harms of [widespread testing](https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/89204?ref=importantcontext.news) and [vaccination](https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/558757-the-ill-advised-push-to-vaccinate-the-young/?ref=importantcontext.news) for young people [outweigh the benefits](https://brownstone.org/articles/should-i-vaccinate-my-child-against-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news). He has even cast doubt on the well-established [safety](https://brownstone.org/articles/are-the-covid-mrna-vaccines-safe/?ref=importantcontext.news) and [efficacy](https://brownstone.org/articles/have-people-been-given-the-wrong-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news) of the mRNA COVID jabs. Ironically, Kulldorff [blames](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2022/03/16/the-brownstone-institute-vs-vaccine-fanatics-in-the-epoch-times/?ref=importantcontext.news) “vaccine fanatics” for anti-vaccine skepticism. Although resistance to the vaccines has [fueled](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/its-still-worth-fighting-anti-covid-vaccine-misinformation/2022/12/11/ea3e079c-795c-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a%5Fstory.html?ref=importantcontext.news) excess deaths. Zweig also took umbrage at the Biden administration’s early efforts to get anti-vaccine Twitter accounts taken down, including that of former *New York Times* writer Alex Berenson. Berenson has been [called](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/pandemics-wrongest-man/618475/?ref=importantcontext.news) “the pandemic’s wrongest man” and is notorious for[ making false and misleading anti-vaccine statements](https://healthfeedback.org/authors/alex-berenson/?ref=importantcontext.news). He was one of many voices [suggesting](https://www.factcheck.org/2022/12/scicheck-grant-wahl-died-from-aortic-aneurysm-no-link-to-covid-19-vaccine/?ref=importantcontext.news) without evidence that the recently deceased sports journalist Grant Wahl had been a victim of vaccine injury. When Wahl’s family pushed back on these claims, Bereson [criticized them](https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/anti-vaxxer-alex-berenson-posthumously-punishes-grant-wahl/?ref=importantcontext.news) on Twitter. In July, Berenson was famously [banned](https://sports.yahoo.com/covid-19-vaccine-skeptic-alex-170053359.html?ref=importantcontext.news) from Twitter for repeated violations of the platform’s COVID misinformation policy. A month later, his account was restored. *The Atlantic* reported that he had “[sued his way back](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/08/alex-berenson-twitter-ban-lawsuit-covid-misinformation/671219/?ref=importantcontext.news).” **“Two Things Can Be True At Once”** Dissenting perspectives against public health measures have had more than a fair hearing throughout the pandemic thanks to support from powerful interests, lawmakers, and a willing media. The Great Barrington Declaration itself arose out of cooperation between right-wing dark money and Trump world. Trump coronavirus czar and neuroradiologist Dr. Scott Atlas was involved in early discussions that led to the AIER conference, according to his 2021 book, “A Plague Upon Our House.” He also helped secure UK-based co-author Gupta’s passage to the U.S., which AIER ultimately [paid for](https://twitter.com/malar0ne/status/1539409622586384384?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news). Atlas scheduled a public meeting — with press attendance — on October 5, 2020, between the Declaration authors and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. That meeting, which occurred on the same day the Declaration was published, allowed Gupta to get clearance to circumvent the administration’s travel restrictions. Afterward, Azar [tweeted](https://twitter.com/WalkerBragman/status/1601629400126345219?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that he had received strong “reinforcement” of the White House’s strategy of pushing to reopen schools and businesses. While mainstream public health experts denounced the herd immunity strategy proposed in the Declaration — WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [called](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/13/herd-immunity-coronavirus-unethical-who/?ref=importantcontext.news) its infection-based strategy “unethical" — the document and its authors nonetheless proved highly influential. They were embraced by capital-aligned, right-wing groups — particularly those tied to Koch — and Republican lawmakers as part of a [larger campaign](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/?ref=importantcontext.news) [against public health measures](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/08/how-dark-money-shaped-the-school-safety-debate/?ref=importantcontext.news). Between the two of them, Bhattacahrya and Kulldorff have been called to [testify](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr%5F%5F54T%5F-SM&ref=importantcontext.news) before Congress, advised multiple states and the Trump White House on COVID response, and been showered with speaking engagements and interviews — Bhattacharya alone has done as many as [35 appearances](https://www.foxnews.com/search-results/search?q=jay%20bhattacharya&ref=importantcontext.news) on Fox News. They have been given column space at widely-read publications like [*The Wall Street Journal*](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-case-against-covid-tests-for-the-young-and-healthy-11599151722?ref=importantcontext.news), and served as expert witnesses in court against pandemic mitigation measures. Separate judges have [criticized](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) Bhattacharya’s testimony. U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw notably [called](https://urldefense.com/v3/%5F%5Fhttps:/www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/22/tennessee-gov-bill-lees-mask-opt-out-order-violates-federal-law-judge-rules/8449956002/%5F%5F;!!Bg5easoyC-OII2vlEqY8mTBrtW-N4OJKAQ!Yj6GIft0SgJbyTvJsh9gnY4CifdxzyFc3kU8u2SMkA0OGGQ2qdfTSF6dI%5FY8kZ93VEg-50mlRA$?ref=importantcontext.news) it “troubling” and “problematic,” adding that the Stanford professor had “offered opinions” involving “a discipline on which he admitted he was not qualified to speak.” “His demeanor and tone while testifying suggest that he is advancing a personal agenda,” Crenshaw wrote. Bhattacharya’s and Kulldorff’s anti-mitigation advocacy has netted them fellowships and scholar positions at right-wing institutions like the Koch-funded [Hillsdale College](https://dc.hillsdale.edu/News-and-Events/Recorded-Events/Test-Recorded-Event-1/?ref=importantcontext.news) or Jeffrey Tucker’s new [Brownstone](https://brownstone.org/author/jayb/?ref=importantcontext.news)[ Institute](https://brownstone.org/author/martin-kulldorff/?ref=importantcontext.news). They have even gotten free legal representation. The pair are currently being represented pro bono by Koch-funded litigation outfit New Civil Liberties Alliance in a [lawsuit](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/03/koch-funded-legal-group-fights-to-protect-online-covid-misinformation/?ref=importantcontext.news) against the Biden administration over its alleged role in their social media censorship. Dr. Anthony Fauci is listed as a defendant in the suit. Most importantly, however, all three authors have had access to powerful lawmakers and public officials. In August 2020, Bhattacharya and Kulldorff were hosted at two secret White House meetings organized by Atlas to discuss the pandemic. The first was with Trump followed by one with Vice President Pence. Shortly after the meetings, Atlas provided them with data for a September 2020 [op-ed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-case-against-covid-tests-for-the-young-and-healthy-11599151722?ref=importantcontext.news) defending the White House’s scaling back of COVID testing. Bhattacharya and Kulldorff are currently serving on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new [Public Health Integrity Committee](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/meet-ron-desantis-new-public-health-integrity-committee/?ref=importantcontext.news), which will “assess federal public health recommendations and guidance to ensure that Florida’s public health policies are tailored for Florida’s communities and priorities.” Social epidemiologist Justin Feldman, a visiting scientist at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, told *Important Context* that “two things can be true at once.” “First, people who denied the harms of the virus and then cast doubt on vaccination were amplified by right-wing organizations and politicians,” he said. “Second, Twitter and big tech did try to limit the reach of people spreading medical misinformation.” Feldman added that “the net result was that people like Kulldorff and Berenson were still far more visible than they would have been without organized efforts to promote their voices.” “It gave the false impression that their opinions were widely held within the scientific community, much in the same way that efforts to promote climate denialists create the illusion that there is debate rather than consensus on the causes of climate change,” he explained. [Subscribe now](https://www.importantcontext.news/subscribe) **Embracing Contrarians** One of the wealthiest men in the world, Elon Musk has been using his platform to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic from the outset. In the first week of March 2020, for example, Musk [tweeted](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/03/13/elon-musks-false-covid-predictions-a-timeline/?sh=7cfa148b5b6d&ref=importantcontext.news) “the coronavirus panic is dumb.” Less than two weeks later, he predicted that the crisis would be over by the end of the next month. Musk has [called](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/07/business/tesla-texas-headquarters.html?ref=importantcontext.news) public health restrictions “fascist” and [required](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/01/elon-musk-reportedly-tells-tesla-workers-to-be-in-office-full-time-or-resign.html?ref=importantcontext.news) his employees to return to in-person work — even though in October, he himself [declined](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3675282-musk-declined-to-attend-in-person-twitter-deposition-citing-covid-exposure-risk/?ref=importantcontext.news) to attend an in-person deposition due to the risk of COVID exposure. Since taking over Twitter, the erratic billionaire has turned up the agitation. In November, he [jettisoned](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63796832?ref=importantcontext.news) Twitter’s COVID misinformation policy and subsequently reinstated accounts previously banned for violating it, [including](https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/102259?ref=importantcontext.news) the likes of Drs. Peter McCullough and Robert Malone, both of whom have turned vaccine misinformation into brands. Earlier this month, Musk began [calling](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601894132573605888?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) to prosecute Dr. Fauci after a Twitter files dump by Bari Weiss revealed that Bhattacharya’s account — with its hundreds of thousands of followers — had been placed on a trending ban list. The day before tweeting that his pronouns were “Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk met with Bhattacharya, who blames the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director for the "censorship” of his social media and is currently suing him. According to Bhattacharya, Musk [promised](https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1602052940738404352?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) him access to figure out how he had been restricted. Sharing Zweig’s Twitter Files thread, the billionaire [announced](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607416119496945665?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news): “Follow-up piece to come next week, featuring leading doctors & researchers from Harvard, Stanford & other institutions.” Since then, Musk has shared [anti-vaccine memes](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607997591870124032?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) and [tweeted](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1608175680407191552?s=20&ref=importantcontext.news) that following the science “necessarily includes reasoned questioning of the science.” Feldman sees Musk’s actions and advocacy as a modern example of Social Darwinism, explaining that “people like Musk view themselves as self-made, they see certain individuals as strong, healthy, and exceptional, and that public health measures needlessly restrict the freedom of worthy people like them to protect those they deem unworthy.” "He’s just another billionaire who doesn’t care if disabled people, old people, or workers die,” Feldman said. *This piece has been restored to its previous version. The previous update incorrectly placed Zweig at a summer meeting between Jeffrey Tucker and Martin Kulldorff ahead of the October 2020 AIER conference.*