Trump advisers turned to Ron Johnson in a push to reauthorize an anti-malaria drug to fight COVID, new report says
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WASHINGTON – Trump administration advisers leaned on Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson in a failed effort to push top health officials to reauthorize the use of an anti-malaria drug as a treatment for COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic, according to a new congressional committee report.
Those advisers, including doctors consulting the Trump administration, pressed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reauthorize the use of hydroxychloroquine, a report released Wednesday by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said, despite data showing the drug was not effective against COVID.
The Democrat-led committee's report says Johnson "forged a close alliance" with Dr. Steven Hatfill, who advised the Trump administration on the pandemic and engaged in "constant fighting" with former FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn and other health officials over hydroxychloroquine.
Emails from August 2020 released by the committee indicate Hatfill sent Johnson documents about alleged "long-standing FDA maleficence," and the committee report says Hatfill urged the Oshkosh Republican to call for a federal investigation into senior public health officials and the handling of hydroxychloroquine.
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On Aug. 18, Johnson and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, wrote a letter to the FDA requesting more information on the administration's decision to revoke authorization of hydroxychloroquine.
The FDA originally authorized the drug in late March 2020 but revoked that approval on June 15, after finding hydroxychloroquine was "unlikely to kill or inhibit" coronavirus.
While Johnson's support for hydroxychloroquine has been public, the committee's report details the Wisconsin senator's contacts with Trump administration officials over the push for hydroxychloroquine's reauthorization.
Johnson over the past two years has raised eyebrows over claims about various purported preventative measures and treatments for COVID. He has sowed doubt over the efficacy of the COVID vaccines and, according to a spokesperson, advocated for letting doctors prescribe drugs for off-label use — referring to drugs that haven't been officially approved specifically for COVID treatment.
YouTube suspended Johnson for a week last year over his promotion of hydroxychloroquine and the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.
Shortly after sending the letter to the FDA, Johnson met with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to discuss renewing emergency use authorization for the drug.
In an Aug. 27 email to a number of doctors, as well as former White House adviser Peter Navarro, Johnson wrote that his meeting with Meadows "went well," according to a copy of the message in the report.
"Other than the President, Meadows, and Navarro, EVERYONE ELSE is [sic] Administration doesn't want to touch HCQ with a 100' pole," Johnson wrote, noting he described to Meadows the potential loss of life and political support that could be possible if hydroxychloroquine wasn't reauthorized.
"I'm still not holding my breath, but it's better than I expected," Johnson added.
In mid-November of 2020, Johnson, then-chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, held a hearing on hydroxychloroquine in which he questioned whether big pharmaceutical companies might have played a role in discouraging alternative COVID treatments.
That hearing came under fire from the medical community, with one doctor labeling the hearing as a “testament to how politicized science has become."
In a statement on the Wednesday report, Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning called the government's response to COVID "a miserable failure" and said the senator "has always been completely agnostic regarding what FDA approved drugs could be used 'off label' by doctors."
"The House Select Committee report, and now news reports attempting to smear Senator Johnson’s good faith attempts to promote early treatment, is just another example of how the COVID cartel is doing everything it can to absolve themselves of accountability for the lives lost and destroyed by their miserable failure of a response," Henning said.
"Our public health agencies, the FDA, NIH, and CDC have not been transparent with the American people about the decisions they have made throughout the pandemic," she added. "They need to be investigated and the Select Committee is wasting the American people’s time and money on political hit jobs."
In recent months, Johnson, who is seeking a third term in the Nov 8 election, has continued to push back on the government’s response to COVID.
He led a panel discussion earlier this month in Washington, D.C., with three doctors who have been accused of promoting COVID misinformation. He spoke of injuries reportedly caused by the coronavirus vaccine and called the doctors, one of whom has touted ivermectin as a miracle drug, “heroes of the pandemic.”
“One of the things that has been most depressing to me from the start is how close-minded the medical establishment has been,” Johnson said on the panel. “Just not willing to open their eyes and take a look at the evidence right in front of their face.”
Contact Lawrence Andrea at landrea@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump advisers turned to Ron Johnson in push for hydroxychloroquine
