Chairman Thompson to DHS: Did the Department Downplay COVID-19 Like President Trump?

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the Honorable Chad Wolf of the Department of Homeland Security requesting documents regarding the Department’s briefings with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the beginning days of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Committee is investigating what the Department knew about the COVID-19 threat and when, if the Department downplayed the threat, and what measures to stop the spread of coronavirus were being undertaken by the Department.

Even though the CDC said in February that the “potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is very high,” Mr. Wolf told the Committee in March that “the risk from COVID-19 to the American public remains low” – seemingly downplaying the COVID-19 risk like the President admitted he had done in his interviews with journalist Bob Woodward.  

Link to Letter

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