Washington (CNN) A Democratic-led House select committee says it has uncovered evidence of political interference by the Trump administration into the federal government's coronavirus response last year, including attempts to alter or block data reports from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailing the dire effects of the virus. A new document released Tuesday details the pressure that career officials faced from a Trump administration political appointee to change portions of the CDC's crucial Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which laid out Covid deaths, hospitalizations and infections during the pandemic. The new document also corroborates testimony given last year from a career CDC official who said she was ordered to destroy evidence of the request, according to the committee. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is now requesting interviews with nearly a dozen former Trump political appointees and current officials, sending letters Tuesday to the individuals and the CDC and US Department of Health and Human Services. Alexander also accused the CDC of "writing hit pieces" on the Trump administration, according to the August 2020 email.

Source: CNN July 27, 2021 18:45 UTC