HHS fires top official who was critical of mRNA vaccines; they claim he misrepresented himself, he claims there's a coup against RFK Jr in the works

Over the weekend, the Steven J. Hatfill was dismissed from his role as a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in the unit responsible for national preparedness and response. The agency confirmed he was fired for cause, though it declined to offer detailed explanations. 

According to a senior HHS official, one key reason was that Hatfill had misrepresented his title — claiming to be the “chief medical officer” of the agency’s preparedness office when, in fact, his official role was “senior adviser.”  The same official noted he was not adequately coordinating with department leadership or government-wide efforts. 

Hatfill disputes the stated reasons. He insists his firing was actually part of a broader internal power struggle — what he describes as a “coup” to depose the agency’s leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., allegedly led by Kennedy’s chief of staff, Matt Buckham. Hatfill says he refused to resign and thus was terminated. 

The decision effectively ends Hatfill’s short-lived tenure — he had been in that senior advisory role for roughly six months. 

His background is also noteworthy: Hatfill first entered public spotlight in 2002 when he was implicated (and later cleared) in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks. During the initial Donald Trump administration, Hatfill served as a federal adviser, advocating for the anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 despite limited evidence of its effectiveness. He has publicly criticized widely used messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, claiming they cause “biochemical havoc.”

Source: THE HILL