A former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying to senators during a contentious hearing on Thursday and stood by his claim that Kennedy never consulted CDC experts about infectious diseases or their related vaccines, contrary to the HHS chief’s testimony.
“The head of the health agency for the United States is actually standing before Congress, just continually making things up,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the former head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in an interview on CNN’s “The Source” Thursday evening. “He did not tell the truth.”
“He lied to Congress,” Daskalakis added.
Kennedy testified to the Senate Finance Committee earlier Thursday that he had been briefed by “senior vaccine safety scientists” when pressed about whether he consulted CDC experts about the development of new measles, polio, COVID-19 and flu vaccine policies.
“I’m getting briefed by, all the time, by CDC,” Kennedy told lawmakers as they pressed for whether he had consulted with leaders at the embattled agency.
Kennedy specifically named William Thompson, a CDC researcher who has previously voiced skepticism about vaccines, as one person he has consulted.
Daskalakis told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that Thompson doesn’t work in the related areas, though.
“The person that he mentioned does not work at the immunization center,” he said. “It is not possible that that person briefed him on measles, or on flu, or on polio, or on vaccines, since that individual does not work anywhere in that environment.”
“Again, I don’t know where he’s getting his information, but I just wanted to highlight that that was not true,” Daskalakis added.
HHS didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Daskalakis was one of at least four top CDC officials who resigned last week in protest of Kennedy’s leadership at HHS. He wrote in his resignation letter that seven months into the new administration, no CDC subject matter expert had briefed the secretary.
“I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us,” he wrote. “Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources.”
Senators highlighted the remarks during the heated hearing Thursday, during which Kennedy blasted critics and former CDC officials, repeated vaccine misinformation and struggled to clarify his vision for the agency.
The White House defended Kennedy when the hearing ended after nearly three hours.
“The Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a post on X. “Only the Democrats could attack that commonsense effort.”
