当地时间6日，路透社发表报道称，美国疫情“吹哨人”之一、疫苗研发专家里克·布莱特（Rick Bright）周二正式发起吹哨人诉讼，指控特朗普政府在他发出新冠疫情预警后对其进行打击报复。
据路透社报道，早在1月份时，时任美国生物医学高级研究与开发局（BARDA）局长的布莱特就对新冠病毒发出了预警，却遭到了包括美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）部长在内的多名高级官员充满“敌意”的对待。A former U.S. federal scientist in charge of developing drugs and vaccines filed a whistleblower complaint Tuesday, saying he was ousted for raising concerns over the coronavirus to the White House, which he said downplayed the threat.Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) – a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – said through his lawyers in the complaint that he voiced concerns over the virus in January but faced resistance from HHS head Alex Azar and other senior administration officials.“布莱特博士急切地准备开始着手应对这一大流行病，但遭到了美国卫生与公众服务部领导层的抵制，其中包括部长亚历克斯·阿泽，他似乎有意淡化这种灾难性威胁”，诉讼文件写道。不仅如此，布莱特随后因在抗疫药物上与特朗普政府“唱反调”而遭到免职。当地时间4月22日，布莱特发表声明称，自己因反对将氯喹和羟氯喹广泛用于治疗新冠肺炎而被撤职。这些药物通常用于治疗疟疾，被特朗普政府看作是“万能药”。早前，特朗普曾在新闻发布会上对这类药物大肆推广，称“这是一种非常强大、有效的药物，它不会致人死亡，我们已经有一些非常好的结果。”然而，目前不但没有证据表明这类药物对治疗新冠肺炎有效，还有实验显示它们可能存在潜在的副作用。"Dr. Bright acted with urgency to begin to address this pandemic but encountered resistance from HHS leadership, including Secretary Azar, who appeared intent on downplaying this catastrophic threat," read the complaint.Bright wrote that his later on firing "was in response to my insistence" that the Trump government should invest money into scientifically proven solutions to the coronavirus pandemic instead of things "that lack scientific merit".Specifically, Dr. Bright said, he does not agree with the U.S. government's promotion of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine during the crisis, because it "clearly lack(s) scientific merit."He believes these drugs can lead to "serious risks" if used to treat COVID-19.在多次拒绝推广特朗普大力推荐的抗疟药物后，布莱特随即被解除了美国生物医学高级研究与开发局局长的职务——他自2016年起一直担任该机构负责人，领导该机构进行疫苗研发和病毒研究，当时特朗普还未上任。遭到罢免后，布莱特被“非自愿”调任到美国国家卫生研究院的一个“限制更多且更不重要”的位置上。而在白宫一场疫情简报会上，特朗普在谈到布莱特时表示，“我从未听说过他。”布莱特在声明中总结：“在这场疫情中，（特朗普政府）排挤我，将政治和任人唯亲置于科学之上，这些行为将生命置于危险之中，并阻碍了美国安全有效应对这一紧迫的公共卫生危机。”Dr. Bright was appointed as the head of BARDA in 2016. He was involved in the development of vaccines before being assigned to a narrower role of diagnostic testing at the National Institutes of Health because he refused to promote the Trump-favored treatment for several times."I was pressured to let politics and cronyism drive decisions over the opinions of the best scientists we have in government," Bright said. 与卫生部领导层在疫情预警上冲突加剧，与特朗普政府在抗疫药物的主张上相左……这些最终使布莱特被排除在有关新冠病毒的各种会议之外。在诉讼文件中，布莱特的律师表示，免职布莱特的行为，违反了保护政府“吹哨人”的联邦法律。目前，美国政府独立机构——美国特别顾问办公室正在调查这起针对吹哨人的打击报复案例。布莱特的一位发言人周二表示，布莱特将于5月14日在美国众议院的一个委员会上作证。针对布莱特的披露，众议院议长南希·佩洛西表示，“我们最不需要的就是政治干预科学。”Dr. Bright's attorneys hold that Bright's removal from his post is a violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act. And a spokeswoman for Bright said Tuesday that he will testify before a U.S. House of Representatives panel on May 14.Regarding Dr. Bright's disclosure of his situation, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said, "The last thing we need is political reference into science."当地时间5日，众议院议长南希·佩洛西和众议院民主党领袖斯特尼·霍耶表示，尽管白宫阻挠安东尼·福奇等疫情应对关键人物出席众议院听证会，但民主党人仍然计划推进对特朗普政府疫情应对情况的调查——审查内容包括特朗普政府的疫情应对措施以及价值3万亿美元的联邦救助计划的执行情况。特朗普此前表示，国会众议院是个“圈套”，有很多“特朗普仇恨者”。然而，从对内无视“吹哨人”的预警并施加报复，到对外罔顾科学与事实并试图“甩锅中国”，这些无不从侧面反映了特朗普政府应对疫情不力的事实。Democratic leaders in the House said Tuesday they will proceed with the efforts to investigate Trump administration's response to the pandemic despite the White House's attempts to stop key figures like Anthony Fauci from testifying.On Tuesday, Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN that they will forge ahead to investigate Trump administration's response and its implementation of the nearly three-trillion-dollar economic aid package.Trump referred to this situation as a "hoax" and said there are a lot of "Trump haters" in the House. However, the ignorance and punishment of the whistleblower and the attempts to blame China to shift public attention have both revealed that the Trump administration did poorly in responding to the pandemic.当地时间3日，美国国务卿蓬佩奥接受美国广播公司采访时宣称，“有大量证据”显示新冠病毒来自于武汉的一个实验室。对此，美国首席传染病专家福奇回应称，“没有证据证明新冠病毒是中国实验室人为制造的”。美军最高将领、美参谋长联席会议主席马克·米莱也于当地时间5日表示，美方目前并不能确定新冠病毒是来源于武汉实验室或是其他地方——这些回应再一次“打脸”蓬佩奥。就在上个月，在回顾了这位国务卿在疫情期间的表现后，《华盛顿邮报》直言——“蓬佩奥是美国史上最糟糕的国务卿之一”。
截至北京时间6日下午5时32分，美国新冠肺炎确诊病例已达1,204,475例，死亡病例达71,078例。U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been touting the theory for weeks that the coronavirus originated not in nature but in a laboratory in Wuhan. However, Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told National Geographic that he doesn't believe the virus originated in a lab. Besides, Mark Alexander Milley, the Pentagon's top uniformed official on Tuesday stated that based on available evidence, the virus was natural and not man-made or released purposely from the Wuhan lab.Previously, Washington Post published an article which claimed that "Pompeo's pandemic performance ensures his place among the worst secretaries of state ever."As of 5:32 p.m. BJT on Wednesday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. had reached 1,204,475, with 71,078 deaths.蓬佩奥自相矛盾、抹黑中国，世卫组织：病毒起源言论“纯属猜测”
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