Meet the Bureaucrats Who Hid Data About Heart Damage from the mRNA COVID Vaccines

One hundred and eleven people, including 100 U.S. government employees, were involved in the Biden Administration’s myocarditis cover-up that attorney Ed Berkovich uncovered through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) email productions. Those emails and the cover-up were the subject of Senator Ron Johnson’s May 22, 2025, “The Corruption of Science and Federal Health Agencies: How Health Officials Downplayed and Hid Myocarditis and Other Adverse Events Associated with the COVID-19 Vaccines” hearing and the associated “Failure to Warn: How Federal Health Agencies Downplayed the Risk of Myocarditis and Other Adverse Events Following COVID-19 Vaccination” report.

Mr. Berkovich submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating, “I request emails sent by and received by Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, Sherri A. Berger, and Kevin Griffis (all of whom are CDC personnel) on dates beginning February 1, 2021 through May 31, 2021, containing the word myocarditis.” DailyClout reported on the subsequent FOIA productions, which first revealed the CDC’s delayed action:

• August 29, 2023: “472 Pages FOIAed from CDC Leaders, 2021, Reveal Lengthy Comms Re: ‘Myocarditis,’ Massive Redactions. CDC Hiding April 2021 Monthly Safety Report on Pfizer’s Vaccine and Myocarditis/Pericarditis.”
• September 20, 2023: “46 Pages FOIAed Emails Between CDC Leaders, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins, and White House, NIH, HHS, Show They Knew About Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia, a Blood Clotting Disorder. Emails Over 80% Redacted.”
• October 18, 2023: “FOIA’d Emails Reveal Highest-Level Leaders at White House, HHS, CDC, NIAID, AAP All Knew COVID Vaccines Linked to Myocarditis, Yet Publicly Covered Up Findings.”
• November 2, 2023: “FOIA’d CDC Emails Reveal Disturbing Myocarditis Timeline Warranting Investigation: Different Messaging Internally Vs. Publicly About COVID-19 Vaccines and Myocarditis.”

This WarRoom/DailyClout reporting revealed publicly for the first time:

• CDC Internal Awareness of Myocarditis: The FOIA-obtained emails show that CDC officials knew about COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-associated myocarditis as early as February 19, 2021, less than three months after the vaccines became publicly available.
• Health Alert Not Issued: The CDC had internal deliberations regarding issuing a health advisory alert via its Health Alert Network (HAN) and ultimately did not issue one.
• Public Communication Delay: Despite months of internal discussions about cases of myocarditis associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the CDC’s public acknowledgment of myocarditis risk occurred on May 27, 2021, three months after the CDC first became aware of it.

For the first time, the full list of the 111 people, including the 100 government employees, involved in the communications related to the myocarditis cover-up, is publicly available. The job titles and hyperlinks included were all accurate and active as of November 2024.

White House:

• Ian Sams, former Health and Human Services [HHS] Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, COVID Response and current Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor and Spokesman for the White House
• Grace Kwak, White House Advisor to the Deputy COVID-19 Response Coordinator
• Benjamin Wakana, Deputy Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement, COVID and Health Care Outreach Lead on the Biden-Harris Transition Team
• Andrew Slavitt, White House (Biden) Senior Advisor for the Covid Response
• Kate Berner, Principal Deputy Communications Director at the White House
• Kevin Munoz, Assistant Press Secretary at The White House
• Max Lesko, JD, Chief of Staff, Office of the Surgeon General; White House COVID-19 Response Team
• Subhan N. Cheema, Senior Strategic Communications Advisor, White House COVID- 19 Response Team
• Mariel S. Sáez, Director of Broadcast Media, White House
• Cameron Webb, MD, Senior Advisor for Equity to the White House COVID-19 Response Team
• Marissa Sanchez-Velasco, Associate Director of Communications and Digital Director, White House COVID-19 Response Team
• Nikki Jo Romanik, then CDC Senior Public Health Analyst and now White House Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Director, and Chief of Staff
• Marissa Padilla, Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs at Global Strategy Group and former Biden-Harris Transition Team Volunteer; former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS

COVID-19 Task Force:

• Jennifer Byrne, MPH, Task Force Liaison (TF LNO) Team Lead, Health Department Section, State, Tribal, Local & Territorial Support Task Force, COVID-19 Emergency Response
• Ramona (“Mona”) Byrkit, Lead, Health Department Section, State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support Task Force, COVID-19
• Anita Pullani, Team Lead COVID-19 Response Task Force
• Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Chair
• Courtney M. Rowe, Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement, COVID- 19 Response Team

NIH:

• Francis Collins, MD, PhD, Director, National Institutes of Health
• John Burklow, Acting Chief of Staff in the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health
• Renate Myles, Acting Associate Director for Communications and Public Liaison NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison

CDC:

• Tom Shimabukuro, MD, MPH, MBA, Vaccine Safety Team, CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force
• John T. Brooks, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CDC COVID-19 Response
• Thomas A. Clark, MD, CDC Deputy Division Director of Division of Viral Diseases
• Dana Meaney-Delman, MD, CDC Lead, Maternal Immunization; CDC Chief of Infant Outcomes Monitoring Research and Prevention Branch, Fellow of the American College of Gynecology
• Denise Cardo, MD, CDC Director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
• Kimberley Fox, MD, Director of the Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) within CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
• Rebecca Greco Krone, CDC Co-Lead, Vaccine Task Force, COVID-19 Response
• Ann Schuchat, MD, Former Deputy Director of the CDC and GAVI Board Member
• Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, CDC Director and ATSDR Administrator
• Henry Walke, MD, MPH, CDC Director of the Office of Readiness and Response
• Nicole Coffin, CDC Senior Advisor, Strategic Policy, Communications, and Partnerships
• Seth Kroop, CDC Associate Director for Policy, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
• Abbigail Tumpey, former Associate Director for Communication Science for CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure and now Vice President, Institute Communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Melinda Wharton, MD, MPH (CAPT, USPHS), CDC Associate Director for Vaccine Policy and Clinical Partnerships (NCIRD) and ACIP Executive Secretary
• Sarah Mbaeyi, MD, MPH, CDC staff member and doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Barbara Mahon, Director (acting), Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division (proposed), CDC; Senior Advisor, CDC; and former Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Demetre Daskalakis, MD, COVID CDC Response Role: Senior Lead, Equity in COVID Data and Engagement and Director of CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
• Christa Capozolla, CDC Global Health Center (GHC) Deputy Director for Strategy, Policy, and Communication
• Michael J. Beach, PhD, Principal Deputy Incident Manager, CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response; CDC Spokesperson; and Mahoning County (Ohio) Public Health Associate Director for Healthy Water, National at the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Infectious Diseases
• Manish M. Patel, MD, CDC Influenza Division
• Laurie E. Markowitz, MD, Medical Officer, CDC
• Kristen Nordlund, Health Communication Specialist at CDC
• David L. Fitter, MD, CDC Director, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
• John Su, MD, PhD, MPH, Vaccine Safety Team, CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force
• Paul Fulton, CDC Press Officer
• Lynn Gershman, Executive Assistant to the CDC Director
• Nikki Jo Romanik, then CDC Senior Public Health Analyst and now White House Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Director, and Chief of Staff
• Leslie Harrison, MD, CDC Epidemiologist
• Margaret (“Peggy”) Honein, PhD, MPH, CDC Director, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections
• Athalia Christie, Acting Principal Deputy Director, CDC Global Health Center (GHC)
• Dale Rose, PhD, MSc, Deputy Director, CDC Division of Bacterial Diseases
• Christopher M. Jones, CDC Deputy Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
• Kerry Caudwell, Senior Policy Analyst, CDC/Office of the Chief of Staff
• Tiffany Brown, then CDC Deputy Chief of Staff
• Sherri Berger, CDC Chief Operating Officer
• Jason McDonald, CDC Spokesperson for Rochelle Walensky
• Amanda Cohn, MD, CAPT, USPHS Director, Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders
• Kerri Moran, then Healthcare Communications Specialist
• Jessica Schindelar, Associate Director for Communications, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP)
• Cecilia Joshi, Health Scientist and Associate Director for State Strategy, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP)
• Sam Posner, PhD, then Acting Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD); now Director, Office of Science and CDC Chief Science Officer
• Nicole Fehrenbach, Deputy Division Director, Division of Congenital and Developmental Disorders
• Jo Stryker, Chief, Prevention Communication Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Nora Kelly Holton, Associate Director for Communication
• Katherine T. Hoffman, then Health Communication Specialist; now Digital Strategist for CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

FDA:

• Peter Marks, MD, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at FDA
• Lorrie McNeill, Director, FDA Office of Communication, Outreach and Development
• Stephanie Caccomo, then FDA Media Relations Director
• Janet Woodcock, MD, then Acting Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and now FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner
• Julia (Julie) Tierney, JD, Chief of Staff of the FDA
• Richard Forshee, PhD, then Associate Director for Research; now Deputy Director, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, FDA/CBER; http://www.richardforshee.org/
• Steve Anderson, Director, Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, FDA/CBER
• Sarah Walinsky, JD, then Chief of Staff

HHS:

• Xavier Becerra, HHS Secretary
• Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS
• Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, U.S. Surgeon General, Health and Human Services
• Max Lesko, JD, Chief of Staff, Office of the Surgeon General; White House COVID-19 Response Team
• Adam Beckman, Special Advisor to the Surgeon General, Health and Human Services
• Kristen Allen, National Press Secretary (COVID Response), Health and Human Services
• Sherice Perry, Senior Advisor, COVID-19 Equity Task Force, Health and Human Services
• Bill Hall, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Health and Human Services
• David Kessler, MD, Chief Science Officer for COVID-19 Task Force, HHS
• Loyce Pace, MPH, HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs
• Sean Mccluskie, HHS Chief of Staff
• Lisa Barclay, HHS Deputy General Counsel
• Sarah Boateng, MHA, HHS Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health
• Kimberly Espinosa, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation
• Sarah Despres, HHS Counselor for Public Health and Science
• AJ Pearlman, HHS Chief of Staff, COVID-19 Response
• Stephen Cha, Counselor to HHS Secretary Becerra
• Perrie Briskin, Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff at HHS
• Clare Pierce-Wrobel, Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff, HHS Office of the Secretary
• Adam Beckman, Special Advisor, U.S. Surgeon General
• Alexandria Phillips, Communications Director, U.S. Surgeon General

NIAID:

• Anthony Fauci, MD, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director, White House COVID Task Force
• Courtney Billet, Director, Communications and Government Relations, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease
• Patricia Conrad, NIAID Special Assistant to the Acting Director

Pfizer:

• Patrick Caubel, Chief Safety Officer at Pfizer

Children’s Hospitals and Organizations:

• Matt Oster, MD, Director, Children’s Cardiac Outcomes Research Program at Sibley Heart Center (CORPS) at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Cardiology (Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Rollins School of Public Health)
• Jane W. Newburger, MD, Associate Cardiologist-in-Chief for Academic Affairs at Children’s Hospital Boston
• James Baumberger, Senior Director, Federal Advocacy, American Academy of Pediatrics
• Mary Beth Son, MD, Section Chief, Rheumatology Program; Director, Samara Jan Turkel Clinical Center; Director, Services and Outreach and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Committees:

• Sara Elizabeth Oliver, MD, MSPH, Medical Officer, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) and Lead for the COVID-19 Vaccines ACIP Work Group
• Paul Offit, MD

Other:

• Céline Grounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA, CEO/Founder, Just Human Productions; Host/Producer, American Diagnosis and Epidemic podcasts; Medical Analyst, CNN; Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at NYU School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital
• Jeremy Faust, MD, MS MA, Emergency Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Instructor at Harvard Medical School; cohost of FOAMcast
• Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, Dean of Yale School of Public Health and C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health (Health Policy) and Professor of Emergency Medicine
• Dana Ohannessian, Massachusetts Department of Health
• Wassim Choucair, MD
• “Larry”

With 100 federal employees involved in internal discussions that were kept from public view, the American public now knows they are funding a government that does not prioritize serving and protecting its citizens. Transparency and honesty are the cornerstones of public trust, especially in matters of health. As more details come to light, the American people deserve answers and accountability from those in charge.

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