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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Massie, Judiciary Committee Launch Probe Into Reports Biden Admin Pressured FDA Over COVID Booster Approval

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie sent letters Monday to senior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine officials, letting them know the House Judiciary Committee will be investigating allegations the Biden administration interfered in the FDA’s authorization and licensure of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Daily Caller first obtained the letters to Dr. Marion Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause, both of whom resigned following President Joe Biden’s announcement in August 2021 calling for adults to receive a COVID-19 booster shot, which Massie says “put undue pressure on FDA health officials to quickly authorize the vaccinations.”

Gruber serves as the Vice President of Public Health and Regulatory Science at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Philip Krause sits on the Board of Directors of Mesoblast, Inc. Gruber had been with the FDA for 32 years and Krause had worked at the agency for over a decade.

In the letters, Massie calls for records and materials relating to: 1. The FDA’s review, authorization, approval and/or promotion of all COVID-19 vaccines and boosters; 2. The departure of Dr. Marion Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause from the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR); and 3. The identities of current or former employees who worked in the FDA’s OVRR for the period of Jan. 1, 2020, to the present.

“The Committee on the Judiciary is investigating allegations that the Biden Administration interfered in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization and licensure of the COVID-19 vaccines,” Massie wrote in the letter to the FDA. (RELATED: Two Top Vaccine Officials Resign From FDA Amid Political Pressure From Biden Administration)

“Dr. Gruber and Dr. Krause reportedly felt that the White House was getting ahead of the FDA on booster shots and disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) involvement in FDA decisions. You replaced Dr. Gruber as acting director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR). Accordingly, we believe that you possess information relating to this matter, and we request your assistance with our inquiry,” he added.

READ THE LETTERS HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

“Congress has an obligation to examine these facts to understand the sufficiency of existing federal statutes and to assess the Executive Branch’s execution of these statutes. Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction to conduct oversight of matters concerning ‘civil liberties’ and ‘administrative practice and procedures’ to inform potential legislative reforms,” Massie added.

The Caller contacted the FDA, Mesoblast, Inc. and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative about the letters, to which they did not immediately respond.