Emails obtained by Politico show that a senior political official at the Department of Health and Human Services has tried to censor Dr. Anthony Fauci’s comments to the media, particularly about the effects of coronavirus on children as the Administration pushed to reopen schools.

Paul Alexander, a Canadian senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs, sent emails to media relations officials within the department outlining specifics of what Fauci should say in interviews.  Alexander has a Ph.D. in clinical epidemiology; he is not a Medical Doctor nor does he have a background in virology or public health.

Alexander’s views parallel those of President Trump, and while Alexander claimed in many of these emails that “no evidence” exists to support Fauci’s planned statements, significant data does exist backing Fauci’s views.

According to Politico, in one email sent just yesterday, Alexander tried to suppress a statement by Fauci but did so without any supporting documentation himself.

“Can you ensure Dr. Fauci indicates masks are for the teachers in schools. Not for children,” Alexander wrote. “There is no data, none, zero, across the entire world, that shows children especially young children, spread this virus to other children, or to adults or to their teachers. None. And if it did occur, the risk is essentially zero,” he continued — adding without evidence that children take influenza home, but not the coronavirus.

In fact, there is evidence children can “shed” the virus even though they themselves remain asymptomatic.  A Kaiser Family Foundation study from July shows that children can transmit the virus to both other children and to adults.