Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Man, 56, Arrested And Charged With Threatening To Kill Fauci, His Family
A 56-year-old man has been arrested and charged in Maryland federal court with making threats against Dr. Anthony Fauci, a case unsealed as a Frederick man was sentenced to seven months in prison for threatening Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and their supporters. Federal authorities said Thomas Patrick Connally Jr., who was arrested in West Virginia, repeatedly sent threatening emails to Fauci at his National Institutes of Health account, which is based in Bethesda. (Fenton, 7/27)
The complaint was unsealed Tuesday after Connally鈥檚 arrest. He was arrested in West Virginia, U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office spokeswoman Marcia Murphy said. It鈥檚 unclear where he lives. Connally is scheduled for an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Wednesday. ... If convicted, Connally faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for threats against a federal official, and a maximum of five years in federal prison for interstate communication containing a threat to harm. (7/27)
Legal authorities say that between December 2020 and July 2021, Connally of Greenbelt, Maryland, sent seven death threats to Dr. Fauci. Connally reportedly sent the threats using an encrypted email account. In one email, Connally allegedly said Fauci and his family should be "dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire," WJZ-TV reported. (Villarreal, 7/27)
In other news from the Biden administration 鈥
Eric Lander, the renowned genomics researcher, has kept a low profile in his first months as President Biden鈥檚 science adviser. He鈥檚 given no speeches, issued no reports, and published virtually no public-facing work of any kind. Quietly, though, Lander has been busy reinventing the White House鈥檚 science office. He鈥檚 building a new wing, exclusively focused on health and life sciences 鈥 a dramatic change for OSTP, which even under President Obama counted just two staffers with the word 鈥渉ealth鈥 in their titles. Neither worked in life sciences. (Facher, 7/28)