Beleaguered Trump aide taking temporary leave

WASHINGTON — Michael Caputo, the embattled top spokesman of the Department of Health and Human Services, will take a leave of absence “to focus on his health and the wellbeing of his family,” the department announced Wednesday, three days after Caputo accused federal scientists of “sedition.”

A science adviser Caputo hired to help him, Dr. Paul Alexander, will be leaving the department.

The announcement came after Caputo posted a bizarre and inflammatory Facebook video in which he accused government scientists of working to defeat President Trump and urged his followers to buy ammunition ahead of what he predicted would be an armed insurrection after the election.

It also followed disclosures over the weekend that he and Alexander had tried to water down or delay official reports of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bolster Trump’s message that the pandemic is under control.

Caputo, a Trump loyalist installed by the White House in April as the assistant secretary of health for public affairs, apologized on Tuesday to his staff and to Alex Azar, the department’s leader, for his Facebook soliloquy.

In a statement, Caputo said he was pursuing “necessary screenings for a lymphatic issue discovered last week.” He said his health concerns “contributed to my stress level, along with the increasing number of violent threats leveled at me and my family.”