HEALTH CHIEFS SUBPOENAED OVER COVID RESPONSE

WASHINGTON The head of a U.S. House Oversight Committee panel on COVID-19 on Monday issued subpoenas to two top Trump administration health officials over alleged political interference in the handling of the nation's pandemic response.

U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield, shown, were ordered to produce related documents by Dec. 30, the head of the coronavirus subcommittee, U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, said in a statement. He said documents obtained as part of the panel's probe so far showed administration appointees had tried to block or alter more than one dozen scientific reports related to the virus as the outbreak continued to grow nationwide.

“The subpoenas were necessary because the Select Subcommittee's investigation has revealed that efforts to interfere with scientific work at CDC were far more extensive and dangerous than previously known,” Clyburn wrote.