Steven Hatfill, a senior advisor for the Department of Health and Human Services was fired over the weekend, with health officials telling reporters that he was terminated for giving himself a fake, inflated title and for not cooperating with leadership.
For his part, Hatfill told The New York Times that his ouster was part of “a coup to overthrow M. Kennedy,” referring to anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Further, Hatfill said the coup was being orchestrated by Matt Buckham, Kennedy’s chief of staff, though Hatfill didn’t provide any explanation of how his ouster was evidence of that. An HHS spokesperson responded to the allegation, telling the Times that “firing a staff member for cause does not add up to a coup.”
Bloomberg was first to report Hatfill’s termination.