A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses the U.S. government of stonewalling because officials won’t release documents pertaining to the employment and potential conflicts of interest involving Christine Grady, Ph.D., chief of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Bioethics — and wife of White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.
American Transparency, a nonprofit operating as OpenTheBooks.com, filed the complaint July 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS is the parent agency of the NIH, which in turn is home to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), headed by Fauci.
The lawsuit describes OpenTheBooks as “the largest private repository of United States public-sector spending.” Judicial Watch, a legal watchdog group, is assisting with the suit via its legal counsel, Paul J. Orfanedes. According to the lawsuit, OpenTheBooks on April 8 filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the NIH, seeking the following records: All employment contracts, modifications and addendums regarding Grady since she was hired as chief of the Department of Bioethics. Any confidentiality agreements/documents, conflict-of-interest waivers or documents, ethics disclosures and financial and/or economic interest disclosure documents. Grady’s current job description.