The head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resigned Wednesday on the heels of a bombshell report that she had purchased stock in a tobacco company soon after taking her job, which oversees smoking-cessation programs.
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who is an ob-gyn, also had owned stock in other tobacco companies prior to assuming her post almost six months ago as one of the nation's top health officials.
A lengthy delay in Fitzgerald's divestment of her stock holdings, which included shares in health-care companies, was cited by the Trump administration Wednesday morning as the reason for her resignation.
News of her tobacco holdings was broken by Politico in a story Tuesday night, shortly before President Donald Trump, who nominated Fitzgerald for her job, gave his State of the Union address. Politico noted in a story two weeks ago that Fitzgerald had repeatedly been unable to testify before Congress because of financial conflicts that were still unresolved.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/30/cdc-director-tobacco-stocks-after-appointment-316245
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who is an ob-gyn, also had owned stock in other tobacco companies prior to assuming her post almost six months ago as one of the nation's top health officials.
A lengthy delay in Fitzgerald's divestment of her stock holdings, which included shares in health-care companies, was cited by the Trump administration Wednesday morning as the reason for her resignation.
News of her tobacco holdings was broken by Politico in a story Tuesday night, shortly before President Donald Trump, who nominated Fitzgerald for her job, gave his State of the Union address. Politico noted in a story two weeks ago that Fitzgerald had repeatedly been unable to testify before Congress because of financial conflicts that were still unresolved.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/30/cdc-director-tobacco-stocks-after-appointment-316245