INTERNACIONAL
CDC Director Susan Monarez refuses to be fired as other officials call it quits
Several officials reportedly resign from CDC
Panelists Tom Bevan, Josh Kraushaar and Yemisi Egbewole discuss resignations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown on ‘Special Report.’
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Longtime government scientist Susan Monarez is refusing to leave her position as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced she had been removed from the role less than a month after she was sworn in.
Attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said they are representing Monarez and claimed she «has neither resigned nor yet been fired.»
The attorneys released a statement on social media, claiming HHS and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk.
«When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda,» the statement said. «For that, she has been targeted. Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired, and as a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign.»
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Susan Monarez is testifies during her June confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building June 25, 2025. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
The Washington Post reported that sources within the CDC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said HHS leaders, including Kennedy, sought to get Monarez to commit to rescinding approvals for certain COVID-19 vaccines. When Monarez did not immediately commit, she was told by administration officials that she must resign or she would be fired.
Sources also claimed she then attempted to involve the chairman of the Senate’s top health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. The move reportedly further angered Kennedy.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the HHS directed Fox News Digital to the agency’s response shared on its official X account.
«Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,» HHS said. «We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people. Secretary Kennedy has full confidence in his team at the CDC who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.»
The White House confirmed to Fox News Digital that Monarez was being removed.
«As her attorney’s statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,» White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. «Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC.»
Monarez was tapped by the Trump administration to lead the CDC after its initial nominee, Dave Weldon, withdrew from contention in March amid fears he might not garner enough support in the Senate to be confirmed. Shortly after Weldon stepped down, Monarez was formally nominated to be the CDC’s permanent director and was eventually confirmed in the final week of July.
During Monarez’s confirmation hearing, she expressed support for vaccines and told lawmakers she has «not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism.»
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A vial with the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo. (Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Prior to Monarez’s Senate confirmation, CDC directors did not typically require Senate approval, but that changed in 2022 when Congress passed a law making it necessary. Monarez was the first-ever Senate-confirmed CDC director in the agency’s history.
Monarez was also the first CDC director without a medical degree in more than seven decades. However, she does hold a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology.
After getting her doctorate, Monarez entered the federal government, where she found herself in roles at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Her biography on the CDC’s website says she worked on «leading efforts to enhance the nation’s biomedical innovation capabilities, including combating antimicrobial resistance, expanding the use of wearables to promote patient health, ensuring personal health data privacy, and improving pandemic preparedness.»
President Donald Trump nominated Susan Monarez, right, to lead the CDC. She was confirmed the last week of July before being ousted this week, less than a month later. (Getty Images; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Hours after the news that Monarez would no longer head the CDC, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least three other top CDC officials tendered their resignations, including the CDC’s director of its National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Demetre Daskalakis; the director of the National Centers for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease, Dr. Daniel Jernigan; and the CDC’s chief medical officer, Debra Houry.
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Daskalakis posted his lengthy resignation letter on X, citing various reasons for his departure, including «the views» of Secretary Kennedy and his staff.
Daskalakis said he could not continue to work in an administration that treats the CDC «as a tool» to establish policies that «do not reflect scientific reality.» He specifically cited recent changes Kennedy’s HHS has brought to vaccine scheduling for children and adults, arguing it «threaten[s] the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.»
The former CDC director also cited the administration’s efforts to «erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research.»
Fox News’ David Lewkowict contributed to this report.
health,executive,politics,medical research,robert f kennedy jr
INTERNACIONAL
How did Jeffrey Epstein get rich? Meet Les Wexner, the ex-Victoria’s Secret CEO who once worked with him
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An 88-year-old billionaire businessman and former Victoria’s Secret chief is the latest person to fall within the House Oversight Committee’s investigative crosshairs in the Jeffrey Epstein case, as he is scheduled to appear before the panel in Ohio on Wednesday morning.
The crimes of the late accused sex trafficker Epstein are well-known, having gained new media attention in recent months after Congress forced the Department of Justice (DOJ) to disclose millions of pages of documents.
But less is known about the figures who operated within Epstein’s orbit and how they helped him get the vast international sphere of influence he enjoyed before finding himself in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial, where he killed himself in 2019.
Les Wexner, founder of L Brands, the former chief of Victoria’s Secret, is one of those figures, having been named a co-conspirator of Epstein in a recently uncovered FBI document from 2019.
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Leslie Wexner, former CEO of Victoria’s Secret and other fashion brands, is named numerous times in the DOJ files on Jeffrey Epstein. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Fragrance Foundation; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Wexner is the founder of L Brands, formerly known as The Limited, which included Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Pink. He also helped found Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing brand that was once popular among teens in the U.S.
Wexner has never been charged with crimes related to the late financier, and a spokesperson for the mogul told Fox News Digital that the «Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect.»
But documents released by the DOJ allege that Wexner was one of the key players in how Epstein built his wealth and later ran his illicit empire.
One file from 2013 that appears to have been in the possession of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) titled «Jeffrey Epstein Source of Wealth,» said Wexner «became a well-known client» of Epstein’s financial management firm in 1987.
At the time, Wexner was identified as the founder and chairman of the Ohio-based women’s clothing brand The Limited.
«Since all but one of his financial clients are anonymous, it has been speculated that much of Epstein’s lavish lifestyle was once financed by Wexner,» reads the document, which appears to be an email. Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations.
That paper also noted that Wexner sold his massive Manhattan townhouse — reported to be the largest private residence in the New York City borough — to Epstein.
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A 2019 FBI witness statement from a man who purported to be Wexner’s bodyguard from 1991 to 1992 said Wexner «sold his mansion in New York to Epstein for $20.»
The same witness statement alleged that «Epstein got all of his money from Wexner.»
A 1998 document obtained by Fox News Digital, however, shows Wexner sold his home to Epstein for a $20 million price tag. Half was paid via cashier’s check, while the other half was covered by a promissory note, the record shows.
Epstein’s Manhattan mansion was raided by the FBI in July 2019 as part of the federal sex trafficking investigation. There, law enforcement officials found vast troves of evidence, including photos of partially or fully nude women and girls, including ones who appeared to be minors.
A residence belonging to Jeffrey Epstein at East 71st Street is seen on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on July 8, 2019, in New York City. (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)
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The DOJ’s unsealed indictment against Epstein also said it was one of the places where he «enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, dozens of minor girls… to engage in sex acts with him, after which he would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash.»
Wexner reportedly bought the mansion in 1989 for $13.2 million before selling it to a corporation partially controlled by Epstein for an «undisclosed amount,» according to Business Insider. It was then reportedly transferred to a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company controlled by Epstein for $0 in 2011.
The home was reportedly valued at $77 million at the time of the raid, making it a massive portion of Epstein’s wealth.
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A heavily redacted email chain from July 2025 that appears to show witness statement summaries, with the subject line, «RE: Epstein – Cellmate Interview,» also said, «Steve Scully stated Wexner was #1 on Epstein’s speed dial.»
Steve Scully appears to be a reference to a former IT contractor who lived and worked on Epstein’s private island of Little St. James from 1999 through 2005. Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on Scully’s claim.
Wexner even signed a document in 1991 giving Epstein vast control over his finances via power of attorney, according to the New York Times. That document gave Epstein the power to sign checks, borrow money, and buy or sell real estate on Wexner’s behalf, the report said.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to reporters after a closed-door deposition with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and confidante of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 9, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
A letter Wexner wrote to his nonprofit, the Wexner Foundation, in August 2019 said that while he did give power of attorney to Epstein, their relationship ended soon after the 2007 federal investigation first began into the late financier in Florida.
«[B]y early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family. This was, frankly, a tremendous shock, even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now,» the letter said.
«With his credibility and our trust in him destroyed, we immediately severed ties with him. We were able to recover some of the funds. The widely reported payments Mr. Epstein made to the charitable fund represented a portion of the returned monies. All of that money — every dollar of it — was originally Wexner family money.»
But other documents released by the DOJ allege that Epstein and Wexner’s relationship went further than financial management.
An FBI witness statement by Robert Morosky, a former executive for Wexner’s fashion brand, said, «He had information regarding the use of ‘Limited’ brand aircraft used in the 1990s to transport young girls from Mexico to the U.S.»
«Morosky did not wish to give any additional information at that time; however if someone would like to pursue this information he could be reached on his personal cellular phone,’» the statement said.
It’s unclear if the lead was ever pursued, but a spokesperson for Wexner told Fox News Digital, «The allegation is false. Mr. Morosky was terminated from the company in 1987 and therefore in no position to know anything about the use of Limited planes in the 1990s.»
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A witness statement from 2020, with the identity of the female witness redacted, said she claimed to have «often» seen Epstein and Wexner together.
She «stated that often Wexner would have models who could not have been over 18 years old do private viewings for him and Epstein. She said the models would be wearing [swimsuits] and some were in lingerie,» the document read.
Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on those claims and called her account of seeing the pair together «vague.»
Attorney General Pam Bondi conducts a news conference at the Department of Justice on December 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
The female witness said she «would help with getting people to work at parties at Wexner’s compound in catering and other positions,» and that «anyone who went to work there had to have a full background check and there were certain areas of the house where they could not go without an approved escort.»
However, there was no indication of what years or period of time her claims are focused on.
A source with knowledge of company procedures argued the situation could not have happened, however. Model fittings always involved teams of 15 to 20 professionals and Epstein was never a part of that, the source maintained.
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Wexner is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee in Ohio on Wednesday morning.
Fox News Digital reached out to Wexner’s attorney for comment on the deposition and on the aforementioned claims.
politics,house of representatives politics,jeffrey epstein
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The Vatican will not join President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace, its top diplomatic official said Tuesday, signaling reluctance from the Holy See to take part in the post-war initiative.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy See «will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States,» the Vatican’s official news outlet reported.
The Board of Peace, which was chartered in January and includes nearly 20 countries, is tasked with managing recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas war.
While responding to questions about Italy declining to join the board, Parolin said «there are points that leave us somewhat perplexed,» adding that «there are some critical points that would need to find explanations.»
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The Vatican announced it will not participate in President Trump’s Gaza recovery board. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
«The important thing is that an attempt is being made to provide a response,» he said. «However, for us there are certain critical issues that should be resolved.»
Parolin continued, «One concern is that, at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.»
Pope Leo, the first U.S. pope, received an invitation to join the peace board in January.
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The Vatican declined to join a U.S.-backed board tasked with overseeing post-war efforts in Gaza. (Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Leaders from 17 countries participated in the initial charter signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, in late January, including presidents and other senior government officials from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia.
Israel formally joined the board last week ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump at the White House.
Several other countries were also invited by the White House, including Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece and China.
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President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace will move forward without Vatican participation. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Poland and Italy on Wednesday said they would not join.
Trump announced Sunday that board members have pledged more than $5 billion in aid for Gaza.
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The president said the funding would be formally pledged during a meeting Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
vatican,israel,benjamin netanyahu,white house,donald trump
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