Olivia Troye, former homeland security and coronavirus adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, says Trump officials instructed her to “spy” on former White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx.
“I was told that I was to watch her, that she was not to be trusted because she was a Matt Pottinger hire,” Troye said during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday.
She added, “You’re asking me to spy on this woman that I’m sharing an office with, who is on our team when we know that this pandemic is about to be out of control. We know that people are going to get hurt and this is where the focus is?”
Watch her comments below:
Olivia Troye, ex-aide to fmr. VP Pence, says Trump officials told her to watch Dr. Birx, Covid-19 coordinator:
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 26, 2021
“You’re asking me to spy on this woman that I’m sharing an office with, who is on our team … we know that people are going to get hurt and this is where the focus is?” pic.twitter.com/JofCvjzrri
Troye weighed in on Birx’s claim there were parallel streams of COVID-19 data coming into the White House.
She recalled telling Birx, “You know that there has been an effort to manipulate the data, to downplay this virus.”
Troye explained there were moments when data would appear, and she would not know who created it.
“I would literally run down the stairs of the West Wing to [Birx]’s office, shut the door and show it to her and say, ‘Did you make this?’ She would be like, ‘No, I thought you made it,’ and I said, ‘No,'” Troy said.
She continued, “So then we would both run around trying to figure out who did. I mean this is the chaos of this response.”
During an interview with CBS’s Margaret Brennan, Birx indicated she still did not know who was providing the data, as IJR reported.
“I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made. So I know that someone, or someone out there, or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president,” Birx said.
She continued, “I don’t know to this day who, but I know what I sent up and I know that what was in his hands was different from that.”
Birx also told Brennan she “always” thought about quitting Trump’s task force.