Maryland comptroller joins calls for Hogan, health department to sever ties with Redfield over COVID comments

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has joined the chorus of elected officials in Maryland urging the state to sever its ties with Dr. Robert Redfield, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Donald Trump who currently serves as an unpaid adviser to Gov. Larry Hogan. Last week, Redfield’s comments endorsing an unproven theory that the coronavirus “most likely” escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, went public, drawing the ire of several state lawmakers who called on Redfield to walk back his statements or step down from his post.