Pfizer Board Member Dismissed Key Natural Immunity Studies In CIA Briefing, Docs Claim

September 02, 2026 3:16 PM ET When Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb briefed the CIA on COVID-19 in May 2020, he dismissed two influential studies indicating the virus killed far fewer people than expected, a new document claims.Two California studies — one in Santa Clara in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Los Angeles — showed a less lethal virus than other models. Two days before the CIA briefing, Pfizer had announced the initiation of a clinical trial on four vaccine candidates in the U.S. Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, advised the spy agency as a member of an outside advisory group, a CIA document revealed for the first time on Saturday claims. Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo created the group in June 2017. Gottlieb served as FDA commissioner at