WASHINGTON: At least two journalists tested positive for coronavirus after witnessing the Trump administration’s final three federal executions, but the Bureau of Prisons knowingly withheld the diagnoses from other media witnesses and did not perform any contact tracing, The Associated Press has learned.
The AP is not identifying the journalists, but has confirmed they both received positive coronavirus tests following the executions earlier this month at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The Bureau of Prisons just completed a record number of executions under former President Donald Trump, more than any previous administration. The reinstated death penalty began in July as the virus raged through the prisons, complicating Bureau of Prisons efforts as attendees sued over COVID-19 concerns in the confined execution chamber. Their concerns were founded; many attendees and Justice Department officials have gotten sick and the virus also spread among the death row…