Key Researcher Behind CDC’s “Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism” Narrative Expected to Plead Guilty to Stealing Over $1 Million in Federal Grant Money

A CDC-linked researcher whose work was repeatedly invoked to shut down questions about vaccines and autism is expected to plead guilty in a massive federal grant-fraud case.

Poul Thorsen, a 65-year-old Danish researcher, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Atlanta on September 1 for a change-of-plea hearing, according to the official court calendar and reporting from Children’s Health Defense.

🚨 Poul Thorsen, a researcher whose work was used to reassure millions of parents that vaccines do not cause autism, is expected to plead guilty to fraud on Sept. 1.

Thorsen worked on major studies examining vaccines and autism that were cited by the CDC and became part of the… pic.twitter.com/dtYW048s8I

— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) August 24, 2026

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens confirmed that prosecutors were finalizing a plea agreement with Thorsen, although he declined to say which charges the disgraced researcher is expected to admit.

Thorsen currently faces two counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering after Germany extradited him to the United States earlier this year.

The original 2011 indictment charged Thorsen with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering.

According to the Justice Department, the CDC awarded more than $11 million to two Danish government agencies between 2000 and 2009 for research that included the relationship between vaccines and autism.

Thorsen, who previously worked as a visiting scientist at the CDC, became responsible for administering the taxpayer-funded research money in 2002.

Federal prosecutors accused Thorsen of stealing more than $1 million from the program by submitting fabricated invoices containing the forged signature of a CDC laboratory official.

Aarhus University allegedly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to accounts at the CDC Federal Credit Union that university officials believed belonged to the federal agency.

The accounts actually belonged to Thorsen.

Prosecutors allege that Thorsen used the stolen research money to purchase an Atlanta home, an Audi, a Honda, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

So much for following “the science.”

Thorsen was indicted in April 2011 but remained outside the United States for nearly 14 years. German authorities finally arrested him in Passau in June 2025 pursuant to an INTERPOL Red Notice.

He was extradited to the United States in May and has remained in federal custody without bail.

HHS Inspector General Special Agent Kelly Blackmon called the alleged theft a “serious breach of law and profound betrayal of public trust.”

Thorsen was a co-author of two highly influential Danish studies that were widely cited by public-health authorities and vaccine advocates.

A 2002 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that there was “strong evidence against” the theory that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism.

A second study, published in Pediatrics in 2003, concluded that its results did not support a connection between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.

For years, parents who questioned the government’s vaccine narrative were mocked, smeared, censored, and told that the issue had been settled by trustworthy experts.

Now one of the researchers whose name appeared on that influential work is preparing to admit guilt in a scheme involving fabricated documents, forged signatures, and more than $1 million intended for CDC-supported research.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the CDC to investigate a potential connection between vaccines and autism as autism diagnoses continued to skyrocket.

The Gateway Pundit also reported that the estimated prevalence among eight-year-old American children had reached one in 31.

Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order establishing new “Gold Standard” childhood-vaccine recommendations and directing officials to improve vaccine-safety monitoring, transparency, and research.

That transparency is long overdue.

Real science does not demand obedience. It welcomes questions, independent replication, open data, and accountability—especially when millions of American parents are being told to place their children’s health in the government’s hands.