WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for a government whistleblower who opposed widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for the coronavirus say federal investigators found "reasonable grounds" that the whistleblower had been retaliated against.

Dr. Rick Bright headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

He had received a job performance review of outstanding before he was summarily transferred last month.

The agency is a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Bright's lawyers said Friday that investigators with the Office of Special Counsel "made a threshold determination that HHS violated the Whistleblower Protection Act by removing Dr. Bright."