Fauci called to testify before powerful Senate committee in July

The Republican head of a powerful U.S. Senate committee has subpoenaed Dr. Anthony Fauci, demanding the former chief medical advisor testify before lawmakers about his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "For six months, I have been negotiating with Anthony Fauci's lawyers over a date to testify before my Homeland Security Committee. He finally agreed to appear this month. Then he backed out. So I subpoenaed him," Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., posted on social media Tuesday. "He will testify in July." In a separate post, Paul outlined some of the questions he intends to ask Fauci, who headed the nation's pandemic response. "Did Dr. Fauci fund gain-of-function research while telling Congress he didn't? Why were records destroyed? And why did he need a presidential pardon? The American people deserve answers, and I am going to make sure they get them during our hearing next month," Paul said. Fauci, who received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden, has faced criticism over his handling of the pandemic response. Paul and other Republicans have accused Fauci of covering up the true origins of the virus after a National Institutes of Health official revealed in 2024 that U.S. taxpayer dollars had indeed funded what many would term "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the area where the virus was first discovered. The admission contradicted Fauci's assertion to Congress in 2021, under oath, that the "NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology," a statement Republicans considered intentionally misleading. Paul's subpoena Monday came just days after former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified hundreds of documents, which she claims "expose Fauci's direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19." Among other records, Gabbard declassified the U.S. taxpayer-funded research on coronaviruses, which analyzed the risks of coronavirus spreading from bats to humans, that NIH had admitted to funding. The controversy-ridden nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance conducted those studies, some of which dated back to 2014. During the pandemic, Fauci repeatedly discouraged the idea that the virus originated from a lab. But the other documents Gabbard declassified, which largely consist of email exchanges between federal health and IC officials, fall short of proving that he "worked with politicized career leadership in the Intelligence Community (IC) to suppress the truth about his actions" and the lab leak theory. The declassified information shows Fauci was included in the communications between federal health agencies and the Intelligence Community, both involved with pandemic research and response and both attempting to clear up conflicting information. Per the emails, Fauci often advised IC officials – who specifically asked health officials for advice and clarification on how to interpret virus-related research and other theories – and recommended they consult certain health experts for additional information. He also provided his opinion that the virus was zoonotic in origin when asked. Most health officials in the emails, whose names were largely redacted, emphasized caution related to assertions that the virus was created in a lab. One email written by an IC official read "Hi team – Is anyone looking at the open source report that a Chinese virologist claims to have proof that COVID-19 was made in a Wuhan lab? We're getting questions from our leadership and I figured those with more technical expertise probably have already evaluated this report." A recipient – presumably from the NIH, but both the name and office of the respondent are redacted – informed the IC official that the study in question had numerous errors and was published by a pair of nonprofit groups, which had never before released any medical research, linked to political strategist Steve Bannon. Some of the health officials acknowledged that coronaviruses were likely studied in the WIV lab. They also confirmed that a lab analysis found that "all of the necessary conditions for an accidental release of a laboratory-modified coronavirus — specifically a coronavirus adapted to recognize human cell receptors" were present at the WIV in 2019. However, they pointed out to IC officials that the authors of the report determined the findings "place equal weight on the hypothesis" of an accidental lab leak versus the virus emerging naturally in Wuhan. "I've been tracking this pretty closely in the literature, and would advise to set a very high threshold for any GOF [gain of function] interpretation as an origin of SAR COV-2," a health official whose name is redacted said. "Not saying it is impossible, but I think Occam's razor is the best guidance here. [...] To be honest - I cannot imagine the Chinese NOT doing this type of research, but an escaped P3+/P4 LAI would be extraordinary." While the origins of the virus still remain under debate, the White House has officially endorsed the lab leak theory.