Dr. Anthony Fauci is testifying before the Senate in what is expected to be a high-intensity hearing on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that began more than six years ago and claimed 1 million American lives.Fauci was subpoenaed last month by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, after refusing to testify voluntarily regarding his role in setting policy during the pandemic.From 1984 to 2022, Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He became the face of the federal government’s response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and was intimately involved in crafting policies as part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s hearing, Paul has released thousands of pages of documents on his “Reading Room” website linking Fauci to an alleged cover-up of the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.Paul has released hundreds of pages of email correspondence implicating Fauci in swaying the intelligence community from investigating U.S. government-backed research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China that could have sparked the pandemic.The document dump also includes more than 1,500 pages of diary entries from Fauci documenting his role in public health policy for more than 20 years, beginning in 2001. The files were stored on Department of Health and Human Services servers and given to Paul and his Senate colleagues last week, according to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.The diary entries, in particular, give a glimpse into Fauci’s private doubts in the early stages of the pandemic that the virus could have originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, which contradicted his public statements at the time.Speculation and suspicion regarding Fauci’s involvement in a cover-up of the origins of the virus led to former President Joe Biden issuing a preemptive pardon for the top scientist, absolving Fauci for unspecified crimes between 2014 and the day Biden left office in 2025.Republicans have had difficulty legally maneuvering around the pardon to hold Fauci accountable for alleged wrongdoing during the pandemic, but House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said Tuesday the pardon will not protect Fauci if he lies under oath to Congress during the hearing.“Americans are still reaping the consequences of Dr. Fauci’s actions,” Comer told Fox News Digital. “Biden’s pardon doesn’t cover Dr. Fauci’s testimony this week and if he continues to lie, he must be held accountable.”Here is what to watch for during the hearing.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responds to accusations by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the origin of COVID-19 on July 20, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
