In his first public testimony since leaving his government job at the end of 2022, Dr. Anthony Fauci faced intense criticism from Republican politicians during a hearing on Monday. The hearing focused on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Fauci appeared before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. During the hearing, he denied many accusations made against him over the past few years.
Several Republican members of the subcommittee questioned Dr. Fauci about funding for virology research in China, which they said was approved by the National Institutes of Health while he was in charge.
Some conspiracy theories claim that this research caused the coronavirus to leak from a lab. Dr. Fauci also responded to questions about whether his team tried to hide details of this research from the public.
In his opening statement, Dr. Fauci said it is possible that the virus leaked from a lab, explaining that we still do not know where the pandemic started, so he keeps an open mind about it. However, he denied hiding any important information about a possible lab leak.
“I don’t think the idea of a lab leak is necessarily a conspiracy theory,” Dr. Fauci said. “The conspiracy is the wild stories about it, like saying there was a lab leak and I was secretly working with the CIA to cover it up. That is the conspiracy.”
The subcommittee did not provide any evidence linking Dr. Fauci to the origins of the coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci has become a major target for supporters of former President Donald Trump. Many blame him for the pandemic based on false or misleading claims. There are now frequent calls from the political right to prosecute Dr. Fauci for unspecified crimes.
During his testimony on Monday, Dr. Fauci explained that he participated in a call with around a dozen scientists in early 2020. They discussed the origins of the virus and considered the possibility that it came from a lab. However, after further investigation, the group concluded that the virus likely spread from animals to humans.
Dr. Fauci dismissed the claim that he influenced the scientists to change their minds by offering millions of dollars in grant money as completely false and ridiculous.
He had already testified about these same topics before the same subcommittee in a private hearing in January.
Before retiring, Dr. Fauci testified before Congress multiple times about leading the response to the pandemic. He led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022. He served on former President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force and later joined President Joe Biden’s Covid response team.
During Monday’s hearing, Democrats praised Dr. Fauci as a dedicated public servant and criticized Republicans for unfairly attacking him.
“Some members of the United States House of Representatives want to tarnish your reputation,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin from Maryland. “They were treating you, Dr. Fauci, as if you are a criminal who already found guilty.”
During a tense moment, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia sparked outrage from several House colleagues. She stated that Dr. Fauci should be in jail and lose his medical license. She claimed that Dr. Fauci’s medical advice resulted in children being forced to wear masks in schools. Additionally, in a bizarre tangent, she accused him of approving experiments that involved torturing beagles.
“I think Fauci should be in jail. He should be put on trial for causing a lot of deaths, and for doing very bad things to humanity. That’s how I feel after listening to that hearing,” she said.
Several Democrats apologized to Fauci for the rude comments.
Hickey explained that some people who are against vaccines see Dr. Fauci as the main person spreading lies about where the pandemic started. They also think he’s making money from the vaccine and that he’s part of a group of powerful people who are making unnecessary rules like wearing masks and staying away from others.
On Monday, Dr. Fauci mentioned that he and his family are still facing harassment.
“There have been serious threats to harm us, which led to two people being arrested — and these threats are real. It means someone was planning to hurt me. Because of this, I need security protection all the time. It’s very worrying for me. What’s even more worrying is that they’ve targeted my wife and three daughters,” Fauci said, his voice filled with emotion.
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