Anthony Fauci set for fiery hearing with House GOP

Anthony Fauci, the public face of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, will offer his first congressional testimony in nearly two years on Monday by a GOP-led committee that will likely question him about alleged misconduct that occurred under his watch. leadership at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Fauci, director of NIAID for nearly 40 years, will testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. It is his first testimony since leaving government work at the end of 2022.

The last time he testified before Congress was in September 2022, when he appeared before the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to discuss the response to the mpox response along with other health officials.

Fauci returned to Capitol Hill earlier this year for two days of closed-door interviews with the subcommittee. Transcripts of these all-day interviews were published on Friday, ahead of the hearing.

His testimony comes in the wake of two highly contentious hearings before the subcommittee that raised questions about the level of oversight and conduct that existed at his agency, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic that elevated him to public prominence.

Here’s what you should know ahead of what could be a difficult hearing.

Public records controversy

Fauci is likely to face tough questions from Republicans about what he knew about the efforts of another NIAID official accused of evading public records laws.

Last month, the selected subcommittee received testimony from EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak and David Morens, a senior advisor to the NIAID director who worked closely with Fauci.

Morens’ testimony did little to endear Republicans to Fauci. Previously released emails from Morens suggested that Fauci knew about public records misconduct at NIAID and sought to disassociate himself from it.

In an email exchange with Daszak, Morens wrote: “…there is no concern about FOIAs. I can send things to Tony on his private Gmail or deliver them to work or his home. He’s too smart to let colleagues send him things that might get him in trouble.”

In another email, Morens told Daszak that Fauci was trying to protect EcoHealth from scrutiny, although in other emails he indicated that the former NIAID director was not particularly involved in grants from the National Institutes of Health. Morens testified before the subcommittee that Fauci did not comment when asked in a conversation between them whether he helped get rid of a donation to EcoHealth.

Speaking to The Hill, subcommittee chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) questioned whether Fauci’s leadership as NIAID director played a role in Morens’ behavior.

“Under Dr. Fauci, we see Dr. Daszak of EcHealth Alliance and Dr. David Morens and their willingness to deceive. And you know, they seem to have no scruples.”

Morens appeared sporadically during Fauci’s January interview, although most of the questions had to do with whether Fauci dictated how Morens could communicate with the press. Fauci said he left those questions to the NIAID press office.

Democrats have routinely accused members of the Republican Party of trying to shift blame for the pitfalls of the pandemic response to public health officials like Fauci.

A partisan hearing

Republicans and Democrats on the subcommittee plan to approach the hearing from different angles.

Wenstrup said he plans to ask questions about the grant process, whether Fauci knew of Morens’ communications with Daszak and continue to press the former administration official about what he believes are the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we need to ask whether he thinks it’s a good process or not. And I would like to hear what he thinks we should do going forward, as he has been involved in what I believe to be mistakes or a flawed process,” the president said. “Maybe we can hear from you about how we can do things better in the future.”

Throughout his January interview, Fauci repeatedly said he did not remember certain details, although this was often in response to particularly granular questions or whether he remembered speaking to certain people. Fauci himself seemed to anticipate how this would reflect on him.

“I think this is going to turn into ‘Fauci said it so many times he can’t remember,’ but I can’t remember,” he said during the second day of interviews.

Wenstrup said he hopes Fauci’s recollection has improved in the months since his interview.

“But I think there are a lot of things he said that he didn’t remember, and it’s probably in his best interest not to remember them,” Wenstrup said. “I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that this could be legal advice.”

Rep. Deborah Ross (N.C.), a Democratic committee member, said she plans to ask what public health guidance Fauci can offer.

“I’m going to focus a lot on what public health has learned, how we can improve things, how to move forward in terms of communicating with the community,” Ross said.

When asked if she believes Fauci’s testimony will be worth it, given the exhaustive interview he gave just a few months ago, Ross said, “It would be worth it if we could work together toward a common goal. But I don’t think it’s worth attacking a public health official who did everything he could at the time with the public health goal in mind.”

Fauci Interviews

Transcripts of Fauci’s interview with the selected subcommittee in January were released Friday, giving a glimpse into the veteran scientist’s thoughts on the pandemic and his time as the nation’s top health adviser. Since leaving NIAID, Fauci has avoided interviews or public comments.

In his interview, he reaffirmed that he was open to both natural origins and lab leak theories about the virus, but leaned toward natural origins given current scientific evidence.

He also reiterated his position that federal funding has not reached the Wuhan Institute of Virology to support gain-of-function research, which increases the transmissibility of a pathogen to predict how it might mutate in the future.

Fauci said that by the “strict definition” of what gain-of-function research is — an experiment designed to cause an “increase in the transmissibility and/or pathogenesis of a [potential pandemic pathogen]” – he did not believe that gain-of-function research was funded by US grants.

He also briefly addressed how past congressional testimony affected him and his family.

Asked about the threats he received during the pandemic, Fauci asked for “a one-second break” and the interview was confidential. When the interview became official again, he linked the threats and harassment he received during the pandemic to previous statements.

“Every time Senator Rand Paul stands up and says I’m responsible for the deaths of 4 million people, the death threats explode, the threats against me, my wife and my children explode,” he said.

Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have had numerous heated arguments during Senate hearings during the pandemic. On a 2022 HearingFauci accused Paul of “distorting everything about me” and adding “you just do the same thing in every hearing.”

“I don’t want to talk about it too much because I don’t want to understand it,” Fauci added. “But it was constant threats to me, my wife and my children, calling – I have three daughters, and they are, you know, at the time 28, 31 and 33, calling them and saying – I don’t know how they managed the phone number – but I called them and said, ‘We know where you live, we know where you work,’ and very, very aggressive, violent, sexually explicit threats against them and against my wife. ”

Fauci is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.