WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans, particularly Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have long criticized the government’s actions during the coronavirus pandemic, which began during the first Trump administration, and have sought to shift responsibility to those they say played a role in spreading the virus and then covering up the pandemic’s origins.
There will be another chance to delve into the past Wednesday, when Anthony Fauci, the nation’s former top infectious disease expert, will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee under Paul’s subpoena.
It also could open up an opportunity for Paul to reconsider his repeated calls for Fauci to be jailed.
WHO expert group still unable to find definitive answers on how coronavirus disease started
Paul and Fauci’s relationship has long been contentious, with Paul accusing Fauci of misleading the public about US research funding to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. Wuhan is where the spread of the virus was first reported.
Although a link between coronavirus research conducted by the Wuhan lab and the start of the pandemic has not been proven, Fauci has long said that a leak from the lab cannot be ruled out based on available evidence. The White House updated its official coronavirus website last year to claim the virus leaked from a lab funded by the National Institutes of Health, but Trump administration officials also claim Fauci and others hid it from the public.
Wednesday’s hearing came after Paul released a series of diary entries by Fauci from the pandemic era. It records his personal thoughts as he battled crises and achieved celebrity status.
But questions about the former official’s memo may be aimed at more than shedding light on the origins of the pandemic or discrediting Fauci’s work.
Here’s what STAT will highlight from Wednesday’s hearing:
Will Mr. Fauci answer Paul’s questions, and how cautious will he be?
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Paul suggested that any answers from Mr. Fauci during the hearing could open new opportunities for criminal charges against him for lying to Congress despite a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden.
“I might be able to perjure myself now,” Kennedy said on Fox News. “If he lies again, he could be charged with perjury.” (Fauci has previously denied lying to the public.)
This strategy could lead to Republican questions and Fauci’s answers, or lack thereof.
Fauci clearly recognizes the risks. In a letter declining an invitation to meet with the committee, Fauci’s lawyers wrote:
“You asked Dr. Fauci to appear in a transcribed interview, not for any legitimate legislative purpose, but as a continuation of your relentless campaign to see Dr. Fauci indicted on any crime that justifies your pledge that he will end up ‘in jail,’ in your own words.”
If Mr. Fauci’s comments trigger a criminal investigation, the hearing would move beyond the usual political arena to a development that would result in the Trump administration’s push to jail a former official, the latest in a series of prosecutions of perceived political opponents.
Will Fauci’s temper trip him up?
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades, and for much of that time was respected by politicians on both sides of the aisle. But since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a dynamic between the Kentucky senator and the Brooklyn-raised immunologist that suggests having to endure Paul’s public humiliation could challenge Fauci’s ability to keep his mouth shut.
In September 2020, with COVID-19 vaccines still months away, Paul argued in a Senate hearing that New York state, which was hit hard early in the pandemic, had achieved herd immunity.
“You’re not listening,” Fauci told Paul, who misinterpreted the numbers cited by Robert Redfield, then director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During a Senate hearing in July 2021, Paul grilled Fauci on whether NIAID was funding so-called gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that led to the creation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
During the heated exchange, Fauci fired back. “Senator Paul, frankly, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I want to say it officially: You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Fauci is known for his temper, but Paul has proven he can push the former NIAID director’s buttons. However, dissent in this area can have serious consequences.
What will the Trump administration do next?
The administration has not said it plans to indict Fauci. Still, the Justice Department is moving ahead with charges against Fauci and another person who did not qualify for immunity.
Fauci adviser David Morens charged with evading records requests and concealing emails
Fauci’s former top adviser, David Morens, was charged with concealing and falsifying information about the origins of the coronavirus. Fauci denied having any knowledge of Morens’ efforts. Kennedy’s role in releasing Fauci’s diary also raises questions about whether federal health agencies will continue to release documents related to the coronavirus response.
President Kennedy has repeatedly made claims about corruption and lies in America’s health agencies without providing evidence to support them. Will Kennedy find out and publish something more?
How have pandemic politics evolved?
Congressional debates over health care have largely shifted away from the pandemic response, favoring issues ranging from health care affordability to measles and vaccines. Wednesday’s hearing will provide an update on how policymakers are thinking and remembering one of the biggest public health challenges of their constituents’ lifetimes.
The Republican question is likely to reaffirm the skepticism of many public health experts and the government’s broader response to the disease.
But the Democrats’ questions to Mr. Fauci could also provide hints about how Democrats will approach public health policy in a post-COVID-19 world and whether they are being swayed by Republican efforts to use the federal response as a political weapon.
Will the general public watch it?
Things are not looking good for Republicans heading into this fall’s midterm elections. President Trump’s poll numbers are slumping, the country is mired in a conflict with Iran that is proving difficult to end, and oil prices are soaring.
Giving voters another issue to focus on may distract them from the complex issue.
STAT Plus: Anthony Fauci confronts Republican accusers, says debate over coronavirus origins is ‘grossly distorted’
But the coronavirus is firmly in the rearview mirror for many Americans, who may be more worried about groceries and health care costs than the 85-year-old federal scientist who retired years ago and whose name reminds people of a past they’d rather forget.
Will we learn anything new about the pandemic?
Based on what Fauci’s diary has revealed so far, the answer is probably no. These documents provide no evidence that the pandemic originated in a lab or that Fauci or other officials tried to cover it up.
Fauci has already given extensive testimony to lawmakers, including in a closed session before a House committee in 2024 in which he sought to clarify that the government does not fund gain-of-function research (a type of research that could increase the risks posed by pathogens) under certain regulatory definitions.
In June 2024, he appeared before the same House committee again and said the debate over the origins of the virus had been “grossly distorted.”
