Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has released over 1,000 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's diary entries, which touch on the COVID-19 pandemic's origins and Fauci's interactions with former President Donald Trump. The entries, dating from December 2019 to December 2022, were released ahead of Fauci's scheduled appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
COVID-19 Origins Investigation
The diary entries are part of the committee's investigation into the pandemic's origins, with Paul pushing the theory that the virus emerged from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Many scientists, however, believe the evidence suggests the virus emerged naturally from infected bats before spreading to humans.
The FBI has assessed that the coronavirus "most likely" emerged in a "lab incident in Wuhan," while the CIA has issued a new assessment favoring the "lab leak" hypothesis, although with "low confidence." Fauci's diary entries reflect early uncertainty about the source of the pandemic, with him writing in January 2020 that "we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier."
Fauci's Interactions with Trump
The diary entries also detail Fauci's interactions with President Trump, including a conversation in which Trump told Fauci, "Tony, you are losing me trillions of f***ing dollars." Fauci wrote that he pushed back against Trump's suggestion that officials shouldn't wear masks at a May 2020 event, saying it "sends the wrong signal."
By August 2020, Fauci described Trump's behavior as "erratically" and expressed frustration about the president's public criticisms, even referring to Trump as an "idiot" for posting inaccurate figures on COVID-19 deaths.
Next Steps
Fauci is scheduled to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, where he will likely face questions about the diary entries and the pandemic's origins. The committee's investigation is ongoing, and the release of Fauci's diary entries is expected to be a focal point of the hearing.
As the federal government's top infectious disease expert, Fauci's words carried significant weight with federal, state, and local officials during the pandemic. His testimony on Wednesday is expected to shed further light on the early days of the pandemic and the government's response to it.
