Fauci to Testify in Public Hearing on COVID-19 Response, Origins

Former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci returns from a break at a meeting where he is testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Washington on Jan. 8, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Dr. Anthony Fauci is locked in to testify before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, his first public hearing since retiring as the president’s chief medical adviser in 2022.

Subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) announced in an April 24 statement that Dr. Fauci agreed to appear late last year.

“Retirement from public service does not excuse Dr. Fauci from accountability to the American people,” Mr. Wenstrup said.

“On June 3, Americans will have an opportunity to hear directly from Dr. Fauci about his role in overseeing our nation’s pandemic response, shaping pandemic-era policies, and promoting singular questionable narratives about the origins of COVID-19.”

Dr. Fauci testified in a closed-door hearing in January.

According to Mr. Wenstrup, Dr. Fauci has already admitted “to serious systemic failures in our public health system,” which he said deserve “further investigation.”

Mr. Wenstrup said that among other revelations, Dr. Fauci has said that the six-feet-apart social distancing guidance, recommended by federal health officials and used to shut down small businesses across the country, “sort of just appeared” and was likely not based on scientific data.

During the two-day January hearing, Dr. Fauci revealed that he signed off on every foreign and domestic NIAID grant without personally reviewing the proposals.

He also admitted that the U.S. vaccine mandates, which he promoted, could increase the public’s vaccine hesitancy in the future.

Lab Leak—Not So Far-Fetched

Dr. Fauci also said the lab leak hypothesis regarding COVID-19’s origins might not be a conspiracy theory, despite his previous public assertions that it was.

The lab leak theory is that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was developed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and was accidentally leaked. In the years since COVID-19 first appeared, this hypothesis has been gaining steam, with even the former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention saying it can’t be ruled out.

Mr. Wenstrup claimed that during the previous hearing, Dr. Fauci said more than 100 times that he “did not recall” specific COVID-19 information and conversations relevant to the subcommittee’s investigations.

A full transcript is expected to be released before the public hearing in June.

Mr. Wenstrup has said that he believes that the testimony shared so far “raises significant concerns about public health officials and the validity of their policy recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We also learned that he believes the lab leak hypothesis he publicly downplayed should not be dismissed as a conspiracy theory,” he said.

“As the face of America’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, these statements raise serious questions that warrant public scrutiny.”

The select subcommittee will also hold a public hearing with EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak on May 1.

Mr. Wenstrup said that it “will serve as a crucial component” of the investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and “provide essential background ahead of Dr. Fauci’s public hearing.”

“We look forward to both Dr. Fauci’s and Dr. Daszak’s forthcoming and honest testimonies, and appreciate their willingness to voluntarily appear before the Select Subcommittee for public hearings,” he said.