House Republicans on the Coronavirus Pandemic Select Subcommittee have raised serious concerns about the role that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, played in a February 2020 conference call about the origins of COVID-19.
The committee has uncovered documents that suggest Fauci may have lied about his participation in the call.
According to the documents released by the committee, it appears that Fauci was in charge of deciding who was and who was not on the conference call. This is in direct contradiction to what Fauci has said publicly, as he has repeatedly denied that he had any say in who participated in the call.
The former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, Robert Redfield, told the committee earlier this month that he was excluded from the conference call by Fauci.
Redfield believes he was left out of the call because he wanted to investigate the theory that the virus may have originated in a lab. Fauci has denied any involvement in excluding Redfield from the call.
The committee released emails that show Fauci appearing “to invite and then confirm participation” of Dr. Francis Collins, who was not originally invited. These emails suggest that Fauci may have had a larger role in the conference call than he has claimed.
The committee has requested that Fauci “produce all documents and communications in your custody or control regarding your involvement in the planning of the February 1, 2020, conference call, specifically documents regarding the invitation and participation of Dr. Francis Collins, as soon as possible, but no later than March 31, 2023.”
If Fauci is found to have lied about his involvement in the conference call, it could seriously damage his credibility and public trust in his leadership. It remains to be seen how this situation will develop, but it is clear that House Republicans are taking the matter seriously and are determined to get to the bottom of what happened.
