During the daily briefing Thursday afternoon White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about a trove of emails belonging to Dr. Anthony Fauci and released this week through a Freedom of Information Act request.
"I think we've spoken to this pretty extensively from here. Let me just say, on Dr. Fauci and his emails, he has also spoken to this many, many times over the course of the last few days and we will let him speak for himself. And he’s been an undeniable asset in our country’s pandemic response, but it’s obviously not that advantageous for me to re-litigate emails from 17 months ago. We've launched, based on the President’s direction, an entire internal review process to use all of the resources across the government to get to the bottom of the origins," Psaki said.
The emails were released for the first time this week, so they aren't being "re-litigated."
Psaki attempted to downplay the significance of the information in the emails, which show Dr. Anthony Fauci arguing drug store masks don't offer protection from the disease, sending papers to colleagues about dangerous gain-of-function research, downplaying the need for a vaccine and more. The emails also show Fauci was told by an NIH scientist that Wuhan coronavirus was "potentially engineered" in a lab.
When asked if President Biden still has confidence in Fauci, despite his emails contradicting public statements he made about the pandemic, Psaki defended his record.
Jen Psaki, when pressed on the FOIA'd Fauci emails, defends Dr. Fauci's record:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 3, 2021
"The President and the administration feel that Dr. Fauci has played an incredible role in getting the pandemic under control, being a voice to the public throughout the course of this pandemic." pic.twitter.com/0DaE3GCfHg