Republicans on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released key takeaways from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s first day of closed-door testimony, alleging the seven-hour hearing with the former head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases “uncovered drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems.”
✔️Dr. Fauci profusely defended his previous testimony where he stated @NIH does not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
Today, he repeatedly played semantics with the definition of gain-of-function in an attempt to avoid conceding that NIH funded this dangerous research.
✔️A 2020 email, previously released by the Select Subcommittee, proved Dr. Fauci was aware of dangerous gain-of-function research occurring in Wuhan, China.
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
Today, he backtracked by arguing he should not have stated that as “fact.”
Clearly, the American people and the United States government are operating with completely different expectations about the responsibilities of our public health leaders and the accountability of our public health agencies.
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
More accountability coming soon!
“While leading the nation’s COVID-19 response and influencing public narratives, he simultaneously had no idea what was happening under his own jurisdiction at NIAID,” said Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) in a statement after the interview. “Dr. Fauci signed off on all domestic and foreign research grants without reviewing the proposals and admitted that he was unaware if NIAID conducted oversight of the laboratories they fund. Clearly, the American people and the United States government are operating with completely different expectations about the responsibilities of our public health leaders and the accountability of our public health agencies.”
Wenstrup was also concerned by Fauci’s inability to remember key details about the pandemic’s origins and policies from that period of time.
“Nearly 1.2 million Americans lost their lives to a potentially preventable pandemic,” he added.
Democrats, meanwhile, disputed the GOP’s takeaways.
“The Republicans have totally distorted Dr. Fauci’s testimony, ongoing testimony, which will be available in a transcript,” Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) told reporters about the thread, according to The Hill. “And I hope that that won’t take too long, because I think that will be very illuminating to you and to the public.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), meanwhile, said the posts were “disinformation.”
“They did not reflect the discussion that — I was feeling at the end of the day when I left here, that it had been a respectful discussion and we had had good conversations,” she said.