Anthony Fauci defended his handling of the pandemic in House testimony on Monday, while seeking to distance himself from a longtime aide accused of misconduct.
Fauci sought to refute allegations from Republicans on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that he tried to suppress the theory that a lab accident in Wuhan, China, caused the pandemic.
He said that idea is not a conspiracy theory and that he had kept an open mind about how the pandemic started. He has, however, endorsed a theory that the disease came from an infected animal.
Fauci insisted that the research his agency funded at the Wuhan Institute of Virology could not have created Covid.
In the past month, the Department of Health and Human Services has given proponents of the lab leak theory some ammunition by stripping EcoHealth Alliance, the U.S. research group that collaborated on virus studies with Wuhan, and its president, Peter Daszak, of federal funding. The department has threatened to permanently bar both from government grants, alleging they failed to comply with oversight rules.
The department has not accused the group of complicity in the pandemic.
HHS has also placed Fauci’s longtime senior adviser, David Morens, on leave for using personal email for official business.
Fauci said he supported HHS’ decision on EcoHealth and that he and Morens didn’t work closely, despite their 24 years together at the agency Fauci led, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
After leading the pandemic response, Fauci retired at the end of 2022.
“Despite his title, and even though he was helpful to me in writing scientific papers, Dr. Morens was not an adviser to me on institute policy or other substantive issues,” Fauci told lawmakers.
Fauci, in his first public testimony on Capitol Hill since leaving NIAID, also said that he and Morens didn’t work in the same building and that Morens wasn’t part of his inner circle.
Two weeks ago, Democrats and Republicans on the Covid panel blasted Morens for his cozy rapport with Daszak, and for his use of Gmail to conduct official business.
Emails released by the subcommittee last month show Morens detailing his efforts to shield email correspondence with Daszak, a close friend. Morens used his Gmail to give Daszak information about how Fauci was handling the fallout after the Trump administration cut EcoHealth’s funding in 2020, to advise Daszak on how to respond to criticism and even what to tweet about it.
Morens’ attorney, Timothy Belevetz, managing partner at the firm Ice Miller, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Fauci said he has never used a personal email account to conduct government business, to the best of his recollection. Morens suggested in one of his emails that Fauci had.
Why it matters: Fauci’s testimony sought to contain the fallout from Morens’ alleged misconduct and the HHS decision to strip EcoHealth, which had received millions in federal funding for virus research, of its grants.
Throughout the hearing, Fauci faced criticism from Republicans, who castigated him for supporting mandatory Covid vaccination that they said trampled Americans’ freedom.
“You affected people's ability to work, travel, educate, to … self-determine. Shame on you!” said Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.).
Democrats praised him for his involvement in developing and promoting Covid vaccines, which studies have shown saved millions of lives.
“You are an American hero” who’s done more to save lives than all House members, said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.).
Democrats accused Republicans of using Fauci to deflect from the legal troubles of former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“The people bowing down to a twice-impeached convicted felon who told people to inject themselves with bleach now want you to believe not only a big political lie, but a big medical lie, too,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee of which the Covid panel is part.
Fauci choked up describing death threats he and his family received from people who blame him for the pandemic.
That didn’t stop Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.) from telling him he belonged in prison.
Fauci also tried to refute a claim by Republicans that the 6-foot social distancing rule that kept many businesses and schools closed in the first years of the pandemic was not based on science.
He said when he testified in January during a closed-door session with the Covid panel that the measure “just appeared,” he was referring to the lack of a clinical trial demonstrating its validity.
Fauci added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced the measure based on knowledge at the time about how far droplets containing the virus could travel from one person to another.
What’s next: HHS continues to investigate Morens’ use of personal email and alleged efforts to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests.
The EcoHealth Alliance plans to protest the decision to rescind its grant, a spokesperson for the group said, adding that the group had complied with oversight rules.
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