Anthony S. Fauci defended himself Monday against claims that he orchestrated a coverup of the coronavirus pandemic’s origins, with the former government official rejecting some allegations as “simply preposterous.”
The prominent infectious-disease expert, who served as a senior leader at the National Institutes of Health for four decades before leaving government at the end of 2022, said Republicans have distorted emails between himself and other scientists as they discussed whether a laboratory leak of the coronavirus was possible.
“We spend our whole life trying to determine the causes of infectious diseases, and stop them to protect the American people,” Fauci said, adding that he did not pressure colleagues to reach a conclusion about the origins of the virus while disputing other Republican charges.
The former health adviser in the Trump and Biden administrations testified Monday before the House panel investigating the nation’s coronavirus response. The contentious hearing unfolded for 3½ hours. It came amid a battle between the panel’s Republican and Democratic leaders over whether its focus on Fauci is necessary to understand the virus’s possible origins, or a waste of time that is propagating unproven theories about the pandemic and damaging confidence in public health.
It is the first time Fauci has faced a GOP-led panel publicly to answer questions about the covid-19 pandemic, which is linked to the deaths of more than 1 million Americans. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees U.S. health agencies, also joined the hearing. Fauci privately testified before the lawmakers for 14 hours in January.
The panel has not found evidence that Fauci led a coverup or that the virus leaked from a laboratory. Most U.S. intelligence entities probing the pandemic favor the theory that the virus emerged naturally, via animal-to-human transmission.
