Anthony Fauci testifies to Congress over Covid-19 origins and government response: Live updates

Maryland Rep Mfume called out Rep Malliotakis about asking Fauci about the “cruel animal tests”.

Fauci said that he wasn’t sure what that had to do with Covid. She called the experiments “not very humane.”

“If I might on a point of personal privilege to the gentlewoman from New York who wanted to argue that we should be worrying about testing human medicines on animals. If this committee really wants to do something, let’s talk about the most infamous biomedical research study in the United States: The Tuskegee study.”

Fauci pushed back on the idea that he tried to “suppress” the “lab leak theory” in an article.

Republican Rep Lesko asked if he was asked to suppress the lab leak theory. He rejected that idea, adding “you said four or five things that were untrue.”

“We have emails to prove it,” she said.

Fauci said, “Well, you don’t.”

Democratic Rep Mfume then said “No, we don’t have it.”

Rep Debbie Dingell asked about the threats Dr Fauci has received since the start of the pandemic.

“Everything from harassment by emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters. There have been credible death threats leading to the arrest of two individuals…it has required my having protective services all the time,” Fauci said.

“It is very troublesome to me because they involve my wife and my three daughters,” he added, seemingly choking up.

He said he still gets death threats today.

“You deserve better….I’m afraid that the treatment you have received will have far-reaching consequences for the future of science, particularly when done for the public good,” Rep Dingell said.

“I think this is a powerful disincentive for young people to want to go into public health and maybe even science and medicine in the public arena,” Fauci said. He added that his colleagues who are less “visible” have also received threats.

Rep Castor said that these subcommittees are meant to bring “light” to certain matters but unfortuantely in this circumstance, this subcommittee has “brought more heat than light.”

For five months, Republicans sat on Dr Fauci’s interview with the subcommittee from January.

Although they had an opportunity to release it before then, but decided to release the transcript this past week. “Republicans contorted and mischaracterized Dr Fauci’s words to gin up conspiracies about NIH’s role and the lead-up to the pandemic.” She gave Fauci an opportunity to clear up any parts of his 14-hour transcript that has been “cherry-picked,” as she put it.

He said the “issue of the six-foot distance” came from the CDC.

The transcript, released on May 31 despite the interview taking place months earlier, shows Dr Fauci explaining the six-foot distance recommendation saying, “You know, I don’t recall. It sort of just appeared. I don’t recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever. It was just that 6 foot is—”

On Monday, he clarified, “What I meant by ‘no science behind it’ was that there was no controlled trial” comparing three feet versus 10 feet to six feet. “It had little to do with me…’no science behind it’ means there was no clinical trial.”

Raskin directly asked, “I’m sure you’ve never been accused of starting a disease before. Is that right?” Fauci agreed.

The Democratic Rep then addressed allegations that Fauci tried to “cover up” a lab leak before apologizing on behalf of his GOP colleagues for “dragging his name” through the mud.

“They are treating you like a convicted felon. You probably wish they were treating you like a convicted felon. They treat convicted felons with love and admiration,” Raskin said, referring to former president Donald Trump who was just found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Rep Ruiz said after reviewing nearly half a million pages of documents, listening to witnesses, “they have come up empty handed for evidence of their extreme allegations that Dr Fauci lied about gain-of-function research and caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

He asked Dr Fauci if he was personally involved in the gain-of-function research. He responded that the research was done by experts below him.

“No evidence provided to this select subcommittee demonstrates that the work performed under NIH funding, including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, led to the creation of Sars-CoV-2,” Ruiz said.

Fauci talked about the “evolution” of a virus. Those studied at the Wuhan Institute are “so far removed from Sars-CoV-2” that it is “molecularly impossible” for those viruses to have been “made into Sars-CoV-2.” It’s a “virological fact.”

Chair Brad Wenstrup fires off a series of questions about someone that Dr Fauci said he didn’t know. “Does it concern you that US taxpayer dollars would be going to someone who is a high-ranking PLA official?”

Dr Fauci said he needed to know more information and said he repeated that he didn’t recognize the name of the person who allegedly received the medical grant.

Wenstrup has repeatedly cut off Fauci’s responses to his questions.

Dr Fauci read his written statement.

“Thank you for this opportunity to testify,” he began. He said he has been at the NIH for 54 years and was director of the NIAID for 38 years.

He addressed “certain issues that have been seriously distorted concerning me,” the infectious disease expert continued.

He first mentioned the lab leak theory. “The accusation being circulated that I influenced these scientists to change their minds with millions of dollars in grant money is absolutely false and simply preposterous,” Dr Fauci said.

He then addressed the accusations that he allegedly tried to “cover up” the possibility that the virus originated from a lab.

“The truth is exactly the opposite,” he said matter-of-factly. He then read an email, adding, “It is inconceivable that anvone who reads this e-mail could conclude that I was trying to ‘cover up’ the possibility ofa laboratory leak. To the contrary, it demonstrates that I was advocating for a prompt and thorough examination ofthe data and a totally transparent process.”