Featured Image: yourNEWS Media Illustration
The device could provide additional records for lawmakers examining the federal COVID-19 response, the origins of the virus and Anthony Fauci’s communications while leading the nation’s infectious disease agency.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A Senate investigative panel has obtained a copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s government-issued iPhone as lawmakers expand their review of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the origins of the virus.
The Department of Health and Human Services transferred the phone data to the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Johnson said Fauci used the device while serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The transfer occurred days after HHS provided Congress with copies of Fauci’s journals, which were subsequently released to the public. Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have intensified their efforts to obtain documents and communications related to Fauci’s government service, pandemic policies and discussions about how COVID-19 began.
Paul chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which voted Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly declined to answer questions during testimony the previous week.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during the hearing. He also told lawmakers that he had testified before or briefed Congress more than 200 times during nearly four decades as head of NIAID.
During the contentious proceeding, Fauci accused Paul of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.
The newly obtained phone may contain emails, messages, call records or other material relevant to the committees’ inquiries, although lawmakers have not disclosed what information has been recovered from the device.
Johnson’s office described the phone as one component of a much broader document review. Johnson and Paul have also received millions of additional pages connected to Fauci from federal government servers and are continuing to seek more records.
Fauci became one of the most prominent officials in the federal pandemic response after COVID-19 emerged in 2020. During President Donald Trump’s first administration, he sometimes publicly disagreed with Trump over the government’s handling of the outbreak and advocated more restrictive public health measures.
He remained in federal service during the opening years of the Biden administration before retiring in 2022.
Former President Joe Biden issued Fauci a pardon during his final days in office amid concerns that Republican lawmakers or federal officials might pursue criminal charges related to his actions during the pandemic.
The pardon has become a central issue in the current congressional investigations, particularly after Fauci continued invoking the Fifth Amendment when questioned about matters potentially covered by the document.
HHS is now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of Fauci. Kennedy published a book in 2021 challenging Fauci’s management of the pandemic and alleging that he maintained close relationships with pharmaceutical companies.
Congressional scrutiny is occurring alongside separate state-level inquiries. At least four Republican-led states have opened investigations involving Fauci as lawmakers and state officials continue seeking records concerning pandemic decisions, federal research funding and the origins of COVID-19.
Original article
Comments