Search results
Feb 24, 2022 · Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (AP)
Jun 3, 2024 · Dr. Fauci denied ever using his personal email to conduct agency business and criticized Dr. Morens for his handling of public records and dealings with EcoHealth leaders. “It was a terrible ...
Jun 3, 2024 · Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee at the ...
- Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
- Senior Writer
- Overview
- The Fauci interview
Washington — Members of Congress, their staffers and one of the world's most famous doctors, Dr. Anthony Fauci, sat for 14 hours over two days last week around a long conference table in a private office in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. They took breaks to munch on sandwiches, salads, cookies and chips. And the two main players shook hands at the very end.
The marathon closed-door interview sessions with Fauci, who helped spearhead the federal government's response to the COVID pandemic, are setting the stage for a higher-profile public hearing and interrogation in late spring or early summer, according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News. And the questioning will happen in the middle of a heated election year, as some Republicans continue to blister Fauci with criticism over his role in the government's response to the pandemic.
The Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has been probing Fauci's handling of the pandemic; the origins of COVID-19, including the theory that COVID leaked from a Chinese lab; and vaccine mandates and programs overseen by government officials during the pandemic.
Sources in the room for Fauci's two-day interview told CBS News the meeting was cordial, but also revealed the intense and fractious political divide over his legacy and work.
With hourly breaks, Republican and Democratic staffers and members took turns peppering Fauci with questions about his work during the Trump and Biden administrations' response to COVID.
Republicans pressed Fauci on the "lab leak" theory, which posits that the coronavirus escaped from a virology lab in China, and other lines of inquiry about COVID's origins. They also asked Fauci about the social distancing and school closures that defined the experience of the pandemic for Americans.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, told CBS News the interview and the exchanges were cordial and professional. In a public statement after the two-day interview, Wenstrup said Fauci "testified that the lab leak hypothesis — which was often suppressed — was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory. Further, the social distancing recommendations forced on Americans 'sort of just appeared' and were likely not based on scientific data."
Rep. Raul Ruiz of California, the top Democrat on the panel, told CBS News that "Dr. Fauci is a dedicated public servant who stepped up for our nation during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic." He criticized House Republicans for pursuing what he called "a politically motivated probe to vilify him."
According to sources familiar with the interview, one Republican lawmaker questioned Fauci about learning loss suffered by students who were shifted to virtual schooling during the peak of the pandemic.
Fauci declined to comment to CBS News about his interview. But in a statement, his attorney pushed back on anticipated criticism of Fauci's responses about educational setbacks.
- Macfarlane
- 4 min
Jun 3, 2024 · WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert until leaving the government in 2022, was back before Congress on Monday, calling “simply preposterous” Republican ...
Jul 11, 2023 · Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said they aimed to use a hearing Tuesday to set the record straight on Republicans’ claims that Drs. Anthony Fauci and ...
Jun 3, 2024 · 3 June 2024. US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci faced intense questioning from Republican lawmakers in his first public appearance before Congress since leaving his White House advisory ...
