Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has agreed to testify publicly in June before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
This will mark his first public testimony since retiring from government at the end of 2022.
The subcommittee chair said the hearing will allow Americans to directly question Fauci about his role shaping pandemic policies and narratives around the origins of COVID-19.
“During Dr. Fauci’s closed-door interview in January, he testified to serious systemic failures in our public health system that deserve further investigation, including his testimony that the ‘6 feet apart’ social distancing guidance — which was used to shut down small businesses and schools across America — ‘sort of just appeared,’” subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup said.
“This raises significant concerns about public health officials and the validity of their policy recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also learned that he believes the lab leak hypothesis he publicly downplayed should not be dismissed as a conspiracy theory.”
“As the face of America’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, these statements raise serious questions that warrant public scrutiny,” he said.
During a prior closed-door interview with the panel, Fauci testified that certain public health responses “just appeared” and the lab leak theory should not have been dismissed.
The subcommittee also aims to shed light on systemic failures in the public health system through these hearings with Fauci and EcoHealth Alliance’s president in May.
Fauci was a leading advisor to both Trump and Biden on COVID-19 and became a politically polarizing figure regarding issues like masks and lockdowns.
