Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was the face of COVID-19 guidelines, testifies about the effectiveness of the policies.
While being questioned behind closed doors by a panel of GOP legislators in January 2024, Fauci discussed the six-foot social distancing rule and other measures implemented to protect people from the COVID-19 virus.
Fauci is scheduled to give public testimony June 3 on the COVID-19 restrictions he put in place—after he admitted to not doing much to slow down the spread of the virus, The Daily Mail reports.
During his hearing with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Fauci told GOP leaders his six-foot social distancing rule “just appeared,”
not remembering how he came up with it, according to committee transcripts. He added he wasn’t “aware of studies” that supported the idea of social distancing, claiming studies of that kind “would be very difficult.”“Do you recall reviewing any studies or data supporting masking for children?,” the doctor was asked.
“I might have,” he responded, “but I don’t recall specifically that I did.”
According to one study, the impact of kids wearing masks on literacy and learning is “very negative.” Social distancing also causes “depression, generalized anxiety, acute stress, and intrusive thoughts.”
Fauci also said he believes the lab leak theory—COVID coming from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)—is a “possibility.” In 2020, Fauci blocked the theory, which first appeared in the “Proximal Origin” paper.
“I think people have made conspiracy aspects from it,” Fauci said. “So I think that in and of itself isn’t inherently a conspiracy theory, but some people spin off things from that that are kind of crazy.”
However, Democrats are still skeptical of the Wuhan theory.
While there is no conclusive evidence to prove the theory, in May 2024, National Institutes of Health Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak told the committee that funds once went toward so-called “gain-of-function research” sought to enhance viruses as a way of finding ways to combat them. Fauci denied that claim during a heated 2021 Senate hearing with Rand Paul (R-KY).
There have also been accusations of email misconduct. The coronavirus committee recently discovered Fauci’s former top aide, Dr. David Morens, would often work through his personal email account and deleted files in efforts to avoid government transparency laws under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Morens allegedly bragged about learning how to make official correspondence “disappear” and admitted to deleting things he didn’t “want to see in the New York Times.”
The revelation resulted in committee’s chair, Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) demanding Fauci handing over his personal email and phone records to investigate. Once the go-to-person for
Democratic lawmakers, several legislators have joined forces with their GOP colleagues as their trust of Fauci has diminished.“What we all want are facts. There was evidence of things that were not right,” panel member Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said, according to Politico.
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