Sen. Rand Paul cites emails in push for Anthony Fauci to testify, says messages directed staff to ‘delete’ communications

Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday demanded that Dr. Anthony Fauci answer questions about emails the senator says show the former White House chief medical adviser directed staff to delete messages, a move Paul says conflicts with Fauci’s earlier testimony to Congress.

In a letter to Fauci, Paul cited two emails allegedly uncovered by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in which Fauci told colleagues to remove communications after reading them. One is dated Feb. 2, 2020, and Paul quoted Fauci as instructing then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins: "Please delete this e-mail after you read it." The senator also cited a July 20, 2020, message in which Fauci told an NIH employee, "I do not want to engage any more with this nonsense. And so, please delete this e-mail after you read it." Paul gave Fauci two weeks to respond to the committee’s questions and said committee leaders are seeking to have Fauci appear before Congress again before the end of the year, providing potential dates in October, November and December.

Paul’s letter and the emails cited by the senator come after months of Republican-led scrutiny into the origins of COVID-19, U.S. funding for research in Wuhan, China, and the government’s handling of related records. Paul, who chairs the committee, has issued subpoenas to 14 federal agencies seeking documents tied to the pandemic’s origin and oversight of high-risk biological research, and he has previously signaled an intent to compel testimony from officials involved in those decisions.

The newly cited emails, Paul said, appear to contradict Fauci’s testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024. During that hearing, Fauci was asked whether he had deleted official records, sought to obstruct Freedom of Information Act requests, or deleted communications concerning the Wuhan lab or the virus’s origins; he denied those actions, according to transcripts.

Fauci previously testified before the U.S. Senate in 2023 that he had "never lied before Congress." Paul and other critics have accused Fauci of misleading lawmakers about the National Institutes of Health’s involvement in research in Wuhan and about whether any U.S.-funded work constituted gain-of-function research. Paul said earlier this year he planned to reissue a criminal referral of Fauci to the Justice Department and has suggested perjury charges could follow if the contradictions are confirmed.

It remained unclear on Tuesday whether Fauci would comply with the committee’s request or whether he could be compelled to appear. Paul has said he will subpoena witnesses as necessary; at the same time, the senator and others have noted that a preemptive pardon granted by former President Joe Biden could affect potential criminal exposure tied to pandemic-era actions, a factor Paul and allies say could complicate enforcement.

The exchanges cited by Paul are part of a broader, years-long inquiry by Republican-led panels into the government’s early pandemic response, the origins of the virus and the oversight of U.S.-funded research abroad. Investigators have publicly and privately sought communications among public health officials, funding records, and internal deliberations over research approvals.

The committee’s release of the emails, and Paul’s subsequent letter, escalate existing tensions between Fauci and lawmakers who have questioned his public statements and his management of departmental records. Fauci has been a frequent target of criticism from Republicans who argue federal health officials failed to be fully transparent; Fauci and his supporters have said investigations and public criticism have been politically motivated.

The committee has not released a full set of the emails cited by Paul, and Fauci’s office had not publicly responded to the senator’s letter as of Tuesday. Paul’s office said it would pursue testimony and records if necessary to resolve questions about whether officials sought to delete or conceal official communications during the pandemic response. The outcome — whether Fauci will provide the requested answers, appear for another hearing, or be subpoenaed — is expected to be a focus of the committee’s work in the coming weeks.