Senate emails prompt renewed demands for Anthony Fauci to testify, cite instructions to 'delete' messages

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee records that lawmakers say were unearthed this week appear to contradict testimony former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci gave to Congress about deleting official records and communications related to the origins of COVID-19.

In a letter to Fauci, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul pointed to two emails he said show Fauci instructed government colleagues to remove electronic messages. Paul cited an email dated Feb. 2, 2020, in which Fauci wrote to then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, "Please delete this e-mail after you read it." He also cited an email dated July 20, 2020, to a separate NIH employee in which Fauci wrote, "I do not want to engage any more with this nonsense. And so, please delete this e-mail after you read it."

Paul asked Fauci to respond within two weeks to a set of questions from the committee and said he is seeking to have Fauci appear before the panel again before the end of the year. Committee leaders have offered dates in October, November and December for Fauci to testify, according to the correspondence.

Fauci previously testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024 and was asked whether he had deleted official records, obstructed Freedom of Information Act requests or deleted communications relating to the Wuhan lab or the virus's origins. He denied those actions at the hearing. In 2023 testimony before the U.S. Senate, Fauci said he had "never lied before Congress."

The newly cited emails build on a multiyear inquiry by Paul and other Republican lawmakers into the origins of COVID-19, the role of U.S.-funded research in Wuhan, China, and whether high-risk biological research regulations were properly followed. Paul has issued subpoenas to at least 14 federal agencies seeking records related to the pandemic's origins and has repeatedly called for additional interviews and documents related to NIH decisions.

Paul has also pursued criminal referrals and accused Fauci of perjury in public statements; he said in July he planned to reissue a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. It is not clear how, or whether, those actions will affect potential legal exposure. Former President Joe Biden granted Fauci a preemptive pardon for actions related to his role during the pandemic, a development that Republicans have said could affect accountability in some investigations.

Committee officials did not immediately provide additional documentation of the emails beyond the material cited in Paul's letter, and Fauci has not publicly responded to the latest requests. A spokesman for the National Institutes of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The developments add to longstanding congressional scrutiny of federal oversight of pathogen research, including debate over whether certain experiments constitute "gain-of-function" research and how federal agencies documented and retained communications during the pandemic response. The Homeland Security committee has signaled it will continue seeking testimony and records as part of its review of decisions made early in the pandemic and the federal response to the virus.