Rand Paul releases Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diaries ahead of hearing showdown - CNN

What the report says

CNN reports that Sen. Rand Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, has released more than 1,100 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary entries from 2019 to 2022 ahead of Fauci’s expected testimony Wednesday in Washington. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is appearing under subpoena after initially declining to testify voluntarily, citing Paul’s past public calls for him to face prosecution.

According to CNN, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he provided the files to Paul and Sen. Ron Johnson after they were found on government servers. A person familiar with the matter told CNN that neither HHS nor the committee notified Fauci in advance that the diary had been obtained or would be published in full. The entries reportedly cover Fauci’s media schedule, contacts with public figures and journalists, and his evolving concerns about Covid-19 and the federal response.

The hearing is expected to revisit long-running disputes between Paul and Fauci over pandemic policy, the origins of Covid-19 and allegations involving U.S.-funded research in China. CNN notes that Paul has alleged, without evidence, that NIAID-funded work in Wuhan involved gain-of-function research that caused the pandemic, while Fauci has repeatedly denied that claim and argued the research did not meet the federal definition at issue.

The episode matters because it extends a yearslong political fight over pandemic accountability and public health trust. CNN reports that Paul and Johnson have suggested they do not expect major new revelations, but the release of Fauci’s private records is likely to intensify scrutiny of his pandemic-era decisions and communications.