Fauci to Testify Again Before Senator Paul

Anthony Fauci is set to face off against Sen. Rand Paul once more in late June, as detailed in a congressional letter. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s website disclosed that Paul is expected to provide a transcript of his interview with Fauci. Sen. Gary Peters, the leading Democrat on the committee, expressed concerns in a letter to Paul about the lack of communication surrounding these plans.

While Paul’s office hasn’t replied to requests for comment, Fauci also did not respond immediately.

Transcribed interviews differ from public hearings. They’re usually conducted with legislators, Congressional staff, witnesses, and lawyers, and generally, the transcripts and videos are made available to the public. Peters criticized Paul, claiming that the committee was denied a chance to participate in the minority notification and transcription of Fauci’s upcoming interview, which he sees as obstructing a fair oversight process. Republicans, currently in the majority, control the committee and have the power to subpoena records and summon witnesses. Yet Peters noted his willingness to engage on critical matters like lab safety in a bipartisan fashion.

Regarding Fauci’s past appearances, Paul recently flagged an instance from a committee meeting on September 12, 2025, when Fauci allegedly instructed his staff to delete emails in what some interpreted as a violation of federal record-keeping laws.

In an email to Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health, Fauci stated, “Please delete this email after reading it.” This correspondence came after he discussed a paper that dismissed the possibility of a lab leak in Wuhan. Some authors of that study privately had concerns about a potential lab accident causing the pandemic. Relevant private emails and chats are expected to be disclosed through Freedom of Information Act requests and Congressional subpoenas.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci and Paul frequently clashed over Fauci’s support for gain-of-function research, which is research aimed at amplifying the spread or severity of viruses.

When questioned by Paul, Fauci denied under oath that his agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where a coronavirus strain was found to have up to 10,000 times the viral load of the original virus.

In May, the committee received testimony from CIA whistleblower James Erdman III, claiming that Fauci was involved in shaping the U.S. intelligence community’s views on the coronavirus origins by connecting favored scientists tied to NIAID and the Wuhan lab.

On his last day in office, January 19, 2025, former President Joe Biden signed a pardon for Fauci related to an unspecified crime dating back to January 1, 2014.