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Fauci to Testify About COVID Pandemic: What His Diaries Reveal

Newsweek · back to the audit

Anthony Fauci is set to testify before the Senate this week about the federal government's response to COVID-19. Ahead of the hearing, thousands of pages of diary entries released by Senator Rand Paul's office provide a behind-the-scenes account of the pandemic's earliest months, revealing private debates about the virus's origins, concerns about President Donald Trump's public messaging and sharp disagreements inside the government response.

'They bring up the possibility that this could have been deliberately inserted and either accidentally released or deliberately released by a crazy person in the lab,' Fauci wrote.

'I encouraged him not to underplay the seriousness of the situation,' Fauci wrote, adding that he warned Trump that if the virus worsened after officials had downplayed the threat, it could create significant problems.

Fauci is scheduled to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, July 29, where lawmakers are expected to question him about the federal government's pandemic response, the origins of COVID-19, public health guidance and decision-making during the outbreak.

Coverage includes: early lab-leak discussion records, internal debate over China travel restrictions, Fauci's warnings to Trump not to downplay COVID, characterization of a surprisingly warm relationship with Trump, frustration with CDC, clash with Elon Musk, hydroxychloroquine flashpoint.