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Fauci to Testify About COVID Pandemic: What His Diaries Reveal
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. 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.
Newsweek reached out to Rand Paul's Office and Anthony Fauci's University Press Department for comment.
One of the most consequential sections of the diary concerns the origins of COVID-19. In a January 31, 2020 entry, Fauci wrote that Jeremy Farrar, then director of the Wellcome Trust, and several scientists had raised concerns about parts of the virus they believed warranted closer scrutiny.
Fauci wrote that some researchers were focusing on the furin cleavage site—a feature of the virus that helps it infect human cells—as they explored whether the virus could have arisen naturally.
"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.
The following day, Fauci joined a call with Farrar, Francis Collins, Kristian Andersen and other prominent scientists. According to the diary, participants disagreed on the likelihood of a laboratory origin, but agreed the issue warranted further investigation.
The diaries also show that officials were divided over how aggressively to restrict travel from China as the outbreak spread.
On January 26, 2020, Fauci wrote that White House officials were pushing "to close the borders for any traffic from China," adding: "Bob and I are against that."
At the same time, the diary shows Fauci supporting airport screening, quarantines and other travel-control measures. The disagreement appears to have centered on how broad restrictions should be, rather than whether action should be taken at all.
"Let us see if this pits me against the POTUS."
One of the most politically significant themes running through the diary is Fauci's concern that public health messaging was not keeping pace with the threat posed by the virus—and that his own warnings could put him at odds with President Donald Trump.
As early as January 22, 2020, after Trump said the outbreak appeared to be under control following conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Fauci wrote that he stressed the U.S. was taking the situation seriously before adding: "Let us see if this pits me against the POTUS."
The concern resurfaced weeks later. In a February 27, 2020 entry, Fauci recounted a lengthy phone call with Trump in which he urged the president not to minimize the outbreak.
"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.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
Publicly, the pair often appeared at odds as the pandemic unfolded. Privately, however, Fauci's diary describes a considerably warmer relationship during the outbreak's early months.
In one January 2020 entry, Fauci recalled Trump praising him during a White House meeting. "Anthony, you are really a famous guy," Trump told him.
Later in the same account, Trump reportedly asked: "Anthony, are we OK?" After Fauci reassured him, the president replied: "Thanks again, Anthony. We are counting on you."
The diary repeatedly portrays Trump turning to Fauci for advice during meetings and seeking his assessment of major policy decisions as the outbreak worsened.
The diary also reveals frequent frustration with parts of the federal response, particularly around communication and testing.
In January 2020, after a dispute involving CDC messaging on seasonal influenza, Fauci wrote simply: "Typical CDC!"
As the coronavirus spread, he repeatedly documented concerns about coordination failures and the government's ability to scale up testing.
He was also candid about then-CDC Director Robert Redfield, writing: "Bob Redfield just does not come across very well. He takes forever to say something and it is usually wandering."
The entries offer a rare look at disagreements that largely unfolded behind closed doors as officials raced to respond to the emerging threat.
Newsweek reached out to the CDC via email for comment.
Few pandemic-era debates proved as divisive as hydroxychloroquine, and Fauci's diary suggests the disagreements were just as intense behind closed doors.
As Trump and some advisers publicly championed the drug, Fauci repeatedly argued that evidence of its effectiveness remained unproven.
"I took a deep breath and said that this was wrong."
Describing one White House discussion, he wrote: "I took a deep breath and said that this was wrong and should not be done."
He also recounted a heated clash with trade adviser Peter Navarro, who argued studies showed the drug worked against COVID-19. Fauci pushed back, writing that the supporting evidence remained largely anecdotal.
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.
The testimony will be among Fauci's highest-profile public appearances since leaving government and is expected to draw renewed scrutiny of some of the most contentious debates of the pandemic.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Emma Lee-Sang
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