RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Washington \u2014 Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has released more than a thousand pages of journal entries from Dr. Anthony Fauci, teeing up what is likely to be a contentious hearing with the nation\u0027s former top infectious disease expert on Wednesday about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0Paul, who heads the Senate Homeland Security Committee, subpoenaed Fauci to appear before the committee as part of the panel\u0027s investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Paul, who has pushed the theory that the virus emerged from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China rather than spilling over from animals to humans naturally, has long accused Fauci and other government officials of misleading the public and Congress about the source of the outbreak.\u00a0The journal entries date from December 2019, in the days leading up to the U.S. declaring a public health emergency, until December 2022, when Fauci stepped down as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a position he held for nearly four decades.Many scientists believe the evidence suggests that the virus emerged naturally from infected bats before it circulated to other species and spread to humans who were handling those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human cases appeared in late 2019. But the FBI has assessed the coronavirus "most likely" emerged in a "lab incident in Wuhan." In January 2025, the CIA issued a new assessment that favored the "lab leak" hypothesis, though it said the finding was made with "low confidence."\u00a0Some of Fauci\u0027s diary entries reflect early uncertainty about the source of the pandemic. In January 2020, he wrote that "we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier," though he added that "somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans." About a week later, he referenced a conference call in which several top infectious disease experts thought the coronavirus might not have originated in nature.Paul on Monday accused Fauci of saying one thing to "Dear Diary" while telling the public "it\u0027s implausible that it came from the lab, and we\u0027re really convinced it came from these wild animals in the marketplace. But that level of dishonesty is really astounding."In an entry dated May 26, 2021, Fauci wrote, "The situation continues to get \u0027out of control\u0027 with regard to the press reports concerning my \u0027flip flopping\u0027 concerning the theory of the origin of the virus. I had always said that the very highly likelihood is that the virus originated naturally from an animal reservoir jumping to a human. However, over the past couple of days given the amount of speculation about the possibility of a lab leak I have been saying that no one is 100% certain of the origin including me and so I am calling for a thorough investigation."Many of Fauci\u0027s diary entries note his interviews with the media, as well as his interactions with President Trump and other officials. At certain points, Fauci sounded bemused or bewildered by the sudden rush of attention and the "cult hero"-style fandom that he drew in some quarters near the start of the pandemic.\u00a0"It is not hyoperbole [sic] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson [sic] in the world," Fauci wrote in a May 21, 2020, entry. "POTUS seems to be enamored of me even though I am taking the spotlight away from him. We are developing a very unique and interesting relationship."\u00a0Fauci described some positive interactions between himself and the president in the pandemic\u0027s early months, and appeared uncomfortable with press coverage that suggested he and Mr. Trump were feuding. He wrote that a viral image that made it look like he was facepalming while Mr. Trump spoke to the press was "not my intention."At other points, he vented about Mr. Trump\u0027s "painfully rambling" and "laborious" news conferences, or described arguments in which Mr. Trump accused Fauci of undermining him.Ahead of a May 2020 event to announce the Operation Warp Speed vaccine initiative, Fauci wrote that Mr. Trump pulled him aside and said: "Tony, you are losing me trillions of f***ing dollars," before later saying "you and I are OK" and confirming that he respected Fauci. Mr. Trump then argued officials shouldn\u0027t wear masks at the event, saying it "sends the wrong signal," but Fauci pushed back."Tony, we are good, right?" the president asked Fauci after the conversation, according to Fauci\u0027s notes.He said he replied: "We are good Mr. President."By August 2020, as the president\u0027s public stance toward Fauci grew more adversarial, Fauci wrote that Mr. Trump was acting "erratically" and expressed frustration about the president\u0027s public criticisms, even referring to Mr. Trump as an "idiot" for posting inaccurate figures on COVID-19 deaths.CBS News has reached out to Fauci and the White House for comment.\u00a0Paul\u0027s office did not respond to a request for comment about how they obtained Fauci\u0027s journal.\u00a0Some of Fauci\u0027s entries noted his combative relationship with Paul. On April 20, 2021, Fauci wrote that Paul was among those spreading conspiracy theories "to try and connect me with the virus from WUHAN." Fauci added that one of his advisers, David Morens \u2014 who has since been indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to the pandemic research grants \u2014 "has heard that these people are trying to \u0027bring me down.\u0027"\u00a0A couple of months later, Fauci cited reporting on the release of his emails from the early days of the pandemic.\u00a0"They show that I never criticize president trump and that I am always very courteous and measured in my responses. Even with that the crazies such as senator Rand Paul are saying things like \u0027I told you so,\u0027 implying that my emails are validating wh...
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