155 Scientists Defend Fauci Against 'Baseless' Charges
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- Over 155 scientists, physicians and public health advocates signed an open letter published one day before Fauci's scheduled testimony, urging Congress to stop 'witch-hunts' and the 'public harassment' of American scientists by the Trump administration and its allies.
- The letter dismisses as 'baseless' specific charges against Fauci — that he covered up Covid origins, bribed other scientists to join a cover-up, personally holds virus patents, and worked with intelligence agencies to suppress the true story of the pandemic — asserting no credible evidence supports 'these absurd charges.'
- Fauci, 85, who led the NIAID for 38 years through HIV, Covid, Ebola, SARS 1 and the 2001 anthrax attacks, has endured a 'five-year period of harassment and threats of violence directed at Dr Fauci and his family,' the signatories state.
- Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chair of the Senate Homeland Security committee that subpoenaed Fauci, released thousands of pages of Fauci's pandemic-era diary entries ahead of Wednesday's hearing, including reflections on managing Covid, his relationship with Trump and his media image.
- President Biden issued a pre-emptive pardon to Fauci before leaving office last year, but Paul has nonetheless referred Fauci to the Department of Justice for 'potential criminal prosecution.'
Why it matters: The letter marks the first large-scale, formal pushback from the scientific establishment against the ongoing investigation — 155 signatories publicly calling the charges 'absurd' and unsupported. But the hearing proceeds regardless: Paul has already obtained Fauci's diary, compelled his testimony and referred him to DOJ despite Biden's pre-emptive pardon, meaning congressional scrutiny continues whether the scientific community objects or not.
