Fauci to face Republican questions over Covid pandemic origins – US politics live
Key events33m agoFauci to face questions from Senate Republicans over pandemic originsScientists have scrambled to Anthony Fauci’s defense ahead of the unusual hearing, the second time the longtime National. . .
Key events33m agoFauci to face questions from Senate Republicans over pandemic originsScientists have scrambled to Anthony Fauci’s defense ahead of the unusual hearing, the second time the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist has been before Congress to discuss pandemic origins since leaving the government in 2022. While the Covid-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he talked the nation through numerous outbreaks over decades, including HIV, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks, while advising seven presidents. In a public letter, more than 150 infectious disease experts and other scientists wrote that “no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges” and that they are “urging our elected representatives in Congress stop these witch-hunts. ”“The charges against Dr Fauci are baseless, suggesting he covered up the origins of Covid, that he bribed or persuaded other scientists to join his cover-up, that Niaid-funded research sparked the pandemic, that he personally holds patents on the virus, and that he’s working with intelligence agencies to suppress the true story of the pandemic,” the letter stated. “No credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges. ”The letter added that the allegations and accusations about Fauci have led to “five-year period of harassment and threats of violence directed at Dr Fauci and his family”. Fauci to face questions from Senate Republicans over pandemic originsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Senators are expected to questionAnthony Fauci, the former veteran director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), about whether the Covid-19 virus began as a “lab leak” in a high-profile hearing later today. Fauci, who served as a key adviser toDonald Trumpand Joe Biden on the Covid-19 pandemic, will give testimony as part of a longtime Republican investigation into the origins of the pandemic, led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Fauci will likely be quizzed about whether the Covid-19 virus began as a “lab leak”, a claim virologists have argued is unlikely. While Republicans have characterized their work as investigating “the origins of Covid-19 and risky taxpayer-funded life science research”, scientistshave characterizedPaul’s investigation as “vilification and harassment” of Fauci, who led Niaid for 38 years before retiringin 2022. “For years, Americans were told a lab origin wasn’t just unlikely – it was dismissed outright by the very people funding and reviewing this research,” Paul, who chairs the Senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs, where Fauci is scheduled to testify, said last week. Fauci, who is 85, served under seven US presidents and through numerous health crises, including the HIV crisis, Ebola outbreaks and the first coronavirus outbreak, calledSars-CoV-1. He became a household name overnight when the Covid-19 pandemic halted social life in 2020. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic at Capitol Hill, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Washington. Photograph: Mariam Zuhaib/APThe “lab leak” theory has since gained significant traction in Republican circles. In just one example, the White House published atreatiseon the theory in April 2025 that served as a rationale for defunding the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read the full story here:In other developments:Donald TrumpmetVolodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, andBenjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, before giving the eulogy at the funeral ofLindsey Graham. The US Senate voted to confirmJay Claytonas director of national intelligence, installing Donald Trump’s pick in the role despite his lack of prior experience with intelligence and concerns that he will be “Trump’s election conspiracy wingman”. WithVolodymyr Zelenskyywatching from the Senate gallery, the US Senate voted 86 to 12 to advance the “Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act”. Democratic senators said that they would work to eliminate the expansive tariff authority the sanctions bill would give Trump. Ukraine’s president,Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Fox News on Tuesday that Donald Trump had, again, agreed to allow Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriot air defense interceptors to defend against Russian ballistic missile attacks.