Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday refuted allegations of participating in downplaying theories that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
During the hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) questioned Fauci on whether he believed there was an effort to minimize the lab leak theory.
“Not on my part,” says Fauci.
“Really?” an astonished Jordan replied to Fauci’s response.
“Really,” Fauci reiterated.
“Wow,” Jordan continued. “I think most of the country would find that surprising.”
As previously reported by various news outlets, Fauci has consistently dismissed theories that the coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.
In a May 2020 interview with National Geographic, Fauci cited “the evolution of the virus in bats and what’s out there now” as scientific proof that the coronavirus “could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated.”
National Geographic noted that Fauci did not consider an alternate theory — that someone found the coronavirus in the wild, brought it to a lab, and then it accidentally escaped.
In a June 2021 podcast with the New York Times, Fauci described theories of the coronavirus originating from a Wuhan lab as a “very, very, very, very remote possibility.”
A month earlier, the Wall Street Journal released a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report claiming that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) were hospitalized in November 2019 with symptoms resembling coronavirus:
A State Department fact sheet issued during the Trump administration, based on classified intelligence, stated that the “U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV fell ill in autumn 2019, prior to the first identified outbreak case, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and seasonal illnesses.” The Jan. 15 fact sheet questioned the credibility of Dr. Shi and criticized Beijing for its “deceit and disinformation” while acknowledging that the U.S. has not determined the exact origins of the pandemic.
Emails released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in March 2023 revealed that Fauci encouraged a study based on a scientific paper to disprove that the coronavirus had leaked from a lab.
Despite having previously dismissed the lab leak theory, Fauci has maintained that he has kept an “open mind” regarding the theory.
