Investigation into Transparency During Covid-19: Senate Subcommittee Obtains Anthony Fauci’s Official Phone

The U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and Homeland Security has obtained a copy of the official iPhone belonging to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The device was secured just one day before the vote on holding him in contempt of Congress.

A spokesperson for Republican Senator Ron Johnson said the phone was handed over to the subcommittee by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Johnson said he hoped the data on the device would help clarify questions that, in his view, Fauci refused to answer during last week’s hearing.

Republican Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul are leading the investigation. For some time, they have expressed doubts about Fauci’s role during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the way information about the origins of the coronavirus was handled.

According to Republicans, Fauci’s refusal to cooperate raises questions. Democrats, meanwhile, describe the investigation as part of a political campaign directed against the scientist.

The Senate committee is expected to vote on a resolution to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. The initiative comes after he invoked the right guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution more than 100 times, declining to answer questions that could have incriminated him.

Rand Paul announced that approval of the resolution would lead to the matter being referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, where it would undergo further review.

At the same time, the committee made public more than 1,100 pages from Fauci’s personal diary covering the years 2019–2022. The documents detail his activities during the pandemic, communications with officials from the Trump and Biden administrations, public appearances, and concerns he had regarding the management of the health crisis.

Fauci is meanwhile covered by a preemptive pardon that former President Joe Biden granted him at the end of his term. It protects him from federal criminal prosecution for actions or statements related to the pandemic period.