COVID subcommittee chair says 'honesty is non-negotiable' in upcoming Fauci interview

Former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci will once again face questions on the origins of COVID-19, vaccine mandates and how to prevent something like the COVID-19 pandemic from happening again in his upcoming closed-door congressional interview, according to the chair of the committee leading the investigation.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic announced in November that Fauci had agreed to a 2-day transcribed interview on Jan. 8 and 9. He will also testify in front of the panel later this year, with the date still to be determined.

Subcommittee chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) told The Hill this interview will serve as an "after action review" of the federal government's actions during the public health emergency for COVID-19.

"We want to have some lessons learned and hopefully be able to come forward with some ideas for a path forward. And one of the things I keep saying is it'd be great if in the future we can predict the next pandemic, prepare for it, protect ourselves and maybe even prevent it," Wenstrup said.

"I think Dr. Fauci's testimony is really a crucial component of the work we're trying to do as it relates to the origins of COVID, the effects of mandates for vaccination, gain-of-function type research, scientific censorship in areas where it looks like it occurred."

Wenstrup noted the cover-up theory that Republicans on the subcommittee have put forward, which suggests Fauci and former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins encouraged researchers to write a paper that supported the natural origins theory of COVID-19 over a potential lab leak.

Both Fauci and Collins took part in a teleconference with the researchers to discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 in Feb. 2020. The select subcommittee heard from two of the researchers of that specific paper last year, in which they testified that Fauci and Collins said little in the teleconference, did not influence their paper and were mainly there to gather information.

Fauci has previously spoken about this call, saying his role in organizing it was evidence of his openness to a lab-leak theory. Speaking about his views on the origins of COVID last year, Fauci said he maintains an open mind about where the virus may have come from, though alluded to the "accumulating evidence" supporting a natural origin.

Fauci stepped down from government work at the end of 2022 after serving as a prominent source of guidance and information during the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since joined Georgetown University's School of Medicine faculty as a distinguished professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases.

The former government researcher will take part in two 7-hour interviews during the two days he speaks with the subcommittee. Two of his personal counsel and two government counsel will also be present during the interview.

Wenstrup said the interview will be "more of a roundtable" or "scientific discussion" in which the majority and minority on the subcommittee will trade off hours of questioning.

"We need to all hold ourselves accountable — Congress as well — but it's a chance for [Fauci] to hold himself and others accountable for any successes or failures along the way," Wenstrup said. "You should be very open about whatever you may have done or said, because Congress does have the oversight responsibilities on behalf of the American people."

When asked about additional people he would like to interview going forward, Wenstrup said there are "about five Chinese scientists I'd like to talk to," but added that the Chinese embassy was not interested in his request.