FAUCI DEPOSITION
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, fielded questions from lawmakers during a closed-door deposition at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 8.
The marathon Q&A session, lasting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,was the first in a two-day series of testimonies given by Fauci to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
This is Fauci’s first time answering lawmakers’ questions under oath since November 2022.
Fauci agreed to appear on condition that he be allowed to bring with him two personal attorneys and two attorneys for the government.
Information on what was discussed was sparse, as members of the panel largely demurred from answering questions until the end of the deposition.
However, a committee aide told The Epoch Times that members intended to ask Fauci questions about his position on masks. Fauci originally dismissed widespread masking, saying it wouldn’t work to stop the spread of COVID-19. Later, however, Fauci became one of the most vocal proponents of the measure.
Fauci was also expected to field questions about his communications regarding the origins of COVID, which is now widely believed to have leaked from a high-security bio-lab in Wuhan, China. Fauci initially downplayed this narrative, claiming instead that the disease was transmitted to humans by infected bat meat.
While speaking to reporters, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) indicated that progress was slow-going during the first day of questioning.
Rather, she said much of the opening hours of the panel was focused on how research grants were awarded and related topics.
“I think a lot of it is more, you know, formalities and how they go about doing things and how they went about making funding decisions,” she said.
Malliotakis said she expected more heated questions—including funding for the Wuhan lab, nonprofits that funneled money into the lab, and how the conditions in the lab allowed for a leak—to come later in the questioning.
Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) also briefly spoke to reporters.
He echoed Malliotakis on what the panel had discussed, but added that Fauci had failed to answer many of the panel’s questions.
“There may be over 100 or so ‘I don’t recall,’ ‘I don’t remember’ answers [so far],” Wenstrup said.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), a member of the panel, dismissed the deposition altogether.
“It’s pretty political that we’re here to begin with,” Dingell told reporters.
But she praised Fauci’s testimony, saying he was giving, “very good, detailed descriptions of what [the National Institutes of Health] does, what the job was to do, how they have worked in previous viruses, etc.”
“Quite frankly, I hope that by the end of this he is going to have clarified a lot of political points people have tried to make,” she added.
Fauci will return to Capitol Hill for a second day of questioning today.
—Joseph Lord
