Communications from colleague reveal alleged efforts to evade FOIA requests.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has requested access to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal email and phone records, with the panel’s chairman saying the record request relates to new evidence suggesting that Dr. Fauci used a “secret back channel” to communicate about official COVID-19 information.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who chairs the House committee, wrote a letter to Dr. Fauci on May 29, requesting access to all documents and communications related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), EcoHealth Alliance, and the origins of COVID-19 retained in Dr. Fauci’s personal email and cellphone records.
The committee said in a press release that new evidence suggests Dr. Fauci may have used his personal email account to communicate about official government business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Wenstrup’s request stems from a hearing of the committee last week with the participation of Dr. David Morens, a former senior advisor to Dr. Fauci when he served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Dr. Morens answered questions under oath after emails obtained by lawmakers showed him discussing a “’secret’ back channel” to Dr. Fauci, as well as talking about using his personal email account to evade potential Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and deleting federal COVID-19 records.
“The Select Subcommittee possesses communications from Dr. Morens in which he suggests he sent you official congressional correspondence related to COVID-19 to your personal e-mail account and that he had a ’secret back channel’ to you,” Mr. Wenstrup wrote in the letter to Dr. Fauci.
Mr. Wenstrup gave Dr. Fauci until June 12 to provide the requested records, adding in the letter that communications already in the committee’s possession indicate that Dr. Morens was not the only official from Dr. Fauci’s time as NIAID director who took steps to avoid transparency.
“We are concerned that current and former NIAID officials have and are continuing to seriously undermine public trust by concealing vital information from the American people,” the committee chair wrote.
By Tom Ozimek
