Fauci likely to be asked these 10 questions during two-day transcribed interview this week

Former White House Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to appear before the House Coronavirus Pandemic Subcommittee for a transcribed interview Monday and Tuesday this week, where members of Congress are expected to ask him numerous questions ranging from his knowledge of research before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out to reports of adverse events resulting from the coronavirus vaccine. 

Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until he retired in 2022, is likely to be asked these questions this week during what Coronavirus Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, calls an "after-action review" of the pandemic: 

1. Were you aware of gain-of-function research being conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China? 

Former Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said in 2022 that Fauci "knew" his agency provided funding for gain-of-function research, which increases the dangerousness of viruses and he "misled Congress" when he denied knowledge about it.

2. Why did you push the theory the COVID-19 virus originated from nature, not from a Wuhan lab?

Fauci heavily shaped a paper published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine that argues that COVID-19 "is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus," but instead has natural origins, such as from an animal.

"When people had a differing view of whether this came from nature and thought it came from a lab, why were they ignored?" Wenstrup asked in an interview Sunday with Fox News. "You saw people being called crackpots and conspiracy theorists."

3. When did you first find out that members of the intelligence community, including those at the FBI and the Energy Department, thought that COVID likely originated in China? 

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in February 2023 that the COVID-19 virus likely originated in China from a lab leak. The Energy Department came to a similar conclusion in an intelligence report that same month.

4. Could you elaborate more about whistleblower allegations that you visited the CIA headquarters to potentially influence the agency's COVID origins investigation?

A whistleblower report indicates that Fauci potentially influenced the CIA's COVID origins probe by visiting the agency. The U.S. Intelligence Community later released a report stating that five intelligence agencies believe COVID originated naturally while the CIA and another unnamed agency could not trace the virus' origins. 

5. How large is the government's secret database on adverse events and injuries?

The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, where medical professionals can report adverse reactions to vaccines, has a secret "back end" that only regulators can access, according to a report late last year. The database, which is reportedly kept secret to protect the privacy of patients, brings numerous questions, the most prominent of which is about the size of the database. 

6. How much did you weigh in on Operation Warp Speed?  

Wenstrup told reporter David Zweig last week that he planned on asking this question about Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's effort to deliver COVID-19 vaccines years ahead of the schedule typical for such treatments.

7. How were you involved in the COVID task force, both during the Trump administration and the Biden administration? 

Fauci joined the COVID task force when it was formed in January 2020, and Wenstrup says he wants more details about Fauci's involvement in the group.

8. Did you weigh in on school closures, lockdowns and similar things? What was your advice on that? 

Schools began closing in the United States in March 2020, as did sectors of the U.S. economy, such as cruise ships. Also at this time, the U.S. government issued social distancing measures and travel bans. 

9. Why did you support vaccine mandates for employment and education?

Commenting on questions about vaccine mandates during an interview Sunday with The Washington Examiner, Wenstrup said: "Americans don’t do well with ‘because I told you so.’ It’s just not in our nature."

10. What lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic can be used to prevent future pandemics?

Following the transcribed interviews on Monday and Tuesday, Fauci plans on appearing before Congress to testify at a public hearing later this year. 

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