Biden says he is 'very confident' of Fauci amid coronavirus email controversy

President Joe Biden on Friday expressed continued support for White House coronavirus adviser Anthony Fauci, declining to sideline the longtime federal official amid newly released emails that have called into question Fauci's handling of the SARS-Cov-2 epidemic. 

"Yes, I'm very confident in Dr. Fauci,” Biden said in Delaware when asked for his opinion on Friday. 

The show of support comes as thousands of pages of Fauci's emails were obtained and released by news and advocacy groups this week. The emails, which detail the doctor's management of the earliest days and months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., have raised questions of potential conflicts of interest along with uncertainty surrounding heavily redacted exchanges between Fauci and several notable disease experts. 

Fauci has headed the federal National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades. He is currently the highest-paid federal employee, making over $400,000 per year.