House COVID Panel Requests Access to Fauci’s Personal Email and Cellphone Records

Fauci to testify June 3

House COVID subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) requested access Wednesday to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal email and cellphone records related to the origins of COVID-19, a press statement from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said.

(Image via C-SPAN)

Wenstrup sent a letter to Fauci, who served as both director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief White House medical advisor, in care of attorney David Schertler in Washington, D.C.

The chairman told Fauci that in its investigation into the origins of COVID-19, the subcommittee is “reviewing thousands of communications from your former Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. David 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.”

“We are concerned that current and former NIAID officials have and are continuing to seriously undermined public trust by concealing vital information from the American people,” the letter continued.

Wenstrup said Morens’ testimony, “in addition to the documents in possession of the Select Subcommittee require we request documents and communications in your personal custody and control … including any responsive records retained in your personal e-mail(s), cell phone(s), or other electronic device(s) as soon as possible but no later than June 12, 2024.”

The chairman listed documents including those related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth Alliance, Inc., and the origins of COVID-19.

According to the press statement, Fauci is slated to testify before the COVID Select Subcommittee on Monday, June 3.

The press statement continues:

New evidence suggests that Dr. Fauci may have used his personal email account to communicate about official government business during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an email from Dr. Fauci’s Senior Advisor — Dr. David Morens — to disgraced EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. (EcoHealth) President Dr. Peter Daszak, Dr. Morens states “I can either send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work…He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.” In a separate email, Dr. Morens references a “secret back channel” that he would use to communicate with Dr. Fauci outside the public eye. When asked about Dr. Fauci’s use of personal email to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Dr. Morens concerningly testified “I may have.” This new evidence raises additional, serious concerns about public health officials purposefully concealing information and behaving as if they are unaccountable to the American people they serve.

Lumen-News previously reported on Morens’ emails obtained by the COVID Select Subcommittee and his testimony and the testimony of British epidemiologist Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance in New York City, regarding his role in overseeing a research project in Wuhan, China, that focused on novel coronaviruses.

Wenstrup asserted in a statement following Daszak’s testimony:

Dr. Daszak and his organization conducted dangerous gain-of-function research at the WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology], willfully violated the terms of a multi-million-dollar NIH grant, and placed U.S. national security at risk. This blatant contempt for the American people is reprehensible. It is imperative to establish higher standards of oversight at the NIH. The Select Subcommittee’s detailed and comprehensive report today holds Dr. Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance accountable and sheds light on severe shortcomings in our public health systems.