The Week: Anthony Fauci’s Shameful Diaries

• Now we know what it takes to get Fauci to stop talking.

• Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) released a gargantuan 1,141 pages of notes taken by Dr. Anthony Fauci during his time as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In one entry, Fauci declares that the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan “was not the source” of the Covid-19 pandemic but merely the “amplifier.” Yet he refused to say so publicly and repeatedly dismissed the theory that the disease had escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci has insisted that he is not responsible for the draconian lockdown policies that many states and localities enacted during the pandemic. But in another entry, he describes recommending school, bar, and restaurant closures to then–New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the team of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Fauci’s personal notes also reveal an obsession with his own fame and press coverage. “It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable person [sic] in the world,” he wrote in May 2020. At a Senate hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times in response to questions about his role in the pandemic. Many medical experts, scientists, and public health officials have asked why public trust in them has declined so severely since the pandemic. More than any other American, Fauci reinforced the public’s suspicions about the honesty of public health officials—and we’re still paying the price for his duplicity.

About the Author

NR Editors

NR Editors includes members of the editorial staff of our magazine and website.

• Now we know what it takes to get Fauci to stop talking.

• Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) released a gargantuan 1,141 pages of notes taken by Dr. Anthony Fauci during his time as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In one entry, Fauci declares that the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan “was not the source” of the Covid-19 pandemic but merely the “amplifier.” Yet he refused to say so publicly and repeatedly dismissed the theory that the disease had escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci has insisted that he is not responsible for the draconian lockdown policies that many states and localities enacted during the pandemic. But in another entry, he describes recommending school, bar, and restaurant closures to then–New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the team of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Fauci’s personal notes also reveal an obsession with his own fame and press coverage. “It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable person [sic] in the world,” he wrote in May 2020. At a Senate hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times in response to questions about his role in the pandemic. Many medical experts, scientists, and public health officials have asked why public trust in them has declined so severely since the pandemic. More than any other American, Fauci reinforced the public’s suspicions about the honesty of public health officials—and we’re still paying the price for his duplicity.