Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, remained steadfast that the "probability weighs much more heavily" that the COVID-19 pandemic was a "natural occurrence" and not a lab leak.
Fauci also admitted that social distancing guidance "sort of just appeared" and that he "might have" seen studies to support masking children, but that he's not sure.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released transcripts of Fauci's testimony that he gave to the panel behind closed doors in January. Committee Chair Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, released the trove of transcripts — and a 17-page memo of key takeaways — ahead of Fauci's public hearing on Monday on Capitol Hill, his first since leaving government.
While Fauci acknowledged the lab leak theory was not a conspiracy theory, even allowing for keeping an "open mind" about it, he remained steadfast that COVID-19 was far more likely a "natural occurrence."
"I think people have made conspiracy aspects from it. And I think you have to separate the two when you keep an open mind, that it could be a lab leak or it could be a natural occurrence," Fauci said in January. "I believe the evidence that I've seen weighs my opinion towards one, which is a natural occurrence, but I still leave an open mind.
"So I think that in and of itself isn't inherently a conspiracy theory, but some people spin off things from that that are kind of crazy."
Fauci has denied that gain-of-function research was happening at the Wuhan Lab in China. Republicans have accused Fauci of playing semantics with the definition of gain of function, both in January and in a 2021 hearing.
"When I'm asked is something gain of function, I'm referring to the operative definition of gain of function according to the framework of the 3PCO … that's my definition," Fauci said in January, referring to Potential Pandemic Pathogens research. "That is the regulatory operational definition. ... Other people use the word 'gain of function this, 'gain of function that, and everybody's got their own interpretation of it. But when you're deciding whether a grant should be funded, this is the operational definition."
Fauci also said that the 6-feet social distancing was arbitrary and not based on science.
"It sort of just appeared," Fauci said. "I don't recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever. I was not aware of studies that in fact, that would be a very difficult study to do."
Fauci also told the panel in January that he did not "recall specifically" reviewing studies or data supporting the masking of children. He also told lawmakers that he has not followed studies that have shown the deleterious effects that masks had on children.
"But I believe that there are a lot of conflicting studies too, that there are those that say, yes, there is an impact, and there are those that say there's not. I still think that's up in the air."
Fauci also admitted that vaccine mandates were not sufficiently studied ahead of the pandemic.
"I think one of the things that we really need to do after the fact, now, to — you know, after-the-game, after-the-event evaluation of things that need to be done — we really need to take a look at the psyche of the country, have maybe some social-type studies to figure out, does the mandating of vaccines in the way the country's mental framework is right now, does that actually cause more people to not want to get vaccinated, or not? I don't know. But I think that's something we need to know."
Fauci left NIAID at the end of December.