Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio., sent a letter on Wednesday to Dr. Anthony Fauci requesting his private emails and cellphone records related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth and the origins of the coronavirus.
Wenstrup, who is chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said evidence has been uncovered that suggests Fauci may have used his personal email account to communicate about official government business during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to shield his conversations from the Freedom of Information Act.
"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," the Committee stated in a press release.
Last week, the committee revealed it was considering criminal charges against Dr. David Morens, Fauci's senior adviser, based on his efforts to evade transparency. The committee cited an email from Morens to EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak where Morens said, "I can either send stuff to Tony [Fauci] 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."
"According to the communications in our possession, Dr. Moren is not the only official from your time as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Director that took affirmative steps to avoid transparency. We are concerned that current and former NIAID officials have and are continuing to seriously undermine public trust by concealing vital information from the American people," Wenstrup's letter says.
Fauci is scheduled to appear before the subcommittee on Monday, June 3. His testimony will be his first congressional appearance since retiring from a decadeslong career in government. He was given until June 12 to respond to the committee's request.