Today, America First Legal (AFL) has formally requested that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) initiate investigations into the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and Dr. Anthony Fauci for allegedly violating federal laws pertaining to the use of personal emails for official government business. This move comes amidst growing concerns about transparency and accountability within federal agencies.

Background and Allegations

AFL’s request centers around the alleged use of personal email addresses by Dr. Fauci and Dr. David Morens, Fauci’s senior advisor, to conduct official NIAID business. According to AFL, these actions potentially violate the Federal Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which mandate the preservation and disclosure of government records.

In May, AFL demanded an extensive investigation into Dr. Morens, accusing him of attempting to evade FOIA requests by using a personal email account for official communications. The allegations suggest that this practice might have included other senior NIAID officials, potentially implicating Dr. Fauci in a broader scheme to circumvent federal transparency laws.

Investigative Authorities and Jurisdiction

The OSC has the authority to investigate the arbitrary and capricious withholding of information by NIAID, while the HHS OIG is tasked with probing violations of the Federal Records Act by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS OIG is also required to report evidence of such violations to the Attorney General promptly. AFL asserts that these alleged violations warrant immediate and thorough investigation to uphold the principles of government accountability.

Statement from America First Legal

Dan Epstein, Vice President of America First Legal, emphasized the importance of these investigations in a statement:

“AFL’s requests supplement the Oversight Committee’s work and help determine whether Dr. Fauci evaded government transparency and records preservation requirements. The numerous examples of FOIA and records law violations by the current administration would be merely regrettable but for the woeful irony of lawfare against the former President for alleged records violations. Accountability and fairness are therefore key,” Epstein stated.

Implications and Next Steps

The demand for investigations into Dr. Fauci and NIAID raises critical questions about adherence to federal transparency and record-keeping laws within government agencies. If proven, these allegations could have significant implications for the integrity of federal processes and the enforcement of laws designed to ensure public access to government information.

AFL’s actions underscore the ongoing scrutiny of federal officials and the importance of maintaining rigorous standards of transparency and accountability. As the OIG and OSC consider AFL’s requests, the outcomes of these potential investigations could set important precedents for how federal records and information are managed in the future.

In an era where government transparency is paramount, the resolution of these allegations will be closely watched by both proponents and critics of current federal practices. Dr. Fauci, a prominent figure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, now faces intensified scrutiny as these investigations unfold.

Read the OSC letter here and the OIG letter here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key adviser to two presidential administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, has reversed his stance on school closures, admitting in a recent interview that keeping schools closed for more than a year was a “mistake.” This acknowledgment comes as a significant shift from his earlier position, where he defended the extended closures despite increasing criticism.

In a Tuesday interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil, Fauci reflected on the impact of the prolonged school closures. “Keeping it for a year was not a good idea,” the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conceded while promoting his new memoir, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service.”

When asked directly by Dokoupil if the prolonged closure was a mistake and something to avoid in the future, Fauci responded, “Absolutely, yeah.”

Throughout the pandemic, Fauci had maintained that the initial decision to close schools was necessary to control the spread of the virus. In sworn congressional testimony and various media appearances, he supported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that led to school closures, arguing they were based on the broader community’s infection rates.

During the summer of 2020, Fauci clashed with former President Donald Trump over reopening schools. Trump criticized the CDC’s stringent guidelines, calling them impractical, while Fauci emphasized the importance of controlling the virus’s spread before safely reopening schools.

By September 2020, some schools that reopened reported less than 1% of COVID-19 cases, according to Brown University’s National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard. A CDC study in January 2021 found “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission,” which further fueled the debate on the necessity of prolonged school closures.

Despite this emerging data, many schools remained closed due to pressure from powerful teachers’ unions and ongoing concerns about community transmission rates. Fauci, at the time, continued to stress caution and the importance of low transmission rates before resuming in-person learning.

The prolonged closures had significant impacts on students’ education and well-being. In September 2022, the US Department of Education released statistics showing reading scores among nine-year-olds had plummeted to their lowest point in 30 years, while math scores fell for the first time ever in a half-century of tracking.

In an October 2022 interview with ABC News, Fauci avoided labeling the extended closures as a “mistake,” cautioning against taking his comments out of context. However, he acknowledged the “deleterious collateral consequences” of such measures.

In his recent CBS interview, Fauci maintained that the initial closures were correct but reiterated that keeping them for a prolonged period was not advisable. “I kept on saying, ‘Close the bars, open the schools, open the schools as quickly and as safely as you possibly can,’” Fauci recalled. He emphasized the importance of acting swiftly and safely to reopen schools to minimize harm to students.

A spokesperson for the House COVID subcommittee majority echoed this sentiment, stating, “The ‘science’ promoted by teachers’ unions and public health officials never justified prolonged school closures. Safely returning our children to school as soon as possible should have been the top priority.”

Dr. Fauci’s recent acknowledgment marks a significant shift in the narrative surrounding school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the nation reflects on the lessons learned, it is crucial to ensure that future public health responses balance safety with the well-being and educational needs of students.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s fight against COVID-19, has recently expressed his frustration over what he perceives as a lack of appreciation for his efforts during the pandemic.

Fauci, who was formerly the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), touted efforts to make COVID-19 vaccine resisters’ lives more challenging during a 2020 interview, including banning unvaccinated people from attending college and getting jobs at large corporation. The former NIAID director said on “Morning Joe” that it is really “frustrating” for him to receive backlash as he believes he was doing his best to handle the pandemic as the science changed. 

“It is quite frustrating, Joe,” Fauci told host Joe Scarborough. “People really don’t appreciate. I don’t blame them for that, but they don’t appreciate that we were dealing with a moving target. When we were saying things in the beginning, wear a mask or not, how the virus is spread. I mean, originally it was felt, understandably, but incorrectly, by the CDC that it spread by the same way that flu is spread … mostly by droplets, when in fact most of the transmission is not only by  droplets but by aerosol, but also 50-60% of the people who transmit it have no symptoms at all.”

“We didn’t know that at the beginning. It was a changing, moving target. Was it frustrating? It was terribly frustrating because people like to take things out of context and do a gotcha. That’s part of the reporting process. and I accept that. That’s the world we live in. But it certainly is frustrating,” Fauci concluded, with Scarborough telling him how much he appreciates the former NIAID director.

The pandemic period was one of unprecedented division and political tension in the United States. Public opinion on Fauci’s performance has been starkly polarized. Supporters laud him as a dedicated scientist who tirelessly worked to save lives amid a rapidly evolving crisis. They argue that his guidance on masking, social distancing, and vaccinations was rooted in the best available science and aimed at mitigating the virus’s spread.

On the other hand, critics accuse Fauci of overreach and inconsistency. They point to changing guidelines and statements that, in their view, undermined public trust. Some have gone so far as to suggest that Fauci’s actions were politically motivated or that he failed to adequately communicate the uncertainties inherent in dealing with a novel virus.

A Polarizing Figure

The criticism Fauci faces is not without precedent. Public health officials often find themselves in difficult positions, especially during crises. However, the intensity of the backlash against Fauci has been particularly severe. He has received threats, faced personal attacks, and become a symbol of broader societal debates over science, governance, and personal freedom.