Former U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci has been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as Republican lawmakers intensify their investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the federal government’s pandemic response.
The subpoena comes days after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released declassified documents related to the government’s handling of intelligence on COVID-19’s origins, which Senator Rand Paul said form part of the committee’s continuing investigation.
Paul said Fauci is expected to appear before the committee in July after negotiations over voluntary testimony and the production of records failed. The hearing is expected to focus on Fauci’s previous congressional testimony, federal funding for coronavirus research, and decisions made during the early stages of the pandemic.
The Kentucky senator has long questioned National Institutes of Health funding for coronavirus research conducted through EcoHealth Alliance and involving the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci has repeatedly denied misleading Congress or approving research that would have caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul also said the committee intends to examine the legal implications of the broad federal pardon granted to Fauci by former President Joe Biden before he left office in January 2025. Biden said the pardon was meant to shield Fauci from politically motivated prosecutions stemming from his public service during the pandemic.
The renewed congressional inquiry comes as lawmakers continue to examine competing theories over the origins of COVID-19. U.S. intelligence agencies have issued differing assessments on whether the virus emerged through a laboratory-related incident or natural animal-to-human transmission, and no definitive conclusion has been reached.
