Anthony Fauci was back in the hot seat this week, facing a new round of grilling from Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The former coronavirus adviser is well aware that Republicans would like to hold him accountable for a variety of failings, and so he pleaded the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer any questions.
That's understandable from Fauci's perspective, but it's a shame for the country. The public is owed answers to fundamental questions about the origins of COVID-19. Entries from Fauci's diary—published by Paul earlier this week, in advance of the hearing—reveal not-so-subtle discrepancies between Fauci's public and private statements regarding the theory that COVID-19 escaped from a lab. His diary also suggests that Fauci himself had described the U.S.-funded experiments conducted in Wuhan, China as "gain of function." This matters, since Fauci had previously testified before Congress that the U.S. did not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan—a vital sticking point, since some scientists believe the molecular composition of COVID-19 looks like something cooked up in a lab.
