Republicans in Congress are demanding information from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services about an alleged visit by Dr. Anthony Fauci to the CIA during its investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
"According to information gathered by the Select Subcommittee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, played a role in the Central Intelligence Agency’s review of the origins of COVID-19," Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) wrote HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm on Tuesday. "The information provided suggests that Dr. Fauci was escorted into Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Headquarters — without a record of entry — and participated in the analysis to 'influence' the Agency’s review."
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Tuesday's letter follows the subcommittee's investigation into claims made by a high-ranking CIA whistleblower earlier this month that senior officials offered financial incentives to six of the seven-member CIA COVID Discovery Team tasked with investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2. In transcribed testimony, the whistleblower said the majority of the team members initially concluded the virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology but were pressured into changing their position in favor of the zoonotic hypothesis.
Wenstrup's letter to Grimm does not specify where the information about the alleged meeting comes from, nor does it suggest a specific time that it occurred. The letter requests travel records and communications between Fauci and the CIA from January 2020 to December 2022, when Fauci retired from his position at NIAID.
"Information regarding specific movements of Dr. Fauci throughout the pandemic is reasonable and hardly intrusive, especially considering he is no longer employed by the federal government, he is no longer a protectee of the Inspector General, and we are not requesting any information regarding his current movements," Wenstrup wrote.
The subcommittee also requested communication records between HHS, NIAID, and the U.S. Marshals Service, which is still providing security protection to Fauci after his retirement, regarding entrance to any CIA property including but not limited to the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia.
A spokesperson for HHS told the Washington Examiner that the inspector general's office received the letter and is "reviewing it for appropriate action" but "can provide no additional information at this time."
House Republicans have been increasing the pressure on HHS to respond to their inquiries on the COVID-19 origins investigation. The chairmen of the House Oversight and Reform and Energy and Commerce committees, along with relevant subcommittee leadership, sent a letter earlier this month threatening possible subpoena action against various officials at the National Institutes of Health if the department continued to be uncooperative in the investigation process.
A spokesperson for the CIA also responded to the Washington Examiner's request for comment saying that the agency is looking into the circumstances of the inquiry. The spokesperson did not comment on the state of the whistleblower investigation.
"The Select Subcommittee’s goal is to ensure accountability and transparency," Wenstrup wrote. "The American people deserve the truth — to know the origins of the virus and whether there was a concerted effort by public health authorities to suppress the lab leak theory for political or national security purposes."
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Subcommittee Democrats previously told the Washington Examiner that they had no knowledge of the CIA whistleblower's testimony prior to the public announcement of the findings.
Minority members of the committee did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment regarding Wenstrup's letter to Grimm.