Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) demanded Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding censorship of information regarding the origins of COVID-19 on social media.
Jordan said in a letter to the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that his testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday was “false on its face” regarding Fauci’s denial that he pressured social media companies to downplay the lab leak theory of origin of the virus.
The letter, reported by the New York Post, notes internal communications at Facebook that demonstrate the company actively censored information about the possibility that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak. The documents indicate that the censorship came from direct “pressure” from the Biden White House during the time that Fauci served as the chief medical adviser to the president.
Fauci, who supported zoonotic theories of origin during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, testified on Monday that he “kept an open mind” regarding possible lab leaks.
Fauci said COVID-19 may have originated from an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology but that the virus is “so far removed” from any viruses experimented on using NIAID funds at the lab in China.
“What I’m saying is that I cannot account, nor can anyone account, for other things that might be going on in China, which is the reason why I have always said, and will say now, I keep an open mind as to what the origin is,” Fauci said. “But the one thing I know for sure is that the viruses that were funded by the NIH phylogenetically could not be the precursor of SARS-CoV-2.”
Jordan, a member of the Oversight Committee, questioned Fauci on Monday why President Joe Biden’s administration pressured Facebook and other social media companies to suppress the lab leak theory if executive leadership always had an open mind about the virus’s origins.
“Well, what does that got to do with me?” Fauci replied.
“I’m asking you because you’re the expert on coronavirus,” Jordan said. “I’m saying why was the administration so pushing not to have the lab leak theory as something that was viable?”
Jordan’s letter also referenced the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic’s investigation into Dr. David Morens, the senior scientific adviser to Fauci for over 26 years at NIAID.
The Judiciary Committee is requesting Fauci to respond to scheduling a transcribed interview by June 21.
The letter also requested all documents and communications since 2019 between Fauci and various federal actors regarding any form of “moderation, deletion, suppression restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content, or the accuracy or truth of content.”
Monday’s hearing was Fauci’s first public congressional hearing since his retirement in December 2022. Fauci’s attorney did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.