Dr. Anthony Fauci’s questionable work leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic and his equally questionable actions in managing the pandemic have raised a lot of eyebrows.
Now, a majority of voters believe congress should investigate the former longtime medical adviser to the White House and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to a new poll by Convention of States Action.
The poll of more than 1,000 likely voters, conducted Jan. 9-12 by nationally renown pollster The Trafalgar Group, found 52.2 percent of respondents say Fauci should be investigated for his previous inconsistent testimony about his research in advance of the pandemic, and for his response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Another 44.5 percent of those surveyed said Fauci should not be investigated by Congress, while 3.2 percent were not sure.
“Had the COVID-19 pandemic been well-managed, it would have been prudent for Congress to hold hearings to talk about what we learned and what could be done better in the future. And yet – despite the fact that the pandemic was horribly mismanaged and that untold millions of Americans continue to pay the price for the COVID-era policies – some that are still in effect – Congress has failed to act,” said Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States.
Critics assert Fauci has destroyed the credibility of the public health establishment through health emergency policies that have bludgeoned the Bill of Rights, badly damaged businesses, and broke the physician’s creed to first do no harm.
Fauci and his allies insist the doctor has been the leading defender of science in an age of conspiracy theorists.
Without a doubt, Fauci, the highest-paid federal bureaucrat, has been a lightening rod of controversy.
In late October, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Attorney General Merrick Garland whether he had plans to prosecute Fauci for lying to congress about his agency’s role in so-called gain-of-function research. Garland shrugged off the question, saying he could not comment on ongoing investigations.
Fauci took cover where he often has: mainstream media.
In late November, he told CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that his Republican detractors are part of an “anti-science” movement and that they’re attacking Fauci because “I represent science.”
He defended himself using the Democratic Party’s favorite anti-Republican narrative.
“I have to laugh at that. I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?”
But what critics see as Fauci’s deflection doesn’t stand up well to some concerning records.
In September 2021, The Intercept obtained evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, along with their collaborator, the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, engaged in what the U.S. government defines as “gain-of-function research of concern.” The experimental work intentionally makes viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them, despite stipulations from a U.S. funding agency that the money not be used for that purpose.
“Grant money for the controversial experiment came from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is headed by Anthony Fauci. The award to EcoHealth Alliance, a research organization which studies the spread of viruses from animals to humans, included subawards to Wuhan Institute of Virology and East China Normal University. The principal investigator on the grant is EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, who has been a key voice in the search for Covid-19’s origins,” the publication reported.
Fauci testified before Congress that the “NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) had called on Fauci to be fired and investigated.
Among its first orders of business in taking over control of the House, Republicans have created the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to examine the Biden administration’s handling of the health emergency. The panel also is expected to investigate evidence that suggests a Wuhan, China, lab either created or accidentally released the deadly virus obtained from bats.
The Convention of States Action poll shows 80 percent of Republican voters and 56 percent of Independents would like to see congress investigate Fauci’s work involving COVID-19. Even a quarter of Democrats (25.5 percent) say Fauci should be investigated.
“This poll offers a strong and clear message to the new Congress–we want you to investigate Fauci and get to the bottom of this before the next pandemic repeats the same gross mistakes,” Meckler said.
– – –
M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Anthony Fauci” by Trump White House Archived. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Ramaz Bluashvili.
