Sen. Marshall Responds to Dr. Fauci Hot Mic Situation

(Washington, D.C., January 11, 2022) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. today questioned Dr. Fauci at a hearing about a number of issues including his financial disclosures and investments. Contrary to what Dr. Fauci said, Dr. Fauci’s financial disclosures for the years of the COVID pandemic are not public. Therefore, Senator Marshall requested them during today’s hearing. Clearly distraught by the line of questioning which included prior questions on Dr. Fauci’s plummeting approval ratings and his involvement in funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Dr. Fauci was caught on a hot mic calling Senator Marshall a “moron.” Senator Marshall issued this statement:

“I understand that Anthony Fauci had a very frustrating day: having a bombshell report show he in fact did award U.S. tax dollars for gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and being called out about his personal financial disclosure during the COVID pandemic NOT being publically available must be very frustrating. Calling me a moron during a Senate hearing may have alleviated the stress of the least trusted bureaucrat in America, but it didn’t take away from the facts,” said Senator Marshall.

Questions regarding Dr. Fauci’s financial disclosure come a day after a third Federal Reserve official stepped down as a result of questionable financial trades made during the COVID pandemic.

Senator Marshall’s line of questioning that led to Dr. Fauci’s hot mic situation:

Question 1: Dr. Fauci, 59% of Americans do not have a favorable opinion of you. Frankly, honestly, you’ve lost your reputation. The American people do not trust the words coming out of your mouth. Every day you appear on TV, you do more damage than good when it comes to educating the public on COVID. Suppose you were leading a team in an effort to try to get people to stop smoking cigarettes, but every time your spokesperson gets on television, over half of the nation goes out and buys a pack of Marlboros. Wouldn’t you stop that person from appearing on national television?

Senator Marshall followed up with Dr. Fauci and said, “Perception is reality and you are hurting the team right now. You are hurting the team right now.” FOX News covered this back and forth – you may click HERE or on the image below to watch.

Question 2: Dr. Fauci, you have previously told this committee, under oath, that NIH and NAIAD have never funded gain-of-function research with the EcoHealth Alliance. However, a report to the Department of Defense Inspector General released yesterday states that EcoHealth Alliance approached DARPA in 2018 seeking funding to conduct gain-of-function research on bat-borne coronaviruses. The proposal, named Project Defuse, was rejected by DARPA because the project didn’t address the research’s potential to violate the gain-of-function moratorium. “The proposal does not mention or assess potential risks of Gain-of-Function (GoF) research,” a direct quote from the DARPA rejection letter. This same proposal rejected by DARPA for gain-of-function potential was not rejected by NIAID under your leadership. You funded Project Defuse and its research that took place at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Why did you tell the Committee that your agency has not funded gain-of- function research? Why did your agency award this grant despite it being rejected by DARPA due to concerns about violating the moratorium that was in place? Finally, will you commit today to release all records – fully un-redacted – by the end of this week – so Congress and the American people can know the truth about NIH’s role and the origin of COVID-19? You may click HERE or on the image below to watch this exchange.

Question 3: Dr. Fauci, according to Forbes your annual salary in 2020 was $434,312. You oversee $5 billion in federal research grants. As the highest paid employee in the entire federal government, yes or no, would you be willing to submit to Congress and the public a financial disclosure that includes your past and current investments? After all, your colleague Dr. Walensky and every member of Congress submits a financial disclosure that includes their investments.

Following the line of questioning, Dr. Fauci proceeded to call Senator Marshall a “moron” and said, “Jesus Christ.” You may click HERE or on the image below to hear Dr. Fauci on hot mic.

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