Tag: #Senator

The Gateway Pundit: Gottlieb immediately attempted to distance himself from the accusation.

by Jim Hᴏft
Jul. 28, 2026 8:15 am

“Look, I mean, I don’t know what you’re referring to in terms of defending him,” Gottlieb responded.

But Kernen refused to let him escape.

The CNBC host asked whether Fauci orchestrated a cover-up of COVID-19’s possible laboratory origin because of the scrutiny it could bring to U.S.-funded gain-of-function research in China.

“He knew that would come back to haunt him and then basically told his colleagues, ‘Go with the natural origin,’” Kernen said. “It was obvious three years ago, Scott, to me anyway and everybody else, that he orchestrated that!”

Gottlieb conceded that evidence supporting a potential laboratory origin has grown while evidence supporting natural spillover has not.

“I think the side of the ledger that speaks to this potentially coming out of a lab has grown over time,” Gottlieb said, “and we haven’t had any new evidence suggesting that this came out of a natural origin or spillover.”

Kernen then confronted Gottlieb over emails showing Fauci instructing colleagues to delete communications.

“I think it’s disappointing to see him trying to suppress alternative opinions,” Gottlieb admitted. “And that clearly was evident from the emails.”

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Senator Paul released emails in 2025 showing Fauci repeatedly telling colleagues to “delete this after you read it.”

One February 2020 exchange, sent one day after the infamous “Proximal Origins” conference call, showed Fauci, former NIH Director Francis Collins, and Jeremy Farrar discussing how to “get ahead of the science and narrative.”

The committee says the emails conflict with Fauci’s previous congressional testimony that he had not deleted federal records or sought to obstruct their release. Fauci has denied allegations that he covered up COVID-19’s origins.

Kernen continued hammering Gottlieb, asking whether Fauci’s shattered reputation was the only accountability the 85-year-old former bureaucrat would ever face.

“Does having a reputation totally in the toilet at 85 years, does that hold him to account for what he was responsible for?” Kernen asked.

The Gateway Pundit: CNBC’s Joe Kernen GRILLS Ex-FDA Commissioner and Pfizer Board Member Scott Gottlieb Over Fauci’s Lab-Leak Cover-Up and “Tony’s Diary” Ahead of Explosive Senate Hearing.

by Jim Hᴏft
Jul. 28, 2026 8:15 am

Former FDA Commissioner and current Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb appeared visibly uncomfortable Monday as CNBC’s Joe Kernen repeatedly confronted him over Dr. Anthony Fauci’s conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The heated exchange unfolded on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” just two days before Fauci is scheduled to testify under subpoena before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Fauci will appear on Wednesday, July 29, at 8:30 a.m. ET before the committee chaired by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), according to the official hearing notice.

Paul subpoenaed Fauci after the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director reportedly backed out of an earlier agreement to testify voluntarily.

Kernen wasted no time putting Gottlieb on the spot.

“How about your buddy Fauci?” Kernen asked. “I’ve asked you about him in the past. You’ve defended him quite a bit.”
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News Max: Sen. Ron Johnson Expects Little From Fauci Testimony.

Sen. Ron Johnson said he expects little cooperation from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, when he testifies before the Senate this week, as Republicans prepare to question the longtime public health official about the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reported Sunday.

The Wisconsin Republican told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that “I don’t expect to get much out of him” during Fauci’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Johnson added, “I think [Fauci would] be very forgetful, completely unrepentant, arrogant — I mean, arrogant to the extreme.”

The senator said he intends to use Wednesday’s hearing to highlight what he views as failure in the government’s handling of the pandemic, stressing that “I’m going to try and lay out all the things that he did that were such a miserably failed response to COVID.”

The hearing comes after committee Chairman Rand Paul subpoenaed Fauci to testify as part of the panel’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the government’s involvement in research conducted in China.

The Kentucky Republican has alleged that federal officials concealed information about U.S.-funded viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where he and other Republicans argue the virus that caused the pandemic may have originated.

U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided over COVID-19’s origins, and no definitive conclusion has been reached about whether the virus emerged from a laboratory incident or through natural animal-to-human transmission.

Paul has repeatedly accused Fauci of misleading Congress regarding research funding and has argued the former NIAID director should face criminal charges.

During a 2021 Senate hearing, Fauci denied that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded gain-of-function research involving the virus that causes COVID-19 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In previous interviews, Paul has said he expects Fauci to be untruthful during his upcoming testimony.

“I don’t expect him to be honest; he hasn’t been honest in the last six years,” Paul said recently.

Paul also said negotiations with Fauci over documents and testimony had dragged on for months before the committee issued a subpoena.

“We’ve been negotiating with him for material and for testimony,” Paul told CNBC last month. “This has gone on for some time. He slow-walked us and slow-walked us. Finally agreed to come in voluntarily … then last week he says he’s not coming in. With this subpoena power, we will bring him in, unless he fights this in court.”

Fauci, who retired from government service in 2022 after advising seven presidents dating back to the Reagan administration, received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden before Biden left office amid concerns that the Trump administration could pursue legal action against him.

Wednesday’s hearing is expected to renew congressional scrutiny of the government’s pandemic response, including funding decisions, public health guidance, and investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

USA TODAY: Trump’s handpicked candidate defeated Cassidy

Cassidy’s pushback comes after he was defeated in his reelection bid in May, failing to make it into a Louisiana primary runoff that Trump’s handpicked candidate, Rep. Julia Letlow, ultimately won.

The Republican senator hasn’t just clashed with the Trump administration over health issues. He’s also targeted Trump’s handling of the Iran war, and several GOP lawmakers said he and Trump got into a shouting match over the conflict last month during a closed-door meeting.

Still, Cassidy has vowed to support Trump’s latest surgeon general nominee, Erica Schwartz, as she seeks to be confirmed as the nation’s top doctor. Schwartz was previously the deputy surgeon general.

Trump pulled the nominations of his previous picks, former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means, a popular influencer and physician who no longer practices medicine. Cassidy praised Schwartz during his appearance on CNN’s “SOTU,” telling Bash he hopes Schwartz can make positive changes.
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USA TODAY: ‘Almost an insult’: Republican senator slams CDC over autism, vaccines website.

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Portrait of Jay StahlJay Stahl
USA TODAY

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, who has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump’s administration over health issues, slammed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over a website related to autism and vaccines.

The gastroenterologist during a July 26 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” called out the health authority for saying online that it’s “not an evidence-based claim” that vaccines don’t cause autism.

“That is what gives some parents hesitancy regarding having their children vaccinated,” Cassidy told host Dana Bash, who asked if the site was a “good faith attempt to stop spreading what you call ‘misinformation about vaccines.'”

The health hawk told Bash the claims will make parents hesitant to do “the right thing, which is to have their child vaccinated.” Cassidy continued, telling Bash that “it’s been firmly established vaccines do not cause autism.”

Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is an outspoken advocate for vaccines. When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was being considered as the nation’s health secretary last year, Cassidy asked him to “come out unequivocally” and say vaccines are safe and they do not cause autism.