2026-07-28T13:31:09.667Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/28/politics/anthony-fauci-diary-rand-paul
即便在美国因新冠疫情实施全国停摆之前，安东尼·福奇博士就曾思考过，自己是否比其他任何官员都更多地在国会作证。
作为美国政府应对传染病疫情的长期面孔，他在职业生涯中约有250次前往国会山，讨论艾滋病病毒/艾滋病危机、埃博拉等公共卫生威胁。
周三，这位已退休的科学家将再次出席听证会，预计这将是一场充满对抗性的参议院国土安全与政府事务委员会听证会。
此次露面将标志着他与该委员会主席兰德·保罗参议员的最新一次对峙。长期以来，保罗一直试图将新冠疫情以及美国应对措施的失误归咎于福奇。
福奇并非自愿出席。今年6月，保罗传唤这位85岁的前美国国家过敏和传染病研究所所长前来作证。
共享给美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的内部通信显示，福奇最初拒绝自愿出席，理由是他此前与保罗发生过冲突，以及这名参议员试图起诉他。
“您要求福奇博士出席委员会听证会的背景不容忽视——这位现任美国参议员多次公开发表完全毫无根据的言论，声称福奇博士应当被起诉并关进监狱，”福奇的律师在写给保罗的一封信中写道。
听证会召开前，该委员会公布了福奇2019年至2022年的1100多页个人日记。美国卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·肯尼迪周一晚间在福克斯新闻节目中表示，他在经过八个月的搜索后在政府服务器上找到了这些文件，已于近期将其交给保罗以及威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊。
据一位知情人士透露，美国卫生与公众服务部和保罗的委员会都没有提前告知福奇，他们已经获取了他的日记并计划全文公布。
这些日记记录了他频繁的媒体露面和日益高涨的知名度，披露了他与名人以及数十名新闻媒体人士的互动，其中包括一些CNN记者。
日记内容还叙述了福奇对新冠疫情日益加深的担忧、对政府应对措施的挫败感，以及与特朗普和拜登两届政府官员之间的紧张关系。
据熟悉这位科学家的人士透露，保罗对抹黑福奇的强烈关注已经对他造成了影响。这场持续已久的调查迫使福奇在退休后仍需持续为自己的行为辩护，同时助长了围绕他的更多阴谋论，加剧了公众对整个公共卫生体系的不信任。
共和党对福奇的持续关注也扰乱了他身边人的职业生涯；在去年特朗普政府对联邦卫生官员进行清洗期间，福奇的妻子被免去了在美国国立卫生研究院的职务，他至少三名长期共事的前同事也被重新分配了工作。
“没人会希望经历这一切。但我认识他很久了，我们俩都常说‘布鲁克林式坚韧’，”艾滋病活动家、福奇的长期好友彼得·斯泰利说道，“他会挺过去的，”他补充道，“他掌握着所有事实。”
保罗参议员的诉求
多年来，保罗与福奇在新冠疫情起源、福奇关于停摆的指导方针，以及福奇是否指示国家过敏和传染病研究所员工通过私人渠道通信以规避《信息自由法》要求下的公开记录等问题上多次发生冲突。
自疫情早期以来，这位参议员一直指责福奇批准了有争议的病毒增强传染性和毒力的研究，主要目的是更好地了解病毒的传播途径和治疗方法，即所谓的“功能获得性研究”。保罗在没有证据的情况下声称，美国国家过敏和传染病研究所资助的中国武汉实验室研究使用了功能获得性研究，并导致了新冠疫情的暴发。
福奇此前多次在这位参议员面前以及日记中否认了这些指控。
“对武汉实验室使用病毒的分析‘清楚表明，获得国立卫生研究院资助的病毒不可能被改造或演变为新冠病毒（SARS-CoV-2）’，”他在2021年7月写道。
保罗此前曾呼吁以福奇否认美国政府资助中国的功能获得性研究为由起诉他，保罗称这一否认是谎言。福奇则坚持认为，美国资助的研究不符合联邦政府对受限研究的定义。
来自保罗等人的压力导致乔·拜登总统在其任期最后几天提前赦免了福奇，使其免受针对其过往言论的指控。
保罗可能会在周三的听证会上基于这位科学家的言论重新提出伪证指控。
“如果他在听证会上撒谎，那就是新的谎言，赦免令不会对此进行保护，”保罗在7月15日接受福克斯商业频道采访时说道。
然而，尽管现在能够获取福奇在疫情期间的实时想法，保罗和约翰逊都试图降低外界对听证会将产生重大新进展的预期。
“（我）不指望能从他那里得到太多信息，”约翰逊上周对福克斯新闻表示，“但我会尽力梳理出他在新冠应对中表现糟糕的所有行为。”
该委员会公布的数十篇日记内容显示，福奇对新冠病毒威胁的担忧与日俱增，同时对政府应对措施的内部分歧也在加剧。
福奇在日记中提到了与特朗普的长时间通话，他们会讨论新冠疫情应对措施以及总统的相关表态。
“今晚10点35分，我在家接到了特朗普总统的电话，他想聊聊新冠疫情的整体情况，”他在2020年2月27日写道。他敦促总统不要低估病毒的严重性，但指出总统次日确实这么做了。
2020年7月，他和其他官员在椭圆形办公室会议上向总统解释，疫苗将无法在11月总统大选前准备就绪。
“他接受了疫苗可能无法在大选前准备就绪的事实，但对此并不高兴。他一直追问治疗方法何时能研发出来，”福奇写道。
但正如福奇几天后所指出的，他们之间的关系已经出现裂痕。
“总统当面表现得对我很满意，对媒体说我们的关系很好，但随后又转发攻击我的内容。他是个非常奇怪的人，”福奇在2020年7月28日写道。
在其他日记条目里，福奇提到特朗普几乎“恳求”他和其他新冠疫情特别工作组成员结束停摆措施，并斥责该工作组协调员黛博拉·伯克斯博士等官员，称停摆正在破坏经济和他的连任计划。
“特朗普越来越失控，极力推动在大选前开放国家、恢复经济。他孤注一掷，这完全是为了连任，”福奇在2020年5月写道。
日记还显示，福奇认为政府官员在阻止他接受媒体采访，尤其是在他的表态与特朗普的说法不一致时。福奇和特朗普曾在疫情早期否认政府限制他的媒体露面，但到了夏季，双方的紧张关系加剧。
当时的卫生与公众服务部发言人“告诉我，我被禁止上电视（尽管他们倾向于批准采访申请），原因是我发表了关于‘虚假叙事’的评论，称死亡人数会下降，”他在2020年7月写道。
在其他条目里，福奇记录了特朗普感染新冠的情况，以及后来拜登的感染情况、加强针疫苗的讨论和美国的“新冠疲劳”。日记一直延续到2022年底，其中一些内容里福奇在思考自己的退休时间。
在早期的日记中，福奇简要提及了一些人，他们在数年后加入了特朗普的第二届政府。
2020年10月7日，他写道，时任卫生与公众服务部部长亚历克斯·阿扎与白宫顾问斯科特·阿特拉斯以及“他的三个跟班”会面，这些人起草了《大巴灵顿宣言》，呼吁结束广泛的停摆措施。其中一人是杰伊·巴塔查里亚博士，如今担任美国国立卫生研究院院长。
2020年4月2日，他担心时任卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·肯尼迪即将出版一本关于他的书，“几乎肯定会带有诽谤性质”。
疫情让福奇成为了家喻户晓的人物，在日记中，他时常惊叹于“媒体狂热”，并饶有兴致地提到以他为原型的漫画、纪念品和艺术品。
“不管好坏，我正成为国际名人，世界各地都打来电话，”他在2020年3月写道。
他似乎很享受因职位带来的名人交往。2020年4月，真人秀明星金·卡戴珊安排了一场视频通话，让他与近30名演员、歌手和运动员交流，其中包括黛米·洛瓦托和迈克尔·乔丹。
2020年12月，他提到多名名人出现在一段为他庆祝生日的视频合集中。“这非常感人，”他写道。
同月早些时候，福奇记录道，他“接到埃塞尔和克里·肯尼迪的电话，明确邀请我去海恩斯波特度周末。他们在电话里非常友善，说他们喜爱并钦佩我，很高兴肯尼迪家族能向我表达敬意。”
他似乎会关注自己与名人互动的反响，2021年4月提到，在与模特兼演员泰拉·班克斯的Instagram直播中，“95%”的评论都是正面的，但“也有一些非常刻薄和恶毒的言论针对我和泰拉”。
他补充道：“有个人说泰拉很性感，但我比她更性感。泰拉看到后露出了灿烂的笑容，说她说得没错，随后优雅又温和地反驳道：‘福奇博士，这倒是真的，我妈妈爱上你了。’”
有时，名人几乎将福奇当作私人医生和倾诉对象。2021年2月，女演员兼歌手芭芭拉·史翠珊致电他，咨询带状疱疹发作后mRNA疫苗的安全性。他们后来还“聊起了日常生活”，福奇向史翠珊演示亚马逊语音助手Alexa，让它播放她的歌曲。到了10月，史翠珊询问加强针的情况，两人还调侃了彼此的布鲁克林口音。
“能接到她的电话总是很棒，”福奇写道。
Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul’s long-running battle returns to the Hill
2026-07-28T13:31:09.667Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/28/politics/anthony-fauci-diary-rand-paul
Even before the US enacted a national shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci pondered whether he might have testified before Congress more than any other official.
As the longtime face of the government’s infectious disease response, he was on Capitol Hill roughly 250 times over the course of his career to discuss threats such as the HIV/AIDS crisis and Ebola.
On Wednesday, the retired scientist will notch one more testimony, in what is expected to be a combative hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
The appearance will mark the latest showdown with Sen. Rand Paul, the committee’s chairman, who has long sought to blame the Covid pandemic and shortcomings of the US response on Fauci.
Fauci did not agree to turn up willingly. In June,Paul subpoenaed the 85-year-old former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his appearance.
Internal correspondence shared with CNN shows that Fauci initially declined to appear voluntarily, citing his past clashes with Paul and the senator’s efforts to indict him.
“Your request that Dr. Fauci appear before the Committee arises within a context that cannot be ignored — the context of repeated public and absolutely baseless pronouncements by you, a sitting United States Senator, that Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted and jailed,” his lawyers wrote in a letter to Paul.
Ahead of the hearing, the committee released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s personal diary from 2019 to 2022. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday night on Fox News that he had recently handed the files over to Paul and Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson after finding them on government servers following an eight-month search.
Neither HHS nor Paul’s committee alerted Fauci ahead of time that they had obtained his diary and that they planned to publish it in full, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The entries documented his frequent media appearances and growing fame, shining a light on his interactions with celebrities and dozens of members of the news media, including some CNN journalists.
The diary entries also narrate Fauci’s growing concerns about Covid-19, frustrations with the government response and conflicting relationships with both Trump and Biden administration officials.
Paul’s intense focus on discrediting Fauci has taken a toll on him, according to people familiar with the scientist. The long-running probe has forced Fauci to continue defending his actions well into retirement, while fueling further conspiracies theories about him and deepening distrust in the broader public health establishment.
The GOP fixation on Fauci also disrupted the careers of those closest to him; amid a Trump administration purge of federal health officials last year, Fauci’s wife was fired from her job at the National Institutes of Health, and at least three of his former longtime colleagues at the agency were reassigned.
“Nobody would want this. But I’ve known him for a very long time and we both use the phrase ‘Brooklyn strong’ quite a bit,” said Peter Staley, an AIDS activist and longtime friend of Fauci. “He’ll get through this,” he added. “He’s got all the facts on his side.”
Sen. Paul’s demands
Paul and Fauci have clashed repeatedly over the years about the origins of Covid-19, Fauci’s guidance on shutdowns and allegations that Fauci instructed NIAID staff on corresponding through private channels to avoid public records gained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Since the early days of the pandemic, the senator has accused Fauci of greenlighting controversial research to make viruses more contagious and virulent, mostly as a means of better understanding their spread and how to treat them, known as gain-of-function research. Paul has alleged, without evidence, that NIAID-funded studies in Wuhan, China, used gain-of-function research and led to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci has repeatedly denied this both before the senator and in his diary entries.
An analysis of viruses used in the Wuhan lab “clearly indicate(s) that it is molecularly impossible for the viruses under the auspices of the NIH grant to have been manipulated into or evolved into SARS-Cov-2,” he wrote in July 2021.
Paul has previously called for Fauci to be indicted for denying that the US government funded of gain-of-function research in China, which Paul characterizes as a lie. Fauci has maintained that US-funded studies did not meet the federal government’s definition of the restricted research.
This pressure from Paul and others led President Joe Biden to preemptively pardon Fauci during his last days in office, shielding Fauci from charges pertaining to any comments made in previous years.
Paul could attempt to renew calls for perjury charges based on the scientist’s remarks in the Wednesday hearing.
“If he lies during the hearing, that’s a new lie, and the pardon won’t cover that,” Paul said during his interview with Fox Business on July 15.
Yet despite new access to Fauci’s realtime thoughts throughout the pandemic, Paul and Johnson have both sought to manage expectations that the hearing will produce any major new developments.
“(I) don’t expect to get much out of him,” Johnson told Fox News last week. “But I’m going to try and lay out all the things that he did that were such a miserably failed response to Covid.”
Dozens of diary entries made public by the committee show Fauci’s growing concerns about the coronavirus threat and increasing internal conflicts about the government response.
Fauci referenced long calls and conversations with Trump in which they would discuss the Covid-19 response and the president’s messaging.
“Big surprise was at 10:35 PM tonight I got a phone call at home from President Trump who wanted to chat about the coronavirus situation in general,” he wrote on February 27 , 2020. He urged the president not to underplay the seriousness of the virus but noted that he did just that the next day.
In July 2020, he and other officials explained to the president in an Oval Office meeting that vaccines would not be ready before the presidential election in November.
“He accepted that the vaccine might not be ready before the election, but he was not happy about it. He kept pushing about when therapy would be ready,” Fauci wrote.
But fractures in their relationship were forming, as Fauci noted days later.
“The POTUS is playing a weird game of acting Okay with me in person and saying that our relationship is fine to the press and then retweeting stuff that attacks me. He is a very strange guy,” Fauci wrote on July 28, 2020.
In other entries, Fauci noted Trump nearly “begging” Fauci and other Coronavirus Task Force members to end shutdown measures and yelling at officials such as Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the task force, that shutdowns were ruining the economy and his reelection efforts.
“Trump getting out of control in pushing to open up the country and get the economy back before election day. He is desparate (sic). This is all about re-election,” Fauci wrote in May 2020.
The diary also indicates that Fauci believed administration officials were blocking his media appearances, particularly when his message fell out of line with Trump’s narrative. Fauci and Trump denied early in the pandemic that the administration was limiting his media appearances, but by the summer, the tension had grown.
A Health and Human Services spokesperson at the time “told me that I am being kept off TV (even though they were leaning to approve requests) because of my comment about ‘false narrative’ concerning relying on deaths going down,” he wrote in July 2020.
In other entries, Fauci wrote about Trump’s illness with coronavirus and later Biden’s illness, discussions of booster vaccines and America’s “Covid fatigue.” The diary continued through late 2022, with Fauci mulling in some writing about when he would retire.
In early entries, Fauci made a few brief allusions to people who would years later join Trump’s second administration.
On October 7, 2020, he wrote that then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar met with White House advisor Scott Atlas and “his 3 stooges” who authored the Great Barrington Declaration, a call to end broad shutdown measures. One of those people was Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the National Institutes of Health.
On April 2, 2020, he fretted that now HHS secretary RFK Jr. was preparing to publish a book about him that “will almost certainly be slanderous.”
The pandemic saw Fauci become a household name, and in his diaries, he regularly marveled at the “media frenzy” and noted with some amusement comics, memorabilia and art depicting him.
“For better or worse, I am becoming an international celebrity. Calls from all over the world,” he wrote in March 2020.
He seemed to revel in the celebrity connections bolstered by his position. In April 2020, reality star Kim Kardashian arranged a Zoom call for him to speak with nearly three dozen actors, singers and athletes, including Demi Lovato and Michael Jordan.
In December 2020, he noted that several celebrities appeared in a video compilation wishing him a happy birthday. “It was very moving,” he wrote.
Earlier that month, Fauci logged that he “received a call from Ethel and Kerry Kennedy explicitly inviting (me) up to Hyannisport for 4th of July weekend. They were so nice over the phone. They said that they loved and admired me and were so please that the Kennedy family could honor me.”
He appeared to monitor how his outreach with celebrities was received, noting in April 2021 that “95%” of comments on an Instagram Live with model and actress Tyra Banks were positive, but “some were really mean and vicious statements about me and Tyra.”
He added, “One person said that Tyra was sexy, but I was even more sexy than she was. She read it and put a big smile on her face and said that she agreed with that but then beautifully and gently shot this down by saying: ‘Dr. Fauci, that is true and my mother is in love with you.’”
At times, celebrities almost treated Fauci as a private physician and confidant. In February 2021, actress and singer Barbra Streisand called him to discuss the safety of mRNA vaccines after a shingles outbreak. They later discussed “life in general,” and Fauci explained the Amazon product Alexa to Streisand by instructing the virtual assistant to play her songs. By October, Streisand was asking about booster shots, and they joked about their mutual Brooklyn accents.
“It is always good to hear from her,” Fauci wrote.