Washington, DC (WNews US) – In a heated moment at Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions over the availability of financial disclosure, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci can be heard mocking a Republican senator.
Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) began his interrogation into Fauci’s finances by noting the doctor’s salary, $434,000, and the multibillion-dollar budget for federal research grants that he oversees as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“As the highest-paid employee in the entire federal government, would you be willing to submit to Congress and the public a financial disclosure that includes your past and current investments?” Marshall asked. “After all, your colleague Walensky and every member of Congress submits a financial disclosure that includes their investments.”
Fauci countered Marshall’s claim, stating that his investments and financial information were already “public knowledge” and had been for more than 30 years.
“All you have to do is ask for it,” Fauci said. “You’re so misinformed, it’s extraordinary.”
“There’s an air of appearance that maybe some shenanigans are going on,” he said, though the senator added that he believes that “is not the case.”
Fauci said the information on his financial disclosure “is totally accessible to you if you want it,” both to Marshall’s office and to the public.
National Institutes of Health’s spokesperson said on late Tuesday afternoon that she look into questions regarding whether Fauci’s financial disclosure information was available to the public. She would respond as soon as possible to the questions.
Dr. Fauci can be quietly heard at the end of Marshall’s time saying “What a Moron, Jesus Christ”.
Anthony S. Fauci accused Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday of raising campaign funds off false attacks on him that have encouraged threats on Fauci’s life.
Throughout the pandemic, Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other conservatives have questioned the science behind vaccines, masks, and other public health measures including vaccine mandates.
The attacks on Dr. Fauci, who is President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the coronavirus response, have grown increasingly hostile in recent months. Dr. Fauci has been under stepped-up security protection since 2020.
“So you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain.” – Dr. Fauci to Rand Paul
Fauci demanded to speak uninterrupted after Paul accused him at a hearing of helping orchestrate a smear campaign against three conservative academics who opposed shutdown measures in 2020.
Meanwhile, on Paul’s website, the anti-Fauci falsehoods have been put to work as a fundraising strategy, Fauci said at the Senate hearing Tuesday.
He noted that the senator’s website says “Fire Dr. Fauci” while showing a paper with the site and includes “a little box that says contribute here.”
Paul rejected the criticism from Fauci, saying it was “disappointing for you to suggest that people who dare to question you are responsible somehow for violent threats.”