Emails show Fauci asked colleagues to delete messages he allegedly lied about under oath, senator says

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says newly released emails suggest Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to Congress under oath about his handling of official communications during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul is demanding that the former health official testify before Congress.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee obtained the emails, and Paul, who chairs the committee, published them Sept. 10 in a series of posts on X. Fauci was serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases when the emails were sent.

On Feb. 2, 2020, Fauci wrote to then-NIH director Francis Collins: “Please delete this e-mail after you read it,” according to the documents. In July 2020, he told another NIH employee, “I do not want to engage any more with this nonsense. And so, please delete this e-mail after you read it.”

Paul said the emails conflict with Fauci’s 2024 testimony, when the health official insisted three times that he had never obstructed records requests or deleted official records. 

In a Sept. 9 letter, Paul argued the emails show Fauci “directed employees of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) to destroy federal records.”

“These documents suggest your direct involvement in efforts to conceal information related to the Committee’s investigation and appear to contradict your previous testimony before Congress,” Paul added. “I have reason to believe that you may be in possession of additional records related to the Committee’s ongoing investigation.”

Paul gave Fauci until 5 p.m. Sept. 23 to provide complete, unredacted internal communications from 2018 through 2022 related to the federal government’s COVID-19 response. He and the committee also requested Fauci testify again before the end of 2025.