Emails obtained by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee seem to contradict earlier statements made by Dr. Anthony Fauci during his testimonies on Capitol Hill.

Kentucky Republican Rand Paul sent a letter on Tuesday to the former COVID-19 response director, demanding his appearance before the committee. This request aims for Fauci to clarify efforts to mislead Congress concerning the deletion of official records.

In his testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024, Fauci was questioned about whether he ever deleted official records, obstructed Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests, or deleted communications regarding the Wuhan lab or the origins of the virus, which he denied.

Yet, Paul provides two examples of instances when Fauci instructed fellow government employees to conceal information relating to their work.

In the letter, the Kentucky Republican notes that in an ’email dated February 2, 2020,’ Fauci ‘directed then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to “Please delete this e-mail after you read it.”’ 

‘In another email dated July 20, 2020, to an NIH employee [Fauci] stated, “I do not want to engage any more with this nonsense. And so, please delete this e-mail after you read it.”‘

Paul is now calling on Fauci to respond in the next two weeks to the committee’s inquiries about past statements he has made under oath.

The Homeland Security Committee leaders are also seeking to have Fauci appear in front of Congress again before the end of the year, and have sent him dates in October, November, and December to appear before the committee. 

Paul’s latest requests build upon years of investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

During one of Fauci’s prior clashes with Paul, the Senator suggested that he lied about the NIH’s involvement in Wuhan, China. 

The Senator told the Daily Mail in July that he was preparing to subpoena Fauci as part of an expanded Senate investigation into the origins of Covid-19 and US-funded research in Wuhan, China.

The goal: scrutinize Fauci’s role in approving controversial virus experiments.

Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, recently issued subpoenas to 14 federal agencies for records related to COVID-19’s origins and gain-of-function research, building on years of questioning Fauci and other officials about US oversight of high-risk biological research.

‘After we’ve gotten a fuller understanding [of] how the decision was made, we are going to ask him to come in, and, if need be, subpoena him to come in to discuss why he made the decision to fund the research in Wuhan,’ Paul told the Daily Mail of his plans in July.

However, Paul’s chances of compelling Fauci to testify remained uncertain at the time.

Fauci was granted a preemptive pardon by former President Joe Biden, which could shield him from some consequences related to the pandemic. Paul also said that he hasn’t yet been given access to the names of people who were part of the process determining the Wuhan research, but is continuing to seek interviews.

‘We’re looking at their communications and ultimately the decisions of this committee, we believe, had to be certified by Anthony Fauci himself,’ Paul previously told the Daily Mail.

Later in July, Paul announced that he would ‘reissue [his] criminal referral of Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ!’ 

The Kentucky Republican then followed up his post, noting that ‘perjury is a crime. And Fauci must be held accountable.’

Fauci testified in 2023 before the U.S Senate and noted that he had ‘never lied before Congress.’

“This directly contradicts everything he said in committee hearing to me, denying absolutely that they funded any gain of function, and it’s absolutely a lie. That’s why I sent an official criminal referral to the DOJ,” Paul wrote on X back in 2023.

Paul also said earlier this summer that he hasn’t yet been given access to the names of people who were part of the process determining the Wuhan research, but is continuing to seek interviews.