Questions about the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic have returned to the forefront after former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield commented on recently released documents.
Redfield said excerpts from what have been described as private diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci lend weight to long-standing allegations that officials misled the public on the virus, vaccines and its origins. He made the remarks this week on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast while discussing material released by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., amid renewed congressional interest.
According to Redfield, one entry notes that Fauci received a COVID-19 vaccine and later experienced a pulmonary embolism. Redfield linked the condition to known risks of microclotting and embolism associated with mRNA vaccines. “We didn’t know it at the time, but he talks about how he got vaccinated, then later had a pulmonary embolism,” Redfield said. “I think the American public was misled in that regard too.”
He also challenged official messaging that widespread vaccination would significantly curb transmission. “This vaccine never prevented infection, so when people said ‘vaccinate your children so they don’t infect grandma,’ that was just a false statement,” he said. Redfield accused Fauci of deliberately misleading the public on multiple fronts, including the virus’s origins and vaccine performance—claims Fauci has consistently rejected in congressional testimony and interviews.
Redfield noted his professional relationship with Fauci dating to the 1980s. “I was very disheartened because I’ve worked with Fauci since the 1980s, and he’s done a lot of good things over his career,” he said. He predicted many Americans would remember Fauci primarily for a recent Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee appearance in which Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Fauci has maintained that his recommendations reflected the best available science at the time and that guidance evolved as knowledge of the virus grew. He has denied intentionally misleading Congress or the public.
The comments come as congressional Republicans continue examining pandemic-era decisions on vaccine guidance, public messaging, research practices and the virus’s origins. Paul said Wednesday that if the committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress, the resolution could be referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal review.
