COVID-19 hearings Wednesday

Source: Anthony Fauci’s high-profile Senate hearing: what we learned | Anthony Fauci | The Guardian

1. Rand Paul’s ‘unhinged obsession’ with Fauci
The hearing was centered around an assertion Paul has promoted for years: that the Covid pandemic began in 2020 as a “leak” from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, even as virologists see a natural jump from animals to humans as more likely.
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2. Criticism of scientists continues
Scientists have not witnessed Fauci’s compelled testimony – he only appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday under subpoena – without dissent. A group of 155 scientists wrote an open letter calling for the government to stop the “vilification and harassment of many American scientists”.
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3. Paul’s frustration with fifth amendment
Whether or not Fauci can successfully invoke the fifth amendment of the US constitution – which allows Americans to decline to answer questions that could incriminate them, without repercussions – became a part of the hearing itself.
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4. Republican criticism of Fauci wide-ranging
Republicans lined up to attack Fauci. The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson accused him of covering up unfavorable information about Covid vaccines, which he described as “experimental gene therapy”, even after scientists credited them with saving millions of lives.
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5. Criticizing science important for Republicans
The Trump administration has invoked the “lab leak” theory to criticize past pandemic policies – even as the party has asserted that the end of the pandemic justified cutting $11.4bn state and local health department funding.
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Bob Wilson