Dr. Fauci is subpoenaed after refusing to testify on COVID origins

By CHASE HOPE, POLITICAL REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 21:38, 23 June 2026 | Updated: 21:42, 23 June 2026 Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was subpoenaed by Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul. Paul accused Fauci of dodging a previous commitment to testify before a Senate committee chaired by the Kentucky libertarian. 'Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us that he will not voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so,' Paul wrote on X on Monday. 'Therefore, today we have issued a subpoena for him to publicly testify.' Paul said later Fauci would testify in July. The subpoena is the latest in a long string of clashes between Paul and Fauci. As far back as 2021, Paul accused Fauci in a Senate hearing of providing funding for a Chinese laboratory, which intelligence reports have revealed may have originated the COVID pandemic. Fauci denied the accusations, but Paul believes the evidence shows otherwise and has pushed for an indictment of Fauci, alleging that he lied to Congress under oath.  In May, Paul warned in a social media post that the statute of limitations for Fauci's alleged misdeed was about to expire. Fauci has not been indicted by Trump's Justice Department. Paul accompanied his post about the subpoena with a picture of himself signing the document Anthony Fauci pictured during testimony before a House committee in 2024 Paul speaks during a Senate hearing last September Fauci received a pardon from former President Joe Biden at the end of the latter's tenure in office.  The 'full and unconditional' pardon cleared the former White House medical advisor for 'any offenses against the United States which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014' through the date of the pardon.  Nonetheless, Paul is still pursuing an opportunity to speak to Fauci, promising in another X post on Tuesday to 'review every aspect of Fauci’s pardon and continue demanding accountability.' 'The American people deserve answers about COVID’s origins and the actions of public officials,' Paul continued. 'No one is above scrutiny.' Controversy surrounding COVID origins was fueled earlier this year by congressional testimony from CIA agent James Erdman, as previously reported by the Daily Mail. Fauci and President Donald Trump pictured in March 2020 Prosecutors allege Morens used a private Gmail account to conduct official business related to COVID-19 research and the origins of the pandemic  Erdman alleged that Fauci 'injected himself' into intelligence community discussions about the lab-leak theory. Before Fauci's intervention, Erdman said, the intelligence community was about to conclude that a Chinese lab had been the source of the pandemic. In another blow to Fauci, David Morens, one of his former top aides, was indicted earlier this year for allegedly concealing and altering evidence. An email from Morens appeared to show him proclaiming he had learned 'how to make emails disappear' to avoid FOIA requests. The Daily Mail reached out to a representative for Fauci for comment on the subpoena.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.