More than 155 scientists, physicians and public health advocates have signed an open letter calling for an end to what they describe as the “vilification and harassment of many American scientists” by the Trump administration and its allies.
The letter was published one day before Anthony Fauci, the former top US government science adviser, is scheduled to appear at a high-profile hearing in the US Congress after the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee compelled him to testify.
Fauci, who helped guide the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), is set to testify under subpoena on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the origins of the virus and whether federal officials misled the public.
Letter dismisses allegations as baseless
The letter alleges that the Trump administration and its congressional allies are “waging a war on individual scientists, through public harassment, arrests, criminal indictment and ongoing threats of prosecution.” The signatories argue that the most prominent target is Fauci, who left the federal government in 2022 after leading Niaid for 38 years.
“The charges against Dr Fauci are baseless, suggesting he covered up the origins of Covid, that he bribed or persuaded other scientists to join his cover-up, that Niaid-funded research sparked the pandemic, that he personally holds patents on the virus, and that he’s working with intelligence agencies to suppress the true story of the pandemic,” the letter states. “No credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges.”
The letter adds that the allegations have led to a “five-year period of harassment and threats of violence directed at Dr Fauci and his family.”
Political context and upcoming hearing
Ahead of the hearing, Senator Rand Paul, the Republican who chairs the committee, released thousands of pages of Fauci’s diary entries from the pandemic, showing his efforts to manage the pandemic and his relationship with Donald Trump.
Fauci has insisted he keeps a “completely open mind” about the possibility that the virus may have leaked from a lab in China, but has denied allegations that he sought to suppress that theory.
Before Trump returned to office, Joe Biden issued a pre-emptive pardon to Fauci and other senior officials. Despite the pardon, Paul has referred Fauci to the Department of Justice for “potential criminal prosecution.”
