– Senator Rand Paul released thousands of Anthony Fauci’s diary entries from December 2019 to December 2022, offering a behind-the-scenes record of the US COVID-19 response. The material has renewed political scrutiny of Fauci’s role in pandemic policy, public messaging and debate over the virus’s origins.

– The entries suggest Fauci encouraged New York City’s mayor to close schools, bars and restaurants in March 2020, despite later saying he had not been responsible for lockdowns. They also record his disputes with Donald Trump, extensive media activity, and continuing arguments with Paul over NIH-linked research and the laboratory-leak hypothesis. Fauci was the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and left government in December 2022.