Republican Senator Ron Johnson has accused career staff at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of obstructing his investigation into Dr Anthony Fauci's pandemic-era records, including material recovered from Fauci's former government iPhone. Johnson claims longtime HHS employees are actively hindering efforts by him and others to obtain documents that could reveal further wrongdoing linked to the Covid-19 response, a claim that adds to ongoing Republican scrutiny of Fauci's conduct during the pandemic.

The allegations come as Johnson's probe gains momentum, with the senator telling Fox News Digital he believes entrenched "career bureaucrats" within Fauci's former agency are deliberately putting up obstacles to the release of information. The report notes this follows separate calls from Senator Roger Marshall for a special counsel to investigate Fauci over Covid-related text messages, reflecting a broader Republican push to hold the former health official accountable for decisions made during the pandemic.