Why Won’t Trump Let Dr. Fauci Testify Before Congress?

Chris Kleponis/CNP via ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The White House won’t let Anthony Fauci testify before Congress next week:

The White House is blocking Anthony S. Fauci from testifying before a House subcommittee investigating the coronavirus outbreak and response, arguing that it would be “counterproductive” for him to appear next week while in the midst of participating in the government’s response to the pandemic….“It’s not muzzling, it’s not blocking, it’s simply trying to ensure we’re able to balance the need for oversight, the legitimate need for oversight, with their responsibilities to handle covid-19 work at their respective agencies and departments,” said the [White House] official, who noted that health risks entailed in moving around in public places were also a factor.

The White House has no problem routinely sucking up two or three hours of Fauci’s day so that he can be a mannequin while Donald Trump provides bad information to the public and gets into fights with the press. But testimony before Congress? Why, that might eat into his busy schedule!

Fauci is an old hand who can handle himself just fine, but still, there’s really only one big difference between the podium of the White House press room and a Capitol Hill hearing room: in the latter, you’re testifying under oath. At the risk of getting a little too far over my skis here, I wonder if that’s what’s really on their mind in the West Wing?

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate