Full Breakdown
Kennedy Accuses Fauci of Deception Over COVID Diary
8/1/2026, 9:01:12 PM
Background & Context
The diary kept by Dr. Anthony Fauci on government computers from December 2019 through December 2022 was obtained by a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee subpoena and released publicly. The diary became the centerpiece of a hearing chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in late July 2026. On the morning of July 29, Kennedy, who had recently become health secretary, spoke to USA TODAY about the diary while Fauci appeared before the same committee.
Official Statements & Responses
Health Secretary **Robert F. Kennedy also highlighted a diary entry in which Fauci recorded a pulmonary infarction in June 2021, six months after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, calling the omission “an inexcusable deception.”
Sen. Rand Paul ordered security to remove Fauci’s attorney from the hearing after the lawyer refused to stay in an assigned seat. Fauci, now 85, invoked his Fifth Amendment right when questioned about the diary entries.
Republican committee members framed the diary as evidence of Fauci’s private contradictions, while Democratic members described the inquiry as a partisan effort to revisit events that occurred years earlier.
Data & Statistics
- Pulmonary infarction: Fauci’s diary notes he suffered this condition in June 2021. The CDC does not list pulmonary infarction as a common COVID-19 vaccine side effect, and the diary does not establish causality.
- Vaccine safety: Medical experts continue to assert that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and save lives, noting that the risk of serious clotting events is higher from COVID-19 infection than from vaccination.
- Measles resurgence: After years of being declared eliminated, measles cases have recently increased in the United States, a trend linked by public-health analysts to broader vaccine hesitancy.
Impact & Controversy
Since assuming the HHS leadership, Kennedy has dismissed all 17 members of a federal vaccine advisory panel and appointed new members, including individuals who self-identify as “anti-vaxxers.” He has also revised several childhood-vaccine recommendations, actions that public-health experts and organizations have criticized as endangering children’s health. Some of these policy changes are currently facing court challenges, underscoring the growing legal and political friction over vaccine policy in the United States.
Verbatim Quotes
- “He got the vaccine to tell the Americans it's safe. And then when he got an adverse event that could have been related to the vaccine, he didn't tell anybody about it,” — Robert F. Kennedy, health secretary
