Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), recently appeared on the Today show to demonstrate the best way to wear two masks. Less familiar to the public are Fauci's writings on the pandemic.

"Emerging Pandemic Diseases: How We Got to COVID-19," authored with NIAID adviser Dr. David Morens, emerged on August 15, 2020. That was several months after President Trump ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cut off all U.S. funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a wholly owned subsidiary of China's Communist regime and the likely source of the virus that causes COVID-19. 

The U.S. funding for Wuhan was channeled through Fauci's NIAID, but Fauci does not deal with that in his paper, which mentions China only twice. The NIAID boss also avoids another issue crucial to the outbreak. 

Gain of function research, as Nidhi Subbaraman explains in Nature, "involves making pathogens more deadly or more transmissible." In 2012 Fauci cited the risks of such research, wondering "what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic?"

The NIH banned gain of function research in 2014 but revived it in 2017 with no objection from Fauci. Three years later after a global pandemic, Fauci's paper is silent on any role this dangerous research might have played in the outbreak. 

Disease emergencies, the NIAID boss explains, "reflect our increasing inability to live in harmony with nature." That, in turn, requires "changes in human behavior as well as other radical changes," such as the elimination of "intensive animal farming" and "ending global poverty." 

Fauci calls for "strengthening the United Nations and its agencies, particularly the World Health Organization," which was not able to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak. Even so, Fauci leans on bureaucratic solutions, which suits his career. 

Fauci earned a medical degree in 1966 and two years later hired on with the National Institutes of Health. Fauci has headed NIAID since 1984, and with a current salary of $417,608, more than the president of the United States. Fauci is the highest-paid employee in the federal government. 

Fauci's bio shows no advanced degrees in molecular biology or biochemistry so strictly speaking he is not a virologist. Though routinely billed as the nation's top infectious diseases expert, Fauci has changed his views on the danger of the pandemic, the need to lock down the economy, and the utility of masks. 

Fauci appeared in press conferences with New York governor Andrew Cuomo and contended that New York had responded "properly" and "correctly" to the pandemic. In February, CNN host Jim Scietto asked Fauci if Gov. Cuomo was following federal guidelines when he ordered long-term care facilities to accept elderly patients returning from hospitals,

"I'm honestly not trying to erase your question," Fauci responded. "I prefer not to comment on that." Those who lost loved ones in the nursing homes might expect some response from the man most responsible for shutting down the American economy, with all the ensuing destruction, misery, and death. 

For more than a year, embattled Americans have been living under a regime of white-coat supremacy that overrides the rights of the people. Behind his multiple masks, stellar salary, and glowing reviews, Fauci is the face of that regime. The unelected bureaucrat, in government for 53 years, makes catastrophic decisions with zero accountability for his actions. Some relief may be on the way. 

House Republicans are calling for an investigation of NIH funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology. As they note, the WIV is eligible for additional NIH funding through 2024. That is a concern, but Wuhan should not be the only area of inquiry.

Fauci's adviser David Morens is also an MD, with a BA in psychology. Morens served with the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), billed as the nation's "medical CIA" with a mandate to prevent dangerous viruses from arriving on American soil. 

The "officers" of the EIS failed to prevent the COVID-19 virus from arriving in the USA, and by all indications failed to prevent its spread. If any EIS bosses were held accountable, nothing has emerged in the media. Congress should look into it. The people have a right to know. 

Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Oakland, California-based Independent Institute.

Image:  P.G.Offringa.