Fauci apologizes for not answering question about diary entry on measles deaths from COVID lockdown

Sen. James Lankford had thanked former NIAID director for showing up for hearing, agreed he had 5th Amendment right to silence, then asked if Fauci followed through with diary warning about measles deaths from lockdown.

By Greg Piper

Published: July 29, 2026 10:55am

Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci departed from his rote repetition of his 5th Amendment right to not answer questions, at a Senate committee hearing on his potential role in COVID-19 origins, when a Republican senator played good cop to Chair Rand Paul's bad cop.

Fauci apologized when Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., asked him about a May 6, 2020 entry in his 1,141-page diary, posted without redaction by Paul over the weekend, that mentions his discussions with then-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield on the cost of COVID lockdowns worldwide.

Lankford also departed from the GOP practice at the hearing by thanking Fauci for showing up, even under compulsion from a subpoena, and recognizing his constitutional right against self-incrimination. Kentucky's Paul had warned there would be legal "consequences" for refusing to answer "pertinent" questions, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., later told Fauci "you don't have any rights."

Right before Lankford's question, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan held the Trump administration responsible for more U.S. measles infections in President Trump's second term than 2020-2024 combined, and ranking Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan had also blamed the administration for skyrocketing measles cases.

He asked about page 166 of "Tony's Diary Package," as Paul labeled it, in which Fauci admitted to himself that lockdowns he advocated had "unintended consequences in my area of health."

"Had conversation with Bob Redfield lastr [sic] night about the fact that >1 million children world-wide have missed their measles vaccinations because of the shutdown," Fauci documented. "This is terrible and needs to be addressed since on that basis alone, there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children. I need to bring this up at TF [White House coronavirus task force] meeting."

Lankford asked if Fauci ever briefed the task force on his measles concerns. Looking genuinely conflicted, and apparently for the first time in the hearing, Fauci responded "I'm sorry, senator." He then repeated the theme of his responses: counsel urged him not to answer questions.