Fauci Memos Raise New Questions Over Deleted Emails, COVID Origins, and Intelligence Briefings

Key Facts

Published: August 31, 2026 Location: Washington D.C. Source: Just the News, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Daily Caller News Foundation

• Newly released memos cited by Just the News allege Dr. Anthony Fauci instructed aides to delete sensitive emails on multiple occasions.
• The documents also claim Fauci directed intelligence officials toward scientists who supported a natural-origin theory of COVID-19.
• The revelations follow a Senate committee vote to hold Fauci in contempt after he invoked the Fifth Amendment during congressional testimony.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – Newly released memos from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul have renewed scrutiny of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of government communications during the COVID-19 era, with documents cited by Just the News alleging that Fauci instructed aides on multiple occasions to delete emails after reading them.

According to the report, the memos identify at least five instances — spanning from 2009 to 2020 — in which Fauci allegedly directed recipients to delete sensitive email exchanges. One message reportedly told an aide to delete an email and then remove it from the deleted folder, language critics say raises serious questions under federal record-keeping rules.

The documents also point to Fauci’s communications with the U.S. intelligence community as federal agencies debated the origins of COVID-19. According to the report, Fauci urged intelligence officials to consult scientists who favored a natural-origin explanation for the virus, even as other agencies, including the FBI, examined the possibility that COVID-19 may have emerged from a lab.

The revelations come as Fauci remains under congressional pressure. Earlier this month, the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted to hold him in contempt after he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during testimony before lawmakers. Fauci has defended his decision, arguing that Sen. Paul and other critics have repeatedly suggested he should face criminal prosecution.

The dispute is now moving beyond questions of pandemic policy and into a deeper fight over transparency, federal records, and whether public officials preserved documents that belonged to the American people. For lawmakers pressing the investigation, the issue is no longer only what federal health officials believed about COVID-19’s origins — but whether key decisions were made behind a curtain that Congress and the public were never meant to see.

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