- Fauci initially resisted an order to halt funding for Wuhan Institute of Virology
- Was aware Trump was concerned lab could be source of COVID-19, book claims
- But later told Congress that he didn’t know reasons for then-president’s decision
Dr Anthony Fauci was accused of lying Sunday after claims he falsely denied knowing the reasons behind President Trumps’s decision to cut funding to the Chinese lab accused of releasing COVID-19.
The White House‘s chief medical advisor initially resisted Trump’s order to halt taxpayer funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology in April 2020, according to an upcoming book, before telling a house committee in June that he ‘didn’t know the reason’ behind the then-president’s decision.
However, Fauci’s account is contradicted by ‘verbatim’ quotes which show he was fully aware Trump took the decision out of concern about the lab’s safety record and fears it was the source of the COVID pandemic, included in the new book ‘Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History’ by Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta.