BREAKING: Fauci Scandal Deepens as House Committee Questions Missing COVID Records

The controversy surrounding Dr. Anthony Fauci is intensifying as a powerful House committee demands answers over why his pandemic-era diary and cellphone were not turned over to Congress when lawmakers first requested records from the Biden administration.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is now placing scrutiny on former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, accusing the former Biden Cabinet official of either withholding relevant information or failing to conduct an adequate search of government records.

In a letter sent Monday, Comer pointed to a November 2023 request from House Republicans directing HHS to produce records connected to Fauci that contained terms including "COVID-19," "gain-of-function" and "Wuhan."

Those terms appear throughout Fauci's diary, which was ultimately turned over earlier this year by current HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

"Despite the existence of this clearly relevant and responsive information, you failed to include any portion of Dr. Fauci's diary in your response, let alone even acknowledge its existence," Comer wrote to Becerra.

The committee chairman said lawmakers are concerned that Becerra either "intentionally withheld this information" or failed to properly search HHS systems in response to Congress' request.

The revelations surrounding Fauci's diary have already fueled renewed criticism of the longtime government health official. More than 1,000 pages released publicly offer a window into Fauci's private thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic, including his interactions with journalists, political figures and members of the media.

Some entries have also raised questions about Fauci's role in pandemic-era restrictions. In one 2020 entry, Fauci wrote that he had "convinced" then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to close New York City schools based on Fauci's public statements and a private conversation with the mayor.

That account has drawn additional scrutiny because Fauci previously told a House pandemic subcommittee in June 2024 that the CDC, rather than Fauci himself, was responsible for guidelines such as the controversial six-foot social-distancing recommendation.

Fauci faced another contentious confrontation with Republican lawmakers during a Senate hearing in late July, where he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment while being questioned about the pandemic response and information contained in his diary.

The latest House investigation shifts attention toward the Biden administration's handling of Fauci's records and raises broader questions about whether Congress received the full scope of information it requested during its investigation into the government's COVID-19 response.

Becerra, who is currently running for governor of California, now faces increased scrutiny as Comer presses for answers about what his department knew, what it turned over and why Fauci's records were apparently not included in the earlier congressional response.