Anthony Fauci’s newly released diary entries, made public by Sen. Rand Paul, reveal that Fauci privately viewed efforts to fast-track COVID-19 treatments and vaccines before the 2020 election as politically motivated — and show he recorded personally intervening to support FDA officials resisting pressure for emergency authorizations.
The entries were first highlighted by Justin Hart of the Rational Ground Substack.
The entries, spanning five months in 2020, detail Fauci’s concerns about what he repeatedly described as an effort to deliver President Donald Trump an “October surprise” ahead of Election Day. They also identify the administration officials he believed were applying pressure and document a call in which Fauci wrote that he and other top federal health officials assured the FDA’s top vaccine regulator they would support him if he refused to approve a vaccine prematurely.
The diary centers on several key figures. Peter Marks led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the office responsible for reviewing vaccine applications. Then-FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn oversaw Marks. Fauci also references then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, NIH Director Francis Collins, Fauci deputy Cliff Lane and Larry Horowitz, whom he identifies as someone working closely with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
One of the earliest entries, dated June 20, 2020, focuses not on White House political aides but on then-White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx.
Fauci wrote that he had become increasingly frustrated with Birx, accusing her of wanting to bypass traditional clinical trials in favor of emergency authorizations.
“Deb has ststed [sic] that we should noit [sic] do clinical trials since ‘I want to see every infected person in a nursing home get plasma early on and steroids later. Forget the trial, we need to do this on EUAs. She says the same thing about vaccine trials. Clearly, she is trying to provide Trump with his October surprise. I may need to blow the whistle on her.”
The diary entry suggests Fauci believed months before the election that accelerating vaccine approvals was being driven by politics rather than science, and that he was already considering publicly opposing the effort.
By late July, Fauci recorded similar concerns about Meadows.
In a July 26 entry, Fauci wrote that after watching Meadows on television, he believed the chief of staff was “trying to get an ‘October Surprise’” and warned of an effort to push an early vaccine approval.
The following day, after briefing Trump in the Oval Office on vaccines and therapeutics, Fauci wrote that the president acknowledged a vaccine might not be ready before Election Day, though “he was not happy about it.”
The diary takes another turn on July 31, when Fauci wrote that he received information not from administration officials but from Horowitz:
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“Important call form [sic] Larry Horowitz who works closely with nancy Pelosi. Apparently, There was a meeting in the WH with Steve Mnuchin, Mark Meadows, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schummer. Steve and Mark told Nancy and Chuck that AstraZeneca will have vaccine in September and that it will be given an EUA… Apparently, Peter Marks does not know anything about this and Larry just informed him. Bottom line is that they are going to pressure Steve Han [sic] (who likely will cave in in the idea of an EUA) to issue one even though Peter has serius [sic] issues with this. An EUA will likely get in the way of completing the RCTs that are going on. Clearly. This is politically driven and will be a ploy for Trump to get re-elected.”
According to Fauci’s diary, Marks allegedly learned of the reported plans through Horowitz rather than from within the administration. Fauci characterized the proposed authorization as politically motivated and expressed concern it could interfere with ongoing randomized clinical trials.
A week later, Fauci documented the conversation that has drawn the most attention.
In an Aug. 7 entry, he wrote that Horowitz again warned him about pressure on the FDA and that Fauci, Collins and Lane contacted Marks directly.
“Call from Larry Horowitz (works with Nancy Pelosi)… He had warned me a few days ago about Meadows trying to pressure Hahn and Marks to grant UA [sic — EUA] (or even BLA) prematurely to vaccines (likely AZ) in time for the election. I called Peter Marks a couple of days ago (together with Collins and Lane) and explained that we would back him if he holds the line. He called the AZ package ‘a hot mess’ and definitely not in shape for an EUA.”
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According to Fauci’s account, three of the federal government’s top public health officials told Marks they would support him if he declined to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine based on the available data.
Fauci wrote that Marks believed the AstraZeneca submission was “a hot mess” and maintained that approving it too early could jeopardize ongoing clinical trials.
The diary entries continue in the same vein throughout August.
On Aug. 8, Fauci wrote that Horowitz warned him another FDA official needed backing after Peter Navarro allegedly pushed for an emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine. Fauci also recorded that Hahn wanted the official to delay a decision until he could “speak with Meadows.”
Later that month, Fauci wrote that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla expressed concern AstraZeneca could receive authorization before competitors completed their own clinical trials.
After the FDA authorized convalescent plasma on Aug. 26, Fauci wrote that Hahn had “likely caved to Meadows. Who is looking for good news before the election.”
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The diary concludes the pre-election battle with an Oct. 29, 2020, entry concerning emergency authorization requests for monoclonal antibody treatments from Eli Lilly and Regeneron.
Fauci highlighted the passage in red ink.
“Some potentially nefarious stuff going on. The FDA career scientists are hesitant to grant EUAs to Lilly’s and Regeneron’s mAb based on the current data. Alex Azar is really pushing them and furious because he thinks FDA is ‘slow-walking’ the process so as not to have it out before the election in 5 days. Clearly, Alex wants to please the POTUS so that they can say that they have a breakthrough… right before the election… We encouraged Francis to support the career scientists at FDA since they do not want to rush this through. They need more time to gather important information since what they have now is rather weak.”
Taken together, Fauci’s diary portrays what he viewed as a months-long battle between administration officials pushing for faster approvals before the election and career FDA scientists whom he believed needed more time to evaluate the available data before granting emergency authorizations.
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