Lawmakers and other prominent figures tore into Dr. Anthony Fauci after the Energy Department concluded COVID-19 likely leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China — a theory the former White House chief medical adviser repeatedly rejected.

The Energy Department’s “low confidence” assessment, included in a recent classified intelligence report sent to the White House and top members of Congress, turned the focus back on Fauci — who retired at the end of last year after more than five decades in government, the last 38 as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. …

“It’s been lie after lie, misinformation after misinformation. And it’s about time we crack this egg open and really find what’s actually going on,” Van Drew said.

“What’s most hurtful, not only did the Chinese — and we know the real truth — poison the world and the United States. I mean, let’s just tell the truth. Hopefully it was an accident. But not only did they do this, but they lied about it,” he added.

[As I mentioned in my Amiable Skeptics episode, Fauci and his efforts to fund gain-of-function research are the likely reason why debate over the lab-leak theory was actively suppressed by media and government. If COVID-19 leaked from the lab that used NIAID and NIH funding under Fauci’s direction, then Fauci and his pandemic leadership would have been undermined. If the new assessment by US intelligence turns out to be true, it *should* have been undermined. This whole set-up smells to high heaven, and Fauci isn’t the only one who should be held accountable for it. — Ed]