Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has released [1] a set of emails that he says show Dr. Anthony Fauci instructed colleagues to delete records at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite previously denying such actions under oath.
“Newly released emails show Fauci directed colleagues to ‘delete this after you read it’—dating back to Feb. 2020,” Paul said in a statement.
“He denied it under oath. These documents are now public, and Fauci will finally testify before Chairman Rand Paul.”
BREAKING: Newly released emails show Fauci directed colleagues to “delete this after you read it”—dating back to Feb. 2020.
He denied it under oath. These documents are now public, and Fauci will finally testify before Chairman Rand Paul. pic.twitter.com/kHrUDjfRXI [2]
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) September 10, 2025 [3]
One email cited by Paul shows Fauci telling a colleague at the National Institutes of Health to delete an exchange that discussed the high death rate emerging in New York City during the early stages of the outbreak.
“Please delete this after you read it,” Fauci wrote, according to the documents.
Freshly released emails expose another layer of the Fauci COVID Coverup. In April 2020, his staff flagged my post on NYC’s soaring death rate.
Fauci’s reply?
Call me “full of s..t,” spin the numbers, and order your staff to “delete this after you read it.” He knew the… pic.twitter.com/cGvFn4OzX3 [4]
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) September 10, 2025 [5]
Paul said the revelations show that discussions among top health officials about the virus and its origins were intentionally concealed.
“The coverup began while the virus was barely on America’s radar. Just one day after the Feb. 1, 2020 Proximal Origins call, Fauci, Francis Collins, and Jeremy Farrar plotted how to ‘get ahead of the science and the narrative’ under WHO,” Paul stated.
The coverup began while the virus was barely on America’s radar. Just one day after the Feb. 1, 2020 Proximal Origins call, Fauci, Francis Collins, and Jeremy Farrar plotted how to “get ahead of the science and the narrative” under WHO.
Fauci ended with: “Please delete this… pic.twitter.com/lAVuPB8mZJ [6]
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) September 10, 2025 [7]
Other records released by Paul included Fauci’s directive to “spin the numbers” and references to concerns about public perception of the virus.
The emails are expected to play a central role in upcoming testimony, as Paul, who chairs the committee, has called Fauci to appear before Congress.
Paul has long argued that Fauci misled lawmakers about the federal government’s role in funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
During a 2021 hearing, Fauci clashed with Paul over the issue of gain-of-function research.
Fauci, under oath, denied that the NIH funded such work in Wuhan.
The NIH received the relevant documents in 2018 and reviewed the documents in 2020 and again in 2021.
The NIH–specifically, Collins, Fauci, and Tabak–lied to Congress, lied to the press, and lied to the public. Knowingly. Willfully. Brazenly.
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) October 20, 2021 [8]
“Dr. Fauci was under oath when speaking with Senator Rand Paul in 2021 when he denied that the NIH funded the gain-of-function research in Wuhan,” Paul’s office said in its statement on the newly surfaced documents.
That hearing featured one of the most heated exchanges between Paul and Fauci, with the senator accusing Fauci of lying to Congress and Fauci defending his statements on the record.
The newly released emails are expected to renew scrutiny of Fauci’s actions at the outset of the pandemic, particularly surrounding how officials handled scientific debate about the virus’s origin.
The Feb. 1, 2020 call referenced by Paul has previously been described as a turning point in discussions among government health leaders and international scientists about whether COVID-19 may have originated from a laboratory.
Fauci has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has pushed back against accusations that he sought to obscure evidence or mislead lawmakers.
However, the release of emails suggesting he directed colleagues to delete records adds to ongoing investigations into the early handling of the pandemic and the federal government’s involvement in research oversight.
Fauci is expected to appear before Paul’s committee for further questioning on these matters.
The hearing date has not yet been announced.