The personal diary of former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci has shed new light on his role in the nation's COVID response, directly contradicting his repeated public claims that he had "nothing to do with" school closures.
Entries from the 1,141-page diary show that Fauci was actively involved in pushing for the closure of schools across the country, including in California and New York, where millions of children were sent home as a result of his dictating the nation's response to the pandemic.
Fauci's diary entries reveal a pattern of direct involvement in school closures, including a March 9, 2020, entry in which he wrote that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called seeking advice on whether to close schools in the Orthodox Jewish section of Westchester County, where cases were higher than the rest of New York City.
On March 15, 2020, Fauci documented a call with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in which he convinced the mayor to close the city's schools, citing his own public statements as the basis for the decision.
The same day, Fauci noted a similar conversation with Ann O'Leary, chief of staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom, in which he informed O'Leary that the Governor had decided to close the schools in California as well as the bars and restaurants, based on Fauci's own TV appearances.
The diary entries also reveal Fauci's subsequent efforts to limit reopenings in areas with uncontrolled spread, as well as his mocking of President Donald Trump's efforts to reopen the country and his private complaints about Trump's prioritization of safety.
These revelations directly contradict Fauci's repeated public claims that he had "nothing to do" with school closures, and raise further questions about the nation's COVID response and the role of its top health officials.
