WASHINGTON — The Senate investigations subcommittee chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) released a first batch of Dr. Anthony Fauci's government iPhone messages, including a January 2021 exchange with then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about the COVID vaccine's potential impact on pregnant women.
In the texts, Fauci flagged a concern following the second dose of the vaccine. He wrote that many individuals experience a "significant cytokine storm and fever" and that the reaction could "theoretically be associated with miscarriage in the first trimester."
Johnson said his committee now holds a copy of Fauci's government iPhone and plans to release additional material jointly with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has pressed for access to Fauci's pandemic-era communications.
Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, hired attorney David Schertler as congressional Republicans have sought to hold him accountable for his actions and advice during the COVID pandemic.
The release follows Fauci's July 29 appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, during which he delivered prepared remarks but invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times in response to senators' questions.
That hearing came after publicly released diary entries, discovered on HHS servers, challenged Fauci's public account of his pandemic decision-making and drew scrutiny from critics.
Johnson, speaking with Fox News host Laura Ingraham last week, said the committee is actively downloading the phone's data and emphasized the importance of preserving evidence properly. He also said some material on the device predates the pandemic.
The committee plans to compare the newly acquired texts against records Fauci previously provided in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, looking for discrepancies or omissions.
David Morens, a Fauci associate, reportedly showed him how to delete emails — a detail that has fueled congressional scrutiny of his official record-keeping.
According to RedState, the device contained only three contacts, suggesting it was used for specific, restricted communications rather than general correspondence.
Johnson warned the timetable for releasing further material could be extensive. The device contains more than 500 voicemails and 34,000 text messages.
