Anthony Fauci to face grilling from Senate Republicans on Covid pandemic

Hearing is part of a longtime Republican investigation into pandemic’s origins, led by Senator Rand Paul

Anthony Fauci, the former veteran director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) who served as a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the Covid-19 pandemic, is due to testify on Wednesday at a high-profile US Senate hearing.

Senators are expected to question Fauci about whether the Covid-19 virus began as a “lab leak”, a claim virologists have argued is unlikely. The testimony is part of a longtime Republican investigation into the origins of the pandemic, led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.