Sen. Roger Marshall says he's not upset about Dr. Anthony Fauci being heard on a live microphone calling him a "moron," but he is concerned that the slam came after the doctor "had just lied to Congress."
"I think we were both very much in the moment," the Kansas Republican told Fox News Digital, the network reported Friday. "I did not take it personal one bit. I was more focused on the true facts [and] the fact that he had just lied to Congress."
Earlier this week, Fauci's comment was picked up on a live microphone after he and Marshall had a heated argument during a Senate Health Committee meeting when the men disagreed whether Fauci's financial disclosure forms are available to the public.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, insisted during the hearing that he had submitted the information and that it was publicly available.
Marshall, however, said he'd been trying to get the information for weeks.
Fauci told him that his financial disclosure is "public knowledge and has been for the last 37 years or so, 35 years that I’ve been director," and then told Marshall that "all you have to do is ask for it. You’re so misinformed it’s extraordinary."
After that, the doctor could be heard muttering the "moron" comment.
Marshall told Fox News that the information is not publicly available and that it takes the National Institutes of Health and the Biden White House "months to respond to any type of request for information."
Even then, the information is redacted, Marshall said, so "it's quite a game they're playing."
Marshall added that he was "shocked" by Fauci's response that the information is available, and "that he would lie to Congress again after he had already lied about the viral gain-of-function question that I asked him earlier."
Marshall had argued with Fauci on the research question during the first round of questioning at the hearing.
"We’ve asked his staff, we’ve asked NIH, and they’re at a loss," Marshall said about the financial disclosure forms. "So he lied. He absolutely lied to the American public."
The senator added that it would be "nice to know" if Fauci is getting any funding from China for services such as guest appearances or speeches.
Meanwhile, Marshall's office has sent a letter to Fauci's office asking for unredacted copies of the financial disclosures by Friday.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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