Fauci made mistakes, but prosecution isn’t warranted

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Here are 10 questionable things Dr. Anthony Fauci did during the pandemic years as America’s COVID-19 czar:

• He administered conflicting advice about masks to the public, first saying they were unnecessary, then changing positions and even wearing one at an outdoor baseball game. Or intermittently wearing one; he removed it frequently.

• In an attempt at reassurance, he misinformed the public about the percentage of people requiring vaccination to achieve herd immunity (which the U.S. never reached).

• For months, he devoted insufficient attention to the importance of aerosol spread of the virus.

• He minimized the effects of lockdowns on schools and the economy.

• He engaged in a campaign to discredit the scientists who advocated for contrary positions on managing the pandemic, including signatories to the Great Barrington Declaration.

• He gave misleading and less than forthright responses about U.S. involvement in research into viral manipulation — so-called gain-of-function research.

• He downplayed the possibility of a lab leak being the source of the coronavirus.

• He advocated for a 6-foot social distancing policy, and he later admitted he wasn’t aware of any studies that supported the rule. There was a scientific basis, but it turned out to be inapplicable to COVID-19.

• He claimed to be apolitical while aligning himself with Democrats in his public comments.

• In the post-analysis of COVID-19 management, he showed reluctance to take responsibility for mistakes he and his team had made.

In Fauci’s defense, there were extenuating circumstances for some of these failings. His advice on masks and his prediction about herd immunity were made early in the pandemic when information was still preliminary and uncertainty was high. He deserves the benefit of the doubt on those issues, just as he might on the 6-foot separation rule.

He might also merit a pass on discussing the importance of aerosol spread and the social effects of lockdowns, which were not appreciated by many experts at the time. For the other charges — suppressing public debate, politicizing the pandemic as a justification for the excessive use of government authority and his failure to take responsibility — there are no excuses.

His supporters would say those negatives are outweighed by the reassurance he provided the public and his emphasis on promoting vaccination. That’s for each individual to decide.

But whatever that verdict, a prosecution or persecution of Fauci is not warranted. With the facts we have now, he does not merit criminal investigation as such critics as business titan Elon Musk and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul have suggested. This is not postwar Soviet Union or East Germany or communist China of the 2020s, where doctors and scientists were prosecuted as political agents and enemies of the state.

We need a thorough investigation of what our scientific elite did during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in the name of open investigation — not witch hunts.

No good purpose would be served by subjecting Fauci, one of America’s most prominent scientists and beloved by half the country, to criminal scrutiny, and in fact, some very bad purposes would be served.

First, there is little evidence that he broke any laws. The closest his adversaries can come is accusing him of “lying to Congress” about gain-of-function research, a broad charge that could certainly be defended on technical grounds. That is not to say Fauci was acting in good faith when he answered questions in front of Congress; merely, that he was not acting in a criminal fashion. He is hardly the first, nor will he be the last, to testify in front of Congress that way.

Second, turning the investigative powers of the state on a prominent scientist would have a chilling effect on the entire scientific community. The last thing we want is for young scientists to be looking over their shoulders while they do their work; we want them pursuing research goals, useful truths and public health solutions.

Not to exonerate him on his missteps, but investigating Fauci would be naked politicization of science — something Fauci himself can be accused of. There are plenty of scientists who have and will continue to inject politics into science, itself a breach of honest scientific inquiry. Government officials need not engage in that.

The late British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, famously said, “Advisers advise, ministers decide.” The balance between the scientific community and those who make public policy is fragile. A certain amount of tension between the two is necessary and even desirable. The scientists of the Manhattan Project did not always get on with the politicians in charge of the project, but that tension helped them reach their ultimate goal more quickly.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, both the scientists and the politicians completely upset that balance: the public health community, including Fauci, through the excessive hubris of their public pronouncements, and politicians such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pursued disastrous, unscientific policies (sending elderly COVID-19 patients back to nursing homes), or California Gov. Gavin Newsom dining at a fancy French restaurant during California’s coronavirus surge.

It will take years for the public health authorities and the public to trust each other again. It will take much longer if the politicians decide to embark on a legal crusade against Fauci. He is far from blameless, but he is in no way a criminal, and America does not need that spectacle.

Dr. Cory Franklin is a retired intensive care physician. This article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune.