Sen. Ron Johnson Details New Texts and Emails in Ongoing Fauci Investigation on Sunday Morning Futures

Senator Ron Johnson on Sunday highlighted newly released communications from former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci’s government-issued phone and related correspondence, saying the materials raise further questions about what federal health officials knew regarding potential COVID-19 vaccine safety concerns for pregnant women and other adverse events.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with guest host Jackie DeAngelis, the Wisconsin Republican, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, discussed documents obtained as part of a broader probe conducted with Sen. Rand Paul. Johnson and Paul previously released an initial set of texts from Fauci’s phone. On Sunday, Johnson presented additional context, including a January 25, 2021, text message from Dr. John Mascola, then-director of the Vaccine Research Center at NIAID.

In the message, Mascola wrote to Fauci: “I am corrected on pregnancy studies. Initial Studies avoid vaccination in first trimester due to possible fever and higher rates of miscarriage in first trimester.” Johnson said the exchange helps explain the source of information Fauci referenced in earlier communications with then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and then-Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about theoretical risks of miscarriage associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the first trimester. He expressed hope that Mascola would fully cooperate with investigators to clarify the meaning and context of the text.

Johnson also released a May 2021 email from Dr. Janet Woodcock, who later served as acting FDA commissioner, to Fauci. In it, Woodcock described personally receiving reports of patients experiencing hard-to-classify adverse events, writing that “no one takes them seriously, no one knows how to treat them, and there is no effort to study this.” Johnson noted that Fauci appeared reluctant to engage but ultimately responded, and he questioned why such concerns were not more fully communicated to the public or medical practitioners at the time.

The senator argued that the materials fit a pattern in which federal health officials responsible for monitoring safety signals failed to adequately do so or to share relevant information. “They didn’t do their job. They didn’t take their responsibilities seriously, looking for safety signals and then passing those safety signals along to doctors, practitioners, and the public,” Johnson said. He contended that repeated assurances of no red flags or safety signals left Americans without complete risk-benefit information needed for informed consent.

Johnson emphasized that the investigation is still in its early stages with respect to the full contents of Fauci’s phone, which investigators received only recently and which contains tens of thousands of text messages and hundreds of voicemails spanning years. Fauci’s diary was obtained a short time earlier. The senator said lawmakers would continue reviewing the materials and exploring options for further accountability. He also criticized what he described as ongoing media reluctance to scrutinize Fauci’s record and characterized the former official’s priorities during the pandemic as centered on personal recognition and control.

The releases form part of a sustained Senate effort examining pandemic-era decision-making, vaccine recommendations, and related communications. Fauci previously declined a private transcribed interview and invoked the Fifth Amendment extensively in a congressional appearance. Johnson maintained that the newly public documents underscore the need for continued document review to establish a fuller record of what senior officials knew and when they knew it.