A Washington Examiner review found the word “press” appears nearly 1,400 times in the 1,141-page diary package, including in Fauci’s entries, media clippings, and interview lists. Variations of “conspiracy” appear more than 40 times. The phrases “far right” and “far-right” appear at least 57 times, revealing that Fauci was privately demonizing his critics while purporting to be a neutral figure.

The disclosures take on added relevance after Fauci declined to answer questions throughout Wednesday’s Senate hearing, citing the Fifth Amendment despite former President Joe Biden’s blanket pardon. Paul said afterward that the committee would move toward a contempt vote next week.

During one exchange at the hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) ridiculed Fauci for answering lifestyle magazine questions during the pandemic while now declining to answer Congress. Hawley specifically highlighted Fauci’s 2020 InStyle interview and accused him of pursuing celebrity, cash awards, and power.

Diary logs reinforce Hawley’s line of criticism

On July 16, 2020, Fauci wrote that then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows complained that the health official needed to “back off with media” because the pandemic response could not become a “Tony Fauci show.” Fauci added that Meadows “did not like the fact that I did an InStyle piece and did not want any more profiles of me.”

The entry was made as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were climbing nationwide.

Fauci’s diary chronicles scientific and messaging disputes with the Trump administration, while documenting a running tally of television appearances, flattering profiles, celebrity interactions, public acclaim, and grievances against those he believed were limiting the reach of his platform.

Despite his complaints about lacking access to the media, the Washington Examiner counted approximately 600 separate press logs documenting at least 2,000 news media engagements, including television interviews, radio hits, podcasts, print interviews, and White House press conferences.

Fauci appealed to Pence to help restore his television access

In late February 2020, after Pence took control of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Fauci wrote that officials had suspended media commitments for public health officials while reviewing communications strategy. Fauci had already agreed to several television appearances, causing some online supporters to rush to his defense.

He described the public backlash to the cancellation of his interviews as an “amazing twitter storm,” writing that supporters were demanding that officials not suppress the “great Fauci” and that there was even a “#freeFauci” campaign.

Fauci publicly denied he was being muzzled. Privately, the fight over television bookings became a recurring source of resentment Fauci harbored toward other members of the Trump administration.

In May 2020, Fauci wrote that he told Pence he had gone from doing two TV hits per day to one or two per week, with no Sunday-show appearances. Pence, Fauci recorded, appeared surprised and said he would raise the issue with then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

A few days later, Fauci wrote that Pence called him “the most visible and trusted asset in the country.”

Fauci described Pence as a “good guy” and concluded the vice president was trying to “protect and shield” him as Trump’s frustration with Fauci grew.

By June, Fauci was going directly to Pence’s office to make his case for getting more screen time. On June 29, as new cases neared 50,000 per day, Fauci wrote that he told Pence, “I am being blocked from TV and I needed to get on TV to give the ‘risk reduction’ message.”

Fauci wrote that he assured Pence he would not let interviewers pit him against Trump. Pence, according to Fauci’s account, promised he would get him on TV because he liked his message.

“First time anyone ever spoke that way to VP,” Fauci wrote. “He truly likes me a lot (and vice versa).”

The former vice president eventually offered a much harsher assessment of Fauci’s pandemic role. In a November 2022 Meet the Press appearance, Pence said Fauci “ultimately aligned himself with many Democratic governors” who extended what were supposed to be temporary COVID-19 policies. Fauci pushed back at the time, saying he did not align himself with anybody.

Fauci used Alyssa Farah Griffin to cut through red tape

Fauci’s diary shows he also relied on then-Trump White House communications aide Alyssa Farah Griffin as an internal ally in his push for TV bookings.

In May 2020, Fauci wrote that Farah Griffin acknowledged he was being held back and agreed to a new process for scheduling his appearances. Print interviews and podcasts, Fauci wrote, would not require clearance, while major television requests would go directly to Farah Griffin.

Fauci called her “terrific” and wrote that she trusted him to “handle anything.” The next month, he called Farah Griffin “the one hope in Comms” because she wanted him “out there.”

He continued to lobby reporters and producers, too. When Fox News host Chris Wallace called in June and said he had been trying to book him for weeks, Fauci wrote that he told Wallace to “keep trying and maybe he will get it.”

By early July 2020, Fauci wrote that the White House was refusing his requests to appear on major television programs before the Fourth of July weekend. He emailed then-Health and Human Services communications official Michael Caputo, copying Farah Griffin, to argue that public health officials needed airtime to deliver a “potentially life-saving message.”

“Yet every single one of these requests of late, which we re-submit every day, has been ignored or denied,” Fauci wrote. “We are missing an opportunity to save lives.”

Fauci reveled in his fame and meticulously cataloged personal mementos

In March 2020, Fauci wrote that “the public adulation of me has been amazing,” describing White House staff members who congratulated him on a Politico profile, thanked him, and asked for selfies.

He later called himself an “international celebrity” and described his fame as “explosive and really unimaginable.” In another entry, Fauci wrote that it was “not hyperbole” that he was among the country’s most famous and talked-about people.

He cataloged petitions to name him People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” Fauci-themed video games, restaurant dishes, T-shirts, mugs, prayer candles, socks, pillows, doughnuts, beer, and bobbleheads. He saved coverage of a Fauci bobblehead fundraiser and wrote that the “Fauci cult” had become “complete craziness.”

He wrote about a message from Barbra Streisand, a call from Dionne Warwick, a gift from Julia Roberts, and a lengthy account of Roberts presenting him with an award. After Roberts said she became nervous whenever she saw him, Fauci described her as “charming, natural, fun and amazingly beautiful.”

Fauci felt tormented by ‘far-right’ critics and sought Andrew Cuomo’s counsel

The diary also shows Fauci viewing conservative critics through an intensely personal lens.

On April 18, 2020, amid mounting pressure to reopen the country, Fauci wrote: “Far right agitating to get back to work. Much agitation!”

Three months later, Fauci wrote that then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called to ask how he was doing. Fauci told Cuomo that he was “upset that the far right was trying to discredit me.”

Cuomo, Fauci wrote, strongly suggested that he resign. Fauci said Cuomo warned that he would lose credibility if he stayed, urged him to protect his legacy, and offered to help him secure a lucrative private-sector role. Fauci declined.

The entry is revealing because it shows how Fauci’s concerns about public health, press access, political warfare, and personal legacy had become intertwined. Critics were not merely challenging his guidance. In Fauci’s telling, they were trying to destroy him.

That fixation remained visible long after Trump’s first term ended.

In August 2022, Fauci wrote that he received a prolonged standing ovation from 45,000 people at a Seattle Mariners game. He complained that a Washington Examiner YouTube video had highlighted what he characterized as a smaller group of attendees who booed him and called for him to go to jail.

“This is so exemplary of the distortion of reality by the far right,” Fauci wrote.

FAUCI’S DIARY DETAILS BLOOMING OUTRAGE TOWARD ‘FAR RIGHT’ AND SOFTNESS TOWARD BIDEN AND CHINA

Yet, it is also telling that Fauci, who was once so interested in tracking not only the virus but applause and cameras, would opt to invoke his Fifth Amendment right when he was called to testify this week.

“I really did want to hear from Dr. Fauci,” said Paul, who added that “Fauci isn’t liable for anything as long as he tells the truth.” Paul said he believes it is less likely a contempt vote would pass on the full Senate floor, which needs 60 votes, and said he believes “it can pass out of committee” with a full legal brief sent to the Justice Department, according to an interview with Fox News this week.