Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Sunday unveiled a new text exchange from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s government-issued phone as his committee reviews records concerning federal officials’ handling of COVID-19 vaccine safety concerns, including risks surrounding pregnancy.
On "Sunday Morning Futures," Johnson showcased a new text message conversation between Fauci and Dr. John Mascola, then-director of the Vaccine Research Center under NIAID. The senator said the message shows that Fauci received information about pregnancy-related concerns connected to vaccines.
"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," Mascola wrote in a freshly disclosed text message that Fauci read on Jan. 25, 2021.
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"This text really raises more questions than it answers," Johnson said, adding that it was still unknown from whom Fauci received information about cytokine storms, an adverse reaction associated with COVID-19, according to a January 2022 study posted on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website.
Johnson said his team reached out to Mascola, who retained an attorney, and he hopes the doctor will cooperate.
Johnson's team also released an email Fauci received from Dr. Janet Woodcock, who was the commissioner of the FDA at the time, who raised concerns on May 27, 2021, about "adverse events" after COVID vaccination. She called for a study into the matter.
Johnson accused Fauci of sitting on that information and failing to act accordingly.
"We see time and time again, these government officials, whose responsibility was to surveil for safety signals, weren't doing their job," Johnson said. "When they saw something, they covered it up."
Fauci on Friday declined a request from Johnson, who is chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to voluntarily appear before a second Senate panel, opening another front in Republicans’ investigations into the former public health official’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci's attorney argued that compelling him to testify again after his contentious July 29 Senate hearing, during which he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times, would "impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes."
Fox News' Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
