As we noted earlier, Anthony Fauci was deposed yesterday in the First Amendment lawsuit brought by the states of Missouri and Louisiana. There is no transcript of the deposition, but the lawyers have tweeted about what Fauci said, and Legal Insurrection has the news:
The deposition of Anthony Fauci took place today in the lawsuit commenced by Louisiana and Missouri, alleging that numerous Biden administration officials colluded with and directed big tech and social media giants to censor dissenting scientific and medical voices with regard to Covid.
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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who attended the deposition, tweeted that Fauci had a lack of memory.
Wow! It was amazing to spend 7 hours with Dr. Fauci. The man who single-handedly wrecked the U.S. economy based upon "the science." Only to discover that he can't recall practically anything dealing with his Covid response!
— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) November 23, 2022
I am reminded of Richard Nixon, who during the Watergate travail counseled one of his aides to testify that he couldn’t remember anything. That way, Nixon explained, they can never go after you for perjury. The extent to which a witness can get away with amnesiac testimony depends largely on whether enough documents have been produced to pin him down. In this case, my impression is that the government’s production has been skimpy.
To me, this is the most interesting item:
Jenin Younes, an attorney from the New Civil Liberties Alliance, representing the physicians and scientist who were attacked after signing The Great Barrington Declaration, was present, and observed:
One of my favorite quotes from Fauci’s deposition today: “I have a very busy day job running a six billion dollar institute. I don’t have time to worry about things like the Great Barrington Declaration.”
— Jenin Younes (@Leftylockdowns1) November 23, 2022
The Great Barrington Declaration was ultimately signed by thousands of doctors and scientists. It challenged the covid shutdown policies that were recommended by Fauci and implemented by governments at the federal and state levels:
Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.
The signers of the Declaration argued against indiscriminate shutdowns and instead endorsed a policy they called Focused Protection. At this point, it is blindingly obvious that they were right.
But Anthony Fauci says he didn’t have time to evaluate the merits of the Great Barrington Declaration–that is to say, he didn’t have time to determine whether the policies he confidently imposed on the rest of us were actually justified. He was too busy “running a six billion dollar institute.” Some of us have been saying for a long time that Fauci isn’t a scientist, he is a bureaucrat. In yesterday’s testimony, he confirmed it.
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