Fauci wrote that he had become increasingly frustrated with Birx, accusing her of wanting to bypass traditional clinical trials in favor of emergency authorizations.
The diary entry suggests Fauci believed months before the election that accelerating vaccine approvals was being driven by politics rather than science, and that he was already considering publicly opposing the effort.
Based on Fauci’s diary, Marks allegedly learned of the disclosed plans through Horowitz rather than from within the administration. Fauci characterized the proposed authorization as politically motivated and expressed concern it could interfere with ongoing randomized clinical trials.
On Aug. 8, Fauci wrote that Horowitz alerted him another FDA official needed backing after Peter Navarro allegedly pushed for an emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine.
Later that month, Fauci wrote that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla expressed concern AstraZeneca could receive authorization before competitors completed their own clinical trials.
After the FDA authorized convalescent plasma on Aug. 26, Fauci wrote that Hahn had “likely caved to Meadows.
The diary concludes the pre-election battle with an Oct. 29, 2020, entry concerning emergency authorization requests for monoclonal antibody treatments from Eli Lilly and Regeneron.
Taken together, Fauci’s diary portrays what he viewed as a months-long battle between administration officials pushing for faster approvals before the election and career FDA scientists whom he believed needed more time to evaluate the available data before granting emergency authorizations.
The entries were first highlighted by Justin Hart of the Rational Ground Substack.
The diary centers on several key figures. Peter Marks led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the office responsible for reviewing vaccine applications. Then-FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn oversaw Marks. Fauci also references then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, NIH Director Francis Collins, Fauci deputy Cliff Lane and Larry Horowitz, whom he identifies as someone working closely with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
One of the earliest entries, dated June 20, 2020, focuses not on White House political aides but on then-White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx.
“Deb has ststed [sic] that we should noit [sic] do clinical trials since ‘I want to see every infected person in a nursing home get plasma early on and steroids later. Forget the trial, we need to do this on EUAs. She says the same thing about vaccine trials. Clearly, she is trying to provide Trump with his October surprise.
By late July, Fauci recorded similar concerns about Meadows.
In a July 26 entry, Fauci wrote that after watching Meadows on television, he believed the chief of staff was “trying to get an ‘October Surprise’” and alerted of an effort to push an early vaccine approval.
“crucial call form [sic] Larry Horowitz who works closely with nancy Pelosi. Apparently, There was a meeting in the WH with Steve Mnuchin, Mark Meadows, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schummer. Bottom line is that they are going to pressure Steve Han [sic] (who likely will cave in in the idea of an EUA) to issue one even though Peter has serius [sic] issues with this. Steve and Mark told Nancy and Chuck that AstraZeneca will have vaccine in September and that it will be given an EUA… Apparently, Peter Marks does not know anything about this and Larry just informed him. An EUA will likely get in the way of completing the RCTs that are going on. Clearly.
A week later, Fauci documented the conversation that has drawn the most attention.
In an Aug. 7 entry, he wrote that Horowitz again alerted him about pressure on the FDA and that Fauci, Collins and Lane contacted Marks directly.
“Call from Larry Horowitz (works with Nancy Pelosi)… He had signaled me a few days ago about Meadows trying to pressure Hahn and Marks to grant UA [sic — EUA] (or even BLA) prematurely to vaccines (likely AZ) in time for the election. I urged Peter Marks a couple of days ago (together with Collins and Lane) and detailed that we would back him if he holds the line.
Fauci wrote that Marks believed the AstraZeneca submission was “a hot mess” and maintained that approving it too early could jeopardize ongoing clinical trials.
The diary entries continue in the same vein throughout August.
