Dr. Anthony Fauci and a top adviser who has since been charged for allegedly working to destroy records that were subject to Freedom of Information Act requests edited Bill Gates’ book about preventing future pandemics, according to newly released emails.
Gates wrote to Fauci on Jan. 3, 2022, asking Fauci to look over his manuscript, which he planned to submit to his publisher soon, one of the emails showed.
Five days later, Fauci said he was able to find time to read one of the chapters. He found it “very well done” but also provided some suggested edits, including saying Gates should promote studying viruses in animals to better understand how viruses evolve and promoting antiviral drugs made by Merck and Remdesivir.
Dr. David Morens, at the time one of Fauci’s closest advisers, read the entire book draft and provided dozens of points of feedback, according to the attachment to Fauci’s email.
“I gave the manuscript in close confidence to a trusted colleague who destroyed it after reading it. His name is Dr. David Morens and he has read the entire book and have provided comments on every chapter,” Fauci told Gates. “His comments are a bit granular and you might not be able to address them in the limited time frame; however, I am providing them in the attached document for your interest and use if you wish.”
Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1984 until late 2022, and Gates did not respond to requests for comment.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released the emails between Gates and Fauci on July 31.
Gates’ book, titled “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic,” was published in April 2022.
In the book, Gates advocates creating a “pandemic prevention team,” or “the equivalent of a global fire department” that would consist of 2,000 to 3,000 people whose job would be to help prevent future pandemics by watching for potential outbreaks, helping contain outbreaks when they emerge, and creating systems to share information about outbreaks.
He also recounts conversations he had with Fauci and other “public health leaders.”
Gates had previously requested Fauci’s feedback on a memorandum that Gates described as outlining his thoughts about the pandemic, according to other emails. Gates planned to share the memo with the World Health Organization and policymakers.
Then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins in another email wrote to Fauci and senior staffers on May 25, 2018, that he needed to know whether the NIH was providing any grants to the Gates Foundation and what the NIH’s projects were with the nonprofit.
The urgent review outlined how the foundation had never received nor applied for NIH grants, but that it had “funded various components of NIH.”
