Chuck Todd defends Fauci's 'harmless' emails with nod to Hillary Clinton: 'We've seen this with emails before'

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Fauci, CDC, media credibility 'completely shot': columnist

Dr. Anthony Fauci escapes questioning on his emails and coronavirus origins. Washington Examiner columnist Eddie Scarry with reaction on 'Fox & Friends First.'

MSNBC's Chuck Todd defended Dr. Anthony Fauci’s email controversy on Wednesday, dismissing thousands of his emails released last week as "harmless" with a not-so-subtle nod to Hillary Clinton in the process. 

"Those 3,200 pages of emails don’t appear to contain anything particularly explosive. Still, the attacks against him have been, in a word, relentless. It’s also very familiar if you’ve followed American politics over the last five years," Todd said during his introduction.

Chuck Todd defended Dr. Anthony Fauci’s email controversy on Wednesday, dismissing thousands of his emails released last week as "harmless." (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC)

"This is an attempt to weaponize something that’s kind of harmless and try to create a controversy," Todd added. "We’ve seen this with emails before, haven’t we?" 

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The MSNBC host appeared to be referring to the saga that dogged Clinton throughout her failed 2016 presidential bid. The FBI began investigating Clinton’s handling of emails in 2015 after it was revealed she had used a private server for her government emails. Then-FBI Director James Comey announced in July 2016 that the agency would not recommend charges, but famously described Clinton as having been "extremely careless" in her conduct, and she repeatedly gave misleading answers about sending and receiving classified material.

Todd viewed the issue as important enough to cover at the time, repeatedly grilling her and others about the email scandal during the 2016 campaign.

Todd said Wednesday that Republicans are harping on Fauci’s emails "in an effort to excuse or maybe paper over" the way former President Donald Trump handled coronavirus.

"Dr. Fauci now finds himself at the center of the GOP’s pandemic messaging, which is a place where a public health official like him does not like to be," Todd said. 

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Among the information in Fauci’s released emmails was that an expert told Fauci as early as January 2020 it was possible that the COVID-19 virus could be artificially altered (though the expert who told him that later reversed his stance); that Fauci apparently took seriously the possibility that money from his agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), could have funded "gain of function" work on coronaviruses in a Wuhan lab; and that he was in touch with an individual who'd directed funding to that lab. 

Many Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have called for Fauci to resign or be fired from his post.

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Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.