Fauci disclosures will trickle out over more than a year, watchdog says

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Sen Paul: Dr. Fauci has made this 'very personal'

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., addresses the ongoing feud with Dr. Anthony Fauci and confusing guidelines surrounding the coronavirus pandemic

A government watchdog group has been demanding key data on Dr. Anthony Fauci's financial and professional history, but the public may only get Fauci's disclosures spread out over more than a year, the group's head says. 

Adam Andrzejewski, the CEO of OpenTheBooks.com, talked to Fox News Digital about his ongoing legal battles attempting to open Fauci's financial and professional records to the public. 

"During the pandemic, Dr. Fauci has handsomely profited from his federal employment, royalties, travel perks, and investment gains," Andrzejewski asserted. 

SENATOR PUBLISHES FAUCI'S UNREDACTED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES, ACCUSES HIM OF BEING MISLEADING

OpenTheBooks.com filed their first Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Jan. 28, 2021. The National Institute for Health acknowledged the request, but remained largely silent for months. They finally heard back in May, and received a meager 51 pages of information with redactions.

"Not included was Dr. Fauci's current employment agreement including all addendums and modifications; current job description; and confidentiality and conflict of interest documents," OpenTheBooks.com said.

While Fauci's disclosures are theoretically open to any member of the public who requests them, they aren't listed in the same searchable database as many other federal officials and it can take months for a request to be fulfilled. 

Openthebooks.com continued pushing for more documents from the National Institute of Health and its related agencies. Correspondence from the government became increasingly dismissive, pushing Andrzejewski to threaten a lawsuit.

Eventually, the watchdog group partnered with legal activist group Judicial Watch. 

Andrzejewski said that the group officially filed suit on Oct. 25, 2021 and "that suit moved fast in federal court."

"And the agency admitted they were holding 1,200 pages subject to our request," he recalled. "So think about this, we got 51 pages – there were redactions – and there's 1,200 pages."

"So they admitted to holding 1,200 pages that were subject to the request and 3,000 pages of line-by-line royalty payments," Andrzejewski said. "Every line is a potential conflict of interest and there's up to 1,000 NIH scientists receiving royalty payments. It's legal, but it should be disclosed."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki watches.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The original FOIA request demanded "all calendars or calendar entries for Dr. Anthony Fauci, including calendars maintained on Dr. Fauci’s behalf. For calendars or calendar entries created electronically, the records should include the names of invitees, notes, and other attachments for a given entry."

The NIH has at last volunteered to make the requested documents public – but not right away.

The agency has stated that it has a whopping 768 pending FOIA requests, with 633 backlogged. The NIH has also racked up an impressive 33 lawsuits related to the backup of requests.

Because of this backup, the NIH says that it will only be able to distribute the thousands of pages 300 at a time, once per month.

With the amount of documents owed to OpenTheBooks.com, this staggered release could take approximately 14 months unless sped up.

LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST HHS SEEKS FAUCI'S CALENDAR ENTRIES AT START OF PANDEMIC

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas has waged his own war to throw open the NIH's records. 

Marshall explained that he and his office "for weeks" had been trying to get Fauci's financial information and other information but had gotten nowhere. At the hearing, Fauci said he had submitted a disclosure and that it was publicly available.

"I don’t know why you’re asking me that question," Fauci said. "My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been for the last 37 years or so, 35 years that I’ve been director." 

Marshall asked where he could find it, to which Fauci replied, "All you have to do is ask for it. You’re so misinformed it’s extraordinary."

Sen. Roger Marshall said he and his office had been trying to get Fauci's financial information for weeks but had gotten nowhere. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg)

Marshall explained to Fox News what happened when he tried to get the information he wanted.

"And it takes the NIH, it takes this White House months to respond to any type of request for information, and then it’s redacted. It’s quite a game they’re playing. So I was shocked, I was shocked by his response, that he would lie to Congress again after he had already lied about the viral gain-of-function question that I asked him earlier," Marshall said, referring to the argument he and Fauci had during the hearing's first round of questioning.

"I've never spoken to [Marshall] before or after," Andrzejewski said, though adding that he admired the senator's work. "He hasn't reached out to me." 

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OpenTheBooks.com gained momentum in January 2021 when they released a report showing that Fauci was the highest-paid federal employee in the nation.

Fauci's salary has been listed at $417,608 – higher than the salary for even the president. Fauci has also netted the most valuable federal retirement package in U.S. history – when the doctor retires he can expect to rake in approximately $350,000 per year, according to Open The Books.

Separately from OpenTheBooks.com, the Center for Public Integrity submitted a request for Fauci's financial disclosures with the NIH in May 2020, but did not receive the information until August of that year, and even then, still with much redacted.

Fox News' Houston Keene contributed reporting