Christine Grady, a senior bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and wife of Dr. Anthony Fauci, has reportedly been dismissed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Sources familiar with the recent layoffs indicated that Grady’s termination was partly due to her failure to investigate the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a lab leak in Wuhan. An HHS spokesperson stated that the layoffs were part of a broader strategy at NIH to shift focus away from pandemic preparedness and toward more immediate issues.
Grady was not the only bioethicist affected; others were reassigned to remote locations such as Alaska, Montana, and Minnesota. It remains unclear if Grady received a similar offer.
While her colleagues praised her contributions, they acknowledged that her marriage to Fauci—a political adversary of former President Trump—complicated her position at the agency. One source told the Daily Caller that Grady was “a good person with a major conflict of interest.”
The source elaborated, “During the cover-up of the Wuhan lab leak, there was a lack of ethical guidance. If someone with knowledge had been involved, they could have raised important questions about transparency.” They noted that Grady, due to her relationship with Fauci, was unable to fulfill that role.
In a related context, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently commented on former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons for Fauci, suggesting that this move could backfire on the former COVID czar. During a press conference, DeSantis reflected on the implications of the pardon, particularly in light of recent findings from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
DeSantis expressed skepticism about the rationale behind commemorating Fauci at NIH, stating, “What the hell are they commemorating about Fauci? At best, you could say he had a significant role during a pandemic, but he totally botched it.” He criticized Fauci for prioritizing media appearances over data analysis, quipping, “I was like, why isn’t he looking at the data? Because he’s always giving interviews.”
Regarding Biden’s pardon, DeSantis argued that it could lead to increased scrutiny of Fauci. “Biden’s preemptive pardon is odd because if he didn’t do anything wrong, why the need for a pardon?” he questioned. He suggested that the pardon might prompt state attorneys general to investigate Fauci, which would not have happened if Biden had not intervened.
DeSantis concluded that the political landscape could change significantly if investigations were pursued in states with different jury pools, potentially leading to accountability for Fauci. He remarked, “Biden intended to shield him from accountability, but it may have actually sparked state-based efforts to ensure his accountability.”
