President Donald Trump terminated Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail provided by the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Since his security detail was pulled, Fauci has hired his own personal security, the source told CNN. Trump addressed the report Friday, saying that officials who once served in the government can’t have security detail “forever.”
“I think you know when you work for govern, government, at some point your security detail comes off. And, you know, you can’t have them forever. So I think it’s very standard, if it would be for somebody else, who wouldn’t be asking the question. Question is very fair,” Trump said when asked to comment on the report. “But, you know, you work for government, we took some off other people too, but you can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government.”
The president also pulled former national security adviser John Bolton’s security detail clearance upon taking office.
“Would you feel partially responsible if something happened to Dr. Fauci or John Bolton?” a reporter followed up.
“You know, they all made a lot of money. They could hire their own security. All the people you’re talking about, they can go out. I can give them some good numbers of very good security people. They could hire their own security. They all made a lot of money,” the president responded.
“They all did. So, if they, you know, felt that strongly. I think that – certainly I would not take responsibility,” he added. “I think there was enough time. We take a job, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”
A May 2024 House Oversight Committee report showed that a former senior adviser to Fauci, David Morens, and Fauci himself deleted emails to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The pair told people multiple times to contact him at his personal email address to get around such requests, the report shows. Morens also suggested in his emails to Fauci that he use a private email address to conduct his government business, according to the report. Morens similarly told others to communicate with Fauci at a private email address for similar reasons, the House Oversight Committee reported.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden wrote in a tweet Jan. 20. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”
