1st text message from Fauci's government iPhone released, shows concerns about vaccines and miscarriages

Former NIAID director Anthony Fauci.

Two Republican senators on Monday released the first text message obtained from former NIAID director Anthony Fauci's government iPhone, showing the disgraced doctor expressed concern about the COVID vaccine potentially causing miscarriages and contradicting his public-facing statements on the topic. 

In an exchange from January 2021, Fauci discussed COVID vaccination and pregnant women with then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and expressed concerns about side effects and the potential for miscarriages.

The text message was released by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who said the Department of Health and Human Services turned over the contents of the government-issued phone used by Anthony Fauci during the pandemic. 

Fauci noted a concern about potential impacts after the second dose of the vaccine was administered, saying that many women experienced a “significant cytokine storm and fever” that could “theoretically be associated with miscarriage in the first trimester.” Walensky responded saying, "Definitely a good point, especially after dose two."

A little more than a week later, on February 3, 2021, Fauci seemed to contradict what he told Walensky and Murthy, and said publicly that the FDA had "found thus far and we have to be careful but thus far no red flags about that, about pregnant women," according to a statement released by Johnson. Similar to Fauci's diary entries, the text message shows a contradiction between what Fauci was saying privately versus what he was saying publicly at the time. 

In August of 2021, Fauci said there was "no indication whatsoever that there’s any increase of any adverse issues in a pregnant woman who was vaccinated compared to a pregnant woman who wasn’t vaccinated … it’s pretty clear that pregnant women should get vaccinated.” A month later, Walensky at a White House COVID briefing, said the "CDC strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccination either before or during pregnancy because the benefits of vaccination outweigh known or potential risks.”

Fauci's phone contains more than 34,000 text messages and 522 voicemails, the senators said, adding that only three contacts are listed. They also said that a careful review of the contents is ongoing and that it was too early to tell whether any data had been deleted. Johnson told independent reporter Catherine Herridge his staff "can’t guarantee that everything was preserved" on Fauci's phone. In an interview on Fox News, Johnson said, "Our federal officials, starting at the top with Anthony Fauci, lied to the American public."

Below, watch a clip of Johnson discussing the newly-emerged text message.