WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent letters to former Food and Drug Administration officials (“FDA”) Dr. Peter Marks, Dr. Narayan Nair, Dr. Steven Anderson, and Dr. Manette Niu, as well as former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (“NIAID”) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, requesting transcribed interviews about their roles in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.
On April 29, 2026, Chairman Johnson released an interim report detailing how senior officials at the FDA turned a blind eye toward warnings that their vaccine safety monitoring system was hiding safety signals for the COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Marks and other former FDA officials Chairman Johnson has requested interviews with were among the officials involved in ignoring those warnings.
“I hope that you will be cooperative and fully transparent regarding your involvement and knowledge of these issues,” Chairman Johnson wrote.
Chairman Johnson questioned Dr. Fauci about COVID-19 vaccine safety at today’s hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, but he refused to answer questions and asserted his Fifth Amendment right. In his letter to Dr. Fauci, Chairman Johnson wrote, “I want to give you another opportunity to provide much-needed transparency about the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response to it, including early treatments and the development, deployment, safety monitoring, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.”
The letters are listed below:
