fauci
© Getty ImagesThe face of a liar
The chairman of the House subcommittee investigating the origins of COVID-19 ripped Dr. Anthony Fauci for his "hypocrisy" during the pandemic Monday, as the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director returned to Capitol Hill for a highly anticipated public hearing.

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) said in a scathing opening statement that Fauci, 83, had presided over "one of the most invasive regimes of domestic policy the US has ever seen," citing draconian restrictions that the ex-public health official recently admitted had no supporting scientific evidence.

"Americans were aggressively bullied, shamed and silenced for merely questioning or debating issues such as social distancing, masks, vaccines, or the origins of COVID," Wenstrup said.

"And it should not have been the case that Americans were forced to comply with oppressive mandates, when those who chose to illegally cross over our southern border were not," he added. "Or when [California] Gov. [Gavin] Newsom or [Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer were throwing parties at lavish restaurants. Not a good look."

"Dr. Fauci, you once said, 'If you disagree with me you disagree with science,'" Wenstrup also said. "Americans do not hate science. But Americans know hypocrisy when they see it."

Fauci was expected to answer questions about his role in suppressing the so-called "lab leak" hypothesis for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 — and denying in high-profile hearings during the pandemic that the National Institutes of Health, the agency overseeing NIAID, funded risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

COVID-19 emerged from Wuhan, China in late 2019 and went on to kill more than 25 million people worldwide — including more than 1.1 million Americans.

Fauci will also likely have to explain a trove of more than 150 explosive emails obtained by the subcommittee showing his former senior adviser, Dr. David Morens, bragging about evading Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and deleting federal records.

Morens wrote in some of the emails that he and Fauci also had a "secret back channel" to thwart congressional investigations and press inquiries about COVID-19.

Attendees heckled the ex-White House COVID czar as he took his seat, with one calling him "traitor" and another saying, "You killed my grandma."

"If I make a mistake, I answer to the people of Ohio and my own conscience," Wenstrup said at one point. "When you, or your agency, made mistakes, Dr. Fauci, what happened?"

"You took the position that you presented 'the science.' Your words came across as final and as infallible in matters pertaining to the pandemic."