Capital Public Radio: Politifact California Podcast

By Chris Nichols Some emails that Dr. Anthony Fauci sent during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic have been released, leading to a new round of misleading posts on social media. PolitiFact California Reporter Chris Nichols joins CapRadio Anchor Randol White on this week’s Can You Handle The Truth segment. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Interview Highlights On how these emails came to light  Fauci, who is the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wrote these emails in the winter and spring of last year. But they were not released through some unsanctioned or underhanded way. Instead, the federal government provided these emails to The Washington Post and BuzzFeed News after they filed Freedom of Information Act requests. That act gives the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. The news outlets then published many of these emails in their news reports. On the false claim’s misrepresentation of Fauci’s e