Tag: COVID-19

DOJ: Atlanta Man Recruited 10 Others for $3 Million Paycheck Protection Program Loan Scheme

Eric Burk

Eleven men have been sentenced after a scheme to obtain $3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans; Atlanta man Rodericque Thompson recruited nine business owners to obtain $300,000 loans with fraudulent applications according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

“The CARES Act and the PPP designated funds to aid struggling businesses during a pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a press release. “American businesses needed these funds to keep their companies and employees afloat during a national emergency and world-wide pandemic. These defendants took advantage of that program to obtain money to which they were not lawfully entitled. We will continue investigating and prosecuting those who attempt to steal these critical funds.”

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Emails: Fauci Was Part of Group Aiming to ‘Disprove’ Lab Leak Theory

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Anthony Fauci

Newly unearthed emails reveal that former head of the National Institute of Allergy Infectious Disease (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, was part of a group of scientists assembled for the sole purpose of “disproving” the COVID-19 origin theory claiming that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.

According to the Daily Caller, others in the group besides Fauci included Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust; Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research; and Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier, among others. The emails revealing the collaborative effort were uncovered by journalist Jimmy Tobias after a prolonged legal battle with the NIH.

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New Senate Bill Proposes Ban on Vaccine Mandates in Pennsylvania

The Center Square

An impending proposal in the Pennsylvania Senate takes aim at vaccine mandates.

“The fight for medical freedom continues into the new legislative session,” said prime sponsor Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, in a Jan. 4 press release.

Mastriano first introduced the measure, called the Medical Freedom Act, in December 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both versions of the legislation would shield residents from adverse employment actions or discrimination for refusing vaccination while working for state agencies or political entities.

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Unvaccinated Military Members Still Facing Repercussions Despite Rescinded COVID-19 Mandate

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Despite the Department of Defense rescinding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, unvaccinated military members are still facing repercussions, including denied benefits, ineligibility for promotion, being non-deployable, and potentially diminished employment prospects for those already discharged.

On Dec. 23, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the $858 billion defense spending bill that included a measure repealing the mandate. On Dec. 29, the Defense Department followed suit, rescinding the mandate that has frayed military morale and resulted in the discharge of over 8,000 service members who refused the vaccine.

In rescinding the vaccine mandate, the DOD acknowledged the NDAA requires Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his Aug. 24, 2021 memo issuing the sweeping order.

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Pennsylvania Republicans Propose Bill Preventing California Air Resources Board Emission Rule

Bradley Vasoli

Four Republican state senators are encouraging their colleagues to join them in legislating to keep a new requirement from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) from going into effect in Pennsylvania. 

Two decades ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began requiring that heavy-duty diesel-vehicle engines receive CARB certification as part of the agency’s Heavy-Duty Diesel Emissions Control Program. 

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World Health Organization Admits to China Covering Up COVID-19 Information

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On Wednesday, after a meeting between representatives of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO finally issued a statement condemning China for its suppression of information regarding the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Daily Caller, the WHO issued the statement after the meeting on Tuesday, declaring that it would “continue to closely monitor the situation in the People’s Republic of China,” while adding that there was a “critical need for and importance of additional analysis as well as sharing of sequence data.”

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Georgia U.S. Rep. Clyde Explains Vote for McCarthy as Speaker

Eric Burk

U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) was one of fifteen hold-out Republicans to flip on Friday and vote in favor of Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) to be Speaker of the House, paving the way for McCarthy’s late Friday win after a week of falling short by about 20 votes.

“My fight has never been about personalities — it has always been about restoring the People’s voice in the People’s House,” Clyde explained in a Friday social media statement. “I voted for Kevin McCarthy based on an agreement to a framework that creates significant historic institutional change. I look forward to helping implement these changes, which will hold the Speaker accountable to the People.”

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Boston May Bring Back Mask Mandates for Kids

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Boston Public Schools is considering reinstating a mask mandate after the holiday break to minimize absenteeism from COVID-19, the mayor stated in a Wednesday announcement.

The decision is currently under consideration by city officials who fear a rise in COVID-19 cases once students return to the classroom in the new year, NBC Boston reported. Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu stated that a decision would be finalized by the end of the week.

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TennCare Costs Will Increase as Emergency COVID Waiver Ends

The Center Square

Throughout the federal COVID-19 emergency, Tennessee’s Medicaid service TennCare and programs like it across the country have been barred from removing those who initially qualified for services.

Starting on April 1, however, the emergency will end and so will the federal matching dollars that went into the program. TennCare served 1.4 million residents in early 2020 and, after hitting a projected peak of 1.7 million members this spring, expects TennCare enrollment to go back down to 1.4 million by April 2025.

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Florida COVID-19 Committee Members Emphasize Importance of Restoring Public Trust Related to Vaccine

The Center Square

In response to Gov. Ron DeSantis creating a new Public Health Integrity Committee and filing a petition for a statewide grand jury to investigate potential crimes related to the COVID-19 vaccine, seven doctors on the committee expressed their support for the only governor in America taking such a stand.

The members of the new committee include Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Martin Kuldorff, PhD, Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, PhD, Joseph Fraiman, MD, Christine Stabell Benn, MD, PhD, Bret Weinstein, PhD, and Steven Templeton, PhD.

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Supreme Court Hands Border States Big Win, Orders Title 42 to Remain in Place During Legal Challenge

Just the News

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that a COVID-19 era immigration order remain in place.

Title 42 is an order allowing border authorities to swiftly deport migrants if they hail from a country known to host a communicable disease such as COVID-19. Border officials have deported an estimated 2.5 million migrants under the order since its implementation. Many detractors of the Biden administration’s approach fear that its end could prompt an even greater surge.

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Though the Military Vaccine Mandate Is Overturned, Unvaccinated Troops Still Risk Reprisal

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While the Biden administration has officially reversed the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate, servicemembers who escaped discharge for refusing the vaccine still risk retaliation and could be booted anyway, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ongoing class action lawsuits thwarted the military’s efforts to discharge thousands of troops who objected to the mandate before the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Friday, overturned it. However, servicemembers may risk reprisal even after the deadline passes for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement the repeal, staining the records of thousands of servicemembers for the remainder of their careers, experts explained to the DCNF.

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Supreme Court Delays End of Title 42 Immigration Rule

Just the News

The Supreme Court on Monday delayed the termination of the Title 42 immigration rule that was set to expire this week.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued the temporary hold in response to an appeal from Republican-led states seeking to keep the order in place, according to NBC News. Roberts gave the Department of Homeland Security, which had sought to end the order until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to respond to the Republican appeal, per the New York Post.

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House Republicans Launch Investigation into COVID-19 Origins, Demand Answers from 40 Officials

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The soon-to-be chairmen of the House Oversight and Reform and Judiciary committees announced on Wednesday that they are launching an investigation into the origins of  COVID-19, and will be requesting transcribed interviews with 40 individuals.

Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said they will be pressing senior Biden administration officials; Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance; and several virologists for information pertinent to their investigation.

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State Senators Propose Pennsylvania Law Against Social Media Censorship

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania State Senators Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) and Scott Hutchinson (R-Oil City) Thursday announced they would reintroduce a bill proposed in the last legislative session designed to prevent social media platforms from censoring Pennsylvanians. 

Mastriano and Hutchinson introduced the original measure in May 2021. They secured the cosponsorship of four other senators, all Republicans, but the bill did not receive a vote in the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. The two lawmakers said new developments impelled them to try again in the new session. They cited the recently released “Twitter files,” internal documents pertaining largely to the social-media company’s decision in late 2020 to deny users access to a New York Post story concerning Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s personal computer.

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Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo: mRNA COVID-19 Shots ‘Far Less Safe Than Any Vaccines Widely Used’

Susan Berry, PhD

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo continues to draw attention to studies that indicate the COVID mRNA shots have significant health safety concerns even as the federal government still presses Americans to take them.

Ladapo commented on social media regarding a study published in November at Clinical Research in Cardiology examined autopsies of 35 individuals who died unexpectedly within 20 days post-COVID-19 vaccination.

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Doctors Allege Corruption and Mismanagement of COVID Pandemic Leaving Americans at High Risk for Vaccine Injury and Death

Susan Berry, PhD

Doctors and scientists who participated in Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s (R) COVID-19 roundtable Wednesday shared their personal experiences of the federal government’s alleged corruption and mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic that they say have likely caused many more examples of serious vaccine injury for which Americans have no recourse.

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China-Linked Hackers Stole Millions in COVID-19 Relief Funds, Secret Service Says

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Foreign hackers linked to the Chinese government allegedly stole at least $20 million in COVID-19 relief funds, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

The China-linked hackers, known as APT41, are “a notable player” among the 1,000-plus investigations into criminals defrauding public benefits programs, according to an NBC News report confirmed by the Secret Service to the Daily Caller News Foundation. It is unknown whether the Chinese government directed APT41 to steal taxpayer funds or simply looked the other way, but the threat is  “dangerous” and has serious national security implications, an anonymous senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official told NBC News.

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U.S. Department of Education Finds Fairfax Schools Didn’t Provide Necessary Services to Students with Disabilities During Remote Learning

Eric Burk

The U.S. Department of Education found that Fairfax County Public Schools didn’t take needed steps to ensure that students with disabilities received a legally-guaranteed free appropriate public education (FAPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Based on the evidence obtained through the Division’s documents and data, as well as interviews of administrators, OCR [Office for Civil Rights] found that the Division failed or was unable to provide a FAPE to thousands of qualified students with disabilities in violation of Section 504,” OCR District of Columbia Regional Director Emily Frangos wrote in a Wednesday letter to FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid.

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Twitter Quietly Stops Enforcing COVID-19 ‘Misleading Information’ Policy

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Twitter has quietly halted enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policies, with Twitter users first discovering the change Monday night, according to CNN.

Twitter issued a variety of measures since the pandemic’s onset in 2020, including a policy that allowed users to report misinformation directly to Twitter to another taking action against tweets that alleged vaccinated individuals could still spread COVID-19. The policy, which has suspended more than 11,000 accounts and removed more than 90,000 pieces of content on the social media platform, was praised by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy as a model for how other companies could combat misinformation, according to CNN.

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Fauci Claims Unvaccinated Americans Are the ‘Real Danger’ in Final Briefing

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Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed during his final briefing Tuesday that the “real danger” from COVID-19 would come from Americans who did not get vaccinated.

“The real danger is in the people who have not been vaccinated,” Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said. “If we’re going to see a problem this winter, it’s going to be among those people.”

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Marsha Blackburn Commentary: Firing Servicemembers over the COVID-19 Shot Threatens Our National Security

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President Biden said it himself: the pandemic is over. So why is his Department of Defense (DoD) willing to look at the brave men and women who volunteered to serve our nation and say, “you’re fired” – all because they chose not to get the COVID-19 shot?

In the United States, the number of new servicemembers joining the military has reached a record low. Every single branch struggled to hit its recruitment goals this year, including the U.S. Army, which fell 10,000 soldiers short. At this rate, they will face a deficit of 21,000 soldiers next year. The National Guard also missed the mark by about 12,000 recruits, and expects to discharge up to 14,000 more by 2024 for refusing the COVID-19 shot.

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Top Epidemiologist Wants Pandemic Emergency Powers Ended, Insurer Death Data Released

Just the News

One of the nation’s leading epidemiologists is declaring there is no basis for President Joe Biden to extend his emergency pandemic powers and that it is essential for insurers to release data showing deaths and injuries to those who have received COVID-19 vaccines.

Dr. Harvey Risch, professor emeritus at the Yale University School of Public Health, told Just the News on Friday evening that federal agencies have epically mishandled the pandemic strategy by substituting theories and politics for science.

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Border Patrol Lifts Vaccine Mandate for Personnel

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ended the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its personnel, according to a memorandum exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“CBP is halting the COVID-19 screening program, and employees may choose to withdraw their pending reasonable accommodation requests for screening exemption,” an internal CBP memorandum stated. National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd confirmed to the DCNF that both the vaccine mandate and testing requirements have been lifted.

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Virginia Passenger Rail Ridership Exceeded Pre-Pandemic Levels in September

Eric Burk

Virginia’s Amtrak service ridership hit 105,689 in September, up from the pre-pandemic 76,793 riders in September 2019, for 37.6 percent growth. That’s also an improvement from September 2021 ridership at 50,776.

In a Thursday press release, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority said “the numbers show the strong rebound in post-pandemic travel with every route seeing an increase.”

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COVID Early Treatment Champion Dr. Peter McCullough Files to Dismiss His Decertification by American Board of Internal Medicine for Speaking Truth About mRNA Shots

Susan Berry, PhD

Dr. Peter McCullough, world-renowned cardiologist and internist, is fighting back against the radicalized American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), which stripped him of his board certifications in internal medicine and cardiology because of his testimony in Senate subcommittee hearings regarding the risks of the COVID-19 “vaccines” – information that countered that of the federal government.

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Student Behavioral Problems Top Concern for Virginia Educators

Eric Burk

In a survey, Virginia’s school staff rated a rise in student behavior problems the most serious problem they’re facing. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) conducted the survey as part of a study of the impact of COVID-19 on K-12 education.

“The pandemic was an unprecedented disruption for K through 12 students and staff, ” JLARC Chief Legislative Analyst Joe McMahon told a General Assembly committee on Monday. “As students returned to in-person learning, chronic absenteeism, classroom behavior, and reported mental health issues have worsened.”

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Doctors Sue Newsom, California Medical Board for Law Regulating COVID-19 Advice

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A group of California physicians filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s medical board over a new law that will regulate what doctors can tell patients about COVID-19 risks and treatments.

A.B. 2098 will make it “unprofessional conduct” for physicians or surgeons to provide their patients “false information” related to COVID-19, including vaccines, “that is contradicted by “contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.” The legislation discriminates against alternative viewpoints and creates “a severe chilling effect,” contradicting the First Amendment, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA)-backed lawsuit contends.

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Cities Tap $222 Million in Federal COVID-19 Relief for ‘Guaranteed Income’ Programs

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Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, sold as helping the nation recover from the economic crisis sparked by COVID-19, provided funds to begin “guaranteed basic income” programs in at least two dozen cities across the country. 

More than $222 million from the legislation has gone to some of America’s largest cities—including Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, New Orleans, and Chicago—for pilot programs that would dole out money to low-income residents, in most cases for one or two years. 

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Opioid Epidemic in 2020 Cost Virginia Nearly $3.5 Billion

Eric Burk

The opioid epidemic in Virginia cost almost $3.5 billion in 2020, according to a new cost calculator from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Commonwealth University. On average, over four Virginians died of an opioid overdose each day in 2020, according to a VDH announcement of the cost calculator.

“This burden is carried by Virginia’s workers, employers, and governments, and includes both future losses and current direct spending that could have been avoided,” the calculator’s site explains. “Virginia families and businesses take on a large amount of these costs, mostly due to lost future worker productivity. Federal, state, and local governments also see increased healthcare and government costs and lost future tax revenues. The cost burden of the opioid epidemic is split among several sectors.”

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Minnesota Students See Historic Declines on National Test

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National test scores released Monday provide damning new evidence that America’s students are paying the price for the government’s COVID-19 school closures.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress was administered to a sample of fourth- and eighth-grade students in every state between January and March. Students last took the test in 2019.

Nationally, math scores saw the largest decrease on record while reading scores dropped to a 30-year low. No states saw any improvements.

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Arizona State Senate Will Not Require Public School Students to Receive a COVID-19 Vaccine

Neil Jones

The Arizona State Senate has reassured that public school students will not be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine despite recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“This is just another example of how out of touch the federal government and its agencies are with everyday families,” said Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott). “With Republicans currently in control of our state government, we can promise that we will never subject Arizonans to the requirement of an experimental vaccine that has raised questions over long-term health implications.”

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Disagree on Reason for Low Student Test Scores

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Virginia’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are “catastrophic,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a press conference Monday morning, hours after the NAEP scores were released. Nationally, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a press release the scores are “appalling.” Virginia’s Republican education administration blamed the Commonwealth’s scores on Democratic policy under previous administrations predating COVID-19, while Cardona said the national results are “a reminder of the impact that this pandemic has had on our learners.”

“Today’s data release is a clear and heart-wrenching statement that Virginia is failing her students,” Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera said at the conference, and said the results are not a surprise. “Recent date from the ACT, SOLs [Standards of Learning], from the PALS data, and today’s catastrophic decline in Virginia’s NAEP scores are a predictable outcome of the decade-long systemic dismantling of a foundational commitment to excellence in education.”

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New Documentary ‘The Real Anthony Fauci – the Movie’ Has 125,000 Viewers on First Day

Peter D'Abrosca

A new documentary about the face of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, received 125,000 views on its opening day Tuesday, according to a press release. 

The film, called The Real Anthony Fauci, is based on a book called The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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‘The Real Anthony Fauci’ Documentary Set to Debut October 18

Peter D'Abrosca

A documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s COVID-19 lockdowns, mandates, and restrictions, is set to debut in only a few days.

“The Real Anthony Fauci, the latest film from documentary filmmaker Jeff Hays exposes the motivations behind “America’s Doctor” to issue unquestioned edicts that upended everyday life during the Covid-19 pandemic,” according to a press release. “Fauci has drawn criticism from a number of fronts. The film is based on the runaway bestselling book The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”

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