Dr. Anthony Fauci , who was the lead adviser for the governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic, threw cold water on GOP accusations he masterminded a cover-up of the virus origins.

Fauci called the claims absolutely false and simply preposterous during a heated appearance before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Monday, saying Republicans misrepresented emails between himself and other scientists about the possibility the virus was leaked from a lab.

It is inconceivable that anyone who reads this email could conclude that I was trying to cover up the possibility of a laboratory leak, Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2022, testified.

We spend our whole life trying to determine the causes of infectious diseases, and stop them to protect the American people, he continued.