As of this writing, the Congressional grilling of Dr. Anthony Fauci over the COVID-19 crisis and the actions the government took - many at Dr. Fauci's urging - is still ongoing. If you're not watching RedState's own Jennifer Van Laar's live coverage of this, you should be.

One thing that has been the topic of work by myself and others here at RedState sprang out of this coverage, and that is the deliberate attempts to conceal emails and government information from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by members of Dr. Fauci's inner circle. 

🚨Dr. Fauci testifies that his Senior Advisor repeatedly violated official government policies.

"That was wrong and inappropriate and violated policy...he should not have done that. That was wrong."

WATCH @RepJamesComer👇 pic.twitter.com/Xq9RSAQL49

— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) June 3, 2024

Here are a few key statements from Representative James Comer's (R-KY) questioning of Dr. Fauci.

COMER: There's a troubling pattern of behavior here from your inner circle, not just Dr. Morens but also your Chief of Staff Mr. Folkers. Do you agree that it violates NIAID policy to use personal email for official purposes?

FAUCI: The Dr. Morens issues that was discussed by this Committee violates NIH policy, yes.

COMER: But does using official email, using personal email for official business, does that violate policy?

FAUCI: Using a personal email for official business violates NIH policy.

COMER: Does it violate (garbled) NIAAD policy to delete records to intentionally evade FOIA?

FAUCI: Yes.

There's more, but you get the idea.

This has been an ongoing discussion, but the question is, where will it all lead?

Previously on RedState: Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Releases Memos Implicating Fauci Advisor, Others

COVER-UP: Anthony Fauci's COVID Team Conspired to Evade FOIA Requests

As I wrote on last Wednesday:

...in summary, there appears to have been an ongoing, coordinated effort to conceal information from our elected representatives and, in so doing, from the American taxpayers. Not only is this a conspiracy to evade providing information, but it is quite possibly a conspiracy to evade being held to account for misleading the American public in the course of a pandemic that not only took American lives but also - in the course of the hastily-implemented and draconian restrictions and lockdowns - ruined the livelihoods of many Americans, put the U.S. economy into a tailspin, and added billions to the national debt while causing an inflationary cycle that is still ongoing.

So, Dr. Fauci has been dragged in front of the Subcommittee to testify. What happens next? Here's my prediction:

In the end, nobody involved with this will receive anything more than a ceremonial response. Oh, there will be more sternly worded letters, and a few bureaucrats may be moved to new positions with less responsibility and exposure but will likely retain their jobs and their pensions. Dr. Fauci will retain all of the wealth he has managed to mysteriously accumulate through a career in government service.

Nothing else will happen. This is, in effect, a show trial without the punishment. 

This is why, according to polls, Americans view Congress about as favorably as they would a skunk under the porch. It's also why an out-of-control bureaucracy, one that has long ago far exceeded the constitutional boundaries under which the government is supposed to operate, is so dangerous to our liberty.

And this is why, when the next pandemic crisis emerges, they will try all this again.