WATCH: Fauci says he doesn’t think lab leak idea was inherently a conspiracy

Dr. Anthony Fauci told Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York during a House hearing on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that he didn’t think the belief that the virus originated in a lab was inherently a conspiracy theory, but did believe the “distortions” of that suggestion were conspiracy theories.

“What is conspiracy is the kind of distortions of that particular subject, like it was a lab leak and I was parachuted into the CIA like Jason Bourne and told the CIA that they should really not be talking about a lab leak,” Fauci said.

Malliotakis grilled Fauci on allegations that he conducted official government business on personal email accounts in an effort to evade public records laws, which Fauci also denied.

The hearing was the latest effort among Republicans to question the U.S. response to the pandemic, including how pandemic prevention plans were created and communicated.

Monday's session was in part focused on the origins of the pandemic and the nation's role in virus research in China. There are a number of theories about how COVID's spread began, including a natural jump from animals to humans and a laboratory leak. Intelligence assessments on how the virus began are inconclusive.

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