{"id":34488,"date":"2026-08-09T12:09:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T07:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=34488"},"modified":"2026-08-09T12:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T07:09:51","slug":"bill-maher-blasts-rand-paul-for-releasing-faucis-covid-diaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=34488","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher blasts Rand Paul for releasing Fauci\u2019s COVID diaries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2Fnewspress-collage-982siqy5e-1786258098564.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261786243723\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Comedian\u00a0Bill Maher\u00a0is taking aim at Sen. Rand Paul for what the host says betrays Paul\u2019s own brand.<\/p>\n<p>During Friday\u2019s episode of HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time,\u201d Maher accused Paul, R-Ky., of breaking with his libertarian views by <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/26\/us-news\/dr-faucis-bizarre-fame-fixation-as-covid-deaths-mounted-revealed-in-newly-released-diaries\/\">releasing Fauci\u2019s pandemic-era diary<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/30\/us-news\/rand-paul-seeks-to-fast-track-anthony-faucis-criminal-referral-undeterred-by-senate-recess\/\">threatening to hold him in\u00a0contempt of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a public relations expert told Fox News Digital that Paul should focus on why the diary matters rather than how he obtained it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop threatening to put everyone in jail who you just don\u2019t like,\u201d Maher said more broadly about politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRand, babe, your entire brand is \u2018Senator Right to Privacy,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cYou\u2019re the libertarian guy, the Fourth Amendment guy. It\u2019s your family legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maher made the comments after the\u00a0Senate\u00a0Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is led by Paul, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/06\/us-news\/senate-panel-votes-to-hold-dr-anthony-fauci-in-contempt-after-he-took-the-fifth-111-times-during-covid-hearing\/\">voted 8-5 to refer Fauci for contempt<\/a> after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing regarding his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic last week.<\/p>\n<p>Fauci, who received a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/29\/us-news\/the-5-most-shocking-moments-from-anthony-faucis-senate-testimony\/\">exercised his right against self-incrimination a total of 111 times during the hearing<\/a> while being questioned over his leadership as the White House chief medical advisor during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Bill Maher slammed Sen. Rand Paul for releasing Dr. Anthony Fauci\u2019s COVID diaries, calling it a betrayal of Paul\u2019s brand. <span class=\"credit\">Real Time\/YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the days before the hearing, Paul\u00a0released more than 1,000 pages\u00a0of Fauci\u2019s private \u201cCOVID diaries,\u201d medical notes and personal reflections Fauci wrote and stored on his government computer.<\/p>\n<p>The move was blasted by Maher, who argued Paul\u2019s decision to publish the documents directly contradicted his longtime political platform of personal privacy and limited government intrusion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour entire political career has been about warning us about government overreach,\u201d Maher said, speaking directly to Paul. \u201cYou printing someone\u2019s diary? It\u2019s like [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] wearing a gown that says, \u2018Tax the poor.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Maher blasted Paul for publishing Fauci\u2019s private notes, saying it contradicts his libertarian stance. <span class=\"credit\">JIM LO SCALZO\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fauci\u2019s diaries were located and stored on government servers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, told Fox News Digital the criticism surrounding Paul\u2019s release of Fauci\u2019s private diary is unfounded, adding he would advise Paul to change his approach to explaining why the document is important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Sen. Paul were my client, I\u2019d tell him to stop defending how he got the diary and start defending why it matters,\u201d Mudd said. \u201cA public official\u2019s notes on a government computer aren\u2019t a private citizen\u2019s journal, and that distinction should have been his first sentence, not his fifth.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Fauci exercised his right against self-incrimination a total of 111 times during the hearing over his handling of COVID-19 <span class=\"credit\">Michael Brochstein\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Maher <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/01\/media\/bill-maher-warns-that-the-democratic-party-is-being-colonized-by-socialists-says-his-vote-is-in-play\/\">previously made headlines by suggesting his \u201cvote is in play\u201d<\/a> after voicing his discontent with the socialist direction the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolitically,\u00a0Bill Maher\u00a0carries resonance with a fairly non-tribal group of viewers. While that means he can often piss off both sides, it also means he can be seen as above the partisan back-and-forth, without a specific left or right agenda,\u201d\u00a0media expert\u00a0Kaivan Shroff told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>Shroff added that Maher\u2019s words carry more weight when he criticizes both sides of the political spectrum because of his willingness to call out his own party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaher can spend one week arguing that Democrats have lost the plot and the next saying Republicans have gone too far,\u201d Shroff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat gives moments like this outsized significance: When someone who has repeatedly criticized Fauci and the left still looks at what Rand Paul is doing and says it crosses a line, it gives permission to viewers who aren\u2019t particularly sympathetic to Fauci to reach the same conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a polarized media environment, the messenger can matter as much as the message.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comedian\u00a0Bill Maher\u00a0is taking aim at Sen. Rand Paul for what the host says betrays Paul\u2019s own brand. During Friday\u2019s episode of HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time,\u201d Maher accused Paul, R-Ky., of breaking with his libertarian views by releasing Fauci\u2019s pandemic-era diary and threatening to hold him in\u00a0contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, a public relations expert told Fox News&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/newspress-collage-982siqy5e-1786258098564.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1786243723&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}