Family Ties and NIH Lies: Rep. Jake Auchincloss's Bid to Thwart RFK Appointment

Family ties and long-standing corruption at NIH explain why an active member of Congress is attacking the confirmation of RFK Jr. as head of Health and Human Services

Jake Auchincloss is a Democrat House Representative for Massachusetts, having won the primary for Joe Kennedy’s House seat in 2020. Although his family is unrelated to the Kennedy Family, Jake is a distant relative by marriage to Jackie Kennedy, the former first lady of the United States.

But far more importantly, Jake is also the son of Fauci’s former number two (and temporary successor) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Hugh Auchincloss. Many will remember that when Fauci scrambled to cover up the lab origin of Covid, his first act was to enlist the elder Auchincloss: “You will have tasks today that must be done.”

This close relation to Hugh Auchincloss is particularly relevant because Jake has been making a career of attacking RFK Jr. and has been aggressively lobbying against the confirmation of RFK Jr. as Trump’s new Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Notably, Jake Auchincloss’s attacks against RFK Jr. directly relate to his father's legacy of helping Anthony Fauci cover up the origin of Covid, as well as his role in covering up the NIH's ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab that was creating Covid-like viruses. RFK Jr has promised accountability for the corruption that was (and still remains) at NIH if he becomes the new Secretary of Health and Human Services - which holds NIAID and NIH under its extensive Agency umbrella.

Presumably, any investigations of the Covid Origin Coverup would include the role that Jake’s father, Hugh Auchincloss, played during his sixteen years as Fauci’s number two at NIAID - along with his two additional years as Fauci’s successor.

We’ve responded to Representative Auchincloss’s criticisms of RFK Jr. any number of times but he’s refused to provide us with any feedback. A simple scroll through his timeline will provide ample evidence of his many attacks on RFK Jr.

A Quick Introduction to Hugh Auchincloss

Hugh Auchincloss served as NIAID Principal Deputy Director from 2006 to 2024 and was NIAID’s Acting Director from 2022 to 2023 following Fauci’s December 2022 retirement. NIAID has lionized Hugh Auchincloss, noting that “Perhaps his most significant service was his exceptional leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, steering the institute through a historic transition after the departure of former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci after nearly 40 years.”

Pretentious accolades aside, it appears that Dr. Auchincloss continued to perpetuate the massive cover-up and also continued to withhold information from the public, practices initiated by his former boss, Fauci.

What we know is that Dr. Auchincloss was an astute investor. According to the Wall Street Journal, “On the last day of January, an email sent to Dr. Auchincloss and his boss, Dr. Fauci, signaled the severity of the [Covid] threat. Dr. Auchincloss disclosed six sales of mutual funds that day, totaling between $111,006 and $315,000 in value. His January sales amounted to the largest number of transactions he had reported for a single month since 2018.”

We also know that Dr. Auchincloss was entrusted with a particularly high level of security while in his position at NIAID—Top Secret clearance according to his testimony to Congress. Perhaps this explains why Fauci advisor Dr. David Morens was specifically prevented by Health and Human Services senior counsel from discussing Dr. Auchincloss during his congressional testimony:

Question. The next [person] you asked was Dr Auchincloss. Do you recall the specifics of those conversations?

Morens: I only recall one discussion with Dr Auchincloss, and that was...

Ms Gonapathy (HHS Counsel): Dr Morens, I'm going to step in. Please respond, but I would counsel you not to get into the particulars or specifics of your discussions with Dr Auchincloss, because those would be high level, deliberative discussions that the agency has confidentiality interests in.

Given Dr. Auchincloss’s knowledge and role in the coverup of Covid’s origins, we’re not particularly surprised by this stance from HHS, the parent Agency of NIH & NIAID. Allow us to explain why that might be, along with Dr. Auchincloss’s known role in events. However, we would argue that it’s his unknown role that holds the greatest significance.

Timeline of Fauci’s Secret Teleconference & Auchincloss role

Fauci’s infamous February 1, 2020 secret teleconference, where he set in motion the massive cover-up of Covid’s true lab origin, was organized on short notice in response to a January 31, 2020 article in the journal Science—an early article on Covid’s origins whose true purpose was to promote the fraudulent Natural Origin theory.

That early article by Jon Cohen appears to have been based on direct input from scientists already affiliated with Fauci, including Trevor Bedford, Eddie Holmes, Kristian Andersen and Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth, the organization through whom Fauci was funneling money to the Wuhan lab.

Cohen’s article focused on the theory that the virus originated in a Wuhan seafood market and he took great pains to discount the lab leak theory, noting that the viral sequences “knock down the idea the pathogen came from a virology institute in Wuhan.” The specific mention of a virology institute has always stood out, especially since hardly anyone had heard of it at the time, suggesting that Cohen (likely at Fauci’s direction) intended the article to absolve the Wuhan Institute of Virology from the outset.

But there was one significant problem. Deeper in the article, Cohen included links to a 2015 piece in The Scientist that highlighted criticisms by Richard Ebright, a highly-regarded biologist at Rutgers University, regarding gain-of-function experiments done by Ralph Baric, a professor at the University of North Carolina (also known as the godfather of gain-of-function) and Shi Zheng-li, the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Baric’s and Shi’s gain-of-function work was highlighted in a 2015 research paper that they co-wrote. Notably, the January 31, 2020 Science article did not link directly to Baric’s 2015 research paper that detailed those gain-of-function experiments, but did provide a pathway to follow for those interested enough to find it. In other words, if someone clicked their way through, they might end up at the 2015 Baric and Shi paper just as we originally did.

Unfortunately for Fauci, the 2015 paper stated that Baric and Shi had been creating new and potentially dangerous viruses capable of jumping to humans. Even worse for Fauci, the paper acknowledged that “Research in this manuscript was supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease [NIAID].” Additional funding was provided from the U.S. Department of Defense through a USAID-EPT-PREDICT grant that was made to Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance, who in turn gave the money to Shi’s lab.

The research paper by Baric and Shi took pains to note that some of their experiments took place before a 2014 moratorium on gain-of-function research but added that their experiments had “since been reviewed and approved for continued study by the NIH.”

This 2015 research paper by Baric and Zheng-li proved that Fauci and the NIH had not only funded gain-of-research at the Wuhan Lab, they had continued to provide funding for Baric’s and Shi Zheng-li’s gain-of-function experiments AFTER the 2014 gain-of-function moratorium was put into place.

It was the pathway to this 2015 research paper in Cohen’s January 31, 2020 Science article, that set off Fauci’s February 1, 2020 secret teleconference—and began their group’s fraudulent promotion of the Natural Origin narrative.

Immediately after receiving Cohen’s January 31, 2020 Science article, Fauci began emailing it to various high-level associates.

Shortly after midnight, in the very early morning of February 1, 2020, Fauci sent the 2015 research paper (detailing the gain-of-function work done by Baric and Shi along with the funding and approvals by NIH) along with Cohen’s article to Hugh Auchincloss. At the time, Dr. Auchincloss was Fauci’s direct second in command and NIAID’s principal deputy director.

Fauci included a strongly worded message to Dr. Auchincloss, saying: “It is essential that we speak this AM. Keep your cell phone on.” Fauci directed Dr. Auchincloss to “read this paper as well as the email that I will forward to you now. You will have tasks today that must be done.”

Dr. Auchincloss appeared to immediately grasp the article’s implications which he relayed back to Fauci in an email, noting “The paper you sent me says the experiments were performed before the gain of function pause but have since been reviewed and approved by NIH. Not sure what that means since Emily is sure that no Coronavirus work has gone through the P3 framework. She will try to determine if we have any distant ties to this work abroad.”

“P3 framework” refers to the HHS P3CO Framework (HHS Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions About Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens), which is used to guide HHS and NIH funding decisions.

Although it’s not entirely clear, it appears that Dr. Auchincloss may have been questioning the contention from Baric and Shi that their gain-of-function experiments had been approved. Regardless, he was obviously taking Fauci’s directive seriously.

Fauci responded to Dr. Auchincloss’s email very simply, noting only, “OK. Stay tuned.” Both men clearly understood the dire implications of Fauci’s office having potentially funded the creation of the Covid virus.

The teleconference that would establish the Natural Origins narrative took place later that same day, on February 1, 2020. During this teleconference Kristian Andersen, a Fauci-funded scientist from Scripps Research, told Fauci’s group that he was “60 to 70 percent” sure the virus came from a laboratory. Edward Holmes, a scientist with long-standing ties to China, told the teleconference group that he was “80 percent sure the virus came out of a lab.”

Of particular note is that while these scientists were expressing concerns that the Covid pandemic originated from a virus that leaked from a lab on the teleconference, these same scientists were actively drafting an article that would claim the virus had natural origins.

Notably, Andersen, who took the lead in promoting Fauci’s fraudulent natural origin narrative, had an $8.9 million grant sitting on Fauci’s desk awaiting approval at the exact same time he became entangled in the cover-up.

The first draft of this article was completed on the same day as the teleconference. The finalized version of the article, Proximal Origin, would first be published online on February 16, 2020. Proximal Origin would be used by Fauci, along with the entirety of the national media, to falsely claim that Covid did not originate from a lab.

Auchincloss Interview with Covid Select Committee

It’s worth restating that it was obvious Dr. Auchincloss had immediately grasped the significance of Fauci’s email—along with the full implications that came from the enclosed 2015 research paper. Auchincloss would later appear to lie about this during a December 20, 2023 transcribed interview with Congress’s Covid Committee.

Dr. Auchincloss was asked repeatedly about the midnight email he received from Fauci (“It is essential that we speak this AM. Keep your cell phone on. Read this paper as well as the email that I will forward to you now. You will have tasks today that must be done.”) but kept insisting that he “didn’t recall” much from that day, a claim that stretches all credibility, considering the day's significance in his career and the unlikelihood of forgetting such an event.

When challenged by investigators, Dr. Auchincloss was cagey and careful of providing any direct answers:

Q: Don't you think Dr. Fauci is probably a little concerned about the very thing you responded back to after reading this paper, that it was gain-of-function research being done that hadn't been through the P3CO process at this lab in China? Isn't it logical to assume that?

Auchincloss: I don't think so, no.

Q. What do you think it is?

Auchincloss: I didn't assume anything. I can't speak to what he was thinking when he wrote that email.

Ongoing memory lapses would be a consistent feature throughout Dr. Auchincloss’s testimony:

Q: Was this the subject that Dr. Fauci was concerned about? Does that refresh your memory? Was one of the tasks to determine what kind of research was being done? Was that one of the things he was concerned about?

Auchincloss: I don't recall specifically.

Q: You don't recall. Again, you don't know what these specific tasks were that he asked you to do at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2020? You don't recall what those specific tasks were?

Auchincloss: The only tasks I recall were reading the paper and trying to understand it and what kind of review we had done of it.

It’s notable that Dr. Auchincloss admitted to being tasked with reading the paper that Fauci had sent. We note this because at another point in his testimony, Dr. Auchincloss claimed that he had never read the associated Science article that Fauci also sent to him:

Q: Why was this just focused on Baric, not EcoHealth?

Auchincloss: The paper he [Fauci] sent me was a Baric paper.

Q: The article, though, is about EcoHealth.

Auchincloss: Again, I don't recall reading the article. I'm sure I did, but I don't recall what was in it.

Dr. Auchincloss’s answer regarding the Science article is particularly problematic because, apparently unbeknownst to congressional investigators, Fauci had forwarded a copy of Cohen’s article that night in a separate email to Dr. Auchincloss.

Dr. Auchincloss’s pretense that he had only read the 2015 paper is assuredly false.

When asked about the head of the Wuhan Lab, Shi Zheng-li, Dr. Auchincloss told the congressional committee that “I'm not sure who that is.” But a short while later during that same interview, Dr. Auchincloss slipped and stated that Baric “had collaborated with Dr. Shi” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Again, unfortunately nobody followed up on Dr. Auchincloss’s contradictions.

Auchincloss Reinstates EcoHealth Funding in May 2023

Although many are unaware, it was Dr. Auchincloss who would ultimately reinstate funding for Daszak’s EcoHealth—three years after President Trump had suspended EcoHealth’s grants.

Trump publicly called for the termination of EcoHealth’s grants during a press conference on April 17, 2020. Notably, it was at this same press conference that Fauci tried to undercut Trump when he followed him at the podium and publicly introduced the Proximal Origin paper as “proof” of a natural origin for Covid.

Fauci also pretended not to know the authors of the paper despite having personally directed them to write Proximal Origin (Fauci would later lie to Congress about this as well).

Funding for EcoHealth was halted in late April 2020 and was later formally suspended through a letter sent by NIH Deputy Director Michael Lauer on July 8, 2020. But Lauer was crafty in his approach. He didn’t actually terminate the grant, but instead told EcoHealth they were out of compliance, allowing for funding to be reinstated at a later date.

As it turns out, the funding suspension to EcoHealth was effectively short-lived, thanks to a work-around orchestrated by Fauci.

On August 27, 2020, a new and entirely separate NIAID funding package of $7.5 million was suddenly provided to EcoHealth to create a NIAID Center for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Given that money is fungible, this new funding source effectively replaced the grant that Trump had ordered suspended. Additionally, Trump was apparently not made aware of this new avenue of funding to Ecohealth.

But the leaders of NIH and EcoHealth were not satisfied with simply finding new avenues of funding for EcoHealth. They also worked behind the scenes to re-establish the pre-existing funding that Trump had ordered cut back in April 2020. They must have found a way, because that same grant was reinstated on May 8, 2023 through a decision reached by Lauer, Emily Erbelding, and the new interim director of NIH—Hugh Auchincloss:

This grant reflects a reversal of the previous termination and suspension of an R01 awarded in 2019, but halted in April 2020 due to concerns about continuing collaborative laboratory research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The resumption of the funding to EcoHealth by Dr. Auchincloss occurred despite a damning report from the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General that was issued less than five months earlier, in January 2023.

Despite the May 2023 reinstatement of funding by Dr. Auchincloss, Congress would later suspend all funding to EcoHealth on May 15, 2024, following a disastrous congressional interview of Daszak and a formal review of EcoHealth’s actions.

Of course, this doesn't mean EcoHealth isn't receiving taxpayer funds; undoubtedly, the money continues to flow through different channels. Even now, in early 2025, EcoHealth is still receiving government funds through the Pentagon.

Auchincloss Family ties to Jackie Kennedy

We’ve seen it mentioned many times that Jake and Hugh Auchincloss are related to the Kennedy Family and therefore felt it worthy of a quick addressment. In reality, neither Jake nor Hugh Auchincloss are related to the Kennedy’s but they were distantly related to Jackie Kennedy, the former wife of President John F. Kennedy by marriage.

Hugh Auchincloss Sr., the father of Hugh Auchincloss (and Jake Auchincloss’s grandfather) is the first cousin once-removed of Hugh D. Auchincloss, a well-known stockbroker and lawyer. Hugh D. Auchincloss was married to Janet Lee Bouvier, Jackie Kennedy’s mother, from 1942 to 1976.

This means that Hugh D. Auchincloss was Jackie Kennedy’s stepfather for a period of time but again, neither Jake nor Hugh Auchincloss are related to the Kennedy family.

Ripe for further Investigation

Dr. Hugh Auchincloss is one of those key figures where only tantalizing bits of information are known, for instance that he was the person Fauci turned to first when it came to covering up the origin of Covid. But that information is enough to know that much more remains to be found.

Dr. Auchincloss immediately recognized the significance of the 2015 Baric paper that Fauci sent him on January 31, 2020. But somehow he was later unable to recall any of the “tasks” that Fauci had set for him on that fateful day when the Natural Origin Narrative was set.

Dr. Auchincloss served as Fauci’s right-hand man since 2006. He served with Fauci leading up to and throughout the Covid Pandemic. He was hand-selected to lead NIAID upon Fauci’s departure.

There are few people better positioned to shed light on what truly transpired than Hugh Auchincloss, and perhaps few as complicit in aiding Fauci to maintain the cover-up, both regarding the origin of Covid and the fact that the NIH funded the Wuhan lab. This is exactly why his son, Representative Jake Auchincloss, is so determined to oppose the confirmation of RFK Jr.

All of this might serve as a warning to President Trump. The Swamp is still alive and well. The Swamp is still deep.