Anthony Fauci - Intentionally lying or preventing panic?

The difference between good people and bad people is not that bad people lie and good people don’t. People lie, sometimes for bad reasons and immoral purposes, sometimes for good reasons and moral purposes. No, not all people lie. And those who do lie don’t lie all the time. Yes, some lie more than others. We ought to know by now that people who are constantly in the public eye – such as politicians, public servants, immunologists and epidemiologists – may have good reasons to lie, reasons such as preventing panic, marshalling scarce resources, giving people hope rather than contributing to despair.

Dr. Fauci has been accused of intentionally deceiving the public about wearing masks, about the likelihood of achieving herd immunity, about the length of time required to control the epidemic. There are a few possibilities here:

1. He did lie, i.e., he knowingly told falsehoods with the intent to deceive the public, even if for a good purpose;
2. He said what he thought to be true at the time, even if later information about the spread, treatment, and prevention of the coronavirus showed that his earlier statements were inaccurate – an honest mistake is not a lie;
3. He offered his opinion as to the best course of action. Opinions are neither true nor false, though they may prove to be useful or counter-productive.

Veracity and accuracy are on the line here with regards to: Dr. Fauci’s statements; accusations made against him by Senator Marco Rubio, the Washington Examiner, and others; and the so-called “fact-checkers,” who, as it increasingly appears to me, often have an agenda, a political bias, and a preference for excusing some people for their words and deeds while condemning others.

Here is Rubio's accusation:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dr-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-marco-rubio

Here is the Washington Examiner's Editorial:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/faucis-noble-lies-catch-up-to-him

Here is PolitiFact's assessment of Rubio's accusation:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2020/12/29/politifact-marco-rubio-says-anthony-fauci-lied-about-masks-fauci-didnt

Here is CNN's assessment of Rubio's accusation:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/28/politics/rubio-fauci-fact-check/index.html

You be the judge!