Biden Adviser Cautioned Fauci and CDC Director That Cloth Masks Gave Limited Protection

Articles | August 21, 2026 | by Catholics for Catholics

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Dr. Michael Osterholm also said he wanted to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests, so he was texting rather than emailing.

By Catholics for Catholics

Right during the middle of the COVID pandemic, when face covers reigned supreme in society, a doctor who counseled President Joe Biden cautioned Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top Biden administration officials that cloth covers gave “very limited protection.”

In a newly revealed text message, Dr. Michael Osterholm, who was part of Biden’s COVID-19 transition advisory team, told Fauci and other officials, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the time, in August 2021, that the government had to encourage the use of N-95 masks, rather than masking in general, according to a story by the Epoch Times.

“Note the very limited protection from face cloth coverings,” Osterholm said in the text. He said that he supported masking, “but we must be promoting the use of N-95s, even if not fit tested.”

In his message, Osterholm indicated a fact sheet from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists that asserted that with cloth masks, people had minor protection against COVID-19.

EXCLUSIVE: Fauci Text Implicates Biden Task Force

“I’m sending this via text messaging to avoid any FOIA issues.” -Michael Osterholm COVID-19 Advisory Board

Obtained by @ChuckGrassley via @HHS:

– Apparent admission Osterholm @mtosterholm is creating a federal record
-… pic.twitter.com/5E46HZ9YR9

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) August 19, 2026

Osterholm went on to say to administration officials that “none of the studies that CDC uses to support its statement as to the significant protection of face cloth coverings stand up to scientific scrutiny” and urged them to “strongly promote” N-95s to the public.

“I am certain one day that one of the take-away findings of this pandemic was the constant [government] emphasis on masking while at the same time providing minimal guidance to the public what effective masking means,” he said.

In 2020, the CDC advocated masking after the COVID-19 pandemic took the country by storm, triggering mask enforcement in schools and other places. The agency championed cloth masks, in addition to better quality face coverings, citing research it published in its quasi-journal.