Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private pandemic diaries, released by Sen. Rand Paul, reveal that he personally urged then-Gov. Jay Inslee to begin Washington’s COVID-19 lockdowns — while later denying he had pushed for such measures.

In a March 5, 2020, entry, Fauci recorded that Inslee called and asked whether the state should start mitigation. “I told him a definitely yes,” Fauci wrote, adding that the Democratic governor said he trusted him “and no body else in the administration.”

Washington became the early epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, and Fauci’s notes show him treating the Seattle numbers as a national warning. He documented the first confirmed case, the first U.S. death, and rising community transmission, while privately pushing for aggressive social distancing even as some administration officials downplayed the threat.

The diaries also capture a later call in which Inslee asked Fauci for help promoting public-health guidelines during a surge. These entries undercut Fauci’s public posture that he was merely offering advice rather than driving restrictive policy.

Paul released the records ahead of Fauci’s return to Capitol Hill for questioning on pandemic origins, federal research funding, and the gap between Fauci’s private certainty and public messaging. For Washingtonians who lived through some of the nation’s strictest rules under Inslee, the diaries confirm what many long suspected: the lockdowns were actively encouraged by the same official who later claimed he hadn’t pushed them. Read more at Seattle Red.

Mercer Island Police Chief Michelle Bennett is challenging the status quo in Washington’s 5th Legislative District, arguing that Olympia’s Democratic majority has a spending problem it refuses to confront.

Bennett says a string of recent decisions finally pushed her onto the ballot: the new 9.9% income tax, a 10.5% services tax, the raid on the law enforcement and firefighter pension fund, and a steady stream of anti-police legislation. She is running as a moderate Republican in a district that leans hard left, betting that enough independents and frustrated Democrats have stopped defending what Olympia does with their money.

On The Jason Rantz Show, Bennett was blunt: “We’re seeing fraud. We’re seeing corruption. We’re seeing shenanigans, and I just can’t take it anymore.” She decided to stop waiting for someone else to act.

Among the policies she targets is pending legislation that would make it unlawful for cities and counties to pass no-camping ordinances — a move she warns would leave communities with no tools to keep tent camps out of town centers. She is also a vocal opponent of the transfer of billions out of the LEOFF pension system, a decision already facing a federal class-action lawsuit from retired first responders. Her question for the public: if they’ll raid first-responder pensions, whose is next?

On drugs, Bennett wants possession criminalized again, paired with a pretrial diversion program that clears the charge for those who complete six months of treatment. She speaks from personal experience — her sister is homeless and addicted, and short-term treatment has repeatedly failed.

Bennett’s core message is straightforward: audit state programs before asking for another dollar, hold organizations that misuse tax money accountable, and return some common sense to Olympia. In a district long dominated by progressive policies, a sitting police chief is offering voters a clear alternative focused on public safety, fiscal responsibility, and results. Read more at Seattle Red.

A bipartisan group of nearly four dozen lawmakers is urging Governor Bob Ferguson and the Department of Social and Health Services to protect the Parent to Parent program, which pairs experienced parents with families of children who have autism and other developmental disabilities.

The program costs just $900,000 a year, serves all 39 counties, and receives tens of thousands of requests for help. Advocates say it reduces isolation, helps families navigate the system, and prevents far more expensive interventions later. Yet its future past August is now uncertain as the state confronts another multibillion-dollar shortfall.

Ferguson has directed agencies to find cuts, specifically targeting programs created or expanded after 2019. Parent to Parent doesn’t clearly fit that description, but it is still under review while larger, less effective spending continues under one-party Democratic control.

This is the predictable endgame of progressive governance in Olympia: explode the operating budget, pass new taxes (including the income tax), create structural deficits through years of unchecked growth, then force “tough choices” that threaten small, high-impact programs serving vulnerable families. Lawmakers from both parties are speaking up. The question is whether Democrats will protect a $900,000 lifeline or keep treating effective support as expendable while the broader spending machine they built keeps running. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

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