Good afternoon from Washington, where Capitol Hill is still shaking off the fireworks of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Senate hearing yesterday, during which the doctor faced vicious and at times profane questioning from Republicans over his handling of the COVID pandemic.

Fauci, who pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times, was considerably less garrulous than he was in the diary he maintained throughout the pandemic. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a notorious anti-vaccine crusader, says he discovered the diary and gave it to Senate Republicans. It reveals “more than anything” Fauci’s tremendous capacity for vanity.

As his fame rocketed in tandem with the COVID death toll, Fauci appeared in his diaries to be preoccupied with the media’s fixation on him, cataloguing every cocktail party invitation and magazine profile.

What the diary entries do not appear to show, and what this week’s hearing did not establish any evidence in support of, was serious wrongdoing. But evidence makes for a very poor show trial.

IN THIS EDITION OF PARTY ANIMALS… A dispatch from Lindsey Graham’s funeral, which brought Washington to a standstill and stretched across two days—a reflection of the late senator’s unusual status in the capital.

PLUS: Max Adler, our senior staff writer on the West Coast, has a fizzing profile of Nithya Raman, the progressive vying to topple the Karen Bass regime in Los Angeles.

Also mentioned in this issue: Andrew Tate, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ruby Rippey, Gavin Newsom, Max Miller, Spencer Pratt, and more.

Got tips? Hit the Party Animals hotline: aidan_mclaughlin@condenast.com. Or text me—my number is 917-817-8266. Complaints will be covered up in Dr. Fauci’s lab leak files. Praise will be fed to Republicans on the Senate Health Committee.

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