Newly released diary entries from Dr. Anthony Fauci reveal that the former federal health official privately encouraged then-Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to begin COVID-19 mitigation measures, telling the Democratic governor “definitely yes” when Inslee asked whether the state should act. Washington appears repeatedly in Fauci’s diary because it was the site of the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the United States. According to his diary, Fauci believed Pence and then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were minimizing the significance of the Seattle data. In an October 2020 entry, Fauci wrote, “Phone call with Governor Inslee (D-WA).