Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, announced on Tuesday that he has referred the case of Dr. Anthony Fauci to the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., in the hopes that someone will prosecute the former White House chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Sen. Paul criticized the inaction of Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Paul, who frequently sparred with Fauci over the nation’s COVID-19 policies and Fauci’s connections to a facility in Wuhan, China, linked to the outbreak of the virus, sent a criminal referral accusing Fauci of lying to Congress to Garland last month. A criminal referral is a request to prosecute an alleged offense, as Congress lacks the authority to do so.
“Since AG Garland doesn’t appear to want to do his job, I’ve today sent evidence for a criminal referral for Anthony Fauci to the US Attorney in DC,” the senator said Tuesday on Twitter, now rebranded as X.
Since AG Garland doesn’t appear to want to do his job, I’ve today sent evidence for a criminal referral for Anthony Fauci to the US Attorney in DC. https://t.co/lRo2XLuwP3
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 8, 2023
“A congressional hearing isn’t the place for Fauci to play political games – especially when the health and well-being of American citizens is on the line,” he said.
A congressional hearing isn’t the place for Fauci to play political games – especially when the health and well-being of American citizens is on the line. https://t.co/lRo2XLv4EB
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 9, 2023
In his letter to U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, first reported by the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Paul wrote, “Dr. Fauci testified that ‘the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.’
“In a subsequent hearing, I warned Dr. Fauci of the criminal implications of lying to Congress and offered him an opportunity to recant his previous statements.
“In response, Dr. Fauci stated that he had ‘never lied before the Congress’ and ‘d[id] not retract that statement.’ Dr. Fauci’s testimony is inconsistent with facts that have since come to light.”
Paul stated that Fauci tells various truths depending on his audience.
“Before Congress, Dr. Fauci denied funding gain-of-function research, to the press he claims to have a dispassionate view on the lab leak hypothesis, and in private he acknowledges gain-of-function research at WIV to his colleagues,” the senator wrote.
“His own colleagues have acknowledged Dr. Fauci’s inconsistency,” he said.
2023.08.08_Letter to AUSA G… by New York Post
According to the Daily Mail, Graves’ office verified receiving the letter, while Paul’s office stated Garland did nothing with the prior referral.
During a contentious hearing in July 2021, the senator accused the former director of the NIAID of lying to Congress.
“Let’s read from the NIH definition of ‘gain of function,’” Paul said then, according to Fox News. “This is your definition that you guys wrote. It says that ‘scientific research that increases the transmissibility among mammals is gain of function.’
“They took animal viruses that only occur in animals, and they increased their transmissibility to humans. How you can say that’s not gain of function — it’s a dance, and you’re dancing around this because you’re trying to obscure responsibility for 4 million people dying around the world from a pandemic.”
Fauci responded defiantly, “Senator Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement. … You do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you are talking about.”
Paul shared a screenshot of an email sent by Fauci to other officials on February 1, 2020, that was published by RealClearPolitics White House reporter Philip Wegmann on July 29 in a tweet.
The email “directly contradicts everything he said in committee hearing to me, denying absolutely that they funded any gain of function, and it’s absolutely a lie. That’s why I sent an official criminal referral to the DOJ,” Paul posted.
This directly contradicts everything he said in committee hearing to me, denying absolutely that they funded any gain of function, and it’s absolutely a lie. That’s why I sent an official criminal referral to the DOJ. https://t.co/Y191SmMiIr
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 29, 2023
The screenshot quotes Fauci as writing, “The suspicion was heightened by the fact that scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments to determine the molecular mechanisms associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection, and the outbreak originated in Wuhan.”
The email expressed concern over the “fact upon viewing the sequences of several isolates of the nCoV, there were mutations in the virus that would be most unusual to have evolved naturally in the bats and that there was a suspicion that this mutation was intentionally inserted.”