In a recent development, Senator Rand Paul has filed a criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing him of lying about his involvement in coronavirus gain-of-function research. According to Paul, Fauci's lies to Congress regarding the origins of the virus and the research conducted at the Wuhan lab are now provable.
Paul highlighted an email from February 2020 in which Fauci discussed a call with British medical researcher Jeremy Farrar. During the call, Fauci and other scientists expressed concerns about unusual mutations in the virus that were unlikely to have occurred naturally in bats. They also suspected that these mutations were intentionally inserted, given that scientists at Wuhan University were known to be conducting gain-of-function experiments on bat viruses.
This revelation directly contradicts Fauci's previous testimony to Congress, where he denied funding any gain-of-function research. Paul referred to a journal article that credited the National Institutes of Health (NIH), listing the grant number provided by the NIH. The article described how the lab-created viruses, which combined bat coronavirus spike genes with a SARS-related backbone, were able to replicate in humans.
During a congressional hearing in July 2021, Paul confronted Fauci about his alleged lies, reminding him that lying to Congress is a federal crime. Fauci vehemently denied ever lying before Congress and insisted that the NIH did not fund gain-of-function research. However, Paul argued that the NIH's own definition of gain of function includes scientific research that increases the transmissibility of viruses among mammals.
Paul expressed his doubts about the DOJ taking any action against Fauci, given his belief that Attorney General Merrick Garland is a partisan figure. He also criticized the Democratic Party for paying Fauci more than any president has ever earned and highlighted the $1 million he received from a private foundation while serving as a public servant. Paul emphasized the need to hold Fauci accountable to ensure better controls on this type of research and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
The fallout from these revelations has sparked a renewed debate about Fauci's credibility and the role of gain-of-function research in the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the criminal referral makes its way to the DOJ, the public is eagerly awaiting further developments in this ongoing controversy.
