Senator Rand Paul is demanding that Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, be investigated by the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C. for allegedly lying under oath about the origins of the virus and gain-of-function funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to Newsmax.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves reportedly received a letter from the senator last week which alleged that Fauci committed perjury while testifying to Congress in 2021. Fauci said that the virus did not come from a Chinese lab. The letter follows a referral Paul sent to the Biden Department of Justice in July 2021. But their inaction has led him to refer to Graves.
Because of the DOJ’s inaction regarding Fauci’s lies to congress, I’ve now sent a criminal referral to D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. I’m demanding an investigation. Read the full letter here: https://t.co/HLEySLgfkv pic.twitter.com/ih2b7pgcqm
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) August 8, 2023
Paul argues that Fauci has been caught lying by his colleagues. While Fauci publicly stated one thing, in private he reportedly acknowledged gain-of-function research funding at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The news follows other actions taken by the Kentucky senator. He is also aiming to shut down the NIAID, according to Breitbart. The NIH Reform Act will reportedly cut the NIAID up into three separate entities in research that will be headed by three separate directors, each of whom must be confirmed by the Senate and may only serve a maximum of two five-year terms.
The American public is also fed up with the former NIAID director, polls show. Data from Rasmussen shows that 39 percent of likely U.S. voters believe that Fauci was being truthful when talking about the federal government’s role in gain-of-function research. On the other hand, 47 percent think that Fauci was being dishonest, and 15 percent were uncertain.
That sentiment is largely split along political lines. Most Republicans (67 percent) believe that Fauci lied, whereas only 25 percent of Democrats concur. Despite announcing his resignation, Paul is trying to uncover whether or not Fauci is still being paid by the federal government, according to Fox News.
