Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has officially requested that the Justice Department criminally investigate Dr. Anthony Fauci for allegedly lying Senate testimony about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, The Washington Examiner reports.
During a heated exchange during a Senate hearing last Tuesday, Paul accused Fauci of lying after the Infectious Diseases expert said that the National Institutes of Health “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology” in response to Paul’s unsubstantiated claims to the contrary during a May hearing.
“As you are aware it is a crime to lie to Congress,” Paul told Fauci.
Fauci said he would not retract the statement and was adamant that he has never lied before Congress.
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“You do not know what you’re talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you’re talking about…If anybody is lying here, senator, it is you,” Fauci said.
The following Wednesday, reported the Kentucky senator officially sent a request to Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a criminal investigation of Fauci’s statement, according to The Washington Examiner.
“I write to urge the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into testimony made to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on May 11, 2021,” Paul wrote in the referral obtained by The Examiner.
Paul has also accused Fauci of lying during interviews on several conservative news outlets.
“He’s lying about whether or not he funded gain-of-function research, and yes, he should be punished,” Paul told Fox News on Saturday.
Garland can approve or deny the referral, which only requests the investigation.
