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Rand Paul Keeps Promise —  Delivers Criminal Referral On Dr. Fauci To Top Biden Cabinet Member

By • July 26, 2021 3:29 pm

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has delivered on his statement last week that he will ask the Department of Justice (DoJ) for a criminal investigation of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief medical advisor to the president , for allegedly lying to Congress. 

The Republican senator sent the criminal referral of Fauci Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, The Washington Examiner said in a report.

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“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 said in the referral, according to the news outlet.

Paul also maintained in the referral that grants from the NIH to EcoHealth Alliance, which were eventually sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab for the purposes of conducting research on bat coronaviruses, “fits the definition of gain-of-function research” — although Fauci has earlier insisted they didn’t fund gain-of-function research at the said Chinese lab.

According to the Washington Examiner report, the Kentucky Republican senator also referred to comments by molecular biologist Dr. Richard Ebright, who said in May, that the research funded by the NIH “matches, indeed, epitomizes the definition of ‘gain-of-function research of concern’ for which federal funding was ‘paused’ in 2014-2017” in his referral to the Justice department.

The report said Paul then asked Garland to look into whether Dr. Fauci’s conduct during his Congress testimony and whether he has violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001 —  which makes it a crime to, during the course of “any investigation or review” conducted by Congress, make “any materially false, fictions, or fraudulent statement or representation.”

“I ask that you investigate whether Dr. Fauci’s statements to Congress on May 11, 2021 violated this statute or any other,” Paul reportedly said. 

NIH’s funding to Wuhan lab

The Examiner noted that based on “NIH’s RePORTER website the agency provided $15.2 million to Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance over the years, with $3.74 million toward understanding bat coronavirus emergence.”

The report went on to note that “Daszak maintained a long working relationship with Wuhan lab ‘bat lady’ Shi Zhengli, sending her lab at least $600,000 in NIH funding. Daszak was also part of the World Health Organization-China team that dismissed the lab leak hypothesis as “extremely unlikely” earlier this year,” The Examiner added.

​​Last week, Paul announced that he is making a ‘criminal referral’ to the DoJ for Fauci for “lying to Congress” about whether the NIH did fund the gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab.

Paul warned Fauci during the heated exchange then, that lying to Congress is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

“He’s lying about whether or not he funded gain-of-function research, and yes, he should be punished,” Paul said earlier.

“He’s doing this because he has a self interest to cover his tracks and to cover his connection to Wuhan lab,” the Republican lawmaker added.

Following Paul’s referral, it is now up to the Justice Department whether or not to launch a formal inquiry into the Fauci issue. The GOP senator’s referral simply means a request for further investigation.

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Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.
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