Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that if President Joe Biden pardons Dr. Anthony Fauci, it would seal the former White House medical adviser’s “fate as the Godfather of the gain-of-function experiments that led to the pandemic.”
Paul responded Thursday to a report from Politico, which notes that Biden officials are considering issuing “preemptive pardons” for individuals that may be targets of the incoming Trump administration. One of the individuals discussed is Fauci, who touted several mistruths about masking and vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic and thereafter.
Per the report:
Those who could face exposure include such members of Congress’ Jan. 6 Committee as Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Trump has previously said Cheney “should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” Also mentioned by Biden’s aides for a pardon is Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who became a lightning rod for criticism from the right during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Cheney and Fauci did not respond to requests for comment.
“Will Biden pardon Fauci?” Paul asked. “(If Fauci is pardoned it will simply seal his fate as the Godfather of the gain-of-function experiments that led to the pandemic.)”
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The discussion of possible pardons follows the report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, ending its two-year investigation into the coronavirus pandemic.
Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) summarized some of the findings as follows:
1) The U.S. National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
2) The Chinese government, agencies within the U.S. Government, and some members of the international scientific community sought to cover-up [sic] facts concerning the origins of the pandemic.
3) Operation Warp Speed was a tremendous success and a model to build upon in the future. The vaccines, which are now probably better characterized as therapeutics, undoubtedly saved millions of lives by diminishing likelihood of severe disease and death.
4) Rampant fraud, waste, and abuse plagued the COVID-19 pandemic response.
5) Pandemic-era school closures will have enduring impact on generations of America’s children and these closures were enabled by groups meant to serve those children.
6) The Constitution cannot be suspended in times of crisis and restrictions on freedoms sow distrust in public health.
7) The prescription cannot be worse than the disease, such as strict and overly broad lockdowns that led to predictable anguish and avoidable consequences.
Read the entire report here.
Paul has sparred with Fauci over the years, asserting that he should be in jail for allegedly lying to Congress about decisions throughout the pandemic.
When asked earlier this year what the consequences should be for Fauci, Paul replied, “Jail.”
Paul said during an appearance on The Ingraham Angle:
You know, I’ve sent two referrals to the Department of Justice. I think he lied to Congress, which is a felony. You know, several folks from the Trump administration were accused of lying to Congress and carted off to jail with FBI agents all over their property, you know, yanking them out of their house early in the morning.
“But we have two tiers of justice here. It depends on whether you were a supporter of Donald Trump or you’re a supporter of big government, you know, the centralized government,” he added.