Paul promises investigation of Fauci if Republicans take Senate

by Nathaniel Weixel - 02/04/22 12:05 AM ET

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he plans to subpoena Anthony Fauci’s records if Republicans retake the Senate in November’s midterm elections and he becomes chairman of a committee.

Paul stands to become chairman of the Senate Health Committee if Republicans flip the 50-50 upper chamber. The committee’s current ranking member, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), is retiring.

“If we win in November, if I’m chairman of a committee, if I have subpoena power, we’ll go after every one of [Fauci’s] records,” Paul said during an interview with conservative podcast host Lisa Boothe. “We’ll have an investigator go through this piece-by-piece because we don’t need this to happen again.”

During congressional hearings, Paul, a libertarian ophthalmologist, has repeatedly antagonized the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor over the benefits of masks, vaccinations and the origins of COVID-19.

Paul has alleged on numerous occasions that Fauci and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent funding to a virology lab in Wuhan, China, that then created a supervirus that can infect human cells. He has pressed Fauci on the theory that the novel coronavirus was created in the Wuhan lab and then somehow escaped, either because of an accident or because it was deliberately released.

While the origins of the virus are not known and under investigation, there is little evidence to suggest it was created in a lab or with funding help from the NIH and Fauci.

Some evidence suggests there may have been a lab leak because of lax safety protocols, while other experts say it was found in nature. But with China stonewalling investigators, the truth may never be known.

During Fauci’s most recent appearance before the Health Committee, he accused Paul of spreading bad information and inciting death threats against him.

“What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue, all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there, and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family, and my children will have seen phone calls because people are lying about me,” Fauci said.