This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., long a critic of Anthony Fauci, the ex-chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Joe Biden's top COVID-19 adviser, is asking that Fauci be investigated for perjury.
A report from the Daily Mail explains that Paul has written to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking a review of "whether Dr. Fauci, 82, committed perjury when he testified in front of a Senate committee in 2021."
Sen. Paul and Fauci often clashed when Congress was reviewing the fight against the COVID-19 virus, which circled the globe and killed millions.
Experts believe now that it escaped or was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists were working on that very type of bat virus.
The issue is that Fauci testified before Congress, while still employed by the government, that the U.S. "has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."
In gain-of-function work, scientists try to figure out how viruses can be made more lethal, or more contagious. The idea is that they could then try to work ahead to oppose possible natural mutations.
Fauci, as NAIAD chief, was responsible for signing off on research grants.
The report, however, explained, "Yet newly released emails dated February 1, 2020, show Fauci acknowledged that 'scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments to determine that molecular mechanisms associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection, and the outbreak originated in Wuhan.'"
The report noted perjury is a federal offense carrying up to five years in prison.
It explained, "While the emails show that Fauci was aware of gain-of-function going on in the lab, he never admitted that the NIH funded it. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined last month that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Wuhan University did receive NIH funding, Sen Paul said in his letter to AG Garland."
Just days ago the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released the emails from Fauci regarding a conference call that focused on COVID's origins.
In one, Fauci confirmed that the scientists had concerns that COVID might have been "genetically engineered and that these were worsened by the fact that gain-of-function research was taking place in Wuhan before the pandemic," the report said.
Paul cited documentation from Wuhan scientists called, "Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus," which addressed efforts to alter a virus.
That paper identifies the U.S. National Institutes of Health, of which the NAIAD is a part, as "a source of funding for that research."
Fauci, when Paul was demanding answers in a congressional hearing about gain-of-function work funded by the U.S., claimed, "You do not know what you are talking about."
Paul, in a later hearing, gave Fauci the chance to retract his claim that the U.S. did not fund gain-of-function research, stating, "Dr. Fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to retract your statement?"
Fauci refused.
In fact, he claimed "qualified" experts determined the work being referenced was not gain-of-function work.
However, his own emails contradict his statements, the report said.
Meanwhile, a report from the Washington Examiner said Paul also has confirmed that Fauci is getting "government-funded security detail" even though he's retired now.
"While appearing on Jesse Watters Primetime on Monday, Paul said Health and Human Services admitted that the United States Marshals Service is paying for Fauci’s security detail but that HHS is reimbursing it," the report said.
"We asked HHS early in the summer — we said, 'Is he still working, and does he have this limo, and does he have a driver, and does he have a security detail?' Well, HHS actually came back to us and said they haven’t been paying for it since January," Paul said. "But then, we discovered that Fox did a Freedom of Information Act, and a judge forced them to say that while HHS wasn’t directly funding it, the U.S. Marshals were funding it. So can you imagine we asked the government, 'Are you funding his limo, and driver, and security detail,' and they say, ‘Oh, we’re not doing it, but oh, somebody else is doing it, and we’re reimbursing them'?"
"It’s a terrible example of the government lying to its representatives and to the people."
Paul said he doesn't know why Fauci would be getting government protection in retirement, and if he does want security, "He's a rich man. His wealth increased by 30% during the pandemic."
Further, Fauci's government pension apparently is hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
