Anthony Fauci has avoided responsibility for his role in the coronavirus pandemic for years, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said during his fiery opening statement at the start of the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) chief’s testimony.
Fauci appeared before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Chairman Paul kicked off the event with an opening statement, laying out Fauci’s history of denial, including the contradictions revealed in his personal diary.
“Publicly Anthony Fauci promoted the theory that the virus arose naturally, while privately he was well aware of a mountain of evidence suggesting the virus originated in the lab. The American people deserve answers,” Paul said. “The American people deserve to know why dangerous research was funded by NIAID in a totalitarian country, in a lab that lacked acceptable safety standards. The decision to fund dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, will likely go down in history as perhaps one of the worst public health decisions.”
Paul expressed hope that Fauci would come clean and apologize to the American people for funding dangerous research in Wuhan, China. Yet, he has refused to do that.
“Instead of an apology, you have for years avoided responsibility regarding the lockdowns. You argue that you did not personally issue every lockdown order, close every school, or impose every mandate,” Paul said, noting that officials across the nation invoked Fauci’s authority “to justify these decisions, and you presented your recommendations not as judgments open to debate, but as dictates of science itself, your own words demonstrate that you understood the influence you exercised.”
Ultimately, Paul reminded Fauci that the “COVID lockdown, however, could never have been inflicted without you aiding and abetting the crime,” pointing to children losing years of education and businesses disappearing due to his recommendations. He also pointed to the revelations found in Fauci’s private diary where he admitted that a majority of scientists on a call agreed that the lab leak theory was possible.
“While you concluded publicly that COVID occurred naturally, your private record tells a different story. In early 2020, your handpicked virologist warned that the virus appeared to have been manipulated in the lab. In a conference call concerning the origin of the virus, all but two of the participants believed deliberate insertion was possible,” Paul reminded Fauci.
“Your concern was not merely theoretical. That same week, you led an urgent effort to determine whether your own agency had funded the research related to these experiments that were now under suspicion,” he said. “Hours later, your assistant reported that the Wuhan experiments had indeed been reviewed and approved by the NIH.”
Paul provided more details on Fauci’s role in funding gain-of-function research, noting that Fauci — to this day — has still refused to take responsibility.
“In 2011, your agency funded Ron Fouchier’s laboratory when it mutated the avian flu until it could spread through the air between mammals. This was the the tipping point. This is when others became worried. You funded this. You advocated for this. The federal government’s own biosecurity board, though, recommended withholding the details of these experiments because of the danger the research posed. People were concerned that publishing it was publishing a roadmap to creating bio weapons around the world,” he said, adding, “But you sided with the gain-of-function scientist Fouchier and argued that the benefits of publishing the research far outweighed the risks.”
“When you defended this research, you described its benefits in the broadest terms. But when Congress demanded accountability, you hid behind the narrowest possible definition. You can’t have it both ways,” Paul said, adding that Fauci’s “conduct concerning federal records raises further questions.”
“It is a crime to destroy federal records. Yet our investigation reveals your assistant diligently reported that she deleted tons of emails in 2024,” he said, reminding Fauci he is appearing before the committee, compelled by subpoena.
“You’re here today under duress. You’re here today because of the court ordering it. President Biden issued you a sweeping pardon extending back to 2014, the same pardon he gave to his son Hunter. A pardon may protect a person from criminal prosecution,” he said, noting it “doesn’t rewrite history.
Notably, Fauci said in his opening statement that he will refuse to answer questions, invoking the Fifth Amendment.
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