Rand Paul demands that Dr. Fauci be investigated under oath

Rand Paul said that even if Dr. Anthony Fauci retires, that does not preclude him from being investigated or called to testify before Congress in any investigation related to COVID-19.

The Kentucky GOP senator raised the prospect after new Twitter CEO Elon Musk called for Fauci’s prosecution in a tweet that mocked people stating their pronouns.

“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk wrote early Sunday morning.

Fauci announced in August that he would leave the post in December “to pursue the next chapter” of his career.

He has served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and assumed the role of chief medical adviser to the president when Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

Fauci will receive the highest government pension ever with an expected payout of $414,000 in his first year of retirement.

Republicans have often jumped on Fauci and his messages regarding COVID-19 — in particular, Senator Paul took several public swipes at the NIAID chief and accused him of helping to create the virus.

Lawmakers say they will call Fauci for his testimony as part of investigations into the origins of COVID-19. The feat will have to be concentrated in the House for now, as Republicans failed to secure a majority in the Senate by the 2022 midterms.

“Fauci’s resignation should not preclude a full investigation into the origins of the pandemic,” Paul tweeted on Sunday. “He should be required to testify under oath regarding any discussion he participated in regarding the Wuhan lab leak.”

“His policy has destroyed lives,” added the Kentucky senator.

Fauci was a frequent punching bag for Republicans due to his extreme leftist positions related to COVID-19. He frequently pushed for mandatory mask-wearing and vaccinations for all Americans — even when many felt the pangs of the pandemic were behind.

Fauci is stepping down this month after serving as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser during the first half of his term.

Under Fauci’s guidance, the Biden White House imposed vaccination mandates, including all federal government employees and military service members. Thousands of people lost their jobs or were fired because they refused to be forced to take a vaccine that was still under review by the FDA.

Fauci insists his goal, even after leaving his current post, is “to help mend the widespread partisan polarization that has divided the nation and politicized science.”

In May 2021, Fauci denied that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was supporting so-called “gain-of-function research” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Paul claims there is now evidence that Fauci was involved in, or at least aware of, the facility developing the virus.

The two have clashed publicly on several occasions when Fauci has appeared before Senate committees.

Paul, an ophthalmologist before being elected to Congress, is a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Homeland Security. He is also a GOP ranking member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.