Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has turned up the heat on Dr. Anthony Fauci, issuing a subpoena Tuesday for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It's the latest escalation in Paul's years-long crusade to hold Fauci accountable for his role in the U.S. COVID-19 response and the origins of the pandemic.
"For years, the media and Washington elites treated Dr. Fauci as untouchable," Paul said in a post on X. "But if you lie to Congress, destroy records, and mislead the public about the origins of a pandemic that killed millions, you shouldn't be above scrutiny."
Paul's comments came after a CNBC interview published Tuesday, where he said Fauci had initially agreed to testify voluntarily but later backed out, forcing the subpoena.
Subpoena Fight Intensifies
Speaking to CNBC, Paul accused Fauci of misleading Congress about U.S.-funded gain-of-function research — experiments that intentionally alter viruses to study how they might become more transmissible or dangerous. Paul alleged that newly surfaced evidence strengthens his case that Fauci knowingly misled lawmakers about funding tied to research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and tried to shape early scientific narratives about the virus's origin.
"If you lied to Congress and helped cover up the origins of a pandemic, you will answer for it," Paul wrote in a separate post.
Paul also questioned the scope of former President Joe Biden's preemptive pardon for Fauci, suggesting its legal reach may face scrutiny.
Old Debate, New Political Fire
The renewed pressure comes as debate over the lab-leak theory and U.S.-funded virology research has intensified again in Washington. In November, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary accused Fauci of suppressing early scrutiny of a possible lab-related origin of COVID-19, calling the alleged effort a "massive cover-up."
The controversy has also expanded beyond the NIH. Questions around USAID's role resurfaced after Paul pressed former USAID Administrator Samantha Power during a 2023 Senate hearing over the agency's PREDICT program and alleged Wuhan-linked research funding. Power denied that USAID funded gain-of-function research and said the agency had provided documentation related to the program.
Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) and Tesla Inc. (TSLA), also weighed in Tuesday, sharing a clip of Paul's 2023 exchange with Power and posting on X that "USAID money funded coronavirus research in China that killed millions of people."
Musk's remarks came amid a broader political clash over USAID funding after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) criticized Musk's DOGE-related spending cuts and claimed the dismantling of USAID could put millions of children at risk globally. Musk pushed back on those allegations, with his latest comments appearing to shift focus toward longstanding criticism of USAID's past funding decisions.
Fauci has repeatedly denied allegations that he misled Congress or helped cover up the virus's origins, previously calling similar claims "preposterous."
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