Sen. Paul: Fauci May Be Subpoenaed

On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden-Harris administration regarding their knowledge of COVID-19's origins and "taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research."

In the press release announcing the subpoenas, Paul, who now sits as the chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, suggested that the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who accepted a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden, would be brought to testify before Congress.

"In the wake of Anthony Fauci's preemptive pardon," Paul said, "there are still questions to be answered. Who at NIH directed funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and why was the proposal not scrutinized by the P3CO safety committee?"

"For four years, I have requested records from the NIH and other agencies on all deliberations regarding the decision to skip oversight by the safety committee only to be stonewalled."

"Today," he added, "I'm announcing subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again."

Because of Fauci's acceptance of Biden's preemptive pardon, he may not invoke the right to the Fifth Amendment if he's brought before Congress to give a testimony, according to University of Baltimore law professor Kimberly Wehle.

"The pardons do not impact the Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination unless they are accepted by the recipient, and there is no legal deadline for doing so," she told Newsweek.

"If there is an acceptance of a pardon and the recipient is called to testify, it is accurate that they cannot successfully invoke the Fifth Amendment on matters covered by the pardon because there would be no threat of incrimination. If they refuse to testify, they could be held in contempt, but as we saw when Trump witnesses refused to testify in the January 6th matter, that is a laborious process and not as easy to execute as contempt by a judge, although I assume Pam Bondi would not hesitate to prosecute."

In May 2021, Fauci told Paul while testifying before Congress that "the NIH and NIAID categorically has not funded gain-of-function research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

But on January 27, 2020, Fauci received an email informing him that he had been granting funding to such research for five years.

"NIAID has funded Peter [Daszak]'s group," EcoHealth Alliance, "for coronavirus work in China for the past 5 years through R01 1R01AI110964: "Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence," the email read.

Biden's pardon of Fauci, covers the actions of the former NIAID director to Jan. 1, 2014.

• Biden Pardons Fauci, Milley, Others to Prevent Trump 'Revenge'
• Trump: Fauci, Milley, Jan. 6 Panel Pardons 'Disgraceful'