Sen. Paul to Newsmax: NIH Funded Research on Avian Flu Years Before COVID

The National Institutes of Health was funding gain-of-function research to mutate the avian flu at least 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday on Newsmax.

He added that Dr. Anthony Fauci was director of its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the time.

"The NIH has funded research to mutate the avian flu to make it more transmissible through the air and among mammals," the Kentucky Republican said on "National Report." "This is very, very dangerous research."

Paul's comments came after President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order limiting gain-of-function research, which he and many others say enhanced the pathogens for the virus causing COVID-19, with the pandemic occurring as a result of the virus from a research laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Paul also said he agrees with Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who told Newsmax in March that there were grants at U.S.-based labs to perform gain-of-function experiments, including on bird flu, even though Redfield said he didn't know if the funds were spent.

Paul told Newsmax that some studies have shown that the avian flu could have a 50% mortality rate, compared to COVID-19, which had a mortality rate of less than 1%, "but that still was millions of people."

"If we have a virus that leaks, that has 50% mortality, we're talking about billions of people dying," said Paul. "We're talking about a planetary epidemic that could set us back centuries and cause violence and chaos and war throughout the entire planet. So we should not be funding research to make avian flu more transmissible. It's a death wish."

But Fauci, said Paul, funded the studies in 2010.

"This is why President [Barack] Obama had a pause 2014 to 2016, because they discovered that Anthony Fauci had this elaborate setup around the world to [fund] gain-of-function to avian flu," Paul said. "But we know they're doing it with various other viruses. We've only scratched the surface."

Paul said he's trying to get records from all labs that are doing the "biological warfare" research "to make sure that they're not actually doing things that, instead of killing the enemy, actually would kill us."

Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that the administration is examining gain-of-function research, with new NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the effort.

"I've been trying for over three years to get non-classified records about the decision to fund the research in Wuhan, and it's been denied, but I can tell you, under Secretary Kennedy, under Jay Bhattacharya, the records are beginning to flow," Paul said.

This means that Fauci, who got a last-minute pardon from outgoing former President Joe Biden, will need to return to Congress and testify on his decisions, "either voluntarily or involuntarily," said Paul.

"This may be one of the greatest medical errors in modern history, and he bears a large part of the responsibility for this," said Paul.

Paul said he agrees with Trump's executive order but thinks Congress will need to pass legislation to enforce it.

"My legislation would let President Trump create a commission or a council of scientists that would oversee this," said Paul.

Fauci, he added, won't likely be punished for "the felonies that he committed, such as lying to Congress," so history will be a "harsh judge" for him.

"The left still wants to protect him, and I want to make sure he's responsible, because I want to make sure that it doesn't happen again," said Paul. "I want to make sure the public is so upset with that decision that we never let anybody get in power again who would make this kind of decision."

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