Sen. Rand Paul famously sparred with then-chief U.S. immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, since retired, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond during hearings. At one point, the Kentucky Republican pinned ‘the good doctor’ down with evidence that Fauci’s department had funded dangerous gain-of-function research that has been blamed for being at the center of the outbreak that kills millions worldwide, a claim that Fauci has frequently denied — under oath.
But this week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told indy journalist Megyn Kelly that in fact, at her direction, U.S. health and intelligence officials are digging into this research funding further. “The thing that we are working with [NIH Director] Jay Bhattacharya… as well as [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] on is looking at the gain-of-function research that – in the case of the Wuhan lab, as well as many others around many of these other bio labs around the world – was actually U.S. funded and leads to this dangerous kind of research that, in many examples, has resulted in either a pandemic or some other major health crisis,” she told Kelly during the interview.
The host responded: “We already know that [U.S.-based nonprofit] EcoHealth Alliance was partnering with this Wuhan lab to do gain-of-function research; we just have never been able to have somebody say, ‘And it was that exact experiment that led to this COVID bug.’ But have we gotten there? What’s the new thing that you are digging in on?”
Gabbard said that is what she has teamed up with Bhattacharya to determine and hopes to be able to share their findings “on that specific link between the gain-of-function research and what we saw with COVID-19” soon. Kelly said such a link could be “extraordinary” because “if it was Peter Daszak’s [EcoHealth Alliance] research with the Wuhan so-called ‘bat lady’ that caused this pandemic, then… Anthony Fauci helped fund the pandemic.”
Gabbard noted that it is exactly what Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH, consistently denied in sworn testimony on Capitol Hill. “So, is it any wonder that he sought a preemptive pardon for anything during a certain period of time by President Biden before he left office,” she asked.
Enter Sen. Paul. He took to X in reference to Gabbard’s interview to drop a new warning on Fauci, despite his pardon from President Autopen: “Fauci lied to me, to Congress, and to the American people,” Paul wrote. “Thank you to @TulsiGabbard for helping shed light on all of this. More coming…”
Fauci lied to me, to Congress and to the American people.
Thank you to @TulsiGabbard for helping shed light on all of this. More coming… https://t.co/s6x5dkkVyz
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 1, 2025
The Trump administration is said to be looking into the validity of Joe Biden’s copius use of the autopen during his term, who was behind its use, and whether or not he was even aware it was being utilized to sign documents in his name, and which documents he was aware were being signed — the purpose of which is to more than likely mount a legal challenge to determine if they are constitutional. If it’s found that they are not, Anthony Fauci could be facing charges that are much, much worse than simply lying to Congress. Rand Paul will see to that.
