Samuel Case, FISM News
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While he intends to retire from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) by the end of the year, Dr. Anthony Fauci may not be off the hook from a Republican investigation should the GOP retake Congress this November.
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is now requesting the National Institute of Health (NIH) save all of Fauci’s documents and communications relating to COVID-19, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller.
Paul, who has been embroiled in an ongoing feud with Fauci, asked the NIH to “ensure the preservation of all documents and communications within Dr. Fauci’s possession related to his tenure at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).”
This information is critical to ensure that Congress has access to information necessary to conduct proper oversight regarding events that took place during Dr. Fauci’s tenure with the agency. Specifically, I request you preserve all records, e-mail, electronic documents, and data created by or shared with Dr. Fauci during his tenure at NIH that relate to COVID-19 including, but not limited to, NIAID-funded coronavirus research. This preservation request also includes all records of official business conducted on non official accounts.
“The American people deserve transparency and accountability from the NIH regarding the COVID-19 pandemic regardless of Dr. Fauci’s future employment plans,” Paul wrote in conclusion.
Fauci has come under fire throughout the course of the COVID pandemic for multiple position reversals, allegedly lying about U.S. involvement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and taking a hard stance on keeping and reinstating pandemic restrictions.
Last July, Paul wrote a criminal referral letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, accusing Fauci of lying to Congress about the nature of U.S. funding at the Wuhan Institute of Virology – where many Republicans theorize COVID-19 may have originated via a lab leak.
Dr. Fauci first announced in July he would be stepping down from his position as the director of the NIAID, a position he’s held since 1984, by the end of President Joe Biden’s term. This week Fauci confirmed he will be retiring in December.
Fauci has said he is not stepping down to avoid a Republican investigation.
“They’re going to try and come after me, anyway. I mean, probably less so if I’m not in the job,” he told Politico, claiming the threat of investigation isn’t “a consideration in my career decision.”
Fauci told Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday that the possibility of a Republican investigation “didn’t even come in as a minor consideration,” when making his decision to retire.
NIAID Director and Chief Medical Adviser to President Biden Dr. Anthony Fauci on stepping down from current roles pic.twitter.com/sP8AvttcIU
— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) August 23, 2022
Monday Paul asserted Fauci’s retirement “will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic.”
Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 22, 2022