Sen. Rand Paul, who has squared off several times with Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Newsmax Thursday that there's no proof that the president's chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was behind the payments for the Chinese research on coronaviruses.
Still, the Kentucky Republican said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now," Fauci was trying to cover up that he knew what the Chinese scientists in Wuhan were researching.
"I know that Fauci knew the Chinese were trying to do this," said Paul. "The alarming this is that we knew in 2018 that they were going to do this, and in 2020 we got a virus that had the exact insertion in the exact place to make it more dangerous for humans."
Paul said that in 2018, the Wuhan medical researchers sought funding from the United States for their coronavirus experiments, but were refused.
"What the Chinese wanted to do actually happened," said Paul. "They're not admitting it came from the lab, but it certainly looks suspicious."
Paul added Fauci and "all his other scientists came together" and they "circled the wagons."
"They said for the good of science, we have to cover this up, for the good of the National Institutes of Health, for good old Tony Fauci and his reputation."
That led to emails that House Republicans say reveal Fauci was warned of the possibility COVID-19 was leaked from a Wuhan, China, lab, and also that the virus was manipulated genetically, said Paul.
And that, he added, led to the "most massive medical or scientific cover-up ever in our history."
"We're going to get to the bottom of this," said Paul. "But every time we scratched the surface, we find more evidence that he's been dishonest and deceitful with the American people."
Paul further said it's an "abuse of office" for Fauci, who earns more than $400,000 a year from taxpayers, to deem attacks on him as attacks on science.
"He's using his career, his position, to attack scientists" over the news about the lab, said Paul, referring to the emails.
Meanwhile, Fauci has denied funding the research, and Paul conceded he thinks the doctor is "telling the truth on that, but he's just not telling the truth about the situation."
Fauci has accused Paul of using the fight against him to raise money for his campaigns, but the senator asked how else the doctor can be investigated.
"If I'm not the chairman of a committee, and we don't take over, I've asked the Democrats for a bipartisan investigation and it hasn't happened," said Paul, adding that he asks for contributions "if you want him to be fired, if you want him to be prosecuted for lying. Yes, it's political. There's only a political solution to this through elections and elections have consequences."
The senator also on Thursday said he is hoping for a "quick decision" from the Supreme Court over the Biden administration's vaccine mandates.
"Laws come from Congress," said Paul. "That's what the Constitution says. They're passed by Congress, and then they are signed by the president.
"The president doesn't create and sign laws. This is a massive infringement of our liberty, and it's one of the most pervasive laws you can imagine to force everybody to get medical care where they want to or not. How could that possibly be constitutional?"
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