{"id":2071,"date":"2026-08-05T20:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:10:37","slug":"when-it-comes-to-anthony-fauci-rand-paul-is-just-getting-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071","title":{"rendered":"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 When Anthony Fauci plead the fifth over 100 times during a Senate hearing last week, many Americans were pleased that the face of the Biden administration\u2019s coronavirus response was forced to face his critics. But many other Americans were left wondering: would Fauci face anything worse than an embarrassing viral hearing?<\/p>

Read more Military Dog\u2019s Incredible Find Leaves Troops Stunned<\/a><\/p>

He will if Senator Rand Paul has anything to say about it.<\/p>

The Kentucky Republican is determined to bring the former head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to justice. Speaking to The Daily Wire Wednesday, Paul explained why he\u2019s confident that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the embattled doctor in contempt \u2014 and what he thinks could happen next.<\/p>

\u201cHistorically, votes like this have gone to the full Senate, but I think there\u2019s no absolute rule that says we can\u2019t send it directly to the Department of Justice,\u201d Paul said. \u201cSo my plan is that if we win the vote on Thursday, to immediately send it to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution, even if it passes the whole Senate.\u201d<\/p>

Paul\u2019s office sent two criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department, the senator said, and two more under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>

\u201cThis will be the first time that our entire committee or the majority of our committee sends it,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see what happens. We\u2019ll discuss with [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune whether or not he thinks he can get the votes to do it on the floor.\u201d<\/p>

A floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, meaning Democrats would have to cooperate. Asked about this subject last week, Thune said that Fauci\u2019s answers were \u201ccompletely inadequate\u201d and that the floor vote was \u201ccertainly an option that ought to be available to us.\u201d<\/p>

But Paul isn\u2019t optimistic that Democrats will be willing to go after Fauci (who did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Wire).<\/p>

\u201cThey\u2019ve decided that they don\u2019t seem to mind that he funded this dangerous research in a foreign country, in a country that\u2019s largely opaque, often accused of dishonesty,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t seem to care. They care more about defending government experts against any kind of skepticism. So we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>

Instead, Paul is pushing for the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress. Paul says he\u2019s going to be sending the DOJ a legal brief arguing that the Fifth Amendment did not protect Fauci, since he was granted a pardon by President Joe Biden, and was thus only being asked to tell the truth.<\/p>

Should the Justice Department accept Paul\u2019s argument, it has two possible paths.<\/p>

The most notable would be to send Fauci to prison \u2014 a popular rallying cry for the MAGA base, and not without precedent. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to comply with the January 6 Committee. He served a four-month sentence.<\/p>

Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro also defied a subpoena from the January 6 committee and served a four-month prison sentence ending in July 2024.<\/p>

Statutory penalties for contempt of Congress, a federal misdemeanor, carry fines between $100 and $100,000 and mandatory sentencing of one to 12 months in prison.<\/p>

Paul pointed to Bannon\u2019s and Navarro\u2019s imprisonments, noting that they refused to show up and testify. Fauci did show up, he said, but declined to answer senators\u2019 questions. The senator also addressed concerns and criticisms from those who argue that Republicans do not take real action, but merely hold high-profile hearings.<\/p>

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\u201cI\u2019m not a prosecutor,\u201d he said, \u201cand so sometimes people on the internet get confused and they say, \u2018Oh you\u2019re just having hearings.\u2019 Well, that\u2019s the power I have. I have the power to do that. I have the power of funding, but prosecutorial power isn\u2019t given to Congress. We cannot put Anthony Fauci in jail. That would require the prosecutors, the Department of Justice, to do it. So I do what I can.\u201d<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>

Paul also hopes that placing Fauci under renewed scrutiny will force public officials to reckon with whether it was a good idea to fund this \u201cdangerous research in China,\u201d and whether this should be done again in the future. He\u2019s part of that decision-making process, and has supported Trump\u2019s executive order banning gain-of-function research.<\/p>

Paul has also presented the Risky Research Review Act, which would create a presidential commission whereby Trump would appoint members to review all gain-of-function research and ensure that the United States isn\u2019t funding any dangerous research in any country.<\/p>

The Kentucky senator hasn\u2019t talked to Trump about Fauci recently, he says, but he does believe the president is \u201cconcerned.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cPart of the reason he picked [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at [the Department of Health and Human Services], for many different reasons, was that Bobby Kennedy \u2026 was very, very skeptical about this type of research. The fact that we now have an executive order stopping it is good, but executive order is only so good as long as Trump is president.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo I\u2019d like to change the law,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been working on a policy, and I think the policy is similar to my bill. So we would like to get them more active.\u201d<\/p>

He\u2019ll be asking Trump and his administration to support the bill, very aware of the impact that could have on the legislation.<\/p>

Asked about what was running through his head as he looked across his desk at Fauci during the now-infamous hearing, Paul said he felt disappointment.<\/p>

\u201cSadness,\u201d he reflected, \u201c<\/span>that<\/span> a<\/span> man<\/span> who<\/span> served<\/span> his<\/span> country<\/span> for<\/span> 40<\/span> years<\/span> couldn\u2019t<\/span> admit<\/span> that<\/span> he<\/span> made<\/span> a<\/span> mistake,<\/span> and<\/span> couldn\u2019t<\/span> admit<\/span> that<\/span> there\u2019s<\/span> a<\/span> reason<\/span> why<\/span> people<\/span> are<\/span> outraged. <\/span>A million<\/span> Americans<\/span> died,<\/span> and<\/span> he<\/span> knowingly<\/span> funded<\/span> this<\/span> research.<\/span> It<\/span> wasn\u2019t<\/span> like<\/span> he<\/span> made<\/span> a<\/span> split-second<\/span> mistake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019d<\/span> been<\/span> in<\/span> favor<\/span> of<\/span> funding<\/span> this<\/span> research<\/span> since<\/span> at<\/span> least<\/span> 2009,<\/span> when<\/span> he<\/span> funded<\/span> dangerous<\/span> research<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Netherlands<\/span> that<\/span> took<\/span> the<\/span> bird<\/span> flu<\/span> and<\/span> mutated<\/span> it<\/span> to<\/span> make<\/span> it<\/span> more<\/span> infectious<\/span> through<\/span> the<\/span> air<\/span> and<\/span> between<\/span> mammals,<\/span> so<\/span> yeah,<\/span> he\u2019s<\/span> been<\/span> a<\/span> supporter<\/span> of<\/span> this<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> get-go,\u201d Paul went on. \u201c<\/span>He<\/span> wrote<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Washington<\/span> Post<\/span> that<\/span> even<\/span> if<\/span> a<\/span> scientist<\/span> should<\/span> be<\/span> bitten,<\/span> even<\/span> if<\/span> a<\/span> lab<\/span> should<\/span> leak<\/span> a<\/span> pandemic<\/span> and<\/span> a<\/span> pandemic<\/span> should<\/span> occur,<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> knowledge<\/span> was<\/span> worth<\/span> the<\/span> risks.<\/span> But<\/span> many<\/span> scientists<\/span> have<\/span> said<\/span> the<\/span> opposite.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Many people don\u2019t realize that this debate began a decade before the pandemic, Paul said, but it continued through the pandemic, and Fauci bears responsibility. And the Kentucky senator wants the world to understand how dangerous gain-of-function research is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI<\/span> think<\/span> we<\/span> are<\/span> now<\/span> winning<\/span> that<\/span> argument<\/span> with<\/span> this<\/span> administration,<\/span> and<\/span> my<\/span> goal<\/span> is<\/span> to<\/span> try<\/span> to,<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> future,<\/span> make<\/span> it<\/span> less<\/span> likely<\/span> that<\/span> we\u2019ll<\/span> have<\/span> a<\/span> man-made <\/span>pandemic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Read more Establishment Dems Fall In Line Behind El-Sayed<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 When Anthony Fauci plead the fifth over 100 times during a Senate hearing last week, many Americans were pleased that the face of the Biden administration\u2019s coronavirus response was forced to face his critics. But many other Americans were left wondering: would Fauci face anything worse than an embarrassing viral hearing?He will if Senator Rand Paul has anything to say about it.The Kentucky Republican is determined to bring the former head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to justice. Speaking to The Daily Wire Wednesday, Paul explained why he\u2019s confident that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the embattled doctor in contempt \u2014 and what he thinks could happen next.\u201cHistorically, votes like this have gone to the full Senate, but I think there\u2019s no absolute rule that says we can\u2019t send it directly to the Department of Justice,\u201d Paul said. \u201cSo my plan is that if we win the vote on Thursday, to immediately send it to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution, even if it passes the whole Senate.\u201dPaul\u2019s office sent two criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department, the senator said, and two more under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.\u201cThis will be the first time that our entire committee or the majority of our committee sends it,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see what happens. We\u2019ll discuss with [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune whether or not he thinks he can get the votes to do it on the floor.\u201dA floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, meaning Democrats would have to cooperate. Asked about this subject last week, Thune said that Fauci\u2019s answers were \u201ccompletely inadequate\u201d and that the floor vote was \u201ccertainly an option that ought to be available to us.\u201dBut Paul isn\u2019t optimistic that Democrats will be willing to go after Fauci (who did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Wire).\u201cThey\u2019ve decided that they don\u2019t seem to mind that he funded this dangerous research in a foreign country, in a country that\u2019s largely opaque, often accused of dishonesty,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t seem to care. They care more about defending government experts against any kind of skepticism. So we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)Instead, Paul is pushing for the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress. Paul says he\u2019s going to be sending the DOJ a legal brief arguing that the Fifth Amendment did not protect Fauci, since he was granted a pardon by President Joe Biden, and was thus only being asked to tell the truth.Should the Justice Department accept Paul\u2019s argument, it has two possible paths.The most notable would be to send Fauci to prison \u2014 a popular rallying cry for the MAGA base, and not without precedent. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to comply with the January 6 Committee. He served a four-month sentence.Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro also defied a subpoena from the January 6 committee and served a four-month prison sentence ending in July 2024.Statutory penalties for contempt of Congress, a federal misdemeanor, carry fines between $100 and $100,000 and mandatory sentencing of one to 12 months in prison.Paul pointed to Bannon\u2019s and Navarro\u2019s imprisonments, noting that they refused to show up and testify. Fauci did show up, he said, but declined to answer senators\u2019 questions. The senator also addressed concerns and criticisms from those who argue that Republicans do not take real action, but merely hold high-profile hearings.\u201cI\u2019m not a prosecutor,\u201d he said, \u201cand so sometimes people on the internet get confused and they say, \u2018Oh you\u2019re just having hearings.\u2019 Well, that\u2019s the power I have. I have the power to do that. I have the power of funding, but prosecutorial power isn\u2019t given to Congress. We cannot put Anthony Fauci in jail. That would require the prosecutors, the Department of Justice, to do it. So I do what I can.\u201dPhoto by Patrick Semansky-Pool\/Getty Images)Paul also hopes that placing Fauci under renewed scrutiny will force public officials to reckon with whether it was a good idea to fund this \u201cdangerous research in China,\u201d and whether this should be done again in the future. He\u2019s part of that decision-making process, and has supported Trump\u2019s executive order banning gain-of-function research.Paul has also presented the Risky Research Review Act, which would create a presidential commission whereby Trump would appoint members to review all gain-of-function research and ensure that the United States isn\u2019t funding any dangerous research in any country.The Kentucky senator hasn\u2019t talked to Trump about Fauci recently, he says, but he does believe the president is \u201cconcerned.\u201d\u201cPart of the reason he picked [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at [the Department of Health and Human Services], for many different reasons, was that Bobby Kennedy \u2026 was very, very skeptical about this type of research. The fact that we now have an executive order stopping it is good, but executive order is only so good as long as Trump is president.\u201d\u201cSo I\u2019d like to change the law,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been working on a policy, and I think the policy is similar to my bill. So we would like to get them more active.\u201dHe\u2019ll be asking Trump and his administration to support the bill, very aware of the impact that could have on the legislation.Asked about what was running through his head as he looked across his desk at Fauci during the now-infamous hearing, Paul said he felt disappointment.\u201cSadness,\u201d he reflected, \u201cthat a man who served his country for 40 years couldn\u2019t admit that he made a mistake, and couldn\u2019t admit that there\u2019s a reason why people are outraged. A million Americans died, and he knowingly funded this research. It wasn\u2019t like he made a split-second mistake.\u201d\u201cHe\u2019d been in favor of funding this research since at least 2009, when he funded dangerous research in the Netherlands that took the bird flu and mutated it to make it more infectious through the air and between mammals, so yeah, he\u2019s been a supporter of this from the get-go,\u201d Paul went on. \u201cHe wrote in the Washington Post that even if a scientist should be bitten, even if a lab should leak a pandemic and a pandemic should occur, that the knowledge was worth the risks. But many scientists have said the opposite.\u201d\u00a0Many people don\u2019t realize that this debate began a decade before the pandemic, Paul said, but it continued through the pandemic, and Fauci bears responsibility. And the Kentucky senator wants the world to understand how dangerous gain-of-function research is.\u00a0\u201cI think we are now winning that argument with this administration, and my goal is to try to, in the future, make it less likely that we\u2019ll have a man-made pandemic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-original"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON \u2014 When Anthony Fauci plead the fifth over 100 times during a Senate hearing last week, many Americans were pleased that the face of the Biden administration\u2019s coronavirus response was forced to face his critics. But many other Americans were left wondering: would Fauci face anything worse than an embarrassing viral hearing?He will if Senator Rand Paul has anything to say about it.The Kentucky Republican is determined to bring the former head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to justice. Speaking to The Daily Wire Wednesday, Paul explained why he\u2019s confident that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the embattled doctor in contempt \u2014 and what he thinks could happen next.\u201cHistorically, votes like this have gone to the full Senate, but I think there\u2019s no absolute rule that says we can\u2019t send it directly to the Department of Justice,\u201d Paul said. \u201cSo my plan is that if we win the vote on Thursday, to immediately send it to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution, even if it passes the whole Senate.\u201dPaul\u2019s office sent two criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department, the senator said, and two more under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.\u201cThis will be the first time that our entire committee or the majority of our committee sends it,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see what happens. We\u2019ll discuss with [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune whether or not he thinks he can get the votes to do it on the floor.\u201dA floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, meaning Democrats would have to cooperate. Asked about this subject last week, Thune said that Fauci\u2019s answers were \u201ccompletely inadequate\u201d and that the floor vote was \u201ccertainly an option that ought to be available to us.\u201dBut Paul isn\u2019t optimistic that Democrats will be willing to go after Fauci (who did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Wire).\u201cThey\u2019ve decided that they don\u2019t seem to mind that he funded this dangerous research in a foreign country, in a country that\u2019s largely opaque, often accused of dishonesty,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t seem to care. They care more about defending government experts against any kind of skepticism. So we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)Instead, Paul is pushing for the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress. Paul says he\u2019s going to be sending the DOJ a legal brief arguing that the Fifth Amendment did not protect Fauci, since he was granted a pardon by President Joe Biden, and was thus only being asked to tell the truth.Should the Justice Department accept Paul\u2019s argument, it has two possible paths.The most notable would be to send Fauci to prison \u2014 a popular rallying cry for the MAGA base, and not without precedent. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to comply with the January 6 Committee. He served a four-month sentence.Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro also defied a subpoena from the January 6 committee and served a four-month prison sentence ending in July 2024.Statutory penalties for contempt of Congress, a federal misdemeanor, carry fines between $100 and $100,000 and mandatory sentencing of one to 12 months in prison.Paul pointed to Bannon\u2019s and Navarro\u2019s imprisonments, noting that they refused to show up and testify. Fauci did show up, he said, but declined to answer senators\u2019 questions. The senator also addressed concerns and criticisms from those who argue that Republicans do not take real action, but merely hold high-profile hearings.\u201cI\u2019m not a prosecutor,\u201d he said, \u201cand so sometimes people on the internet get confused and they say, \u2018Oh you\u2019re just having hearings.\u2019 Well, that\u2019s the power I have. I have the power to do that. I have the power of funding, but prosecutorial power isn\u2019t given to Congress. We cannot put Anthony Fauci in jail. That would require the prosecutors, the Department of Justice, to do it. So I do what I can.\u201dPhoto by Patrick Semansky-Pool\/Getty Images)Paul also hopes that placing Fauci under renewed scrutiny will force public officials to reckon with whether it was a good idea to fund this \u201cdangerous research in China,\u201d and whether this should be done again in the future. He\u2019s part of that decision-making process, and has supported Trump\u2019s executive order banning gain-of-function research.Paul has also presented the Risky Research Review Act, which would create a presidential commission whereby Trump would appoint members to review all gain-of-function research and ensure that the United States isn\u2019t funding any dangerous research in any country.The Kentucky senator hasn\u2019t talked to Trump about Fauci recently, he says, but he does believe the president is \u201cconcerned.\u201d\u201cPart of the reason he picked [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at [the Department of Health and Human Services], for many different reasons, was that Bobby Kennedy \u2026 was very, very skeptical about this type of research. The fact that we now have an executive order stopping it is good, but executive order is only so good as long as Trump is president.\u201d\u201cSo I\u2019d like to change the law,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been working on a policy, and I think the policy is similar to my bill. So we would like to get them more active.\u201dHe\u2019ll be asking Trump and his administration to support the bill, very aware of the impact that could have on the legislation.Asked about what was running through his head as he looked across his desk at Fauci during the now-infamous hearing, Paul said he felt disappointment.\u201cSadness,\u201d he reflected, \u201cthat a man who served his country for 40 years couldn\u2019t admit that he made a mistake, and couldn\u2019t admit that there\u2019s a reason why people are outraged. A million Americans died, and he knowingly funded this research. It wasn\u2019t like he made a split-second mistake.\u201d\u201cHe\u2019d been in favor of funding this research since at least 2009, when he funded dangerous research in the Netherlands that took the bird flu and mutated it to make it more infectious through the air and between mammals, so yeah, he\u2019s been a supporter of this from the get-go,\u201d Paul went on. \u201cHe wrote in the Washington Post that even if a scientist should be bitten, even if a lab should leak a pandemic and a pandemic should occur, that the knowledge was worth the risks. But many scientists have said the opposite.\u201d\u00a0Many people don\u2019t realize that this debate began a decade before the pandemic, Paul said, but it continued through the pandemic, and Fauci bears responsibility. And the Kentucky senator wants the world to understand how dangerous gain-of-function research is.\u00a0\u201cI think we are now winning that argument with this administration, and my goal is to try to, in the future, make it less likely that we\u2019ll have a man-made pandemic.\u201d\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T20:10:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T20:10:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071\"},\"wordCount\":1211,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8ac4f0111810e266ce84dfcdb0220fb1.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Original\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2071\",\"name\":\"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started - 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Blue Route Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started - Blue Route Journal","og_description":"WASHINGTON \u2014 When Anthony Fauci plead the fifth over 100 times during a Senate hearing last week, many Americans were pleased that the face of the Biden administration\u2019s coronavirus response was forced to face his critics. But many other Americans were left wondering: would Fauci face anything worse than an embarrassing viral hearing?He will if Senator Rand Paul has anything to say about it.The Kentucky Republican is determined to bring the former head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to justice. Speaking to The Daily Wire Wednesday, Paul explained why he\u2019s confident that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the embattled doctor in contempt \u2014 and what he thinks could happen next.\u201cHistorically, votes like this have gone to the full Senate, but I think there\u2019s no absolute rule that says we can\u2019t send it directly to the Department of Justice,\u201d Paul said. \u201cSo my plan is that if we win the vote on Thursday, to immediately send it to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution, even if it passes the whole Senate.\u201dPaul\u2019s office sent two criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department, the senator said, and two more under President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.\u201cThis will be the first time that our entire committee or the majority of our committee sends it,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see what happens. We\u2019ll discuss with [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune whether or not he thinks he can get the votes to do it on the floor.\u201dA floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, meaning Democrats would have to cooperate. Asked about this subject last week, Thune said that Fauci\u2019s answers were \u201ccompletely inadequate\u201d and that the floor vote was \u201ccertainly an option that ought to be available to us.\u201dBut Paul isn\u2019t optimistic that Democrats will be willing to go after Fauci (who did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Wire).\u201cThey\u2019ve decided that they don\u2019t seem to mind that he funded this dangerous research in a foreign country, in a country that\u2019s largely opaque, often accused of dishonesty,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t seem to care. They care more about defending government experts against any kind of skepticism. So we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d (Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)Instead, Paul is pushing for the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress. Paul says he\u2019s going to be sending the DOJ a legal brief arguing that the Fifth Amendment did not protect Fauci, since he was granted a pardon by President Joe Biden, and was thus only being asked to tell the truth.Should the Justice Department accept Paul\u2019s argument, it has two possible paths.The most notable would be to send Fauci to prison \u2014 a popular rallying cry for the MAGA base, and not without precedent. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to comply with the January 6 Committee. He served a four-month sentence.Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro also defied a subpoena from the January 6 committee and served a four-month prison sentence ending in July 2024.Statutory penalties for contempt of Congress, a federal misdemeanor, carry fines between $100 and $100,000 and mandatory sentencing of one to 12 months in prison.Paul pointed to Bannon\u2019s and Navarro\u2019s imprisonments, noting that they refused to show up and testify. Fauci did show up, he said, but declined to answer senators\u2019 questions. The senator also addressed concerns and criticisms from those who argue that Republicans do not take real action, but merely hold high-profile hearings.\u201cI\u2019m not a prosecutor,\u201d he said, \u201cand so sometimes people on the internet get confused and they say, \u2018Oh you\u2019re just having hearings.\u2019 Well, that\u2019s the power I have. I have the power to do that. I have the power of funding, but prosecutorial power isn\u2019t given to Congress. We cannot put Anthony Fauci in jail. That would require the prosecutors, the Department of Justice, to do it. So I do what I can.\u201dPhoto by Patrick Semansky-Pool\/Getty Images)Paul also hopes that placing Fauci under renewed scrutiny will force public officials to reckon with whether it was a good idea to fund this \u201cdangerous research in China,\u201d and whether this should be done again in the future. He\u2019s part of that decision-making process, and has supported Trump\u2019s executive order banning gain-of-function research.Paul has also presented the Risky Research Review Act, which would create a presidential commission whereby Trump would appoint members to review all gain-of-function research and ensure that the United States isn\u2019t funding any dangerous research in any country.The Kentucky senator hasn\u2019t talked to Trump about Fauci recently, he says, but he does believe the president is \u201cconcerned.\u201d\u201cPart of the reason he picked [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at [the Department of Health and Human Services], for many different reasons, was that Bobby Kennedy \u2026 was very, very skeptical about this type of research. The fact that we now have an executive order stopping it is good, but executive order is only so good as long as Trump is president.\u201d\u201cSo I\u2019d like to change the law,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been working on a policy, and I think the policy is similar to my bill. So we would like to get them more active.\u201dHe\u2019ll be asking Trump and his administration to support the bill, very aware of the impact that could have on the legislation.Asked about what was running through his head as he looked across his desk at Fauci during the now-infamous hearing, Paul said he felt disappointment.\u201cSadness,\u201d he reflected, \u201cthat a man who served his country for 40 years couldn\u2019t admit that he made a mistake, and couldn\u2019t admit that there\u2019s a reason why people are outraged. A million Americans died, and he knowingly funded this research. It wasn\u2019t like he made a split-second mistake.\u201d\u201cHe\u2019d been in favor of funding this research since at least 2009, when he funded dangerous research in the Netherlands that took the bird flu and mutated it to make it more infectious through the air and between mammals, so yeah, he\u2019s been a supporter of this from the get-go,\u201d Paul went on. \u201cHe wrote in the Washington Post that even if a scientist should be bitten, even if a lab should leak a pandemic and a pandemic should occur, that the knowledge was worth the risks. But many scientists have said the opposite.\u201d\u00a0Many people don\u2019t realize that this debate began a decade before the pandemic, Paul said, but it continued through the pandemic, and Fauci bears responsibility. And the Kentucky senator wants the world to understand how dangerous gain-of-function research is.\u00a0\u201cI think we are now winning that argument with this administration, and my goal is to try to, in the future, make it less likely that we\u2019ll have a man-made pandemic.\u201d\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-08-05T20:10:37+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started","datePublished":"2026-08-05T20:10:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071"},"wordCount":1211,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8ac4f0111810e266ce84dfcdb0220fb1.avif","articleSection":["Original"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2071","name":"When It Comes To Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul Is Just Getting Started - 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