Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul expressed frustration about President Donald Trump’s Justice Department (DOJ) not acting on his criminal referral for Dr. Anthony Fauci on a Tuesday episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
Paul renewed his 2023 criminal referral to the DOJ on July 14 after details emerged about Fauci receiving a pardon via an autopen used by former President Joe Biden’s staff. He told Rogan on his podcast that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has assisted him, but that the DOJ has not.
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“Under the Biden administration, I sent criminal referrals for Anthony Fauci to [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland twice. And I sent them evidence that he had lied to Congress, which was a felony,” Paul said. “They just ignored me. I’ve been working with Bobby Kennedy. And he’s been very helpful on this. I have good relationship with him. He’s given us a lot of information. And we’ve looked at the communications.”
“And in Anthony Fauci’s communications, we now have evidence that he was telling people like [former National Institutes of Health Director] Francis Collins, ‘Read this and destroy it.’ Well, you can’t do that,” he continued. “The executive branch, when they communicate, they’re required to keep their communications. And they’re required to do it on government devices. So, we have this evidence. And I’ve summarized it again in a criminal referral to Trump’s attorney general. And I still haven’t gotten action.”
Paul’s 2023 criminal referral alleged that uncovered emails from 2020 demonstrated Fauci lied to Congress in 2021. One email showed Fauci and other experts voicing concern that COVID-19 had been mutated by scientists.
Paul told Rogan there were two reasons Trump’s DOJ should take action.
“One, that he shouldn’t get away with lying. He shouldn’t get away with destroying records. But two, we should check the pardon,” he said. “Is an autopen pardon valid? And is a pardon a retrospective pardon back 10 years that doesn’t mention a crime? Can you give people a pardon for everything they did in 10-year period? I can’t imagine.”
“And I think the court might narrow that, but it doesn’t happen unless the Trump Justice Department will do something. And I’ve been sending them referrals. And I can’t get them to do anything,” he added. “I can’t guarantee they’ll win. They might lose, but they ought to go to court. Take it to court.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
During the final hours of Biden’s presidency on Jan. 20, Fauci received a preemptive autopen pardon spanning back to 2014.
Paul also told slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on July 22 that he believed Fauci was “the most likely” recipient of a pardon from Biden to be able to be criminally charged.
“With Fauci, I’m not sure if [Biden] knows Anthony Fauci’s name or is aware of the circumstances,” he told Kirk. “He is somewhat distant from contemporary events and activities … But the only way to to figure this out is take it to court.”
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