GOP lawmakers accuse Dr Fauci of 'lying' to Congress about grants to Wuhan lab - as Senator Rand Paul demands he be 'removed from any position of authority'

 Republicans in Congress are calling for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be removed as the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, with some even accusing him of lying in Congressional testimony.

The latest claims follow a new book that details how Fauci was ordered by former President Donald Trump to formally announce the U.S. grant to the Wuhan lab had been terminated in April 2020.

The book, 'Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,' that Fauci and National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins were not sure the NIH had the legal authority to terminate a peer-reviewed grant in the middle of a budget cycle and tried to fight the order.


But at a June 2020 hearing before the House Energy and Commerce, Fauci said the grant was 'canceled because the NIH was told to cancel it,' and he didn't 'know the reason'.

Republicans in Congress are calling for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be removed as the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, with some even accusing him of lying in Congressional testimony

Republicans in Congress are calling for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be removed as the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, with some even accusing him of lying in Congressional testimony

The claims related to Fauci's testimony about US grants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which Fauci insisted were not used to fund gain-of-function research

The claims related to Fauci's testimony about US grants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which Fauci insisted were not used to fund gain-of-function research


Now GOP lawmakers on the committee claim the new book exposes inconsistencies that need to be explained. 

'Dr. Fauci is so obsessed with maintaining his own relevance and downplaying President Trump's role in combatting this crisis that he's once again been caught lying,' Rep. Buddy Carter, a Georgia Republican, told Fox News

'We need someone leading the pandemic response and our investigation into its origins who is more concerned with the truth than their own PR campaign. It's time for Dr. Fauci to go,' he said.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana told the outlet that 'there are many unanswered questions that can only be answered with a full investigation by Congress.' 

Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has been loudly critical of Fauci, called for his removal.

Last month, Paul clashed with Fauci in a hearing over whether the U.S. grant money had funded so-called gain of function research at the Wuhan lab.

'The NIH and NIAID categorically has not funded gain-of-function research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,' Fauci said at the time. 

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana said 'there are many unanswered questions that can only be answered with a full investigation by Congress'

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana said 'there are many unanswered questions that can only be answered with a full investigation by Congress'

'I would say we would remove him from a position of authority so he shouldn't be leading the effort,' Paul told Newsmax on Thursday.

'Mainly because he discounts one of the most important parts of science, which is natural immunity,' Paul said.

Paul said he believed about 100 million Americans had been infected with COVID and recovered from the virus, and questioned the necessity of vaccinating children. 

'They're now talking about going down to the age of two. I suspect they'll go all the way down to newborns,' he said. 

'There's no real reason to be hysterical and force this on children, mandate it for school because the thing is for children, the bar is going to be much greater because children get almost no COVID symptoms, he said. 

'They rarely die from it. It's about one in a million. So we're going to have to be even more stringent with proving the safety of the vaccine.'

Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has been loudly critical of Fauci, called for his removal

Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has been loudly critical of Fauci, called for his removal

In an interview this week, Fauci fired back at his critics. 

'It is essential as a scientist that you evolve your opinion and your recommendations based on the data as it evolves,' he said in a New York Times podcast interview.

'And that's the reason why I say people who then criticize me about that are actually criticizing science.

'[T]he people who are giving the ad hominems are saying, 'Ah, Fauci misled us. First he said no masks, then he said masks.'

'Well, let me give you a flash. That's the way science works. You work with the data you have at the time.'

Fauci said that he was unbothered by both the praise and condemnation that has come as a result of him being the de-facto 'face' of the US COVID crisis, but said he was shocked to have received criticism likening him to Adolf Hitler. 

In the preview of his podcast interview, shared with Axios, he said he puts 'very little weight in the adulation, and very little weight in the craziness of condemning me.' 

'It gets preposterous, and the thing that bothers you most of all is the impact it has on your family,' Fauci continued.

'I mean, getting death threats and getting your daughters and your wife threatened with obscene notes and threatening notes is not fun. So I can't say that doesn't bother me.

'The more extreme they get, the more obvious how political it is ... 'Fauci has blood in his hands.' Are you kidding me? ... Here's a guy whose entire life has been devoted to saving lives, and now you're telling me he's like Hitler? You know, come on, folks. Get real.'  

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