Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the Justice Department must “act now” if it wants to prosecute former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci after indicting his former advisor, David M. Morens.

Justice Department Indicts Former Top Fauci Advisor For Allegedly Concealing COVID-19 Records

"I've said it from the beginning: lying to Congress is a felony. Destroying federal records is a felony. Advising others to destroy federal records is a felony. Fauci did all three. His adviser was just indicted. Fauci is next. The deadline to prosecute Fauci is May 11. The DOJ must act now," Paul said.

More from the New York Post:

Just two weeks remain before the five-year legal deadline on May 11 to indict Fauci for denying under oath that he funded “gain of function” experiments that modified bat coronaviruses in the same city where the pandemic started.

Morens, 78, was charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and two counts of concealment, removal, or mutilation of records relating to the origins of COVID-19. He faces up to 51 years in prison.

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Critics say Fauci, 85, bears the most responsibility and that he should be hauled into court.

Trump told The Post in a phone interview on March 31 that he intended to “look into” Fauci’s status and Republicans say they believe acting attorney general Todd Blanche, who is seeking the role permanently, might be willing to test Trump’s assertion that former President Joe Biden’s preemptive autopen pardons, including for Fauci, are invalid.

“99% of this country has no idea who Morens is,” said Oversight Project President Mike Howell.

“It’s Fauci that they will blame for one of the worst government catastrophes in history in America. And so the test is Fauci. The Morens indictment is great, and we applaud it. But there are a lot of people out there that want to see Fauci held to account for the damage he wrought.”

"I referred top Fauci lieutenant Dr. David Morens to the DOJ for prosecution in 2024. He tried to keep sensitive information from the public. We deserved to see it then and deserve to see it now. This is exactly the kind of accountability Americans deserve," Paul said.

The Kentucky Republican previously said he was working with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on collecting evidence to prosecute Fauci.

Paul said he sent a criminal referral to "Trump's attorney general."

Watch below:

The Hill noted:

Morens seemed to suggest in some emails that Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was aware of his misconduct. In one exchange, he wrote, “I can either send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”

Fauci for his part disavowed Morens, saying that he “knew nothing” of the emails, describing his former colleague as “not an adviser to me on institute policy or other substantive issues.”

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“[To] the best of my knowledge I have never conducted official business via my personal email,” he wrote in an opening statement ahead of his own hearing before the subcommittee in 2024.

 

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