Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) plans to send a criminal referral of Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Department of Justice, in the aftermath of their contentious back-and-forth during a congressional hearing.
"I will be sending a letter to the Department of Justice asking for a criminal referral because he has lied to Congress," Paul said late Tuesday on Fox News's "Hannity."
The office Fauci heads, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not respond to a request for comment.
At issue is funding Fauci's agency gave to the Wuhan Institute of Virology via an intermediary. The top-level laboratory used the money to conduct gain of function experiments, Paul said, citing the U.S. government's definition of gain of function. Fauci claims that the experiments conducted do not fit the definition.
Fauci said he did not.
People convicted of lying to Congress can go to prison for up to five years.
Fauci, who has been in his position for over two decades, has struggled with messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was among the officials who said early last year that masks would not be effective against the disease. After he and others reversed themselves, citing what they said was new data, he acknowledged that he misled people on the efficacy of masks because of concerns that there weren't enough for healthcare workers.