Comer Warns Fauci: Biden Pardon Won’t Shield Him If He Lies to Congress

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is putting Dr. Anthony Fauci on notice ahead of his high-profile Senate testimony this week, warning that his presidential pardon has limits — and that further dishonesty will have consequences.“Biden’s pardon doesn’t cover Dr. Fauci’s testimony this week, and if he continues to lie, he must be held accountable,” the Kentucky Republican told Fox News Digital. “While obsessing about his own fame, Dr. Fauci wasn’t truthful with the American people about the origins of COVID and advised schools to be closed. Americans are still reaping the consequences of Dr. Fauci’s actions.”Mr. Fauci is set to testify before a GOP-led Senate panel on Wednesday, chaired by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, days after hundreds of pages of his pandemic-era diary entries were made public. The diary entries, released by Mr. Paul’s office, show Mr. Fauci reflecting on his celebrity status during the pandemic and raising questions about COVID-19’s origins — despite previously telling the House Oversight Committee in January 2024, “I did not close the schools.”In one of his final acts in office, President Biden granted Mr. Fauci a sweeping preemptive pardon covering any offenses from January 1, 2014, through its issue date — including anything related to his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, his service on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and his time as chief medical adviser to the President.Biden said the pardons were necessary to protect public servants from “unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.” Mr. Fauci, for his part, maintained he had done nothing wrong. “Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he said in a statement following the announcement.“The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family. For these reasons, I acknowledge and appreciate the action that President Biden has taken today on my behalf,” he said.Because the pardon covers conduct during his government service, legal experts expect debate over whether it protects him from liability stemming from his upcoming testimony.Adding to the controversy, emails released by Mr. Paul’s office reveal that NIH-funded scientists nominated Mr. Fauci for prestigious — and lucrative — awards, with Mr. Fauci himself sometimes initiating the process.One such award was the Dan David Prize, a $1 million Israeli honor affiliated with Tel Aviv University. Records show that Dr. Charles Dinarello, a professor at the University of Colorado who received millions in NIAID funding, nominated Dr. Fauci for the prize in 2020. Mr. Dinarello noted that Mr. Fauci and his aide, Greg Folkers, did “most of the work” on the submission. Mr. Fauci ultimately won, pocketing $899,960.Other emails show Mr. Fauci requesting nominations from Dr. Barton Haynes of Duke University, who had received more than $100 million in NIAID research funding prior to nominating Mr. Fauci — and received an additional $100 million in funding afterward.“The records raise the obvious question of a quid pro quo given the large amount of prize money at hand,” Mr. Paul said in a statement.

Comer Warns Fauci: Biden Pardon Won’t Shield Him If He Lies to Congress

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