Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci, and conservatives are pushing hard to test whether that move actually shields him from criminal or congressional exposure given newly declassified records and testimony questions.

President Biden quietly pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci before the end of the administration, a move that stunned many and raised immediate questions about accountability. Conservatives point to recently declassified materials and sworn testimony that suggest the NIH funneled taxpayer money into risky research at the Wuhan lab. That backdrop has turned a routine legal question into a political flashpoint.

Fauci’s public testimony has long been contested, and the pardon doesn’t erase the contradictions voters and lawmakers have noticed. He told Congress the NIH never funded gain-of-function work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, yet the declassified records and whistleblower accounts say otherwise. That disconnect is why Republicans are already lining up to press the issue on the Hill.

https://x.com/overton_news/status/2071916671208480909

The language of the pardon is odd but not bulletproof. Investigative reporter Catherine Herridge broke it down:

Based on the records declassified by DNI Gabbard, what we know now is that under Fauci’s tenure, the NIH funded high risk “Gain of Function” research at the Wuhan lab in China. 

According to Senator Paul, Fauci lied to Congress about the NIH’s role and use of US taxpayer dollars to fund research on the coronavirus. Senator Paul also alleged Fauci destroyed government records which, on its face, is a felony crime. There are two statutes that criminalize the destruction of government records, 18 U.S.C. § 2071 and 18 U.S.C. § 1519.

It is worth noting Fauci’s testimony where he denied NIH had financed gain-of-function research in 2021: “Sen. Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan