House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in an interview Monday night that he would continue to look for evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Diseases Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, who became the face of the government’s COVID-19 response before retiring in 2022, testified Monday before the GOP-led subcommittee panel on the coronavirus pandemic for the first time since leaving public office. .
Fauci has faced criticism from many Republican critics who have tried to blame the former White House medical adviser for the struggles Americans have faced during the pandemic.
“I think the American people saw the sly talker who deceived America, who probably did more damage to public education, did more damage to our national debt and to our economy than any human being in my lifetime,” Comer said in an interview on Newsmax after the hearing, repeating the allegations made to Fauci that day.
“I hope we can take him at his word today and continue to try to gather evidence and take steps to try to hold him accountable for criminal wrongdoing, because I believe most Americans realize that Dr. Fauci made costly mistakes, he lied about them, and he tried to cover them up. that,” he added.
Comer, as chairman of the powerful Oversight Committee, also led an effort to find evidence of criminal wrongdoing against President Biden, but failed.
The panel has held recent hearings focused on Fauci’s former subordinates that have raised new questions about whether Fauci was aware of or complicit in misconduct at NIAID, the agency he headed for decades before retiring at the end of 2022. So far, however, There has been no evidence pointing to criminal wrongdoing, and on Monday, Fauci condemned the actions of former NIAID senior adviser David Morens.
“Regarding his recent testimony before this subcommittee, I knew nothing about Dr. Morens’ actions regarding Dr. Daszak, EcoHealth, or his emails. It is important to emphasize that, despite his title, and although he was useful to me in writing scientific articles, Dr. Morens was not my advisor in [NIAID] policy or other substantive issues,” Fauci said in his opening remarks.
During Monday’s hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attacked Fauci directly, first refusing to call him by the title “Doctor” and telling him, “You know what this committee should be doing? We should recommend that you be prosecuted. We should write a criminal complaint because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. You belong in prison, Dr. Fauci.
Fauci became emotional during the hearing as he discussed the onslaught of harassment and death threats he and his family have faced since becoming the punching bag for many conservative experts’ frustrations with the pandemic response. He also said attacks like Greene’s are often the ones that lead to the biggest increase in death threats against him.
The Hill reached out to Fauci for a response.
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