Nearly a dozen House Republicans are pushing calls on the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to launch a criminal probe into National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci.
The referral stems from the chief presidential medical adviser’s calls for Fox News anchor Jesse Watters to be fired after the network host urged students at a conservative conference to confront Fauci over his routine lies. The call was led by Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson
In fact, though many have been pushing for an investigation into Fauci over his finances or what some claim was perjury when he testified before Congress about gain of function research.
“Now you’re going for the kill shot. The kill shot with an ambush is deadly because he doesn’t see it coming,” Watters said at a Turning Point USA event. “This is when you say, ‘Dr. Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab. The same lab that strung this pandemic on the world. You know why people don’t trust you, don’t you?’ Boom, he is dead. He is dead.”
Lock him up! Did Fauci Commit Perjury? by Matt Vespa https://t.co/adHZSfmO2k
— Chef Garay (@JoaquinManuelG8) June 17, 2021
While Watters made his comment in the context of a First Amendment exercise to hold government leaders accountable, Fauci went on CNN to demand the Fox host be disciplined over the “horrible comments.”
“That’s awful that he said that,” Fauci said. “And he’s going to go very likely unaccountable. I mean, whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything for him. I mean, that’s crazy. The guy should be fired on the spot!”
In their letter to the HHS inspector general sent Thursday afternoon, House Republicans pointed out it’s a criminal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison for a federal official to influence private-sector employment decisions based on partisan affiliation.
