Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed visible frustration during a Tuesday appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” criticizing President Donald Trump’s Justice Department for failing to act on a criminal referral regarding Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Despite what Paul describes as cooperation from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Kentucky senator claims the DOJ has remained silent on his request to challenge the validity of Fauci’s pardon and investigate alleged felonies.
The tension centers on a criminal referral Paul originally filed in 2023 and renewed on July 14. The move followed revelations that former President Joe Biden’s staff reportedly used an autopen to issue a preemptive pardon to the former NIAID director during the chaotic final hours of the Biden presidency on January 20. The pardon covers a ten-year period dating back to 2014. RELATED: Autopen Pardon Predicament: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Eyes Jill Biden, Fauci In Probe
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“Under the Biden administration, I sent criminal referrals for Anthony Fauci to Merrick Garland twice. And I sent them evidence that he had lied to Congress, which was a felony,” Paul told Rogan. “They just ignored me.”
Paul contrasted the DOJ’s silence with the support he has received from within the administration’s health sector. “I’ve been working with Bobby Kennedy. And he’s been very helpful on this,” Paul noted. “He’s given us a lot of information. And we’ve looked at the communications.”
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According to Paul, those communications contain evidence of record destruction. He cited specific emails where Fauci allegedly instructed colleagues, including former NIH Director Francis Collins, to “read this and destroy it.”
“The executive branch, when they communicate, they’re required to keep their communications,” Paul explained, citing federal records laws. “So, we have this evidence. And I’ve summarized it again in a criminal referral to Trump’s attorney general. And I still haven’t gotten action.”
Beyond the alleged destruction of records and lying to Congress—charges stemming from 2020 emails regarding the origins of COVID-19—Paul is pushing for a legal test of the pardon itself. He questioned the constitutional validity of a pardon signed via autopen and the legality of a blanket, retrospective pardon that does not specify a crime.
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“Can you give people a pardon for everything they did in a 10-year period? I can’t imagine,” Paul said, suggesting the courts might narrow the scope of such executive actions. “But it doesn’t happen unless the Trump Justice Department will do something… I can’t guarantee they’ll win. They might lose, but they ought to go to court. Take it to court.”
This is not the first time Paul has floated the theory that the autopen signature could be the key to piercing Fauci’s legal shield. Speaking to Charlie Kirk on “The Charlie Kirk Show” in July, Paul suggested Fauci was the “most likely” pardon recipient to face charges because of the irregular circumstances of the signing.
“I’m not sure if [Biden] knows Anthony Fauci’s name or is aware of the circumstances,” Paul told Kirk, referencing the former president’s cognitive state at the time.
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