The war between Sen. Rand Paul, a medical doctor, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser to the president and NIH director, is legendary. Fauci has accused Paul of “personal attacks” and making “false accusations” that “kindles the crazies.” Paul accuses Fauci of misleading Congress, being involved in illegal “gain-of-function” research and advancing policies that put Americans at risk for personal gain.
In August, Fauci announced his early retirement. On Wednesday morning, Paul warned Fauci that his retirement would not protect him from accountability and demanded answers to questions regarding whether or not members of the FDA received royalties from companies that created COVID vaccines.
To date, Fauci has refused to answer the question — leading most to speculate that key players in the CDC, WHO, NIH and FDA profited from the vaccines they not only advocated but also mandated.
The latest row between the two came on Wednesday as Fauci testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. During the hearing, Paul asked Fauci “whether there were any financial conflicts of interest between members of the FDA committee and big pharma,” according to The Daily Caller.
Paul asked pointedly: “We’ve been asking you, and you refuse to answer, whether anybody on the vaccine committees gets royalties from the pharmaceutical companies. I asked you last time, and what was your response? ‘We don’t have to tell you.'”
Paul’s Freedom of Information Act request for the information was rejected by Fauci. Today, Paul warned that Fauci would not be able to shield the information for long.
“I’ll tell you this, when we get in charge, we’re gonna change the rules and you will have to divulge where you get your royalties from, from what companies, and if anybody on the committee has a conflict of interest. We’re gonna learn about it. I promise you that.”
In June, Paul told KATV that “Over the period of time from 2010 to 2016, 27,000 royalty payments were paid to 18,000 NIH employees.”
Paul told Fauci at the time: “We know that not because you told us, but because we forced you to tell us through the Freedom of Information Act. Over $193 million was given to these 18,000 employees.”
On Wednesday, Paul asked Fauci again: “Can you tell me that you have not received a royalty from any entity that you ever oversaw the distribution of money in research grants?”
Fauci did not directly answer the question, saying he did not know for sure but doubted it.
Paul pressed Fauci on the matter, asking whether anyone on the vaccine committee “ever received money from the people who make vaccines?”
Fauci replied: “According to the regulations, people who receive royalties are not required to divulge them even on their financial statement, according to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980.”
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