Let’s examine Rand Paul’s vicious attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci and why it won’t amount to a conviction
Recently, Rand Paul abused his authority as Chairman of the US Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by railroading a contempt charge through his committee in response to Dr. Fauci exercising his Constitutional right to pled the 5th in response to tainted questioning by Paul and the other Republicans on the Committee. Paul has repeatedly stated his objective was to see Dr. Fauci “behind bars” for his actions leading the national COVID-19 task force (so appointed by then POTUS Donald Trump).
Other than the obvious professional jealousy Paul, a mediocre ophthalmologist at best, felt toward a world renowned physician, medical researcher, medical faculty leader, published author, and administrator in Dr. Anthony Fauci, Paul (a conspiracy theorist and “kook”) steadfastly believes—without actual valid evidence—that the COVID-19 virus originated in a “laboratory leak.” Using Dr. Fauci’s public statements, Paul compared snippets of Fauci’s remarks to a recently disclosed private diary Dr. Fauci kept on a government computer and concluded that Dr. Fauci had lied to Congress during the COVID pandemic.
Let’s examine why Paul is incorrect about Fauci’s statements and the level of “reasonable doubt” embedded in Paul’s charge.
There are three bat coronaviruses that have had the animal-to-human spillover event that have caused people to die.
The first was the SARS-1 panepidemic in 2002/03, the second was the MERS pandemic in 2012, and third the COVID pandemic in 2019/20.
The COVID pandemic was an animal to human spillover event that occurred in the southwestern section of the Hunan wholesale seafood market. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019. First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern from January 30, 2020, to May 5, 2023. Of note: both the SARS-1 and MERS viruses originated in this same region (the reason this imports will become clear later.)
Per Wikipedia: “The closest known relative [to the SARS-CoV-2 virus] is the BANAL-52 bat coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2 is of zoonotic origin; its close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses suggests it emerged from such a bat-borne virus. Research is ongoing as to whether SARS‑CoV‑2 came directly from bats or indirectly through any intermediate hosts. The virus shows little genetic diversity, indicating that the spillover event introducing SARS‑CoV‑2 to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019.”
Viruses commonly “crossover” from their animal host reservoirs to humans (you’ve all heard of the bird flus, swine flu, etc. and are commonly referred to by the reservoir from which they derived.
Bats are a phenomenally “good” reservoir for viruses with a single bat capable of harboring many viruses capable of infecting humans. The Wuhan wet markets sell bats for human consumption and it is highly probable that the wet markets were the crossover point in the transmission.
Can we say with absolute certainty that the virus did NOT originate with a laboratory leak? No, we cannot, as Dr.Fauci himself has admitted under oath previously. What we can say is: the genetics of the bat BANAL-52 coronavirus is very, very similar and almost certainly mutated into the COVID-19 virus. But “almost” is not “absolute.”
It takes someone with a little medical knowledge (like a disgruntled “mediocre at best” ophthalmologist) with a personal history of clinging to kooky conspiracy theories to go to the extreme Paul has done to beseech Dr. Fauci and attempt to Entrap him into a sham “perjury” charge.
So, since “taking the 5th” is designed to allow a suspect to avoid self incrimination, did Dr. Fauci “admit guilt” in doing go? No, and here’s why:
With Paul and the other Republicans planning to try to trap Fauci into making some reply that they could claim was not true (hence was HAWLEY trying to ask him the color of his jacket—so he could argue that Fauci misrepresented that color), by taking the fifth to all questions Dr. Fauci avoided a tRUMPed up perjury charge.
Of note: Paul did NOT refer his committee’s contempt charge to the Full Senate for a vote (which is what is typically done). Instead, he (Paul) hand carried the result to tRUMP’s DO(in)J.
Rand Paul acquitted himself with DISHONOR—and certainly not for the first time!
Other than the obvious professional jealousy Paul, a mediocre ophthalmologist at best, felt toward a world renowned physician, medical researcher, medical faculty leader, published author, and administrator in Dr. Anthony Fauci, Paul (a conspiracy theorist and “kook”) steadfastly believes—without actual valid evidence—that the COVID-19 virus originated in a “laboratory leak.” Using Dr. Fauci’s public statements, Paul compared snippets of Fauci’s remarks to a recently disclosed private diary Dr. Fauci kept on a government computer and concluded that Dr. Fauci had lied to Congress during the COVID pandemic.
Let’s examine why Paul is incorrect about Fauci’s statements and the level of “reasonable doubt” embedded in Paul’s charge.
There are three bat coronaviruses that have had the animal-to-human spillover event that have caused people to die.
The first was the SARS-1 panepidemic in 2002/03, the second was the MERS pandemic in 2012, and third the COVID pandemic in 2019/20.
The COVID pandemic was an animal to human spillover event that occurred in the southwestern section of the Hunan wholesale seafood market. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019. First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern from January 30, 2020, to May 5, 2023. Of note: both the SARS-1 and MERS viruses originated in this same region (the reason this imports will become clear later.)
Per Wikipedia: “The closest known relative [to the SARS-CoV-2 virus] is the BANAL-52 bat coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2 is of zoonotic origin; its close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses suggests it emerged from such a bat-borne virus. Research is ongoing as to whether SARS‑CoV‑2 came directly from bats or indirectly through any intermediate hosts. The virus shows little genetic diversity, indicating that the spillover event introducing SARS‑CoV‑2 to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019.”
Viruses commonly “crossover” from their animal host reservoirs to humans (you’ve all heard of the bird flus, swine flu, etc. and are commonly referred to by the reservoir from which they derived.
Bats are a phenomenally “good” reservoir for viruses with a single bat capable of harboring many viruses capable of infecting humans. The Wuhan wet markets sell bats for human consumption and it is highly probable that the wet markets were the crossover point in the transmission.
Can we say with absolute certainty that the virus did NOT originate with a laboratory leak? No, we cannot, as Dr.Fauci himself has admitted under oath previously. What we can say is: the genetics of the bat BANAL-52 coronavirus is very, very similar and almost certainly mutated into the COVID-19 virus. But “almost” is not “absolute.”
It takes someone with a little medical knowledge (like a disgruntled “mediocre at best” ophthalmologist) with a personal history of clinging to kooky conspiracy theories to go to the extreme Paul has done to beseech Dr. Fauci and attempt to Entrap him into a sham “perjury” charge.
So, since “taking the 5th” is designed to allow a suspect to avoid self incrimination, did Dr. Fauci “admit guilt” in doing go? No, and here’s why:
With Paul and the other Republicans planning to try to trap Fauci into making some reply that they could claim was not true (hence was HAWLEY trying to ask him the color of his jacket—so he could argue that Fauci misrepresented that color), by taking the fifth to all questions Dr. Fauci avoided a tRUMPed up perjury charge.
Of note: Paul did NOT refer his committee’s contempt charge to the Full Senate for a vote (which is what is typically done). Instead, he (Paul) hand carried the result to tRUMP’s DO(in)J.
Rand Paul acquitted himself with DISHONOR—and certainly not for the first time!
