Rand Paul Urges Fauci to Abandon Gain-of-Function Research, Citing Possible COVID Lab Leak

Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) excoriated Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Tuesday hearing for continuing to defend gain-of-function research on deadly viruses despite the possibility that the novel coronavirus leaked from a laboratory that was performing such research in Wuhan, China. Paul asked Dr. Fauci if he still supports National Institutes of Health funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists performed gain-of-function research-i.e. making viruses more infectious and/or deadly-on bat coronaviruses. The EcoHealth Alliance diverted $600,000 in grants from the NIH to the WIV in the form of sub-grants from 2014 through 2019, for the purpose of studying…