Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., filed a criminal referral with the Department of Justice against Anthony Fauci for allegedly lying to Congress about the National Institutes of Health’s gain-of-function research. While we don’t desire to see Fauci imprisoned, the complaint demonstrates the severity of the NIH’s deficiencies and the need for sweeping reform.
Any honest assessment of the NIH’s pandemic performance would give it a poor grade. While NIH support for the rapid development of the Covid vaccine deserves some credit, the NIH failed in almost every other aspect of its contribution to the pandemic response.