Fauci Should Face Criminal Charges, Trump Says

US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, should face prosecution, hours after Republican Senator Rand Paul said he would ask the Justice Department to take action.

Paul made the demand after Fauci refused to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic at a hearing last week, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination more than 100 times.

Asked whether the Justice Department should prosecute Fauci, Trump pointed to the prosecutions of his former aides Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, saying they had faced similar action “over something that essentially was never prosecuted before, and there are sort of telltale signs of similarity”.

“When you see that happen, you sort of say maybe he should [be prosecuted]. What he did is far more serious than a lot of crimes, frankly”, Trump added.

Fauci led the institute for 38 years and became one of the leading figures in the US response to COVID-19, as well as a primary target of criticism over pandemic measures.

More than 1.1 million Americans died in connection with COVID-19.

(Reuters, lud)