Why Rand Paul Says Biden’s Autopen Puts Fauci Back In His Crosshairs

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Monday that he planned to “reissue” a criminal referral for Dr. Anthony Fauci and send it directly to President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

Paul made the announcement via an X post after a New York Times report shed light on the number of pardons and commutations — supposedly issued by former President Joe Biden — that were signed with the autopen at the direction of Biden’s Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients.

According to the NYT, a number of pardons — including so-called “preemptive” pardons for people like Fauci, retired General Mark Milley, and members of Biden’s family who had not actually been charged with crimes yet — were discussed at a meeting on January 19.

At the Jan. 19 meeting, which took place in the Yellow Oval Room of the White House residence, Mr. Biden kept his aides until nearly 10 p.m. to talk through such decisions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The emails show that an aide to Mr. Siskel sent a draft summary of Mr. Biden’s decisions at that meeting to an assistant to Mr. Zients, copying Mr. Siskel, at 10:03 p.m. The assistant forwarded it to Mr. Reed and Mr. Zients, asking for their approval, and then sent a final version to Ms. Feldman — copying many meeting participants and aides — at 10:28 p.m.

Three minutes later, Mr. Zients hit “reply all” and wrote, “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.”

Paul, in response to the news that Fauci’s pardon had been among those that were issued by autopen on Zients’ orders, declared his intention to push ahead with a criminal referral for Fauci.

“Today I will reissue my criminal referral of Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ!” he said.

Today I will reissue my criminal referral of Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ! https://t.co/trIhJHAOlx

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 14, 2025

“Perjury is a crime. And Fauci must be held accountable,” he added a short time later.

Perjury is a crime. And Fauci must be held accountable. https://t.co/a1IlzAm154

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 14, 2025

Paul has long held that Fauci intentionally buried evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated in a lab that specialized in gain-of-function research — and worked diligently to silence any in the scientific community who dared to dispute his repeated claim that it had developed naturally. He has also repeatedly accused Fauci of lying under oath to hide his own connections to the lab and type of research in question.