Sen. Paul says new report shows 'Fauci lied again' about U.S.-funded research at Wuhan lab

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul says a new report on U.S.-funded research at the Wuhan virology lab in China is evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has lied to the public.

"Surprise surprise - Fauci lied again," Paul tweeted Tuesday. "And I was right about his agency funding novel Coronavirus research at Wuhan. Read this thread and the papers released."

Paul was referring to a new report from The Intercept detailing U.S.-funded research on "several types of coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China."

The report quotes Gary Ruskin, executive director of U.S. Right To Know, an organization investigating the origins of the global coronavirus pandemic.

"This is a road map to the high-risk research that could have led to the current pandemic," Ruskin said.

Paul had some heated exchanges with Fauci during Senate hearings in the past. Most recently, Fauci and Paul debated whether the U.S. had directly funded "gain-of-function" research in China.

Gain-of-function research is essentially the controlled, genetic altering of an organism to try to understand the ways in which a pathogen adapts to the environment to better plan for vaccines, preventive measures and other related responses.