Overview

• Sen. Rand Paul urged the Justice Department under President Trump to charge Dr. Anthony Fauci with lying to Congress to trigger a judicial review of autopen-signed pardons.
• Paul contends Fauci committed a felony by denying NIH funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
• Legal scholars say charging a pardoned individual is the sole way to test if an autopen signature meets constitutional requirements for presidential intent and delivery.
• President Biden maintains he personally approved every clemency and used the autopen merely to replicate his signature because of the large volume of pardons.
• A court ruling could determine the fate of pardons granted to other figures, including Hunter Biden, General Mark Milley and members of the Jan. 6 committee.