(The hill) – Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he “likes” the idea of former COVID response chief Anthony Fauci being impeached for his Report card Monday about the Trump administration’s initial response to the coronavirus.
Comer said Fauci lied to Congress about the administration’s early COVID response, claiming he invented the recommended six-foot distancing that quickly became ubiquitous amid the pandemic and other restrictions.
“Ultimately, lying to Congress is a crime,” Comer said in an interview with Fox Business. “And if you watch the clip you just showed, everyone knows that Dr. Fauci was the main instigator of the distancing.”
“Not only did this close tens of thousands of businesses in America and drive up debt because you had to subsidize the closed businesses and the unemployment rate,” he continued. “It destroyed the public education system. Children could not go to school because of the six-foot social distancing rules advocated by Dr. Fauci.”
on Monday Transcript was Fauci’s first appearance under oath since leaving the administration. He was grilled by many Republican critics who tried to blame the former White House medical adviser for the difficulties Americans have faced during the pandemic.
Comer said in a Newsmax interview Earlier Tuesday, he said he hoped the statement could be used as evidence in criminal proceedings against Fauci.
“Hopefully we can believe what he said today and continue to try to gather evidence and take steps to accuse him of criminal misconduct, because I believe the majority of Americans recognize that Dr. Fauci made costly mistakes, that he lied about them and tried to cover them up,” Comer said.
Comer is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which has sought to link Fauci to misconduct at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Fauci had led the NIAID for decades but testified he had no knowledge of a senior adviser’s attempts to circumvent public information disclosure laws.
Fauci was also insulted by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who refused to address him as “Doctor,” and became emotional at one point in the hearing when he recounted the harassment and death threats he had faced for years because of his leadership during the COVID response.
