House Republicans are pushing for the IG of the HHS to launch a criminal probe into Dr. Fauci, and no, it’s not about what you probably think.
In fact, though many have been pushing for an investigation into Fauci over his finances or what some claim was perjury when he testified before Congress about gain of function research, this call for a probe actually is about his push for Fox to fire Jesse Watters.
You see, during a Turning Point USA event, Fox News host Jesse Watters spoke ill of Fauci, telling a crowd
“Now you’re going for the kill shot. The kill shot with an ambush is deadly because he doesn’t see it coming. This is when you say, ‘Dr. Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab. The same lab that strung this pandemic on the world. You know why people don’t trust you, don’t you?’ Boom, he is dead. He is dead.”
When the whole transcript is read, it’s obvious that Watters was talking about “ambushing” Fauci with questions, not actually bushwhacking him.
Still, that didn’t dissuade Fauci from going on CNN to clutch his pearls and rant about it, calling for Watters to be fired and saying:
“you have some guy out there saying that people should be giving me a kill shot, to ambush me? I mean, what kind of craziness is there in society these days? That’s awful that he said that. And he’s going to go, very likely, unaccountable. I mean, whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything for him. I mean, that’s crazy. The guy should be fired on the spot.”
The thing is, his refusal to just shut his mouth and be reasonable, something he seems to struggle with quite a bit, might have been more than just a dumb move that made him look foolish.
In fact, it might have been illegal.
At least, that’s what the Reps allege in their letter to HHS’s Inspector General. In the letter, they say:
“Pursuant to your powers and responsibilities as Acting Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we hereby ask you and your office to launch an investigation into potential criminal conduct by Dr. Anthony Fauci…Dr. Fauci called on Fox News to fire political commentator Jesse Watters ‘on the spot’. Dr. Fauci did so while acting in his official government capacity as NIAID Director…Dr. Fauci’s attempt to influence Mr. Watters’ private employer to terminate him on the basis of partisan political affiliation may constitute a violation of federal law.”
The statute they cite is 18 USC Section 227, which provides that “Whoever, being a covered government person, with the intent to influence, solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation, an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity—(1)takes or withholds, or offers or threatens to take or withhold, an official act, or (2)influences, or offers or threatens to influence, the official act of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 15 years, or both, and may be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
His defense, of course, will be that his statements were not based solely on “partisan political affiliation” but rather on either personal reprehension, “the science,” or some other apolitical factor.
Still, based on what he said to CNN, it sure looks like Fauci violated that statute, even if it’s as unlikely that the current IG of HHS will look into it as it is likely that he’d find a way to weasel out of charges anyway.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will – Trending Politics
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