(Corrects Rand Paul’s last name in paragraph 1 by removing extraneous letter)
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that Dr. Anthony Fauci should be prosecuted, hours after Republican Senator Rand Paul said that he would ask the Justice Department to do so.
Paul said he wanted action after Fauci refused to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, became the face of the response and a primary target of anger over measures taken against a virus that killed more than 1.1 million Americans.
When asked if the Justice Department should prosecute Fauci, Trump told reporters that former aides Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon had faced similar action “over something that essentially was never prosecuted before, and there are sort of telltale signs of similarity.”
The Republican president added: “When you see that happen, you sort of say maybe he should (be prosecuted). What he did is far more serious than a lot of crimes, frankly.”
Paul’s demand followed a hearing last week where Fauci invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination more than 100 times.
(Reporting by Jacob Bogage in Washington, writing by Jasper Ward;Editing by David Ljunggren)
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