The National Institutes of Health, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, is "stonewalling" by redacting the names of the doctors and companies getting royalty payments from the COVID-19 vaccines, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Wednesday.
"If Republicans take over the Senate in November, I will use the subpoena power of the committee that I will chair to get every shred of evidence, every piece of paper, and we're not going to get this stonewalling from the NIH," Paul told Wednesday's "Eric Bolling The Balance." "People that work in government have a responsibility to let us know if they have a conflict of interest."
Paul said he was upset about the agency redacting the names and companies that had royalty transactions dealing with the drugs and treatments developed to battle the COVID-19 epidemic in a court ordered information release.
"Over the period of time from 2010 to 2016, 27,000 royalty payments were paid to 18,000 NIH employees; we know that not because you told us, but because we forced you to tell us through the Freedom of Information Act," Paul asked Fauci during a hearing in front of his Senate committee last week. "Over $193 million was given to these 18,000 employees. Can you tell me that you have not received a royalty from any entity that you ever oversaw the distribution of money in research grants?"
"You know, I don't know as a fact, but I doubt it," Fauci responded, according to the report.
The non-profit organization OpentheBooks.com filed several freedom of information requests with the NIH in 2021, including one that asked for information on royalties paid to both current and former NIH employees.
The organization, with the help of another watchdog group, Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit in October 2021.
Despite winning the case and having the court order the information's release, much of it was blacked out, Paul said.
"The government has been forced by the court system to reveal some things," Paul said. "What they revealed was 1,800 scientists at the NIH received over $190 million [in royalties], but then they redacted all of the line items where they said the doctor's name and the company's name.
"So, the question I'm asking him is on the vaccine committee. We're approving a vaccine. They're pushing this vaccine on everyone. It's either mandatory for some workplaces, or mandatory for some schools. The vaccine companies are making billions of dollars.
"Don't we deserve to know if any of the scientists on the committee are receiving royalties from those companies?"
Paul said he sent a letter with five other colleagues in Congress to try and get the specifics of the royalty disbursements.
"We are at war with our own government; our own government is disdainful of Congress," he said. "But it's Congress' job to do oversight. There was a time when Democrats cared. When Democrats cared, they would join hands with Republicans, and they would do oversight for the executive branch."
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