Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has long accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of being less than honest about COVID-19 and its origins.

That allegation was on display again this week when Paul charged that Fauci covered up his role in funding gain-of-function research. 

Paul to Fauci: "Take some responsibility"

According to the Daily Wire, Rand confronted the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director on Capitol Hill this week.

Rand asserted that Fauci should "take some responsibility for funding gain-of-function research" at Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"I don’t expect you today to admit that you approved of NIH funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan, but your repeated denials have worn thin and a majority of Americans frankly, don’t believe you," Paul stated.

"Even the NIH now admits that EcoHealth Alliance (the non-profit that collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment) did perform experiments in Wuhan that created viruses not found in nature that actually did gain in lethality," he continued.

"The facts are clear: The NIH did fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, despite your protestations," Paul declared.

The Republican lawmaker later told Fauci, "What you’ve done is change the definition on your website to try to cover your a--."

Evidence was published in 2021 pointing to gain-of-function research

For his part, Fauci responded by saying, "Senator, with all due respect, I disagree with so many of the things that you said."

"First of all, gain-of-function is a very nebulous term; we have spent, not us, but outside bodies, a considerable amount of effort to give a more precise definition to the type of research that is of concern that might lead to a dangerous situation," the former White House advisor continued.

The Daily Wire noted how in September of 2021, The Intercept published evidence showing that EcoHealth Alliance, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment had carried out gain-of-function research.

This involved "intentionally making viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them," with research funds provided by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of which Fauci was the head.

Senator accuses Fauci of " defining away gain-of-function"

Paul pointed to how through its research, EcoHealth Alliance created "recombinant virus that doesn’t exist in nature" which "made mice sicker — mice that had humanized cells."

"So what you’re doing is defining away gain-of-function," the Kentucky senator said to Fauci after he began to argue about whether such activity constitutes gain-of-function research.

"You’re simply saying it doesn’t exist cause you changed the definition on the NIH website," Paul went on to assert.