Dr Anthony Fauci has erupted in Senate - telling Senator Rand Paul if anybody is lying "it's you" after Mr Paul accused him of lying under oath when he claimed the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain of function research in Wuhan, China.
The Republican Senator told Dr Fauci it was a "crime to lie to Congress" - giving him the opportunity to retract his May 11 statement where he denied involvement in the origins of COVID-19.
"Senator Paul I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement," Dr Fauci said.
"This paper that you are referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain of function."
The National Institutes of Health - which runs several programs Dr Fauci oversees - funded the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organisation that has assisted in research into bat coronaviruses.
Gain of function research is "medical research that alters an organism or disease in a way that increases pathogenesis, transmissibility, or host range".
Dr Fauci strongly denied the funding went towards gain of function research and that in turn could have caused the coronavirus outbreak.
Senator Paul fired back and questioned Dr Fauci on how taking an animal virus and "increasing its transferability to humans" is not considered gain of function.
"Senator Paul you do not know what you're talking about quite frankly," Dr Fauci hit back.
"And I want to say that officially, you do not know what you are talking about."
The heated exchange between the pair ended with Dr Fauci telling Senator Paul he "resents" the accusations that he was responsible for the deadly virus becoming transmissible to humans.
