During an appearance on Mobile, AL radio FM Talk 106.5, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) argued contradicting statements disclosed from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request and his public statements warranted scrutiny of his personal finances.
The Alabama freshman Republican lawmaker said one of the possible reasons for the discrepancies were financial gains earned from investments based on information Fauci had access to and knowing how his own statements could influence markets.
Carl acknowledged having no proof of wrongdoing but said there was no way of knowing because federal bureaucrats with such power are not held to the same accountability standards as federal elected officials.
“My business side of my brain tells me there is more to this,” he said. “My common sense is it’s going to be well-covered up, I should say. Us getting an answer is not necessarily expected. But with that said — we have so many bureaucrats that run so much of the government. I think it is a fine opportunity for us as taxpayers to ask our bureaucrats, ‘Did you make money off of this?’ Show us. Prove it to us in some way because we have so many bureaucrats. Obviously, they’re unelected. There is no restraint on them, their investment. Dr. Fauci may be a hundred percent clear. I’m quick to say I have nothing to prove this. But the business side of my brain says there has got to be another angle, and profit is the only other angle I can come up with in my head, looking at his situation because his emails tell us he is telling the public one thing, but he’s telling his partners … in that realm something totally different.”
“If you had the capacity to know that there are changes coming, would you not step out there and buy stock or make an investment, or take advantage of that situation if you think no one is watching?” Carl added. “I’m trying to raise the question more than I am trying to say this man is guilty of something. I would love to look at his financials from a congressional standpoint. I don’t know how we can do that. He is treated much different than I’m treated. But should he be? I think that’s the real question: Should he be treated different than an elected official. As an elected official, all of my finances are public. If I trade or buy a stock based on knowledge that I have from being in Congress — that’s insider trading. It should be. I’ll never argue with that. But you get someone in that position, he can step out there and, with a single statement, change the stock market. That’s a strong question to start asking our bureaucrats.”
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