The allegation centers on NIH grants to EcoHealth Alliance that supported experiments at the Wuhan lab involving bat coronaviruses modified to better infect human cells. Defending their argument with syntax, Fauci and NIH officials have maintained that the work did not meet the agency’s strict regulatory definition of gain-of-function research involving enhanced potential pandemic pathogens requiring special review. However, questions surrounding the circumstances of that pardon, including Biden's cognition at the time and whether the pardon was signed via auto-pen without Biden's knowledge, have placed that pardon in potentially precarious territory. Paul spoke to Just The News in June about the pardon and warned, "It's an extraordinary pardon. But […] it’ll be interesting to see guys like Fauci, who have no Fifth Amendment privilege, having to endure some serious questioning.”