Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Monday said President Biden’s pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci only underscored his belief that the doctor was responsible for the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr. Paul, a Republican, vowed to continue the investigation into the origins of the virus as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

“If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,” Mr. Paul said. “Fauci’s pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.”

Mr. Biden said his preemptive pardon of Dr. Fauci, a retired official who led infectious diseases research at the National Institutes of Health for decades, did not mean he did anything wrong. He feared incoming President Donald Trump would create a pretext for prosecuting the doctor and others.

Yet some Republicans say the NIH, through grant funding, supported risky viral research at a lab in Wuhan, China. The virus was first discovered in the central Chinese city in late 2019.

“Ignominious! Anthony Fauci will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime,” Mr. Paul said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.