EDITORIAL: Fauci-Paul clash obscures the larger question

The Rand Paul-Anthony Fauci show returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The ensuing fireworks detracted from legitimate questions about the government’s involvement in potentially dangerous research. Sen. Paul, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the Homeland Security and Government Committee, and Dr. Fauci, the high-profile symbol of the nation’s pandemic response, have clashed repeatedly in the past over publicly funded scientific research and the origins of COVID-19. Sen. Paul has maintained that Dr. Fauci was less than forthcoming about the possibility of the virus originating in a Chinese laboratory that had received grant funding from the U.S. government. The dispute became so heated that, before he left office, President Joe Biden issued Dr. Fauci a pardon to protect him from potenti