Just before he exited the White House, one of President Joe Biden’s last official acts was to grant a preemptive pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has not been convicted of, or even charged with, any crime.

Significantly, the pardon dates to 2014, when the National Institutes of Health and Fauci awarded a multimillion-dollar grant to the nonprofit research group EcoHealth Alliance for the study of bat coronaviruses and work on viral manipulation, so-called gain-of-function research. (Funding of EcoHealth was terminated in December 2024.) This was in contravention to a U.S. government moratorium on such research at the time.

Opinions on Fauci fall along partisan lines, and there is little middle ground: You either love him as many Democrats do or hate him like many Republicans do. For Fauci acolytes, the pardon was seen as an attempt to prevent retribution by President Donald Trump. For Fauci haters, this preemptive pardon was seen as an explicit tactic to block possible prosecution for his possible role in the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fauci “role in the pandemic” theory is that his support of gain-of-function research helped create an engineered coronavirus more contagious and thus more transmissible. At the time, EcoHealth was working in partnership with virologists in Wuhan, China, who failed to maintain strict biosafety measures.

The COVID-19 pandemic was believed to be the result of a lab leak in Wuhan of the more transmissible virus. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, with whom Fauci sparred in congressional testimony, went so far as to say, “If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal.”

With respect to Paul, who may or may not be correct about Fauci’s culpability, this is a classic case of jumping to conclusions. The theory that the virus leaked from a lab is supported by solid circumstantial evidence but no definitive proof.

Likewise, there is strong circumstantial evidence, but no proof, that the virus causing COVID-19 was the result of lab manipulation. Finally, Fauci’s role in this miasma remains unclear — in part because of his obfuscation and in part the nonfeasance of scientific journalists who for years haven’t aggressively pursued COVID-19’s origin story. So the world is left to wonder whether the so-called lab leak theory is not just compelling, but also provably correct.

Biden’s unusual preemptive pardon further obscures the forest for the trees. The goal of reasonable critics and curious citizens is not to put Fauci in jail but rather to uncover the truth of what happened.

Some observers believe that he is not out of trouble even with the pardon, which covers what may have occurred in the past, because he could still be called to testify before Congress and would not be immune to any future perjury. And if this becomes an arcane game of legal chess, both his critics and Fauci would have available moves.

Presidential pardons cover only federal, not state, offenses. So if state attorneys general pursue him for, say, misrepresenting his role in abetting the pandemic, he might still be able to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. If that tactic were to fail, he could simply refuse to appear and be found in contempt of state courts. The onus would fall back on state judges to imprison him. It would not be a good look either for Fauci to refuse to appear or for the courts to put a veteran of 50-plus years of government service in jail.

It may be time for the government and Fauci to refer to a higher power: the Bible. The Gospel of John says the truth shall set you free. If they can come to an agreement — perhaps immunity in exchange for his honest testimony — that deal would go a long way to answering crucial questions about the true source of COVID-19.

Fauci should tell us why he has gradually softened his stance against growing evidence that the origin of COVID-19 was a lab leak. He must describe why, early on, he disparaged those scientists who advanced the lab leak theory. Also essential would be a simple, understandable explanation to the lay public of gain-of-function research, the role of EcoHealth and the possibility that a lab-engineered virus — perhaps created at U.S. taxpayer expense — was responsible for the deaths of millions of people during the first half of this decade.

Consistent with the biblical theme, the Book of Proverbs says: “He who covers his sins will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” According to Jim Acosta, then with CNN, upon hearing of the preemptive pardon, Fauci said: “I have done nothing wrong. Certainly nothing criminal. No grounds at all.” The public would be well served by some clarification of these three slightly different assertions.

If the government gives him an assurance he will not be prosecuted, Fauci should come clean to the American people. Confession is good for the soul. So is simple honesty.

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Dr. Cory Franklin is a retired intensive care physician and the author of “The COVID Diaries 2020-2024: Anatomy of a Contagion As It Happened.”

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