Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said Saturday that House Republicans are building their case against Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Jordan was interviewed by journalist Benny Johnson and noted that Congress could issue a criminal referral to have Fauci prosecuted, but said it might not be acted upon.

Jordan said there “could be a referral, but you would refer it to the Biden Justice Department. I don’t know that -- they’re going to pursue that, but you can definitely do that.”

“We could do a referral potentially. I would, frankly, prefer just to have Dr. Fauci come back in and take another round of questions here, but we’re building the case,” he said.

Jordan said House Republicans are “laying that foundation.”

“I do think Dr. Fauci and the CDC changed the definition of gain-of-function research, so that Fauci has, like, this wiggle room, but they were juicing up this virus, no doubt about it, juicing up this virus,” he said.

In a Saturday interview, Fauci mocked those calling for him to be prosecuted, according to Newsweek.

[firefly_poll]

"There's no response to that craziness. Prosecute me for what? What are they talking about?" Fauci asked.

"I wish I could figure out what the heck they're talking about. I think they're just going off the deep end. It just doesn't make any sense to say something like that, and it actually is irresponsible. The rest of it is just insanity, the things they're saying. But it does have a negative effect when people take it seriously and take it out on you and your family,” he said.

Calls to prosecute Fauci for lying to Congress have come from many quarters, including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

"There has been no person who has done more to destroy trust in the scientific and medical community than Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told millions of Americans lies willingly, knowingly, glibly, supremely arrogantly," Cruz said. "Should there be accountability? In any sane system he would be prosecuted for lying under oath, and he would go to jail for lying under oath to Congress."

Jordan also said Fauci has helped cover up the origin of the virus, according to the Washington Examiner.

During Wednesday’s hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Jordan noted that Fauci tried to direct attention away from the theory that the coronavirus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, that Fauci helped fund.

"If it may have been a lab, may have been nature, and we're supposed to look for it, then why did Dr. Fauci work so hard for just one of those theories? Why was it so important to push one over the other?" Jordan said, mocking Fauci’s current statements that the origin might never be determined.

"Three years ago, if you thought it came from a lab, if you raised that, you were called a nutjob, you got censored on Twitter, you were blacklisted on Twitter, you were even called a crackpot by the very scientist who in late January sent emails to Dr. Fauci that said it came from a lab,” he said.

Jordan noted the role an $8.9 million federal grant played in silencing two early voices who said the virus appeared to be engineered and not natural.

"So, three days after they say it came from a lab, they change their position, and the only intervening event is a conference call with Dr. Fauci and Dr. [Francis] Collins," Jordan said, later adding, “And then three months later -- shazam! They get $9 million bucks from Dr. Fauci. Now isn't that something?"

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.