(Daily Signal)—The Senate committee investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci voted Thursday morning to advance a contempt of Congress citation against him.
Last week, Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee regarding questions about the government’s response to COVID-19. Fauci became the face of public health response to the pandemic.
“All he had to do was tell the truth more than 100 times. Though he refused,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the committee chairman. “The chair ruled that Dr. Fauci’s assertion of the Fifth Amendment privilege was unsupported in light of the pardon and the testimony he offered in his opening statement.”
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the committee’s ranking member, complained the investigation has been partisan.
“The chairman is now asking the committee to take a vote that could harm our ability to conduct future investigations, and disregards constitutional protections long recognized by the U.S. Senate without making a reliable case that there is a legal basis for holding Dr. Fauci in contempt, ” Peters said.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Thursday morning, defended the process against criticism from Democrat panel members. He said it has been a transparent investigation. He further said that the sweeping pardon of Fauci by President Joe Biden for actions taken from 2014 to early 2025 means that Fauci would not have incriminated himself before the panel last week. Paul and others argued he did not have Fifth Amendment protections at the hearing due to his pardon.
The committee will send the referral to the Justice Department, which could use that citation to prosecute him.
Two allies of President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, were convicted of contempt of Congress for not cooperating with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol protest. Both served four months in federal prison.
