Senators examining the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic have obtained a copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s phone from the height of the public health crisis, as the former top health official faces a possible contempt vote.
Fauci was questioned by members of the Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations over pandemic-era public health policies. During that session, he declined to answer questions and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times.
The subcommittee is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to hold Fauci in contempt over his refusal to respond to the senators’ questions.
Senators have not indicated whether they plan to make their findings public. Still, the material could prove significant in shedding light on how public health officials reached key decisions during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
The Department of Health and Human Services obtained a copy of the phone and turned it over to the subcommittee for review, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A spokesperson for Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the subcommittee, told the publication that Fauci used the device while he was serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The panel has been seeking records tied to the federal government’s pandemic response, including Fauci’s journals, which were released earlier this week.
People familiar with the inquiry told the Journal that Johnson and Senator Rand Paul have obtained millions of documents related to Fauci from government servers and continue to seek additional records.
Dr Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He is pictured above in front of the senators on July 29
Fauci refused to answer questions when grilled by senators on the subcommittee. He is seen before the elected officials during a hearing on July 29
Fauci has faced mounting pressure from the Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to answer questions about the Covid-19 pandemic
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and was a critical leader during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His decisions during the health emergency have come under scrutiny and become the subject of political polarization.
After Donald Trump was elected president in 2024, then-President Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned Fauci as Republicans vowed to federally prosecute the lead scientist.
Fauci has now found himself at the center of the subcommittee’s investigation, with Senator Paul accusing him of covering up a conspiracy theory that the virus came from a lab leak.
Fauci has denied the accusations against him and accused Paul of an ‘unhinged obsession’ with him.
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‘Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me,’ Fauci said during his opening statement at the senate hearing.
‘The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words “behind bars.”‘
‘Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,’ he added.
Fauci accused the senators investigating him of an ‘unhinged obsession.’ He’s pictured leaving the hearing after refusing to answer questions on July 29
During questioning, he repeatedly told the senators: ‘On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.’
As part of the investigation, Fauci’s personal journals have also been released, which Paul argued showed ‘his love for the newfound fame COVID brought him.
Paul published a paragraph from Fauci’s writings, accusing the scientist of ‘fangirling’ over explaining Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, to Barbra Streisand.
‘She wanted to know if it was okay to get [an] mRNA vaccine. I told her yes,’ Fauci wrote of the ‘great call.’
He then spoke about listening to Streisand’s music on the Alexa device before saying the longtime star ‘really did not know what Alexa was.’
He then admitted to having ‘butt called’ her later the same day, only to discover Streisand had been planning to call him anyway to ask about differences between the Moderna and Pfizer jabs.
Fauci will return to Capitol Hill to face a contempt vote for refusing to answer the senator’s questions.
Republican senators on the subcommittee have argued that he did not have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment because he was already pardoned.
Fauci’s presidential pardon applies only to federal cases, so it does not protect him from state prosecutions.
After his testimony, officials in Alabama, Louisiana and Florida have announced investigations against Fauci.
If the subcommittee votes to hold Fauci in contempt, the matter would then be sent to the Senate for a full vote or referred to federal prosecutors.
Fauci could then potentially face a misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt, which can result in fines and a prison sentence of up to a year if convicted.
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