Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday rejected an invitation to testify voluntarily before another Senate panel, days after Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee advanced a contempt finding against the veteran infectious disease official in a party-line vote.
In a sharply worded letter to Sen. Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican leading the inquiry, an attorney for the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases argued that any attempt to force Fauci back before a Senate subcommittee following a tense July 29 hearing would amount to an effort to “impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.”
At that July hearing, which centered on Fauci’s role in the federal COVID-19 pandemic response, he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination 100 times. The move led to the Aug. 6 contempt vote and opened the door to a referral to the Justice Department to examine whether he had appropriately relied on his constitutional rights.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Republican committee chairman who pushed for the contempt action, contended that Fauci could not claim Fifth Amendment protection because Democratic President Joe Biden had granted him a preemptive pardon, removing any realistic threat of prosecution.
Paul has for years accused Fauci of deceiving Americans during the pandemic, and the July session marked another chapter in their long-running and highly visible clashes. The Kentucky senator has repeatedly said Fauci should face criminal charges and prison time.
Johnson, who chairs the Senate investigations subcommittee, had been seeking to pursue a separate congressional probe into Fauci’s involvement in the COVID-19 response, with questions also focused on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
