Dr. Anthony Fauci has been held in contempt of Congress, a move that could lead to a referral to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution as Republican scrutiny of the former top COVID adviser intensifies.
The vote, taken along party lines in the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee, marked a sharp escalation in lawmakers’ long-running investigation into Fauci following a contentious Capitol Hill hearing last week.
During that appearance, Fauci declined to answer more than 100 questions, repeatedly invoking his Fifth Amendment rights. Republican members pressed him on his tenure as the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and on the public health guidance he supported during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The night before the contempt vote, the Senate committee obtained Fauci’s phone from the COVID era, a development Republicans described as significant to their investigation. The device could become a key piece of evidence as lawmakers seek to reconstruct how federal health officials reached major pandemic-era decisions.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican leading the push, argued that Fauci’s Fifth Amendment claim should not stand because of a pardon he said Fauci received from former President Joe Biden.
“I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused. That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly,” Paul said.
Paul said Thursday that Fauci could have avoided the contempt vote simply by “telling the truth.” Democrats rejected that framing, with Sen. Gary Peters denouncing the proceeding as a “witch hunt” and an unwarranted escalation.
Paul has said he intends to quickly send the matter to the Department of Justice, leaving federal prosecutors to decide whether Fauci could face further legal consequences.
Fauci’s refusal to provide any answers incensed Republicans keen on getting to the bottom of the public health crisis.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has been asked to appear before Congress again after avoiding answering questions 111 times during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on Wednesday
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, clashed with Dr Fauci numerous times during a Senate Homeland Security last week
During his opening statements on Capitol Hill in last week’s hearing, Fauci accused Paul of having an ‘unhinged obsession’ with him.
And several moments went off the rails.
Republican Senator Bernie Moreno called Fauci a ‘total disgrace.’
The Senator said he felt compelled to run for office six years ago when he saw a story of a mom being arrested while watching a football game outside with her family, due to breaking guidelines issued by governments based on Fauci’s advice.
‘Who the f**k do you think you were for doing that? It was a total disgrace to this country, and if my Democrat colleagues are standing there defending you, I hope the voters of the United States of America have watched clips of every one of them building a guy who was more interested in being a celebrity than doing his job,’ he exclaimed.
Fauci’s personal diaries were released earlier this week, showing how he delighted in his interactions with celebrities as America went through the death throes of the early pandemic.
The brutal Capitol Hill grilling might not have been Fauci’s last.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has requested transcribed interviews with the infamous COVID-19 doctor, as well as other Food and Drug Administration officials.
Johnson alleges that senior FDA officials ignored warnings that the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring system was failing to detect potential safety signals.
The closed-door transcribed interview process is what the House Oversight Committee has been using in the Epstein investigations. Information obtained has been released to the general public within days of the interviews.
Johnson is requesting that Fauci appear before his committee to ‘provide much-needed transparency about the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response to it, including early treatments and the development, deployment, safety monitoring, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.’
If the doctors requested to appear for interviews do not do so voluntarily, Johnson noted that he is prepared to use a ‘compulsory process.’
The Daily Mail reached out to Fauci’s attorney to see if the doctor plans to appear as requested in the letter.
