A U.S. Senate committee ruled today (8/6) that Dr. Anthony Fauci is in contempt of Congress after he refused to answer questions regarding how authorities handled the COVID-19 pandemic. It is worth noting that the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases invoked the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution more than 100 times during a July 29 hearing. The Fifth Amendment grants citizens the right to refuse to answer questions that could lead to self-incrimination.
Read also: Fauci invoked Fifth Amendment “right to silence” and refused to testify before the Senate on COVID
According to the New York Post, the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8 to 5 to find the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in contempt of Congress for invoking his Fifth Amendment rights and refusing to testify last week about the pandemic.
The contempt resolution authorizes the Senate President — U.S. Vice President JD Vance — to refer the Homeland Security Committee’s report on Fauci to the U.S. Attorney for Washington, Jeanine Pirro, for potential criminal prosecution. If convicted, this misdemeanor charge could result in up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
U.S.: “All he had to do was tell the truth — he said one thing in public and another in private,” senator says about Fauci
The July 29 hearing had moments of high tension, including an incident where one of Fauci’s attorneys attempted to block persistent questioning from Senator Rand Paul, who in turn moved — successfully — to have the attorney removed from the room. Paul focused, among other things, on Fauci’s statements regarding the origin of the coronavirus. He accused Fauci of publicly claiming that the virus emerged naturally, while privately suggesting it was the product of a laboratory — Paul supports the theory that it originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. Although Fauci initially appeared to consider the lab leak theory, he ultimately expressed being “fairly confident” that the virus emerged naturally, through animal-to-human transmission.
Rand Paul had previously released 1,000 pages of Fauci’s writings from the pandemic period, in which the former health official documented his private thoughts on the origin of the coronavirus. Fauci himself believes Paul is biased against him, and during his opening remarks before the hearing, he argued that Paul “called me before the committee to get something — anything — out of me,” in order to make good on his public promises that Fauci would end up “behind bars.”
“There was no basis for invoking the right to remain silent”
“Fauci faced no risk of federal prosecution. All he had to do was tell the truth,” Paul argued shortly before the vote. “Yet more than 100 times, he refused.”
“The chairman determined that Dr. Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment had no valid basis, given the immunity and the testimony he provided in his opening statement. The chairman ordered Anthony Fauci to answer. He refused again,” he added.
Senator Gary Peters (Democrat from Michigan) rebuked Paul and the Republican members of the committee for seeking “to punish a witness for invoking his constitutionally protected Fifth Amendment rights.” “Future witnesses will argue that appearing before Congress exposes them to punishment, regardless of whether they comply with the subpoena or invoke constitutional protections,” said Peters, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
“The committee chairman has also indicated that he may attempt to refer this matter to the Department of Justice without a full Senate vote,” Peters added. “That would be even more dangerous.”
Earlier on Thursday, Senator Ron Johnson (Republican from Wisconsin) stated that the Homeland Security Committee had received a copy of Fauci’s phone records from the Department of Health and Human Services — and called for the additional transcription of an interview with the former NIAID director.
