A Senate committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will now be referred to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution over refusing to answer questions at a hearing last week regarding his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times last week when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the chairman of the committee, argued that the Fifth Amendment didn’t apply since Fauci received a pardon from Joe Biden, absolving him of any fear of prosecution.
“Dr. Fauci faced no risk of federal prosecution,” Sen. Paul said at the hearing. “All he had to do was tell the truth.” Dr. Fauci’s own explanation was that he feared the perjury trap: that the Republican lawmaker might try “to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.”
So, to recap, Sen. Paul argues that, because of Fauci’s pardon, the doctor could neither face prosecution for his actions nor enjoy any constitutional protection against inquiry since there was no prosecution risk – but Fauci himself feared a perjury trap and so refused to answer questions and ended up charged with contempt of Congress instead.
While the full Senate does often vote whether to hold someone in contempt of Congress, it isn’t necessary. Sen. Paul opted for the committee vote, which, as one might expect, ended up a party-line vote in favor of holding Fauci in contempt.
The case will now be referred to the DOJ for prosecution, though it is up to the department whether it will pursue the matter.
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