A Senate subcommittee has obtained a copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s COVID-era cellphone, which its chairman hopes will provide answers to questions he declined to address during recent hearings. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chair of the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced Wednesday evening that the panel received the device from the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Hopefully, this device will address many of the questions he refused to answer at last week’s hearing," Johnson stated on X, formerly Twitter. The Wall Street Journal first reported the transfer of the phone to Congress.
Johnson’s announcement precedes a Thursday morning vote by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The committee is expected to consider holding Fauci, 85, in contempt of Congress. This action follows Fauci's refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times when questioned about the pandemic.