A Senate committee has scheduled a vote for Thursday on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions during a hearing last week concerning his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced the vote on Monday. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the committee's chairman, stated that Fauci's decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment did not apply to him because of a pardon he received from former President Joe Biden. Paul argued that by providing opening testimony, Fauci waived any remaining privilege and was then obligated to answer questions.
"I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused," Paul said in a statement. "That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly."
Fauci, the nation's former chief medical advisor, cited Paul's opposition to him as the reason for invoking the Fifth Amendment, stating Paul has an "obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution."
Fauci suggested in his opening statement that the hearing was called solely to elicit a statement that could support Paul's public calls for his incarceration. The pardon from President Biden, issued early last year, protects Fauci from prosecution for any offenses related to his government work from 2014 to January 19, 2025.
Following the hearing, Paul told reporters that the applicability of the pardon to the current situation was a legal question that courts would need to resolve.