A U.S. Senate panel voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic at a July 29 hearing. Fauci, a top public health official during the pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right 111 times, including in response to questions about his tie color or the day of the week.

Partisan Vote

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted along party lines to approve a resolution referring to the Justice Department charges that Fauci violated a congressional subpoena. Chairman Rand Paul of Kentucky and other committee Republicans said Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment was a misuse of the privilege, particularly given President Joe Biden’s broad pardon of Fauci covering any conduct from 2014 to 2025.

Democrats raised objections to the contempt resolution, arguing that Fauci was trying to avoid being trapped into making a misstatement that could be used against him. Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, said the goal was to wait for Fauci to make any kind of misstatement and then have the Department of Justice file criminal charges for that new statement, which would not have been covered by the pardon.

Fauci said during an opening statement at the hearing that he believed any reasonable person would conclude that Paul’s objective was to trip him up. Ranking Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan also said the partisan vote undermined the panel’s legitimacy and could invite future witnesses to refuse to appear before congressional committees.

Original reporting: Clark County Today (Vancouver WA) — read the source article.