Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul is moving to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the longtime federal health bureaucrat invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering every question at a July hearing.
According to The Post Millennial, Paul plans to force a committee vote Thursday on a contempt resolution that accuses Fauci of defying a lawful subpoena by refusing to respond to any inquiries. The resolution follows a contentious late-July appearance in which Fauci, once the face of the federal COVID response, declined to engage even on basic matters.
Fauci invoked the Fifth a staggering 111 times, not only on questions about pandemic policy and viral research but also on routine queries such as what day of the week it was or what color tie he was wearing. Paul has argued that the Fifth Amendment protection no longer applies to Fauci because of what he described as a blanket pardon, dating back to 2014, that Fauci received from Joe Biden.
Paul told reporters after the July 29 hearing that a vote on holding Fauci in contempt will happen in committee next week. It will be in contempt of Congress. We believe that with his liabilityhis immunity from criminal liability, that he didn't need to hide behind the Fifth Amendment, and that maybe the Fifth Amendment doesn't attach when you have a pardon in place, and that'll be a legal question. But the question on contempt will be voted on. He framed the dispute as a test of whether powerful officials can stonewall Congress with impunity after years of controversial public-health edicts that devastated small businesses, schools, and civil liberties.
And then there's a question of whether or not the Department of Justice will take that up. You know, I've recommended before for his criminal prosecution, and neither the Biden DOJ nor the Trump DOJ have taken it up. All I can do is recommend prosecution. I can't initiate prosecution, Paul added. Whether the Biden Justice Department chooses to shield Fauci again or finally allow accountability to proceed will signal how seriously Washington takes congressional oversight and the rule of law.
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