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Posted on 08/06/2026 12:30:31 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Legal scrutiny mounts on the former top health official after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a hearing about the pandemic response
WASHINGTON—A Republican-led Senate committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, escalating a yearslong GOP effort to scrutinize one of the nation’s top former health officials.
Senators voted 8-5 on the resolution, along party lines, which was brought by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.). It seeks to refer the case directly to the Justice Department for potential prosecution, bypassing a vote from the full Senate, where Republicans would be unlikely to meet a 60-vote threshold to advance the resolution.
“Seeking the truth is not a witch hunt,” Paul said before the vote. “Accountability is not vengeance. Accountability is what stands between the American people and a repeat of the mistakes and the very real consequences of the past.”
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee, criticized his Republican counterparts for pushing a resolution that he said “disregards constitutional protections long protected by the U.S. Senate.”
“This investigation has been one-sided from the beginning,” he said. “Information has been selectively released to support conclusions that the chairman reached years ago.”
Several efforts by Democrats to table the vote failed amid opposition from Republicans.
The vote came just over a week after Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times before the same committee, following the release of diaries he kept that shed new light on his response to the pandemic. It also comes after the Homeland Security panel’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations obtained what a spokeswoman said was a copy of the doctor’s iPhone records from his time working...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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Onward.
A Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Thursday, August 6, 2026, to hold former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about his role in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
The vote was 8-5 (or reported as 8-7 in some accounts) along party lines. Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) advanced the resolution after Fauci, in a hearing the previous week, invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times rather than respond to lawmakers’ questions. Paul argued the vote concerned Fauci’s defiance of the committee’s order to answer questions, not his opinions or policies. He stated: “Seeking the truth is not a witch hunt. Accountability is not vengeance.” The resolution seeks to refer the matter directly to the Justice Department for potential prosecution (a federal misdemeanor carrying up to 12 months in prison for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena), bypassing a full Senate vote. A full Senate vote would likely require 60 votes and face strong Democratic opposition. Paul planned to hand-deliver the referral to the DOJ and the U.S. attorney in Washington. Paul contended that Fauci’s Fifth Amendment claim was invalid because former President Biden pardoned him in January 2025 for COVID-related federal matters (covering actions from 2014 through early 2025), and that Fauci waived any remaining privilege by giving opening remarks. Democrats called the process a partisan “political stunt” and “one-sided investigation,” arguing it improperly circumvents standard procedures requiring Senate certification and that the pardon does not fully eliminate Fifth Amendment protections (e.g., regarding potential state prosecutions). Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, described the vote as intended to punish Fauci for exercising constitutional rights. This escalates a long-running Republican effort to scrutinize Fauci’s pandemic handling, including questions about research funding and prior congressional testimony. Fauci, who retired in 2022, has denied allegations of wrongdoing.The [D] party will cease to exist once it’s all exposed.
FAKE NEWS can no longer control [dampen] public awareness of the TRUTH.
DARK TO LIGHT.
Can’t stand the mass murder Fauci. At first I bought the republican line about how he can’t assert his 5th amendment rights because he was pardoned. But that is not true. And anything that he says can be used against him in state cases. So in a legal sense he can still incriminate himself. The republican argument falls flat on its face. Sad, but true.
Why should government employees be able to plead the 5th? That’s bullshit
Now, I want to see him get the same treatment they gave to Trump officials who refused to testify because they were giving Presidential advice.
They need to go Fauci home at 3 am, with multiple vehicles, boats, vans, and machine guns and arrest him in his pajamas after they call Fox News to film it all. That would be the equal Justice. No self surrender, exactly what the Democrats did with Conservatives.
Big deal. How about a really stiff fine instead?
No one is going jo jail.
I’ll bet it doesn’t pass the full senate. A least a couple of idiot (alleged) Rs will vote no.
I”m guessing murkowski and tillis for sure
Bannon did for being in Contempt.
And.....nothing will happen as usual.
“Why should government employees be able to plead the 5th?”
If you are asked a question about something you did at work and plead the 5th, you should lose your job and pension.
Equal Justice would be for Fauci to die all alone while suffering from a horrible disease where the doctors treat you with an inappropriate treatment (say maybe remdesivir). He can see no one, and there’s no one to advocate for him. That’s what he did to so many others.
OTOH, there is his so-called "diary", which is a public record.
I don’t know, I was really happy to watch him take the fifth. Although I think he had ear plugs in and just repeated his statment when he thought a question had been asked. No doubt, he is fourious over the tarnished image. Tremendous lawyer fees ahead.
Is it on NPR ? ... No?....pppffffttt!
I think I gathered that as gist of what Turley’s take was. I haven’t seen any additions to the original 3 states considering suits, I was hoping Paxton would bring in Texas ( and Talarico).
Fox News is controlled opposition if you ask me.
OANN or OMG cameras at 3AM, please. Because they *just happened* to be there.
Your claim is incorrrect
Under Murphy v. Waterfront Commission, the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination prohibits another jurisdiction from using the testimony or any evidence derived from it.
So if Fauci testified to Senator Paul’s committee, no state or federal court could use that testimony as evidence against Fauci if he objected, provided the testimony was true. If however that testimony to the Committee were knowingly false, he could be tried and convicted of purjury.
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