The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced a resolution accusing Anthony Fauci of refusing to answer 111 questions, while a separate Senate investigation obtained a copy of his government-issued phone.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sen. Rand Paul said the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will immediately send a contempt referral involving Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Justice Department after Republicans approved the resolution Thursday in an 8-5 vote.
Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the committee, announced the result in a capitalized post emphasizing the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on American families.
“PASSED BY REPUBLICANS ON BEHALF OF THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS AND THEIR FAMILIES STILL AFFECTED YEARS AFTER THE COVID PANDEMIC, THE RESOLUTION TO HOLD ANTHONY FAUCI IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS HAS PASSED OUT OF THE SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE BY A VOTE OF 8-5,” Paul wrote.
The committee acted after Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times while testifying before senators last week.
Before the vote, Paul said the dispute centered on whether a witness protected by a broad federal pardon could still be compelled to answer questions from Congress.
Lawmakers were deciding “whether a witness, who has received the benefit of a sweeping federal pardon, can be ordered by this committee to answer questions — and then defy that order without consequence,” Paul said.
“We only have one question: Whether to hold a witness responsible for his contempt toward Congress / The witness had many chances to answer the questions pertinent to our investigation, and he made his decision 111 times,” he added.
The committee’s contempt resolution details Fauci’s repeated refusal to respond to questions senators considered relevant to their inquiry into the federal pandemic response and the origins of COVID-19.
The text released earlier this week also addresses the preemptive pardon former President Joe Biden issued Fauci before leaving office. Republican lawmakers have questioned whether the document was signed through an autopen.
According to the resolution, Fauci “was knowingly provided ‘A Full and Unconditional Pardon’ dated January 19, 2025, ‘For any offenses against the United States which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon arising from or in any manner related to his service as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House COVID–19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President.’”
Paul rejected Fauci’s claim of privilege during the hearing, but the former NIAID director continued declining to answer the committee’s questions.
The operative language directs the Senate president to certify the committee’s report to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia:
“Resolved, That pursuant to sections 102 and 104 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 192, 194), the President of the Senate shall certify the report of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, detailing the refusal of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci to answer questions pertinent to the subject under inquiry, to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Dr. Fauci be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law.”
Paul said the referral would move directly to federal prosecutors rather than first receiving a vote by the full Senate.
“We will send it to the Department of Justice tomorrow so there’s no delay,” Paul said while discussing the planned action. “That will be a committee recommendation.”
Vice President JD Vance, acting in his constitutional role as president of the Senate, would have to approve the committee’s decision to bypass a full Senate vote and transmit the referral to the Justice Department.
The committee vote came as another congressional investigation announced that it had received a copy of Fauci’s government-issued phone from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has obtained a copy of Dr. Fauci’s phone from HHS,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announced. “Hopefully, this device will address many of the questions he refused to answer at last week’s hearing.”
Johnson chairs the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Senators are expected to examine the device for information related to questions Fauci declined to answer during his testimony.
The referral does not itself indict or convict Fauci. It asks the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department to determine whether to pursue a criminal contempt case based on his refusal to respond to the committee.
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