"That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly," Paul said.
Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul is set to bring a vote on Thursday for a contempt of Congress resolution for former federal health official Anthony Fauci. Fauci attended a hearing before the committee in late July, only to plead the Fifth to every question he was asked.
The contempt resolution claims that Fauci refused to answer questions at the hearing despite being under a subpoena, per Fox News. Paul argued that the Fifth Amendment no longer applied to Fauci because of the blanket pardon, going back to 2014, he received from Joe Biden.
Per Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Paul said, “Dr. Fauci appeared under subpoena and invoked the Fifth Amendment to refuse answering questions. During the hearing, I ruled that the Fifth Amendment did not apply because of the pardon, and that Fauci had waived any remaining privilege by giving opening testimony. I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused. That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly.”
Fauci had pleaded the Fifth during the late July hearing a total of 111 times, both to questions related to pandemic response and viral research, but also to mundane questions such as what day of the week it was or what color tie he was wearing.
Paul told reporters immediately following 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 liability—his 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.”
“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.
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