The Fauci contempt of Congress fight is now moving beyond the Senate and into the hands of President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed Justice Department team. After the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt, the next question is whether the new attorney general, Todd Blanche, will back a prosecution.
The committee vote came after Fauci refused to answer questions at a hearing and instead repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment. According to the report, he used the same short legal answer 111 times. Senate Republicans argued that his pardon by then-President Joe Biden did not erase the need for him to testify. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., backed the contempt move, while Democrats cast it as an effort to provoke a misstep and then pursue criminal charges. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said Republicans were trying to wait for Fauci to make a statement that could be used against him, while Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., warned that criminal contempt would create a harmful precedent and weaken future congressional oversight.
Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he would personally send the matter to the Justice Department and the federal court in Washington, D.C. The article says that approach is unusual because the Senate normally votes on a referral to the Justice Department, rather than leaving it to one senator or one committee. The piece also notes that the Senate would likely face major hurdles if it tried to move a contempt resolution through the full chamber, especially given the need to overcome a filibuster.
Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, accused Paul of trying to weaponize the Justice Department against his client. Democrats also complained that they were excluded from witness interviews in the inquiry, while Paul countered that the information was posted online and available for review. The dispute has now widened as another Senate panel has obtained a copy of the Health and Human Services phone Fauci used during the pandemic, which Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said could help answer questions Fauci declined to address at the hearing.
