Senate Panel Votes On Holding Fauci In Contempt

Sen. Rand Paul’s years-long effort to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci accountable for his conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic reached a major turning point Thursday.

The Kentucky Republican’s Senate committee voted along party lines to recommend holding the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director in contempt of Congress.

The action followed Fauci’s appearance earlier in the week, during which he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times.

Paul maintains that Fauci cannot credibly claim exposure to federal prosecution because former President Joe Biden granted him a preemptive pardon in January 2025. Republicans have questioned the validity and scope of that pardon amid the continuing controversy surrounding Biden’s use of an autopen.

“All he had to do was tell the truth,” Paul said as he opened the vote.

“There will be another pandemic. The time to determine which legislative reforms are necessary to make sure the mistakes of the past are not repeated is now, not later,” Paul added.

Paul’s investigation has focused on federal funding for research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, whether that work involved gain-of-function experimentation, and whether Fauci misled Congress or the American people about COVID-19’s possible laboratory origin.

Democrats continued opposing the investigation during Thursday’s proceedings.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan accused Paul of conducting a partisan inquiry and excluding minority members from parts of the committee’s work.

“This investigation has been one-sided from the beginning,” Peters said. “The minority has been excluded from witness interviews and full access to committee records and information has been selectively released to support conclusions that the chairman reached years ago.”

Paul has repeatedly rejected that characterization, arguing that Democrats declined to participate seriously in the investigation.

During Tuesday’s hearing, he also said that no Democratic member had accessed the website established by the committee to make evidence from its Fauci investigation available for review.

Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times attracted criticism beyond Capitol Hill. Podcast host Charlamagne Tha God, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio were among the public figures who questioned his refusal to answer.

Biden’s federal pardon could complicate any attempt to prosecute Fauci for conduct covered by it. However, states are not necessarily bound by a federal pardon when examining possible violations of their own laws.

Florida has already opened an investigation involving Fauci, while officials in other states are reportedly considering similar action.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama expressed his anger following Fauci’s testimony.

“If we can’t put him in prison, let’s put him in court every day for the rest of his life, where he where he has to be punished and listened to the death that he caused,” Tuberville said after the hearing.

Republican senators are now examining both the legal justification for pursuing criminal contempt and the procedural mechanism required to advance the referral.

Paul told Fox News Digital that he believes enough senators would support holding Fauci in contempt. He also said he intends to send the matter directly to the Justice Department if the effort advances successfully.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a former state attorney general, said his office is preparing a legal memorandum for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche explaining why the Justice Department should pursue criminal contempt charges.

“My team is working right now on a memo to Blanche explaining why we think that he can be prosecuted for contempt of Congress,” Hawley told Fox News Digital.

“He’s not entitled to immunity, taking the Fifth, when he already has a pardon. It’s one or the other,” he said.

Ordinarily, the committee’s contempt recommendation would proceed to the full Senate for a vote.

Paul is proposing a different path that would bypass full Senate consideration and send the criminal contempt referral directly to the Justice Department.

Under his proposed approach, Vice President JD Vance would act in his constitutional capacity as president of the Senate, certify the committee’s decision, and refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Whether the Justice Department ultimately prosecutes Fauci remains uncertain. The dispute over his pardon, Fifth Amendment invocation, and the Senate’s contempt procedures will almost certainly generate additional legal debate.

The political implications are already unmistakable. After years of dismissing concerns about COVID-19 research and the possible laboratory origin of the virus, Fauci declined to answer 111 questions under oath—even while possessing a sweeping federal pardon.

Paul’s committee has now formally responded, moving the confrontation from contentious congressional testimony toward a potential criminal referral.