Rand Paul spent years warning that Anthony Fauci would eventually have to answer for what happened under his watch.

On Thursday morning, Paul finally forced the issue.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he refused to answer questions at a subpoenaed hearing last week.

And this time, Democrats could not stop the resolution from moving forward.

Watch the moment:

The final contempt resolution cleared the Republican-led committee in an 8-5 vote.

ADVERTISEMENT

That vote followed a series of Democratic attempts to delay or derail the resolution. One procedural effort failed 8-7 before the committee advanced to the final contempt vote.

Here is that showdown:

The distinction matters: the 8-7 tally shown above was one of the attempts to delay the measure. The final contempt vote was 8-5.

Either way, the result was the same.

Paul got his resolution through.

The committee’s official contempt resolution says Fauci was subpoenaed to testify about the origins of COVID-19, risky life-sciences research and his tenure in the federal government. It records that Fauci appeared on July 29, delivered prepared remarks and then invoked the Fifth Amendment when senators questioned him.

The resolution also lays out Paul’s case for overruling that claim of privilege. It points to the sweeping federal pardon President Joe Biden issued Fauci in January 2025, covering possible federal offenses tied to his official service from January 2014 through the date of the pardon.

Paul further argued that Fauci waived the privilege by giving an opening statement on matters connected to the committee’s investigation.

After Paul directed him to answer and warned that he could be held in contempt, Fauci continued to decline.

The resolution directs the president of the Senate to certify the committee’s report to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia so that Fauci can be proceeded against under federal law.

ADVERTISEMENT

That is the pressure point.

Paul is not treating Thursday’s vote as another strongly worded letter destined for a filing cabinet. He intends to send the committee’s referral to the Justice Department.

Axios reported that the final vote was 8-5 and that Paul plans to refer the resolution to the DOJ for possible prosecution. The outlet also noted that the move could trigger a serious legal fight over whether Biden’s pardon eliminated Fauci’s ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

The vote came one week after the former NIAID director repeatedly declined to answer the committee’s questions about the origins of COVID-19 and research funded in China.

Before the vote, Paul said Fauci faced no risk of federal prosecution for conduct covered by the pardon and therefore only had to tell the truth.

Committee Democrats pushed back. Ranking Member Gary Peters argued that punishing Fauci for asserting the privilege could make future witnesses less willing to cooperate with congressional investigations.

Fauci has maintained that he still had legitimate reasons to fear prosecution.

The committee’s move also lands as investigators are opening another evidence trail. Axios reported that Sen. Ron Johnson’s subcommittee obtained the government phone Fauci used during the pandemic, potentially giving lawmakers records that do not depend on his willingness to testify.

The Associated Press explained that Biden’s pardon covered federal conduct only through January 19, 2025. It did not shield Fauci from possible state charges, nor could it protect him from a future false-statement case based on testimony given after the pardon.

ADVERTISEMENT

What are your thoughts?

NATIONAL POLL: Do You Still Have Trump's Back 100%? vote now

TAP HERE TO ADD YOUR VOTE

Fauci’s lawyers have also pointed to public challenges from the Trump administration over the validity of Biden’s autopen pardons. Legal experts cited by AP disagreed on how much protection the pardon removed and whether Fauci still had a reasonable fear of prosecution.

That legal dispute is real.

So is what Americans saw last week: a former federal official who spent decades wielding enormous influence over public health refusing to answer question after question before Congress.

AP reported that Fauci invoked the Fifth more than 100 times.

He even declined to answer seemingly harmless questions, including one about the color of his tie.

Paul and other Republicans say the silence blocked legitimate oversight into federal funding of risky research, the origins of COVID-19 and records created during Fauci’s tenure at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

And the committee’s investigation is not depending on Fauci’s memory alone.

Sen. Ron Johnson announced Wednesday that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had obtained a copy of Fauci’s government phone from the Department of Health and Human Services.

ADVERTISEMENT

That device could give investigators another path to emails, messages and records tied to questions Fauci would not answer under oath.

Now the fight moves beyond the committee room.

The Justice Department will have to decide whether to act on the referral. Fauci’s attorneys will almost certainly challenge the premise that his Fifth Amendment claim was invalid.

But Thursday’s vote broke through the first wall.

Democrats tried to delay it.

Rand Paul moved it forward anyway.

And after years of hearings, denials and unanswered questions, Anthony Fauci is now staring at a contempt referral to the Justice Department.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.