U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, will work to have the charge of contempt of Congress against Anthony Fauci approved, after the former U.S. Covid-19 czar invoked the right not to answer questions about the origin of the pandemic guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
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“This is a vote that will take place in committee next week. It will concern the charge of contempt of Congress,” Paul explained to reporters at the end of the hearing, in which Fauci invoked the self-incrimination shield more than a hundred times.
“We believe that, given his immunity from criminal liability, he did not need to take refuge behind the Fifth Amendment and that perhaps this right is not applicable when benefiting from a pardon,” Paul continued, referring to the preemptive pardon granted by former President Joe Biden to the scientist: a measure that protects him exclusively from federal criminal proceedings for actions taken up to the date of its issuance, January 19, 2025.
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“It will be a legal matter, but the motion for contempt will be put to a vote. Then it remains to be seen whether the Department of Justice will decide to follow up on it,” Paul concluded.
Fauci, for decades the top infectious disease expert of the U.S. federal government, invoked the Fifth Amendment during the hearing before the Committee. In the opening remarks, he spoke of an “obsession with indictment” against him and stubbornness, leading him to invoke the Fifth Amendment which protects against “unjust” and harassing government actions. To the questions, the scientist responded that he relies on the protection of his rights.
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