Anthony Fauci is guilty of contempt of Congress and will most likely face a criminal investigation for how the United States’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic was handled. This was decided by the Republican senators of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, carrying out a sort of vendetta against Fauci, one of the world’s top infectious disease experts, who as a member of the government task force managed the pandemic, clashing with Donald Trump and repeatedly contradicting the president, then in his first term.
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The Committee’s vote comes after Fauci, 85, invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a hearing last week, refusing to answer questions for fear that his statements could be used by Republicans to bring charges against him.
The Committee chairman, Senator Rand Paul, who has long sought to hold Fauci responsible for shortcomings in the pandemic response, warned that “there will be repercussions for his refusal to testify.” Yesterday’s vote is indeed intended to initiate a process that would lead the Department of Justice to consider whether to indict Fauci.
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In the evening, Paul announced that the Committee’s request to recommend the charge of contempt of Congress against Fauci was hand-delivered today to the Attorney General and the United States District Court. “This is a procedure that bypasses the normal legislative process, so it does not have to go to the House, does not have to be signed by the president, and in fact, does not even have to be submitted to the Senate,” Paul said, although he did not rule out the possibility of holding a Senate vote at a later time.
There are few precedents where the Senate plenary vote has been bypassed before asking the Department of Justice to formulate charges of contempt of Congress. “There are not many precedents in this regard, but this is not a law, so there is no precise procedure to follow. It is a referral, a recommendation,” Paul added. However, the unusual move could open the door to subsequent appeals and could serve as evidence of the political motivations that led the Trump administration to attack Fauci.
