A U.S. Senate committee has voted to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in contempt of Congress. The 8-5 vote, which split along party lines, followed Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs the previous week, where he declined to answer questions posed by committee members.
Fauci characterized the Republican-led hearing as a deliberate attempt to entrap him, noting that he had previously cooperated with multiple congressional inquiries related to the pandemic. He accused committee chairman Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky of harboring an obsession with him and seeking damaging statements. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal argued that courts would likely reject any contempt charges, as Fauci had legitimate grounds to fear self-incrimination. However, Paul countered that Fauci’s opening statement criticizing the hearing, followed by his silence during questioning, represented an attempt to manipulate the process.
The panel may now refer Fauci to the Department of Justice for potential criminal prosecution. The matter typically would require a full Senate vote before such a referral, necessitating support from some Democrats. Republicans have long accused Fauci of misleading the public regarding COVID-19’s origins, particularly regarding the possibility of a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, though Fauci maintains he never dismissed this theory outright.
Originally reported by Aljazeera →
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