Overview
- The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8–5 on Thursday to advance a contempt of Congress citation after Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a July 29 hearing.
- Chairman Sen. Rand Paul argued the January 2025 presidential pardon eliminated Fauci’s federal prosecution risk and said the committee will forward the referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington for possible prosecution.
- Republican investigators obtained new material for the inquiry when the Department of Health and Human Services transferred a copy of Fauci’s pandemic-era government phone to the Senate and Republicans released more than 1,000 pages of his diary entries.
- Legal experts say the path forward is uncertain because the pardon covers federal acts through January 2025 but does not block state prosecutions, leaving the Justice Department and courts to resolve whether the pardon undercuts a valid Fifth Amendment claim.
- Democrats warned the partisan vote could chill future witness cooperation while state attorneys general in Florida, Louisiana and Alabama press separate probes that could produce criminal exposure outside federal pardon protection.