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6d ago

Senate Panel Holds Dr. Fauci in Contempt After He Invoked the Fifth

The 8-7 party-line vote sends a contempt referral toward the Justice Department, raises legal questions about a presidential pardon, and shifts scrutiny to state prosecutors outside federal pardon protection.

President Donald Trump, flanked by Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, speaks during the daily COVID-19 briefing at the White House on March 26, 2020.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Fauci was expected to be questioned about his diary entries during his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Dr. Anthony Fauci waits for the start of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2026. Dr. Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is testifying after Senator Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, released more than 1000 pages of Fauci's diary entries from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-7 on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt after he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a July hearing.
  • The committee chairman signaled plans to refer the matter to the Department of Justice, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to seek criminal charges that carry fines and up to one year in jail.
  • President Biden issued a preemptive pardon covering alleged federal acts through January 19, 2025, but that pardon does not block state criminal investigations, and attorneys general in Florida, Louisiana, West Virginia and Alabama have opened or expanded probes.
  • Legal experts dispute the committee’s procedure of sending a referral without a full Senate vote and question the strength of a contempt prosecution given the pardon and Fauci’s Fifth Amendment invocations.
  • Republican leaders point to more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s diaries and a copy of his government phone as central evidence, while critics warn the partisan fight and possible prosecutions could chill future public-health service and prompt protracted court battles.