Fauci Faces Senate Contempt Vote After 100-Plus Fifth Amendment Invocations
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 5
Fauci Faces Senate Contempt Vote After 100-Plus Fifth Amendment Invocations
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 5
Summary
Thursday’s planned vote by Rand Paul’s Republican-led committee would hold Anthony Fauci in contempt and send a referral directly to the Justice Department, testing whether his refusal to answer lawmakers was constitutionally protected.
More than 100 Fifth Amendment invocations came despite a Biden pardon covering conduct from 2014 to January 2025, with Republicans arguing that shield erased any valid fear of federal prosecution.
Fauci and several legal experts say the risk was still real because the pardon does not cover future false-statement charges or possible state cases, and Trump officials have publicly questioned Biden’s pardons.
The committee is trying to bypass a full Senate vote by having Vice President JD Vance certify the referral to the U.S. attorney, avoiding a 60-vote hurdle Republicans likely cannot clear.
The fight could set a broader precedent for whether previously pardoned witnesses can still invoke the Fifth before Congress, especially if Trump later pardons officials in his own administration.