Can Fauci hide behind the Fifth? Game-changing Biden pardon may not provide complete cover, experts say
Dr. Anthony Fauci's refusal to answer more than 100 questions during Wednesday's fiery Senate hearing has sparked a legal showdown over whether a witness granted a sweeping presidential pardon can...
By Fox News · Fox News
Dr. Anthony Fauci 's refusal to answer more than 100 questions during Wednesday's fiery Senate hearing has sparked a legal showdown over whether a witness granted a sweeping presidential pardon can still invoke the Fifth Amendment. Sen. Rand Paul , R-Ky., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced after the hearing that he plans to pursue contempt proceedings against Fauci following the repeated invocations of the Fifth Amendment and his refusal to answer lawmakers' questions. "We're going to have a vote next week on contempt," Paul said. "I think there's another legal question that the courts may have to decide upon, and that is whether or not a presidential pardon offers you complete immunity." RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES Former President Joe Biden issued Fauci, who served as the chief architect for the government's COVID-19 guidelines, a full and unconditional pardon for all actions taken between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025. Biden's broad pardon protected Fauci from prosecution for the actions being investigated by the committee, leaving only the possibility of charges if he lied under oath. Abhishek Kambli, a former Justice Department official who now represents former Trump advisor Peter Navarro in his contempt of Congress case, told Fox News Digital that the issue presents a novel legal question about whether Fauci can invoke the Fifth Amendment at all. "Obviously, if he tells the truth, then he would be protected by that blanket pardon, since the past conduct that he reveals he's fully immunized from," Kambli told Fox News Digital. Kambli questioned whether the Fifth Amendment privilege properly applies if truthful testimony could no longer expose Fauci to prosecution for the underlying conduct. "His theory is that it's a witch hunt and that they're looking for perjury traps to charge him with, so that's why he needs to invoke the Fifth Amendment," Kam…