Fauci held in contempt as COVID cellphone lands in hands of Senate investigators
Senate Republicans moved to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress in their pursuit of forcing the former architect of the nation’s COVID-19 response to go on record about...
By Fox News · Fox News
Senate Republicans moved to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress in their pursuit of forcing the former architect of the nation’s COVID-19 response to go on record about his actions leading up to and during the pandemic. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on sharp party lines to charge Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to the president, with contempt after he refused to answer questions from both sides of the aisle over fear of self-incrimination. The move follows Fauci’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times during his hearing last week, which prompted the panel’s chair, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to vow that he would face "repercussions" for not testifying, or at least how Paul envisioned. FAUCI'S HHS IPHONE TURNED OVER TO SENATE INVESTIGATORS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS Typically, once a contempt resolution passes by committee, it heads to the Senate floor for a full vote. However, Paul’s resolution allows that step to be skipped altogether and allows him to send the referral directly to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. But Paul wants the Department of Justice (DOJ) involved as soon as possible. There’s also the question whether Fauci’s pardon from former President Joe Biden protected him during the hearing, which Paul hopes to find answers to. "It’s a good legal discussion, and we will make those legal points to DOJ in sending the referral over," Paul told Fox News Digital ahead of the hearing. RAND PAUL PREDICTS FAUCI CONTEMPT VOTE WILL PASS, VOWS SWIFT DOJ REFERRAL It’s another chapter in the feud between Paul and Fauci that has extended over the last several years since the onset of the pandemic. Paul has accused the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director of funding "risky" research that led to an alleged lab leak of the COVID-19 virus in China and has demanded that he end up behind bars. And in the background, a copy of Fauci’s pandemi…