Contempt path faces one-vote margin, 60-vote threshold, and presidential pardon
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former White House chief medical adviser and former head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday and repeatedly invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination, declining to answer questions more than 100 times during the hearing.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the committee and has long clashed with Fauci over the origins of COVID-19, said the panel would vote next week on holding Fauci in criminal contempt of Congress. Paul told CBS News that Fauci “could be prosecuted” for his refusal to answer questions.
Days before the hearing, Paul released over 1,000 pages of Fauci’s private diary entries from the pandemic period, accusing him of hiding the truth about COVID-19’s origins. Paul has repeatedly argued that the virus likely leaked from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, a theory the CIA backed last year. Fauci has denied any wrongdoing.
Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, told CBS in an email that the former health official was on safe legal footing. “We are completely confident that Dr. Fauci has a valid Fifth Amendment privilege here and is on solid legal ground in asserting it,” Schertler said. He added, “Rand Paul may be a doctor, but he is not a lawyer.”
Invoking the Fifth Amendment is not itself a crime and is routinely used by defendants in criminal investigations, congressional expert Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, noted. President Donald Trump, for example, invoked it during a deposition in a civil case against the Trump Organization in New York in 2022.
If the committee approves a contempt resolution, it would go to the full Senate floor, according to CBS, BBC’s U.S. partner. But the resolution could need 60 votes to pass, a threshold that would require Democratic support—a long shot, Schuman said. Republicans hold only a one-vote majority on the panel, meaning a single Republican defector could block the recommendation.
“It’s a complex path,” Schuman said, noting that the Senate faces other pressing business including budget and funding responsibilities, and that some moderate Republicans may not be determined to prosecute Fauci.
Former President Joe Biden issued a pre-emptive pardon to Fauci covering his actions between 2014–25 before leaving office. Paul acknowledged that the scope of the pardon and whether it confers immunity presented “another legal question that the courts may have to decide upon.” Republicans on the committee have cited an 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that compelled a witness to provide testimony because their pardon had immunized them from prosecution.
Fauci could still face charges for actions after the pardon’s January 2025 coverage window, including conduct toward the Senate committee. Presidential pardons cover only federal offenses, leaving the possibility of state-level action. Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, said Wednesday he would investigate Fauci but provided no details about what crimes he believed Fauci might have committed.
Several Democrats defended Fauci during the hearing. Sen. Maggie Hassan said the proceeding was “designed to entrap” him. President Trump posted on social media calling Fauci “crazy” and reiterating his claim that the virus came from the Wuhan Laboratory.
The World Health Organization said last year that the natural-origin theory—the virus spilling over from animals to humans—was the “best supported” idea from available evidence, but that the matter remains inconclusive until more information emerges.
Fauci, who served as the nation’s top infectious disease expert throughout the pandemic and received a presidential commendation from Trump in 2021 for his work on Operation Warp Speed, has faced death threats during and after the pandemic. Trump removed his security protection last year.