US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt over Covid hearing

The US Senate Homeland Security Committee has voted to hold Dr Anthony Fauci, the former top health official, in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions during a hearing on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The vote, which split along party lines, allows the committee to refer the case to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena.

During his testimony last week, Fauci invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination more than 100 times. He argued that Senator Rand Paul, the committee's Republican chairman, was attempting to put him "behind bars". Fauci has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and his legal team has maintained that his assertion of the Fifth Amendment is valid.

The origins of the pandemic remain a subject of intense debate in the United States. Paul has for years accused Fauci of concealing information about the virus's origins and of funding research at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where some believe the pandemic began as a laboratory leak. However, most scientists contend that the virus was more likely transmitted from an infected animal to humans.

Paul, who has led the push for accountability, argued that the vote was about compliance with the committee's order. "The chair directed Anthony Fauci to answer. He refused. That is what we are voting on today — not his opinions, not his policies, not anything he said from the podium six years ago," Paul said ahead of the vote.

Fauci, in turn, accused Paul of having an "obvious obsession" with prosecuting him. "The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something - anything - that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, 'behind bars'," Fauci said last week.

The contempt resolution bypassed a full Senate vote. Paul said he did not want to follow the usual procedure, which would typically require a 60-vote majority. Republicans hold 53 seats in the 100-member Senate, and such a threshold would have faced opposition from Democrats.

Former President Joe Biden granted Fauci a pre-emptive pardon in January 2025, covering his actions between 2014 and 2025. However, this pardon does not extend to criminal charges arising after that date, including potential contempt of Congress proceedings. It also does not cover state or local charges.

Fauci's attorney, David Schertler, expressed confidence in the former official's legal standing. "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 in a statement to CBS, the BBC's US partner.

Taking the Fifth Amendment is not an admission of guilt; it is a constitutional protection designed to prevent individuals from being coerced into providing evidence that could incriminate them.

The committee's action is part of a broader Republican-led inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic. It follows years of scrutiny of Fauci's role in advising public health policy during the crisis, including the promotion of masks and social distancing measures. Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades and was a key figure in the US Covid-19 response. He became a polarizing figure during the pandemic, praised by some for his scientific guidance and criticized by others for policy decisions.

The Department of Justice has not indicated whether it will pursue the case, and the outcome remains uncertain.