Republicans plan to vote next week on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing Wednesday on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Committee Chairman Rand Paul said he intends to move forward with the effort even as he acknowledged there are unresolved legal questions surrounding Fauci’s preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden.
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Fauci refuses to answer questions
Fauci opened the hearing by announcing he would invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination on the advice of his attorneys. He accused Paul of spending years trying to build a criminal case against him and said the senator’s decision to release more than 1,100 pages of his personal diaries before the hearing was intended to embarrass and intimidate him.
“Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,” Fauci said in his opening statement.
He said invoking the Fifth Amendment “pains” him after decades of appearing before Congress and cooperating with congressional investigations.
Republicans focused much of their questioning on federal funding for virus research in Wuhan, China, the origins of COVID-19 and Fauci’s previous testimony before Congress. Fauci declined to answer each line of questioning.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., widened the exchange by asking Fauci basic questions, including which day of the week it was and what color tie he was wearing. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment again.
Attorney removed after dispute
The hearing briefly shifted away from Fauci after his attorney, David Schertler, tried to address the committee following Paul’s questioning.
Paul refused to recognize him, warned he would be removed if he continued speaking and ultimately directed Capitol Police to escort Schertler from the hearing room.
Republicans also repeatedly pointed to the diaries Paul released before the hearing, arguing the documents conflict with Fauci’s public statements and previous congressional testimony.
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to trap Fauci
Democrats argued Republicans were trying to entrap Fauci rather than examine the government’s pandemic response.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., told Fauci the hearing was designed to trap him, while Ranking Member Gary Peters, D-Mich., called the investigation one-sided and said it could discourage public officials from serving during future health emergencies.
“It is unfortunate that you have been put in the position that you are in today,” Hassan said. “And it must be enormously frustrating to know that this hearing is designed to entrap you.
President Donald Trump also weighed in after the hearing, saying he watched the proceedings and again criticized Fauci’s handling of the pandemic, calling the former adviser someone who “made a lot of mistakes.”
“I watched the whole thing today,” Trump told reporters. “Fauci wanted to have nobody wearing masks, if you remember. And then everybody had to wear five masks, as many masks as you could get.”
Paul closed the hearing by saying the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.