Dr. Anthony Fauci will face a Senate committee vote Thursday on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress, as three Republican attorneys general also launched a separate investigation into the former top U.S. health official over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is expected to refer Fauci to the Justice Department after the committee votes on the contempt resolution. The move bypasses a vote by the full Senate and centers on whether Fauci improperly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during last week’s hearing.
Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during the hearing, speaking only to deliver his opening statement. In the opening statement, he accused Paul of having an “unhinged obsession” with prosecuting him and suggested the hearing was designed to trick him into making false statements under oath.
Paul argued Fauci had little reason to invoke the Fifth Amendment because he received a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden in the final hours of his presidency, covering conduct between 2014 and January 2025. Paul has contended that the pardon eliminated Fauci’s risk of prosecution for his pandemic-era actions, though it would not shield him from possible criminal liability for statements made during current congressional testimony.
The hearing followed Paul’s release of Fauci’s government-stored diary entries, which the senator has used to scrutinize Fauci’s role in the federal pandemic response.
Separately, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, joined by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, announced an investigative subpoena seeking records related to Fauci’s awards, financial incentives, grants, professional opportunities, and COVID-19 guidance.
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The attorneys general said they are investigating whether Fauci personally benefited from guidance that affected businesses and consumers.
“Government officials have a certain level of immunity in their official capacities, but if Fauci personally profited off of the ‘guidance’ he issued, that very well could have broken Florida law,” Uthmeier said in a statement.