Senate committee votes to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt

scienceAug 6, 202615155

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to find Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions during last week’s hearing. Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the panel would hand-deliver the contempt referral to the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Paul said referring the matter to DOJ would be the committee’s first step. Paul framed the vote around a presidential pardon that President Joe Biden issued to Fauci and others before leaving office, saying a pardoned witness could not be ordered to answer without consequence. Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, called the vote “a crude political stunt intended to punish Dr. Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights,” and top committee Democrat Sen. Gary Peters warned the move would create a damaging precedent for future witnesses. A Justice Department spokesperson acknowledged receipt of the referral and said DOJ will work with the Senate, though committee aides and analysts said a full Senate vote would probably not reach the 60 votes needed to pass in the narrowly divided chamber. If the D.C. U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, pursues prosecution, her office would need to secure an indictment from a grand jury in the district.

Bluesky Fanatic

@blueskyfanatic.bsky.social

What Bullshit! Today, a Senate committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked his 5th Amendment right, declining to answer questions during a hearing. The vote does not mean he has been convicted of a crime. It escalates an already highly political investigation.

624h ago

paul-botts1.bsky.social6

The war with Iran was to deflect from the Epstein files, the Fauci hearings are to deflect from the disaster of the Iran war.

Pknorris💙BlueInRedState3

No sadder day in history of science. 😢 Society’s now quite vulnerable to disease, infection & death without him, CDC or NIH directing our public health. Stupid, useless excuses for oxygen like Kennedy, Trumpet, Miller, Johnson & Vance need to be deported to some remote island for criminally insane.

Goodpapajama1

Galileo had this same sort of problem.

Keith1

Denial of science by the government is a key factor in the current and accelerating downfall of America. Unfortunately, this stupidity is now impacting the entire planet.

Michael Bechtel1

Anyone still active in the GOP and supporting Trump reveals themselves to be antisocial, fascist scum.

Ruben Garcia

@gorubenruben.bsky.social

GOP Rand Paul sends Fauci to DOJ for contempt. Political theater, not accountability. Fauci helped deliver vaccines that saved millions of lives. Taking the Fifth after years of attacks is a constitutional right—not a crime. History will remember who fought the virus. #DrFauci #RandPaul #USDemocracy

95h ago

Veteran Fighting For Democracy

@vetsfight.bsky.social

In order to hold Doctor Fauci in contempt the normal process is to put it up for a vote in the Senate. Rand Paul has bypassed that step and move to directly send the matter to the DOJ for prosecution. It will fail in court, but put Doctor Fauci and his family through hell first.

62h ago

DarkMatter2026 💙🇺🇸

@albs2024.bsky.social

"If senators really wanted to learn more about the origins and response to the pandemic from Fauci, they had a trump card. Granting a witness immunity — a promise not to use statements against someone in a criminal prosecution — overrides the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination"

103h ago

Veronica 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇺🇦 🇳🇴 🇲🇽 🇩🇪 🇨🇦 🍁 🇸🇪 🇵🇷

@vero1986.bsky.social

54 years at the National Institutes of Health; led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Designed crucial research and treatments during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Dr. Fauci saved lives while Trump was responsible over a million deaths. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

104h ago

8ighty 6ix 4orty 7even

@therealelvee.bsky.social

Follow up: "Sir, so why, on January 19, 2021 did you award Dr. Anthony Fauci a Presidential Commendation?"

74h ago

everaldatlarge.bsky.social

@everaldatlarge.bsky.social

Vote tells us how rotten American #politics has become. Eminent 85 years old leader of fight against #Covid is denigrated in attempt to blame someone other than a guilty #Trump for excessive deaths in USA. Senate Panel Votes to Hold #Fauci in Contempt of Congress www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/u...

72h ago

Graeme MacKay

@mackaycartoons.bsky.social

What a disgrace. Fauci could be jailed while Jan 6 hooligans stand to get compensation. America has become a banana republic. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/u...

114h ago

garci32

@garci32.bsky.social

Sen. Rick Scott voted to refer Dr. Fauci to the DOJ for contemp for invoking the 5th but Scott himself invoked the Fifth Amendment 75 times in a 2000 civil deposition while the company faced a federal investigation that led to a $1.7 billion settlement .

55h ago

Jonathan

@frakitall.bsky.social

Republicans say Fauci's pardon means he can't plead the Fifth, turning legal protection into a weapon against him.

63h ago

Jasper1

Lol, the law is going to stab you in the pardon.

C. Allen

@callenofgeorgia.bsky.social

Wait a minute. He took the 5th 75 times? He should be held in contempt then, and prosecuted. Or does that standard only apply to Fauci and Democrats...

74h ago

Michael Bilow

@mikebilow.bsky.social

@hcrichardson.bsky.social on "Politics Chat" — www.youtube.com/watch?v=Faf9... — compares Fauci contempt proceeding with Salem witch trials, but I am reminded of "Witches, Wife Beaters, and Whores: Common Law and Common Folk in Early America" by Elaine Forman Crane. motifri.com/summer2018-n...

42h ago

Mark DeSaulnier

@repmarkdesaulnier.bsky.social

The partisan attacks on Dr. Fauci for exercising his Constitutional rights should concern every American. When American physicians leading our country through a deadly worldwide pandemic receive death threats, something is very wrong. www.npr.org/2026/08/06/n...

42h ago

Charlie Richmond (Gyro Gearloose) 311.3ppm 🇨🇦🇬🇧☮️⚛️🇺🇦🌈🦋

@charlierichmond.bsky.social

Fauci’s Senate Contempt Charge Has No Basis in Fifth Amendment - Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

33h ago

The Fighting Liberal Texan🌈🌊💙🦋Congress Switchboard 202-224-3121

@fightingliberal.bsky.social

The Senate voted to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt. Now what? A Senate committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt after he refused to answer questions about his handling of the covid pandemic. Chairman Rand Paul plans to refer the case to the DOJ. ...

44h ago

3 sources

cnn.comSenate committee votes to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress | CNN Politics npr.orgThe Senate voted to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt. Now what?nytimes.comSenate Panel Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt of Congress (Gift Article)

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Senate committee votes to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt

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