National security experts are calling for the Chinese Communist Party to face accountability over the coronavirus pandemic following a Senate committee’s vote to hold former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, arguing scrutiny of Fauci should not end the effort to determine responsibility for COVID-19.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times during testimony before the committee, whose inquiry included COVID-19’s origins, risky life sciences research, and his federal service. Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) argued Fauci’s Fifth Amendment claims were improper because former President Joe Biden had granted him a sweeping pardon covering his government service from 2014 through January 2025.
Paul said Fauci therefore had little risk of prosecution for truthful answers about conduct covered by the pardon, while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) pointed to Fauci’s refusal to answer even basic questions, including whether a folder was sitting in front of him, as evidence that his invocation of the Fifth Amendment was not tailored to any specific threat of prosecution. Fauci’s attorney David Schertler called the vote a “crude political stunt” intended to punish Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights. The vote came as the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations obtained a copy of Fauci’s cellphone from the Department of Health and Human Services and Florida subpoenaed Fauci, focusing on his alleged self-dealing during the pandemic.
Hellbound and Down 