The U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has voted to hold former health official Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, referring him to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution. This action follows Fauci's refusal to answer questions during a hearing on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision came a week after Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than a hundred times, declining to respond to committee members' inquiries concerning his management of the pandemic and the origins of the coronavirus.
The committee's chairman, Republican Senator Rand Paul, argued that Fauci cannot claim Fifth Amendment protection, as a pardon granted by former President Joe Biden removes the criminal prosecution threat that justifies invoking this constitutional right.
This development adds to the ongoing disputes between Fauci and Republicans, who have criticized his handling of the pandemic and accused him of concealing information about the virus's origins, allegations that Fauci denies.
In the same context, former President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Fauci, claiming that the Biden administration gave him "destructive authority" while praising the "Operation Warp Speed" program for developing COVID-19 vaccines, which he described as a major achievement of his presidency.
Trump also repeated his claim that the coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, stating that he gradually reduced reliance on Fauci due to what he described as mismanagement of the crisis, asserting that he opposed calls for nation-wide lockdowns, leaving such decisions to state governors.