Fauci Refuses Another Senate Appearance After Pleading the Fifth More Than 100 Times

Dr. Anthony Fauci has refused a request to voluntarily appear before a second Senate panel as Republican lawmakers continue investigating his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal government’s pandemic-era decisions.

Fauci’s attorney rejected a request from Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, for the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director to participate in a private interview.

Attorney David Schertler argued that forcing Fauci to undergo another round of questioning following his contentious July 29 Senate appearance would improperly subject his client to political harassment.

The refusal comes after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during questioning before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Republicans subsequently voted along party lines to hold him in contempt of Congress.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who chairs that committee, has been one of Fauci’s most persistent congressional investigators. Paul is seeking to send the contempt referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, where the Justice Department would determine how to proceed.

A major legal dispute centers on former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci before leaving office. Paul argues that the pardon removed Fauci’s potential exposure to federal prosecution and therefore undermines his justification for invoking the Fifth Amendment. Fauci’s attorneys dispute that interpretation.

Johnson is conducting a separate investigation into the federal government’s COVID response, including questions surrounding vaccine safety and effectiveness. His panel has also been gathering records involving Fauci and other officials who played major roles during the pandemic.

Investigators have already obtained a copy of Fauci’s pandemic-era government cellphone from the Department of Health and Human Services. Another Senate panel received more than 1,000 pages from Fauci’s personal diary before his July testimony.

Paul has spent years investigating whether federal money supported risky research that could have played a role in the origins of COVID-19. He has repeatedly accused Fauci of misleading Congress about government funding connected to research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, allegations Fauci has disputed.

Fauci’s refusal to voluntarily sit for Johnson’s investigation means lawmakers must now decide whether to escalate the confrontation. Johnson could potentially pursue a subpoena compelling Fauci to appear, although his office has not yet announced whether it will take that step.

The standoff ensures congressional scrutiny of Fauci is far from finished. With lawmakers examining thousands of pages of records, Fauci’s old government phone and other pandemic-era communications, Republicans are continuing their effort to determine exactly what senior health officials knew and how they made some of the most consequential decisions of the COVID era.