by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 6, 2026
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Thursday to recommend former Covid czar Anthony Fauci be held in contempt of Congress.
Anthony Fauci plead the Fifth 111 times at last week’s hearing. / Video Image
The vote follows Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a committee hearing last week on the pandemic response and the origins of the Covid virus.
The vote by the committee, which is chaired by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, initiates a process that would result in the Justice Department considering whether to charge him with a crime.
Whether the Justice Department does take up the matter is complicated by Joe Biden’a auto-pen pardon of Fauci for any crimes he might have committed dating back to 2014.
Whether Fauci was covered by the pardon during the hearing and the mix of the pardon while pleading the Fifth Amendment is at the center of the legal debate.
“The decision to fund dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, will likely go down in history as one of the worst public health decisions. Frankly, the American people deserve an apology,” Paul said.
Democrats not only opposed the contempt of Congress vote, but called on Republicans to apologize to Fauci for raking him over the coals during last week’s hearing.
Fauci “is an example of American excellence, a brilliant scientific mind, and yet, the Republican Party has decided to make this doctor, who saved countless lives, a political target,” Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin said, adding that Fauci “deserves an apology for the way he was treated by my colleagues, and the American people deserve better than the pitiful display we saw in the Senate last Wednesday.”
Durbin in 2024 presented Fauci with a University of Illinois’ Paul H. Douglas Award for ethics in government.
Meanwhile, three states said they will subpoena Fauci, alleging that he profited from the guidance he issued during the pandemic.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill have said they will issue subpoenas for ex-Covid czar.
Uthmeier said in a news release on Wednesday that he was issuing an investigative subpoena to Fauci for “an official investigation into awards, professional opportunities, financial incentives, grants, and Covid-19 guidance that impacted Florida 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.
Uthmeier cited the journal entries recently released by Paul: “Fauci’s diary focused more on self-promotion than the legitimate safety concerns from the mRNA vaccines. While Fauci was pushing for book deals, awards, and fortune and fame, Floridians were being deceived and harmed by his misrepresentations.”
“The public deserves answers to about a million questions related to the pandemic, its origins, and the government’s actions in response,” he added.
McCuskey said: “The American people deserve to know if they or their elected leaders were misled or manipulated. Both my Office and I support Attorney General Uthmeier’s efforts to uncover the truth.”
