WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Friday said he had formally asked the Justice Department to prosecute former top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci, escalating a long-running campaign against the physician after a Republican-led Senate committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.
Paul, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said his office delivered a criminal referral to the Justice Department following the panel's vote a day earlier. The committee approved the contempt resolution along party lines after Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during testimony about the U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related investigations.
Paul argued that Fauci's refusal to answer questions justified criminal contempt proceedings and urged the department to pursue the case without delay. He has also maintained separate allegations that Fauci misled Congress about U.S.-funded research connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, accusations that Fauci has consistently denied.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades before retiring, invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during his July appearance before the committee. He said at the hearing that, on the advice of counsel, he was exercising his constitutional right against self-incrimination despite what he described as a long history of cooperation with Congress.
Fauci's attorney has called the committee's actions politically motivated and said his client lawfully exercised constitutional protections. Democrats on the committee opposed the contempt resolution, arguing that invoking the Fifth Amendment cannot itself be treated as evidence of wrongdoing and warning that the action could discourage public officials from exercising constitutional rights.
The referral places the matter before the Justice Department, which will determine whether to pursue any prosecution. Legal experts have said the path forward is uncertain, noting questions about the committee's referral process and the legal implications of Fauci's assertion of Fifth Amendment protections. They have also pointed to a presidential pardon issued by former President Joe Biden covering federal offenses through Jan. 19, 2025, though Republicans argue potential conduct outside that period could still be subject to prosecution.
President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly backed calls for Fauci to face prosecution, echoing Paul's position but without identifying specific criminal charges. As of Friday, the Justice Department had not publicly announced whether it would act on the committee's referral.
