A Senate committee voted along party lines to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he pleaded the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times rather than answer questions about the origins of COVID-19.
Story Snapshot
- The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8-7 to hold Fauci in contempt and refer the matter to the Justice Department.
- Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right dozens of times during a combative hearing led by Chairman Rand Paul.
- Paul argues Fauci’s 2025 pardon removes his legal shield, since he can no longer be charged for pardoned conduct.
- Democrats call the process rushed and one-sided; Fauci says the hearing was designed to trap him, not find truth.
- A viral social media claim says Senator Blumenthal admitted Democrats know Fauci lied, but that claim is not backed up by the hearing record supplied here.
Committee Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator Rand Paul, voted 8-7 along party lines to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The vote followed a July hearing where Fauci refused to answer questions tied to the panel’s investigation into risky lab research and the origins of COVID-19. Paul said the committee would refer the matter to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
Paul told Fauci directly that his silence broke the law. “That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly,” Paul said during the hearing. He had subpoenaed Fauci to testify and warned him ahead of time that he was legally required to answer. Paul has pushed for criminal referrals against Fauci four times since 2021, twice under President Biden and twice under President Trump.
Fifth Amendment Pleas Pile Up
News outlets differ on the exact number of times Fauci declined to answer, citing figures ranging from more than 70 to 111 separate invocations. That gap in the count does not change the basic fact that Fauci refused nearly every substantive question put to him. His attorney was removed from the hearing room at one point during a dispute over the scope of his objections.
Paul’s central legal argument rests on the pardon President Biden issued to Fauci before leaving office. Paul told Fauci his Fifth Amendment claim was “unsupported because of your pardon” and argued Fauci “waived any remaining privilege by giving opening testimony”. Legal experts quoted in national coverage describe that pardon-and-privilege question as genuinely unsettled, not a closed case.
Fauci and Democrats Push Back
Fauci did not sit silently through the hearing. In his opening statement, he said Paul’s real goal was to build a case for putting him behind bars, framing the entire proceeding as retaliation rather than a fair inquiry. His formal answer to nearly every question was a version of: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment”. That is a direct denial of wrongdoing, even though it does not address any specific past statement line by line.
Democrats on the committee criticized the process itself. Coverage of the final vote notes Democrats accused Paul of running a “one-sided investigation and a rushed process”. A social media post claims Senator Blumenthal admitted during the hearing that Democrats know Fauci lied repeatedly, but that specific claim appears only in scattered social posts and is not documented in the hearing transcripts, wire reports, or committee statements reviewed here.
A Senate committee voted Thursday along party lines to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions at last week’s hearing led by Senator Rand Paul. Paul said he would hand-deliver the referral to the attorney… pic.twitter.com/w8dDB0O0oP
— Orbital (@orbital_news_) August 6, 2026
That gap matters. A contempt vote proves Fauci refused to answer under oath. It does not, by itself, prove he lied to Congress in the past. Those are two different legal questions, and only one of them has been formally tested by this committee so far.
What Happens Next
The Justice Department must now decide whether to act on the contempt referral. Prior referrals against Fauci from Paul were not taken up by federal prosecutors, which raises real doubt about whether this one moves forward either. If the Justice Department declines again, the political fight will likely continue even without a courtroom resolution. For millions of Americans exhausted by years of pandemic-era distrust, the unresolved question of who is telling the truth remains the real story.
Sources:
npr.org, thehill.com, youtube.com, washingtonpost.com, abcnews.com, nypost.com, time.com
