The GOP senator alleges the infectious-disease expert obstructed his investigation into the pandemic. The doctor says Paul was wrongly trying to entrap him.
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A committee led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) plans to hold a vote Thursday morning on whether Anthony S. Fauci was in contempt of Congress when the scientist refused to answer questions in a hearing last week, Paul’s office announced.
Paul’s office also released text of the contempt resolution, which alleges that Fauci was in contempt by giving an opening statement before invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions about the coronavirus pandemic and other matters.
“I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused. That is obstruction of a congressional investigation,” Paul said in a statement.
Paul has alleged that Fauci sought to cover up a possible laboratory origin of the coronavirus pandemic and called for the scientist to be in prison, part of a broader GOP backlash against the 85-year-old doctor.
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Fauci, who has denied Paul’s claims, has said that Paul was wrongly seeking to entrap him last week.
Republicans on the committee are expected to vote to approve the contempt resolution, which Paul has said he will refer directly to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Fauci before Biden left office, saying that Fauci had not committed wrongdoing but was at risk from the incoming Trump administration. Paul acknowledged last week that the pardon creates legal uncertainty regarding how prosecutors could handle a potential contempt charge against Fauci.
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