Republican Senate committee votes 8-5 to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress over Fifth Amendment refusal

Committee vote

On Thursday, 6 August 2026, a Republican-majority Senate committee declared Anthony Fauci, the 85-year-old former chief medical adviser who orchestrated the White House response to the Covid-19 pandemic, guilty of contempt of Congress. The Homeland Security committee, chaired by Republican senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, approved the resolution by a vote of eight to five. All Democrats on the committee voted against, two by proxy. The vote followed a hearing held on Wednesday, 29 July, during which Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution 111 times, refusing to answer questions from Republican senators about the origins of the pandemic.

Fauci's defence and the pardon question

Fauci, who served for years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and became the most visible expert on Covid-19 in the United States, frequently contradicting Donald Trump, had announced on his lawyers' advice that he would invoke his right against self-incrimination. Rand Paul argued that Fauci could not claim Fifth Amendment protection because he had already received a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden, which immunises him against federal prosecution for actions during his tenure. That presidential pardon, however, does not cover any new offenses.

Before the hearing, Fauci denounced what he called Rand Paul's "manifest obsession" with prosecuting him. During the hearing, he accused the committee chairman of personal vengeance.

The only reason he is summoning me here is to get me to say something, anything, that could justify the fulfilment of his repeatedly made promise: to put me behind bars.

Diary publication and lab-leak theory

In the days before the hearing, Rand Paul published more than 1,000 pages of Fauci's personal diaries, covering the period from 2019 to 2022, against Fauci's will. The writings reveal the doctor's anxiety about the pandemic while advising Donald Trump, his fascination with his growing fame, and his irritation toward the Republican senator. The diary excerpts do not provide evidence about the origin of Covid-19. Paul, who favours the hypothesis of a virus that escaped from a Chinese laboratory, has accused Fauci for years of misleading the American public about the pandemic's origins. The lab-leak theory is also the official position of the CIA since Donald Trump's return to power.

Democratic opposition and next steps

Democrats on the committee denounced the vote. Senator Gary Peters accused Rand Paul of conducting a "rushed investigation." Under normal procedure, such a resolution would first be adopted by the full Senate before being forwarded. Rand Paul, however, announced his intention to send the committee's decision directly to the Justice Department to initiate prosecution. It will be up to the Justice Department to decide whether Anthony Fauci should face charges.