Dr. Anthony Fauci was set to field questions about his handling of the COVID pandemic in a highly anticipated appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee Wednesday, but he left Capitol Hill without offering a single substantive answer after invoking the Fifth Amendment some 111 times during the hearing.
Fauci Takes the Fifth
The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases made his plans clear from jump, blaming Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) for why he could not respond to inquiries:
“Given Sen. Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in, his words, ‘behind bars.’
Therefore, although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions. Thank you.”
He proceeded to do so – over a hundred times, in fact – prompting Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to embarrass the doctor by asking basic, non-incriminating questions like, “what day of the week is today?” and “what color is the carpet in front of you?”
Each time, Fauci answered with his scripted line: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based on my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”
Legal Questions
But there are real legal questions as to whether Fauci has that right. Just before leaving office in January 2025, then-President Joe Biden infamously gave the doc a sweeping preemptive pardon for any federal crimes related to his government service from 2014 to January 19, 2025.
Sen. Hawley raised that issue during the hearing. “Let’s get one thing straight: You don’t have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you’ve been pardoned, as you very well know. As the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more, Brown v. Walker, 1896, ‘when he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege.’ You know that; your lawyers sitting behind you now shifting nervously in their chairs, they know it,” he said.
“This isn’t about the Constitution. This isn’t about the law,” the senator continued. “This is about contempt, contempt for this body and contempt for the American people.”
Contempt of Congress
Speaking of contempt, Sen. Paul announced he plans to hold a committee vote next week to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. On Wednesday’s edition of The Megyn Kelly Show, Article III Project founder Mike Davis explained how the process works.
“He does not have a Fifth Amendment right here because he was not subject to criminal liability. He was not subject to criminal jeopardy because of that pardon. If he testified truthfully today, he could not have been prosecuted. Yet, he tried to assert the Fifth Amendment,” Davis explained. “He should be held in contempt. Sen. Rand Paul, the chairman, is going to have a contempt vote next week, and then it will go to the full Senate. It just needs to pass by a simple majority… Then, it gets referred to the D.C. U.S. Attorney, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and she has to take it to a grand jury by statute.”
There are two other avenues, according to Davis, that the Senate can also pursue to force Fauci’s hand. “There are two other routes. You can have the Senate [civilly] sue in district court in D.C. and compel his testimony, or you can have the Senate have the sergeant at arms go arrest him and put him in the Capitol jail until he agrees to testify,” he added.
Davis’ recommendation: “Frankly, do all three things.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Davis by tuning in to episode 1,370 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.