Yesterday, Dr. Anthony Fauci was interrogated by Senator Rand Paul and colleagues regarding the provenance of the COVID-19 virus and his role in its deadly rampage.
Needless to say, it did not go well for Dr. Fauci or, unfortunately, for those seeking the truth about the origin of the COVID pandemic and the government’s science-free response that stripped Americans of their freedom, livelihoods and good health.
Fauci’s diary entries released by Senator Paul show he was aware of his impact on state policymakers when it came to school closures and other forms of lockdowns. On March 15, 2020, he wrote that then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) decided to close city schools after a conversation they had and Fauci’s public remarks.
“I went on to tell him he should close the bars and restaurants in NYC,” Fauci added. “He said that he would base this on my recommendation.”
Fauci also wrote of a similar interaction he had with an aide to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to answer questions more than 100 times during, including even simple questions from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who kicked off his line of questions with basic asks to Fauci — including what day of the week it was and what kind of tie he was wearing.
Fauci answered with the Fifth Amendment each time.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) asked Fauci "Do you feel like you're in deep shit?"
Senator Moreno also asked the people in the audience behind Fauci if they thought six-foot social distancing was "total crap," or if they thought the mask policy was "outrageous."
Axios reported the senator then asked Fauci to turn and face the crowd. He didn't, and instead pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
Moreno continued to ask Fauci about his advice on COVID-era policies, retelling a story of a woman who was reportedly tased and arrested at a football game for not wearing a mask.
"When that story broke, I said to myself, I cannot stand idly on the side and watch this happen," Senator Moreno said. He added, according to the Axios report, "Here I am, sitting in front of you six years later saying, who the fuck do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country."
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) similarly excoriated Fauci, with the Florida Republican saying that “if we have another pandemic tomorrow, millions could die because of what you did.”
Fauci’s continued use of the Fifth Amendment to shield himself from answering questions has no basis in law, as Senator Rand Paul pointed out.
Paul said he would move to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking the Fifth Amendment — a penalty reserved for people who are found to have impeded the work of the legislature.
Paul told reporters after the hearing that the “question of contempt will be voted on.”
“I’ve recommended before for his criminal prosecution, and neither the Biden DOJ [Department of Justice] nor the Trump DOJ have taken it up,” Paul told reporters. “All I can do is recommend prosecution. I can’t initiate prosecution.”
Paul and other GOP members of the panel alleged that Fauci could not exercise this right during the hearing because he is already covered by a pardon under former President Biden.
“I think there’s another legal question that the courts may have to decide upon and that is whether … you can still claim that you need protection from immunity when you’ve been protected, because Dr. Fauci isn’t liable for anything as long as he tells the truth … All he had to do today was be honest,” Paul said.
“Let’s just 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,” the Hill reported GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said at Wednesday’s hearing.
“Your lawyers sitting behind you, now shifting nervously in their chairs — they know it,” Hawley continued. “This isn’t about the Constitution. This isn’t about the law. This is about contempt — contempt for this body and contempt for the American people.”
However, that’s not the only avenue through which Fauci could be forced to answer questions about the origin of the pandemic and his response to it.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stated Wednesday his office will investigate Fauci, saying Fauci's "lack of candor to Congress in unbelievable.".
"It's past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID," Uthmeier wrote in a social media post on X.
And Attorney General Uthmeier is definitely on to something with his investigation. President Joe Biden’s preemptive January 2025 pardon for Fauci is limited to federal crimes and does not protect him from state-level prosecutions, new offenses committed after the pardon date, or civil lawsuits.
We urge Senator Paul and Attorney General Uthmeier to act promptly on their announced plans to force Fauci to come clean about what he did to fund the Communist Chinese lab that was the source of the COVID virus, and his science-free response that destroyed so many lives.
