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Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Republican committee chairman,
has said that constitutional protection did not apply since
Fauci last year received a pardon from President Joe Biden and
thus did not have to worry about the threat of prosecution.
But Fauci, in a statement issued before the hearing, said he had
good reason to fear the possibility of criminal charges given
what he said was Paul's determination “to get me to say
something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public
pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars,
unquote."
The pardon from Biden covered acts from 2014 through the January
2025 day it was issued but does not shield Fauci from
state-level prosecutions or from investigations into any
testimony that he did give that lawmakers thought was false.
The Republican-led panel is set to vote Thursday morning on
whether to refer Fauci to the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Washington, which would make a decision on whether or not to
investigate or potentially attempt to prosecute the doctor for
contempt.
Paul, who has previously sent referrals on Fauci on his own,
acknowledged Wednesday that contempt resolutions have often gone
through the full Senate but said he did not “want to waste time”
moving the matter to a vote of the full Senate, where it would
be unlikely to muster the required 60 votes needed to advance.
“We still might come to the floor,” he said, “but at this point,
the first thing we will do is we will send it over as a
recommendation from our committee, if it passes.”
No matter what happens, the episode raises fresh and complicated
questions about lawmakers' ability to compel testimony from
previously pardoned witnesses — and the outcome could resonate
beyond Fauci given the possibility that Trump may also grant
clemency to his own aides before leaving the White House.
___
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed
to this report.
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