Senate Committee Votes To Hold Fauci In Contempt

A committee chaired by Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress on Thursday morning.

The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee voted 8 to 7 to hold Fauci in contempt of the body, with all Republicans voting “aye” and all Democrats voting “nay.”

“A subpoena is not an invitation. A subpoena with no consequences is not a subpoena, it’s a suggestion. Seeking the truth is not a witch hunt. Accountability is not vengence. Accountability is what stands between the American people and a repeat of the mistakes and the very real consequences of the past,” Paul said at the Thursday hearing.

Paul said that votes to hold witnesses in contempt should be rare, but that it was Congress’s Constitutional duty to apply oversight to the executive branch, especially when a witness is issued a sweeping pardon.

Democrats on the committee conceded an investigation into past mistakes was necessary, but said the investigation had focused too much on one individual. Paul countered that not a single Democrat on the committee had used its internal software to review the investigation’s documents.

“If the investigation seems one sided, it’s because one side simply doesn’t want to look at the truth,” Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said.

Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters — the committee’s ranking member — disputed this claim, saying that his party had never received notice of the committee’s internal website.

Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times at a July 29 Senate in response to questions ranging from the serious