A Senate panel investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci has obtained a copy of the cellphone records he used during the COVID-19 pandemic. This development comes ahead of a committee vote scheduled for Thursday to consider holding Fauci in contempt of Congress. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., transferred the phone's records to the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have reportedly acquired millions of additional pages related to Fauci from government servers. In an interview, Senator Paul indicated that if the committee votes in favor of contempt, he plans to send the matter directly to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for prosecution.
Paul's office has previously sent criminal referrals to the Biden Justice Department and to the Trump administration. He noted that a floor vote would require 60 votes to pass, necessitating cooperation from Democrats. Last week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune remarked that Fauci's responses were inadequate and that a floor vote should be considered.
Paul expressed skepticism about gaining Democratic support for the contempt vote and intends to argue that Fauci cannot invoke the Fifth Amendment due to a presidential pardon that eliminates the risk of self-incrimination. Statutory penalties for contempt of Congress include fines ranging from $100 to $100,000 and a potential prison sentence of one to 12 months. Law professor Mark Osler emphasized the importance of this case, suggesting it could set a precedent for future pardons issued by President Trump.