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Senate Republicans are readying immediate ramifications for Dr. Anthony Fauci’s refusal to testify last week in the upper chamber, and the leader of the push believes the votes are there to pull it off.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs are slated to decide whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for declining to answer lawmakers’ questions after being subpoenaed to testify, and, instead, invoking the Fifth Amendment on Thursday morning.
“I think there is a very good chance that we will win the vote,” Paul told Fox News Digital.
RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES
Anthony Fauci declined to testify in a Senate committee hearing on his role in the U.S. response to COVID-19, invoking his 5th Amendment rights. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images, Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
And if successful, Paul wants to get the Department of Justice (DOJ) involved swiftly.
“The next step will be when we send the referral over directly to the Department of Justice,” he said.
Paul unveiled the contempt resolution on Tuesday, which stipulated that once reported from committee, it would be sent to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The Kentucky Republican has spent years challenging Fauci, who previously served as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director and played a major role in the country’s policy and messaging on COVID-19 during the pandemic.
WATCH: RAND PAUL SAYS THERE’S ONE THING AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HEARD FROM FAUCI
He’s charged that Fauci should be thrown in prison and sought to compel him to admit that the virus sprang from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, in connection to risky research allegedly funded under his direction.
Last week’s hearing was meant to be the ultimate battle between the two and the pinnacle of Paul’s yearslong crusade against Fauci. But that didn’t happen when Fauci, under advice from his lawyers, pleaded the Fifth Amendment well over 100 times during the hearing.
“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,” Fauci said.
TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS
Those became the last words that the former chief medical advisor to the president uttered in the hearing beyond invoking his constitutional rights.
That prompted Paul to tee up a vote on contempt charges against him in a bid to compel Fauci to speak. The lawmaker also cast doubt on whether Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment comported with his sweeping pardon from former President Joe Biden on his way out of office.
Biden granted Fauci a full and unconditional pardon for all actions taken between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025.
Former President Joe Biden speaks about foreign policy during a speech at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 13, 2024. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)
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“I think there’s another legal question that the courts may have to decide upon, and that is whether or not a presidential pardon offers you complete immunity,” Paul said as the hearing closed.
When asked to expand on the legal question looming over Fauci’s pardon, Paul declined. “It’s a good legal discussion, and we will make those legal points to DOJ in sending the referral over,” Paul said.
