They say you can only be sure about two things in life: death and taxes. But, there may be a third, and that's Rand Paul's desire to see Anthony Fauci held legally accountable for his role in implementing draconian COVID policies and his refusal to answer for his actions.
As we've been covering here at RedState, Sen. Paul thinks there's a pathway to criminal charges against Fauci, and that begins with the doctor's refusal to answer any questions at his July 29 hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Fauci read a prepared statement, then invoked the Fifth over 100 times.
According to Paul, Fauci's legal woes, at least as they relate to his silence while under subpoena, fall into two buckets. Here's RedState's reporting on it:
In the first, he argues that President Biden's pardon nixed Fauci's excuse for not answering questions at the hearing and didn't cover questions being asked within the scope of the pardon. Because the pardon covers potential federal offenses committed between January 1, 2014 and January 19, 2025 – as related to Fauci's government service – Paul ruled that Fauci could not reasonably claim that answering questions would expose him to federal prosecution.
The second part of Paul's argument maintained that Fauci waived any remaining Fifth Amendment privileges when he gave a "substantive" opening testimony. Before he refused to answer any questions, Fauci voluntarily discussed his time in the federal government and prior congressional testimony. By doing so, Fauci opened himself up to having to answer follow-up questions to his opening statement.
Paul, who chairs the committee that subpoenaed Fauci, drafted up a contempt of Congress resolution, and the committee passed it Thursday along party lines.
Paul remarked in a press release sent after the vote, “More than a million Americans died from COVID-19. Many of them died alone. Workers were forced to choose between a mandate and a job they needed. Businesses closed and never reopened. Children lost years of school they will never get back. Americans lost the freedom to work, to worship, and to decide what went into their own bodies. Nothing we do today can undo those losses." He added, "But silence does not honor them either. The American people deserve answers."
Okay, cool, but what happens now?
Unfortunately, nothing really happens to Fauci at this point. No perp walk. No handcuffs. No orange prison jumpsuit. He's as free as he's always been.
However, because Rand Paul and his committee just created a criminal-contempt referral, that referral goes straight to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for consideration. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed late Thursday that they have the referral in hand: "We have received the document, we are reviewing it, and will work with the Senate accordingly."
🚨 JUST IN: DOJ has CONFIRMED they're "ACTIVELY REVIEWING" a CRIMINAL Contempt of Congress referral against Dr. Fauci from Sen. Rand Paul's Committee
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 6, 2026
LOCK HIM UP. Merrick Garland set the precedent by IMPRISONING Bannon and Navarro for contempt.
NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR FAUCI! pic.twitter.com/fWF1ha7y41
Meanwhile, a procedural fight could break out in the Senate because Paul bypassed a vote of the entire chamber and moved the resolution along to the DOJ after the committee vote. Democrats aren't best pleased, but they're probably not going to delay their summer recess to duke it out.
The DOJ has to decide whether Fauci pleading the Fifth at his hearing was criminal. A conviction on that front would carry one to twelve months in jail, plus a $100-to-$1,000 statutory fine. It's up to the office of U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro to make that determination.
So, the ball is in motion, but it's anyone's guess if – or how long – it will stay in motion. Rand Paul has proven he'll keep things going for a very long time, indeed, which will undoubtedly put a damper on Anthony Fauci's retirement.
Still, Paul is making clear that he has no intention of letting the referral quietly disappear into the ether. For him, this is about more than whether Fauci ever sees the inside of a courtroom; it is about proving that congressional subpoenas still mean something and that powerful bureaucrats like Fauci cannot simply run out the clock until the public stops asking questions.
"A subpoena with no consequences is not a subpoena, it's a suggestion. Seeking the truth is not a witch hunt. Accountability is not vengeance. Accountability is what stands between the American people and a repeat of the mistakes and the very real consequences of the past," Sen. Paul said after Thursday's vote.
