美国共和党控制的参议院委员会投票决定以藐视国会罪对前国家过敏症和传染病研究所（NIAID）主任安东尼·福奇提出指控[3][4]。福奇在上周关于其新冠疫情应对工作的听证会上援引宪法第五修正案超过100次拒绝回答问题[1][4]。委员会已获得福奇在担任NIAID主任期间使用的iPhone备份副本，该设备涵盖他在2020年疫情应对期间的相关内容[2]。
参议院国土安全和政府事务委员会将此案转交司法部门进行潜在起诉[4]。共和党委员会主席Rand Paul表示："主席指示Anthony Fauci回答问题。他拒绝了。"[4] Paul曾辩称，由于福奇去年获得了拜登任期最后一天的预先赦免，宪法保护应不适用于他[1]。然而根据赦免的具体条款，福奇仍可能因赦免日期之后的行为（包括藐视国会罪）以及州或地方指控面临起诉[4]。对此，福奇声称："(Paul)决心让我说什么话都行，可以为他屡次公开承诺的说法辩护，用他的话说，我最后会进监狱。"[1]
A Republican-controlled Senate committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in contempt of Congress following his appearance at a hearing on the government's COVID-19 response.[1][3][4] Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during the hearing to refuse answering questions from Republican lawmakers about his pandemic-related work.[1][4] The committee has referred the matter to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution.[4]
Fauci maintained that he had legitimate grounds for concern about potential charges, contradicting arguments from Senator Rand Paul, who asserted that constitutional protections should not apply because Fauci received a presidential pardon from President Biden.[1] According to Fauci's statement, Paul had publicly committed to ensuring he would ultimately face imprisonment.[1] The Senate committee obtained a backup copy of Fauci's iPhone from his time leading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including records from his work on the government's pandemic response in 2020.[2]
While Biden's preemptive pardon issued before his departure protected Fauci from federal prosecution for actions between 2014 and 2025, he could still potentially face charges for conduct occurring after the pardon's cutoff date, including contempt of Congress.[4] Additionally, Fauci remains potentially subject to state or local charges that fall outside the scope of the federal pardon.[4] Fauci served as NIAID director for 38 years before retiring in 2022.[3]