…alleges he lied under oath
By Henry Carlos
WASHINGTON — Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is demanding that Dr. Anthony Fauci be held in contempt of Congress after the former top infectious disease official invoked his Fifth Amendment right during sworn testimony this week, arguing that a presidential pardon removes any legal basis for his silence.
In a statement yesterday, Mace accused Fauci of evading accountability for the federal government’s COVID-19 response, and of misleading lawmakers about research funding that she said was linked to the pandemic.
“Anthony Fauci spent years telling the American people to trust the science. When given the chance to answer for it under oath, he pleaded the Fifth,” Mace said.
The South Carolina congresswoman framed Fauci’s refusal to answer questions as a betrayal of Americans who, she said, bore the heaviest costs of pandemic policies. She pointed to lockdowns, school closures, and hospital visitation restrictions as examples.
“Americans said goodbye to loved ones through plexiglass. Businesses were destroyed. Kids lost years of their education,” Mace said in the statement. “While millions were dying, Fauci was collecting celebrity friends, clipping newspaper articles about himself, and writing in his diary about being the most famous person in the country.”
The core of Mace’s allegation centers on federal funding for research and what she described as Fauci’s testimony about it.
“Fauci looked Congress in the eye and lied under oath about funding research tied to a pandemic killing millions, research he used as justification to shut down our country,” she said. “His agency’s own deputy director admitted the truth on the record.”
Mace did not name the deputy director in the statement, nor did she specify the date or committee of the alleged testimony. Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, has previously denied that the NIH funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. He has testified multiple times before Congress since 2020 and has defended public health measures taken during the pandemic as necessary to save lives.
The new flashpoint, according to Mace, is Fauci’s decision to plead the Fifth. She argued that because of a pardon issued by former President Biden, Fauci no longer faces legal jeopardy and therefore cannot legally refuse to answer.
“Dr. Fauci can plead the Fifth all he wants, but if Biden’s autopen pardon is valid, he has no legal grounds to do so,” Mace said. She was referring to reports that Biden used an autopen to sign clemency actions before leaving office. The validity and scope of those actions have been the subject of political debate in recent months.
Because of that, Mace said, Congress should move to enforce its subpoena power.
“His refusal to answer questions after receiving a pardon should result in him being held in contempt of Congress,” she said.
Contempt of Congress is a process by which the House or Senate can refer a case to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution, or pursue civil enforcement through the courts. It is typically used when a witness refuses to comply with a congressional subpoena or refuses to answer questions.
Mace in her statement insisted that the public still deserves answers about the origins of COVID-19 and the decisions made in response to it.
“The American people are still waiting for the truth about COVID, and they deserve to see Anthony Fauci held accountable,” she said.
Fauci has not publicly responded to Mace’s latest statement. His attorneys have previously said he answered questions fully and truthfully when he did testify, and that invoking constitutional protections is a legal right available to any witness.
The House Oversight Committee has held several hearings over the last two years examining the federal pandemic response, NIH grantmaking, and the origins of SARS-CoV-2.
As at press time, it was not yet clear whether committee leadership will act on Mace’s call for contempt proceedings.
