A Senate panel is set to vote on a resolution to hold former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. This development follows a heated COVID-19 hearing where Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights over one hundred times.
Fox News has reported that the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has acquired Dr. Fauci’s pandemic-era cellphone. This phone was transferred from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the subcommittee chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. A spokesperson for Sen. Johnson confirmed the subcommittee received Dr. Fauci’s iPhone used during his tenure at HHS. Whether the subcommittee can access the phone remains uncertain.
Last week, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sought contempt charges after Fauci frequently used the Fifth Amendment during his testimony. Dr. Fauci, who served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and as a key medical advisor to U.S. presidents, appeared under subpoena at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on his role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic at Capitol Hill in 2026.
The subcommittee’s acquisition of the phone, initially detailed by The Wall Street Journal, comes as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee prepares to decide on holding Fauci in contempt. This follows the HHS’s submission of over 1,000 pages from Fauci’s personal diary to the panel shortly before the hearing.
Scheduled for Thursday morning, the hearing follows Sen. Rand Paul’s actions to subpoena Fauci over his alleged involvement in funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 virus reportedly originated. A source close to Paul’s office disclosed that the lawmaker also possesses the phone.
Fauci, on the advice of his lawyers, chose to plead the Fifth Amendment, which he explained as a precaution against self-incrimination before a panel he accused of entrapping him. “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 stated.
During the hearing, Republican panel members interrogated Fauci on his involvement in a speculated lab leak that accelerated the virus’s spread, while Democrats supported his decision to exercise his constitutional rights given the adversarial nature of Paul and his colleagues’ questioning.
Consequently, Paul pledged to hold Fauci accountable for his refusal to comment, questioning the extent of protection from a potential pardon by former President Joe Biden. “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 remarked.
Fox News Digital has yet to receive a response from HHS regarding Fauci’s pandemic-era iPhone. Alex Miller, a writer for Fox News Digital, covers the U.S. Senate.