Republican Senator Bernie Moreno defended his language during a heated Senate hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci. The exchange occurred Wednesday. Moreno used an expletive while questioning Fauci, who had been subpoenaed by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Fauci, the former leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was subpoenaed by Senator Rand Paul. Paul chairs the committee. For many years, Paul has accused Fauci of lying about COVID-19’s origins. Fauci has previously denied these claims. In this hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment, choosing not to respond to further inquiries.
Moreno criticized Fauci as he declined to answer questions. Moreno cited an arrest in 2020 of a woman at a school football game as a reason for entering politics. He questioned Fauci’s actions during the pandemic, expressing his indignation.
“Here I am sitting in front of you six years later, saying, who the f*** do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country.”
After the hearing, Moreno appeared on The Scott Jennings Show. He described his comments as restrained and argued Fauci harmed many.
“That was me being nice, by the way,”
Moreno said on the show. “That was holding back, trying to be polite, given the respect that I have for the office, for the institution. But the reality is, this guy did enormous harm to a lot of people, millions of people.”
Moreno believes Congress should hold Fauci in contempt for not answering questions. He expressed his intention to vote on the matter soon.
“I believe what he did today was contempt of Congress, and I hope we hold a vote on that soon and hold him in contempt,”
he stated. “This guy’s got to be held accountable. People paid a price, he needs to pay a price.”
Paul mentioned that the committee would decide next week if Fauci should be held in contempt. No decision on a criminal contempt referral or any other charge has been announced.
This story is still developing. Updates will continue as information is released.