Anthony Fauci must face contempt of Congress, federal prosecution, and potentially arrest by the Senate sergeant-at-arms. And then, every state that had dealings with him should pursue charges independently.
This week, Fauci, the self-proclaimed final arbiter of science, transformed from a big man of too many words to a little one of almost none. Fauci asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when called before Congress. Congressional Republicans rightly want answers over Fauci’s gross mismanagement, at best, and lies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted billions, killed millions and destroyed millions more. Fauci refused to testify before Congress even after receiving a Biden pardon. His lawless cowardice should not end his legal jeopardy. The pursuit of justice must intensify.
For more than three years, more than a million people died. Many more wound up in hospitals and on ventilators, clinging to life. The families of those victims suffered immeasurable mental trauma. Others were forced to homeschool their children as schools stayed closed for an absurd length of time. Poor kids, often minority, without adequate home resources faced tremendous learning loss, along with years of undetected neglect and mental, physical and sexual abuse that classroom teachers would have caught. Children suffered because schools, on Fauci’s recommendation, ordered students to mask up, blocking the face-to-face interaction necessary for language and social development. Other Americans lost their jobs because businesses shut down or because they refused to take the experimental vaccine Fauci championed.
Fauci told the world that the pandemic’s origin was unknown; yet he suspected early on that the virus had emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China. He helped fund the highly dangerous and destructive gain-of-function research that created it. Fauci also knew that the mask mandate was scientifically baseless, as was the six-foot social distancing requirement, both of which caused severe financial and emotional devastation. He knew the potential risks of the vaccine but touted it anyway.
On June 19, 2021, Fauci and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser toured Fairlawn, a predominantly African American neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in the District of Columbia, promoting their COVID agenda. That same day, while pressuring a skeptical Black DC resident to get COVID shots, Fauci learned and hid he had suffered a pulmonary infarction – a blood clot in his lung – just a few months after receiving his COVID shots. Still, Fauci welcomed forced vaccination of employees, including through a Biden mandate the Supreme Court struck down. Fauci also backed forced vaccinations for children attending school despite their parents’ well-founded objections.
Biden pardoned Fauci for all crimes Congress could have inquired about. Why, then, did Fauci plead the Fifth? Either he did not accept the pardon, or he is hiding something. His invocation of the Fifth despite a federal pardon is itself grounds for a contempt citation. Congress should cite him for contempt. The Trump Justice Department should seek an indictment and add an obstruction of Congress charge, forcing Fauci to justify his invocation in light of his pardon. It is also worth noting that Fauci’s opening statement at the hearing may have waived his Fifth Amendment rights entirely, yet another avenue prosecutors should explore. Every state that had any dealings with Fauci should scour its records for potential criminal charges.
Even if Fauci received a pardon from federal crimes, those who conspired with and aided him did not. All of them must face criminal and civil investigations at the federal, state and local levels.
Federal law provides yet another avenue for accountability. Under 18 U.S.C. § 175, the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act, it is a federal crime to knowingly develop, produce or assist a foreign state in developing any biological agent for use as a weapon, punishable by life imprisonment. Gain-of-function research conducted at or funded through the Chinese-run Wuhan Institute of Virology, research Fauci’s agency helped bankroll, enhanced the transmissibility and lethality of bat coronaviruses. If that research was not conducted for bona fide peaceful purposes, as the statute requires, and if the resulting pathogen escaped the lab and killed millions, prosecutors must examine whether § 175 applies. The deaths of millions demand that no legal theory is left unexplored.
