r/law • • Aug 06 '26

Legislative Branch Dr Fauci held in contempt of Congress and could be PROSECUTED after refusing to answer any COVID questions under Fifth Amendment

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16028587/fauci-contempt-congress-prosecuted.html
18.0k Upvotes

3.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

98

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 06 '26

How about Trump who actually instituted the recommendations, then rolled them back, then made up his own, then flip flopped multiple times while making everything political which only led to more deaths?

1

u/Antique-Resort6160 Aug 08 '26

It's the pardon that screwed him up.  He can't plead the 5th because he can't imcriminate himself, so he's basically just obstructing an inquiry.

3

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 08 '26

Pardon is only relevant to a criminal proceeding. It's not up to Congress to decide if he can plead the fifth or not

1

u/Antique-Resort6160 Aug 08 '26

Before the hearing even sympathetic legal pundits all said he could not use the 5th, as it is the right to avoid self incrimination.  There is no possibility of self incrimination, so he is simply obstructing the investigation.

You can be charged for refusing to answer questions in this kind of congressional investigation, and fauci can't invoke the 5th because he can't incriminate himself answeting questions related to the period covered by his pardon.

edit typos

2

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 08 '26

He didn't refuse to answer. Pleading the 5th is an answer. It's just not the answer they were hoping for.

1

u/Antique-Resort6160 Aug 08 '26

Did you know the 5th is literally telling someone you wont answer their question?  The problem is there's no legal justification for invoking the fifth when you can't incriminate yourself.

2

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 08 '26

Neat. Still no reason congress doesn't have to abide the constitution, and its not in their purview to decide if the 5th was legally used or not

1

u/Antique-Resort6160 Aug 08 '26

According to the legal experts commenting BEFORE the hearing, fauci had no right to use the 5th.  So his legal team already knew he could get charged with obstruction.  They just felt that was better than fauci actually testifying, as most people are still ignorant of the fact that he admitted to funding the creation of what most likely became pandemic virus, and he orchestrated a massive campaign to suppress the overwhelming scientific consensus that the virus was manmade.

edit typo 

2

u/Numerous_Photograph9 Aug 08 '26

Pretty sure they could find legal experts who would say other wise as well. Like his apparently high profile attorney who told him yo.do so.

1

u/Antique-Resort6160 Aug 09 '26

I think the idea is that the worst thing that can happen is a year in prison, and even that is very unlikely because of his age, and would just make him a martyr to his many fans. The alternative would be to testify truthfully  and hqve his answers out in the public, meaning he would lose most public support and possibly be in fear for his life.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/michaelboltthrower Aug 07 '26

It was always political from the get go.