Senate Panel Rejects Immunity For Ex-Fauci Aide

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs rejected on Sept. 23 a bid to seek immunity for a longtime special assistant to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The vote on a resolution authorizing an application for a court order compelling testimony under immunity from the assistant, who was not identified, fell short of the required two-thirds of members.

All eight Republicans, but no Democrats, voted in favor. Two Democrats would have had to cross the aisle for the resolution to be approved.

Fauci, 85, headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022.

He refused to answer questions before the panel earlier in the year, citing the Fifth Amendment, prompting the committee to refer him for contempt of Congress to federal prosecutors.

The Department of Justice has not charged Fauci with any crimes.

As Zachary Stieber reports for The Epoch Times, the female assistant worked for Fauci from 2007 to 2022, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the committee's chairman.

He said her position "placed her in the flow of communications directly relevant to our investigation" into Fauci.

She recently appeared behind closed doors before the committee and invoked the Fifth Amendment, or her right against self-incrimination.

The questions senators want answered primarily deal with the destruction of government records, Paul said. A doctor who was a longtime adviser to Fauci recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to delete government records. Fauci has directed subordinates to delete emails.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who voted against the resolution, said before the vote that senators should pursue a "good-faith bipartisan approach to obtain this information" rather than rush to approve the resolution.

Republicans expressed frustration and anger that only Hassan among Democratic panel members was present during the meeting.

"I come from the private sector. To not show up to a meeting, to say 'I refuse to do my job,' is something that only happens in politics," Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said.

"That is outrageous."

After the vote, Paul said:

"A majority of the committee voted to seek the truth. All Republicans voted to seek the truth. We voted to protect this witness and hear her story. All we needed was two Democrats who wanted to hear her story, but not a single one of them is interested in the investigation or the truth about destruction of federal records."

Hassan said that was a mischaracterization of the Democrats' position.

Paul said he would be sending a letter to the Department of Justice requesting pursuit of the matter, and said his committee's investigation into government record destruction will continue.