Democrats block Fauci assistant’s immunity, testimony

Democratic senators stopped a Republican-led effort to grant immunity to a longtime assistant of Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday as a committee investigates the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. Immunity would have allowed the assistant to testify about Fauci’s actions during COVID-19 without facing criminal charges herself. The motion, which required support from two-thirds of the panel’s members, failed along party lines 8-7 during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting. Only one Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Maggie Hassan, was present for the vote, with the rest voting no by proxy.

The unnamed individual had assisted Fauci, the White House’s former chief medical adviser. The assistant appeared last week for a deposition but refused to answer questions, citing her Fifth Amendment right for protection against self-incrimination, according to Committee Chairman Rand Paul. He wants to question the former assistant over allegations that records were destroyed.

What did the lone Democratic senator present say? Sen. Hassan urged the committee to take more time to consider granting immunity. She said that compelling someone to testify after they have invoked Fifth Amendment rights should not be taken lightly. She voted no on the motion, saying the committee should pursue a good faith, bipartisan approach to obtaining the information. In response, Paul said that the assistant’s testimony would still be voluntary, noting no one would compel her testimony.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., insisted that he did not want Fauci’s assistant to go to jail. He hoped the Democrats would work across the aisle to find the truth.

How does Fauci feature in the COVID-19 investigation? In August, a Senate committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in ­contempt of Congress, which Sen. Rand Paul sent to the Justice Department. The vote came after a July 29 meeting of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where Fauci invoked his right to protection against self-incrimination more than 100 times during testimony.

Chaired by Paul, the committee is investigating the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Fauci helped lead. Former President Joe Biden granted Fauci a preemptive pardon for potential federal crimes committed during the prior 11 years when Fauci held important government roles. But Paul argued the pardon nullified Fauci’s excuse for not testifying.