2026-08-06T13:16:28.056Z / https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-senate-panel-votes-hold-fauci-contempt-congress-2026-08-06/
- 委员会以党派划线8票比7票通过藐视国会移交提议
- 福西援引第五修正案超百次
- 民主党五项推迟投票动议均沿党派路线被否决
- 拜登2025年1月就新冠相关联邦起诉赦免福西
华盛顿，8月6日路透电 — 美国参议院一个委员会周四投票认定安东尼·福西博士藐视国会，此前这位美国前顶级传染病官员拒绝回答有关其处理新冠疫情的相关问题。
国土安全与政府事务委员会以8票比7票的党派划线投票结果，通过了由该委员会共和党主席、肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗提出的移交提议。保罗长期以来一直是福西的反对者。此次投票紧随上周的听证会之后，现年85岁、已于2022年退休的福西在听证会上援引第五修正案——即保持沉默的权利——超过100次。
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此次投票是共和党及特朗普政府全面重新调查疫情、追责美国抗疫官员行动迄今最激烈的升级。
保罗多年来一直在开展调查，试图证明他及其他共和党人的观点：福西策划掩盖了新冠病毒的起源。
美国卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪推翻了基于对疫情时期科学不信任的联邦卫生政策，将他对卫生机构的改革描述为对本届政府所称新冠疫情应对期间强制性命令的清算。
两人都指责福西，并撰写了批评他的书籍。
民主党推迟投票的努力失败
民主党人提出了五项推迟投票的动议，全部均沿党派路线被否决。其中一项由委员会资深民主党议员、密歇根州参议员加里·彼得斯提出，旨在要求保罗承诺不会直接将此事移交司法部，绕过参议院全院投票。
福西曾领导美国国家过敏和传染病研究所38年，成为美国抗疫行动的标志性人物，同时也是针对这场已造成超过110万美国人死亡的病毒所采取的防疫措施引发愤怒的主要目标。
唐纳德·特朗普总统及许多保守派人士批评他的封锁令、口罩和社交距离指导方针，以及他对疫苗的推广。尽管疫苗已被证明安全有效，但疫苗接种仍被高度政治化。福西及全球公共卫生官员均基于当时可得的科学证据支持这些防疫措施。
福西的律师戴维·舍特勒称此次投票“是旨在惩罚福西博士行使宪法权利的粗俗政治噱头”，并敦促参议院否决他所称的“毫无依据且出于政治动机的藐视国会决议”。
“多年来，保罗参议员一直在向所有愿意倾听的人宣称，福西博士应该被起诉并投入监狱。福西博士没有犯下任何罪行——保罗参议员心知肚明，”舍特勒说道，并称该决议是一场“个人恩怨”的延续。
2026年7月29日，美国华盛顿国会山，美国参议院国土安全与政府事务委员会听证会现场，前美国国家过敏和传染病研究所（NIAID）所长、曾为多位美国总统担任医疗顾问的安东尼·福西出席听证会。福西拒绝回答问题……阅读更多
前总统乔·拜登于2025年1月抢先赦免了福西，以防范与新冠疫情或其抗疫角色相关的“不正当且出于政治动机的起诉”。该赦免不涵盖后续行为。
保罗表示，福西援引第五修正案的主张不成立，因为赦免使该权利失效，且福西通过作证放弃了任何剩余的保护。
福西上周对委员会表示，保罗传唤他只是为了迫使他作证，以支持该参议员多次公开宣称要将福西送进监狱的承诺。
《华尔街日报》周三晚间报道称，该委员会已获取福西担任NIAID所长期间的iPhone备份副本，其中包括他2020年在特朗普首届政府期间主持抗疫工作的时段。
该委员会下属常设调查小组委员会主席、威斯康星州共和党议员罗恩·约翰逊告诉《华尔街日报》，他已获取该备份副本，该副本由美国卫生与公众服务部移交。
藐视国会的移交提议通常需经国会委员会及全院参议院批准，全院投票可能需要60票多数席位，这需要民主党支持，而鉴于民主党为福西辩护的立场，这极不可能实现。
但保罗暗示此次投票可能并非必要，他告诉福克斯新闻，他可以直接将移交提议连同法律意见书发送至司法部。
保罗的办公室未回应置评请求。
彼得斯称此次调查是一边倒且仓促的调查，并表示惩罚证人会损害委员会的公信力。
民主党人还抱怨他们未能充分获取相关文件，保罗否认了这一指控。
如果移交提议继续推进，由特朗普盟友珍妮·皮罗领导的华盛顿美国检察官办公室将对此进行审查，并决定是否寻求大陪审团起诉。
福西还面临州一级的审查，西弗吉尼亚州已加入路易斯安那州、佛罗里达州和阿拉巴马州的行列，对其疫情期间的行为展开调查。联邦赦免并不排除州级指控。
由艾哈迈德·阿布勒埃宁报道；多伊纳·恰库补充报道
丽莎·舒梅克与罗德·尼克尔编辑
US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress
2026-08-06T13:16:28.056Z / https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-senate-panel-votes-hold-fauci-contempt-congress-2026-08-06/
- Committee backs contempt referral on 8-7 party-line vote
- Fauci invoked Fifth Amendment more than 100 times
- Democrats’ five motions to delay vote fail along party lines
- Biden pardoned Fauci in January 2025 over COVID-related federal prosecutions
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former top U.S. infectious disease official refused to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a referral pushed by its Republican Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky, a longtime Fauci antagonist, on a party-line vote of 8-7. The vote followed a hearing last week where Fauci, who is 85 and retired in 2022, invoked the Fifth Amendment, the right to remain silent, more than 100 times.
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The vote is the sharpest escalation yet in a broad Republican and Trump administration campaign to re-litigate the pandemic and hold accountable the officials who ran the U.S. response.
Paul has pursued a years-long investigation to try to prove his and other Republicans’ conviction that Fauci orchestrated a cover-up of the coronavirus’ origins.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended federal health policy around distrust of pandemic-era science, casting his overhaul of the health agencies as a reckoning with what the administration calls the coercive mandates of the COVID-19 response.
Both men blame Fauci and have written books criticizing him.
DEMOCRAT DELAY EFFORTS FAIL
Democrats introduced five motions to postpone the vote, all of which failed along party lines. One, offered by the committee’s top Democrat, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, sought to have Paul commit not to bypass a full Senate vote by referring the matter directly to the Justice Department.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, became the face of the U.S. pandemic response and a primary target of anger over measures taken against a virus that killed more than 1.1 million Americans.
President Donald Trump and many conservatives criticized him over lockdowns, mask and social-distancing guidance, and his promotion of vaccines, which became heavily politicized despite being shown safe and effective. Fauci and public health officials worldwide backed the measures based on scientific evidence available at the time.
David Schertler, an attorney for Fauci, called the vote “a crude political stunt intended to punish Dr. Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights” and urged the Senate to reject what he called a “meritless and politically motivated contempt resolution.”
“For years, Senator Paul has proclaimed to anyone who would listen that Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted and put in prison. Dr. Fauci has committed no crime — and Senator Paul knows it,” Schertler said, describing the resolution as a continuation of a “personal vendetta.”
Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and medical advisor to several U.S. presidents, attends a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions,… Read more
Former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci in January 2025, to guard against “unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions” related to COVID or his role in the response. The pardon does not cover subsequent conduct.
Paul said Fauci had no valid Fifth Amendment claim because the pardon nullified it and because Fauci waived any remaining protection by testifying.
Fauci told the panel last week Paul had summoned him only to force testimony backing the senator’s repeated public pledges to see him imprisoned.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that the committee had obtained a backup copy of Fauci’s iPhone from his tenure as NIAID director, including his period fronting the first Trump administration’s pandemic response in 2020.
Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told the Journal he had obtained the copy, which was transferred by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A contempt referral typically must be approved by a congressional committee and then the full Senate, which would likely need a 60-vote majority, requiring Democratic support, highly unlikely given the party’s defense of Fauci.
But Paul has suggested that vote may be unnecessary, telling Fox News he could send the referral directly to the Justice Department with a legal brief.
Paul’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Peters called the probe a one-sided, rushed investigation and said punishing a witness would undermine the committee’s credibility.
Democrats also complained they had been denied adequate access to relevant documents, a charge Paul rejected.
If the referral proceeds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, run by Trump ally Jeanine Pirro, would review it and decide whether to seek a grand jury indictment.
Fauci also faces state-level scrutiny, with West Virginia joining Louisiana, Florida and Alabama in investigating his pandemic conduct. A federal pardon does not preclude state charges.
Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Rod Nickel