For years, Americans have demanded a full accounting of how their government handled the most disruptive crisis in a generation.

Families were barred from hospital bedsides. Churches went dark. Small businesses that took decades to build evaporated in weeks. Children lost years of education they will never recover. And through all of it, citizens were told to comply, trust the experts, and — above all — stop asking inconvenient questions.

The bureaucrat who sat atop that machinery of control was Dr. Anthony Fauci. Unelected. Unaccountable. Unrepentant. When the people’s elected representatives finally hauled him before Congress to explain the decisions that upended American life, he chose to say nothing. Absolutely nothing. That choice just caught up with him.

From The Post Millennial:

The Senate Homeland Security Committee has voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, clearing a hurdle before a full vote can take place in the Senate chamber to officially hold him in contempt of Congress.

The vote takes place after Fauci appeared in Congress last week, where he pleaded the Fifth 111 times in response to questions surrounding his response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The vote came down 8 to 7 on the committee, with the vote being split along party lines.

One hundred and eleven times. Not a dozen. Not fifty. One hundred and eleven. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to questions about gain-of-function research and his pandemic decision-making — the serious stuff.

But he also refused to answer when senators asked him what color his tie was. And what day of the week it was. That’s not a legal strategy. That’s a man hiding behind the Constitution he spent years trampling.

Respect in words only

Fauci’s sole substantive contribution to the hearing was a prepared statement so drenched in irony it practically dripped off the page: “Although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.”

Respect. Interesting word choice from a man who then proceeded to stonewall every single question fired his way. Cooperation looks a little different where most of us come from.

Democrats on the committee played their part faithfully, introducing motion after motion to delay the contempt vote. Every attempt failed along party lines. One party wanted answers. The other wanted to run out the clock. Hardly a surprise, but worth noting every single time it happens.

The evidence speaks

Here’s the thing about silence — it only works if there’s nothing else to find. Senator Ron Johnson announced that investigators have obtained a copy of Fauci’s government-issued phone from HHS, the very device he carried while steering the national pandemic response.

“Hopefully, this device will address many of the questions he refused to answer at last week’s hearing,” Johnson said.

That phone could contain text messages, emails, and internal communications that shed light on decisions affecting every American household in the country. Fauci can plead the Fifth from now until kingdom come. Digital evidence doesn’t share his fondness for silence.

The road to prosecution

The contempt vote now advances to the full Senate, where — per STAT News — it will be subject to the filibuster. Senator Rand Paul, who has pursued this fight for years, is not interested in delays. “The next step will be when we send the referral over directly to the Department of Justice,” Paul stated plainly. Good. No more waiting.

If convicted, Fauci faces up to a $100,000 fine and up to twelve months in prison. STAT News also reported that Fauci has characterized the entire proceeding as an “unhinged campaign” designed to “entrap” him.

Spare us. That’s the vocabulary of a man who genuinely believes he should never have to answer to anyone. It’s precisely the attitude that makes prosecution not just appropriate, but essential.

Americans aren’t seeking revenge. They want something far more straightforward — the same standard applied to them applied to the powerful. If a veteran or a small business owner can be held in contempt for defying Congress, then the most powerful health bureaucrat in modern American history doesn’t get a pass. Not now. Not ever. Prosecute him.

Key Takeaways

• The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8-7 to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.
• Fauci pleaded the Fifth 111 times — even refusing to state the color of his tie.
• Investigators have secured Fauci’s pandemic-era government phone from HHS.
• A full Senate vote and DOJ prosecution referral must follow without delay.

Sources: The Post Millennial, STAT