Senate Rules Fifth Amendment Requires Rand Paul’s Permission
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 Thursday to establish that constitutional rights remain inviolable until their exercise inconveniences Sen. Rand Paul. The panel held Anthony Fauci in contempt after the former federal infectious-disease official invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a July 29 hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby committing the congressional offense of declining to confirm the conclusion Republicans had prepared before he arrived.
Paul argued that Fauci’s pardon from former President Joe Biden eliminated any reasonable fear of prosecution, apart from possible state charges, future false-statement allegations, legal challenges to the pardon and any additional crimes investigators might identify after being instructed to keep looking. “The Fifth Amendment is sacred for innocent Americans, but once I have accused someone on television, continued silence becomes an unauthorized disagreement with Congress,” Paul said. Committee Republicans agreed that constitutional protections cannot be allowed to obstruct the more efficient process of accusation, compelled confession and cable-news booking.
Paul plans to send the contempt resolution directly to the Justice Department, potentially bypassing a full Senate vote and its cumbersome requirement that enough senators support a measure for it to become the Senate’s position. Democrats, including Sen. Gary Peters, warned that punishing a witness for invoking constitutional protections could discourage future testimony. Republicans rejected the concern, noting that cooperative witnesses may avoid contempt by reading the approved answers already underlined in the chairman’s notes.
Vice President JD Vance could be asked to certify the referral, completing a streamlined federal justice system in which Congress issues a subpoena, announces guilt, interprets a pardon, demands prosecution and considers evidence if time permits. The committee is expected to continue examining Fauci’s refusal to answer the pandemic’s central legal question, which lawmakers have now resolved: The Bill of Rights protects every American until Rand Paul becomes irritated.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.