(The Center Square) –The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a vote Wednesday on whether to hold the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in contempt of Congress.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Monday on social media he plans to hold Anthony Fauci accountable.
Fauci appeared before the committee last week where repeatedly exercised his Fifth Amendment rights instead of answering questions about his COVID-era journal entries.
His journal appeared to show discrepancies between what he thought privately and what he said publicly to guide the government’s response to the pandemic.
Scott, who sits on the committee, said afterward that Fauci was “focused on his personal fame” while people were dying.
“Dr. Fauci destroyed lives,” Scott said on X Monday. “Americans couldn’t say goodbye to their loved ones and lost all trust in public health because Anthony Fauci was focused on being famous. This week, we will vote to hold him accountable.”
After the hearing that produced no answers from Fauci, Sen. Ron Johnson sent letters to former FDA officials and Fauci to appear voluntarily for transcribed interviews.
“Good,” Scott said about the letters.
He later wrote on X, “Government COVID tyranny destroyed countless American lives. Anthony Fauci was at the forefront of that destruction. The American people deserve answers and accountability.”
Fauci’s refusal to answer questions has been met with criticism, especially given that he has already received a presidential pardon protecting him from prosecution.
“Fauci has a track record of failing the American people,” Scott said. “During the pandemic, millions of Americans lost their lives and livelihoods. After being lawfully subpoenaed to testify before Congress, Fauci refused to answer the American people’s questions. I support Sen. Rand Paul’s efforts to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.”
Florida often went against the grain when it came to Fauci’s recommendations for a government response to COVID. As evidenced in Fauci’s journal when referring to how Gov. Ron DeSantis chose to keep Florida open.
In an October 2020 entry Fauci wrote: “Gov. DeSantis is legally preventing the mayors from doing what needs to be done. They cannot close bars or restaurants. DeSantis is preventing them from doing what needs to be done. Mayors are frustrated.”
Since the journal entries were made public, DeSantis has continually stated that he’s proud Florida stood its ground.
“We refused to allow Florida to descend into a Faucian dystopia,” DeSantis said Monday, “Fauci attacked me in his diaries for bucking his draconian edits and those attacks are badges of honor!”
