Rep. Darrell Issa is calling for former White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci to be held accountable for the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, renewing his criticism after Fauci appeared in front of a Senate committee this week.
Issa has long been critical of Democrats’ handling of the pandemic and was the only member of the San Diego-area congressional delegation to oppose the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill under President Joe Biden. After Wednesday’s nearly three-hour hearing in which Fauci repeatedly declined to answer Republicans’ questions, Issa joined colleagues who took to X to air their critiques, calling it a “disgraceful performance.”
“Yesterday, Fauci found himself compelled to do one thing he never did in his heyday: listen to the views of others, be challenged on his serial hypocrisies, and be called to explain his role in a cover up for the ages,” the Escondido Republican said in a statement to Times of San Diego.
Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was subpoenaed to testify under oath by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who has spent years arguing for inquiries into the now-retired doctor.
During his opening statement, Fauci said Paul had an “obsession” with his “prosecution.”
“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,’” he said.
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee questioned Fauci on his handling of the pandemic, as well as the origins of COVID-19.
Fauci has supported the theory that the virus originated through animal-to-human transmission — a hypothesis studied by the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens.
The Trump Administration, and many Republican allies, has followed the theory that the virus came from a Chinese lab leak.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and did not answer any questions during the hearing — a move Issa called similar to the case of Lois Lerner.
“I’m not surprised Anthony Fauci would repeat Lois Lerner’s disgraceful performance. This is no regard for the law and I’m calling for swift accountability,” Issa later posted.
Lerner was the director of the IRS exempt organizations division, who invoked the Fifth Amendment during a 2013 committee hearing — in which Darrell Issa was chairman — investigating whether the Internal Revenue Service had improperly targeted organizations for political reasons when they applied for tax-exempt status.
In Wednesday’s hearing, Fauci invoked his same Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times.
“It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress. There will be repercussions for your refusal to testify,” Paul said to Fauci.
Paul scheduled a committee vote for Aug. 5 on whether Fauci was in contempt of Congress. He also told Benny Johnson, a right-wing political commentator and YouTube personality, he will refer the case to the Department of Justice.
“We will vote it out of committee. My plan is to send it directly to the Department of Justice,” Paul said on The Benny Show.
However, Fauci is unlikely to face any federal criminal prosecutions related to the pandemic because he was issued a pardon by Biden for all of his official actions from 2014 to 2025.
Republicans said Fauci cannot invoke the Fifth and claim he faces prosecution for questions about the time the pardon covers. Hypothetically, he could face state or local prosecution, as well as federal prosecution for making any false statements to the committee.
“That he had nothing to say makes it loud and clear that if he spoke before the Congress, even more lies could be told — and the real accountability he has dodged so far could be at hand,” Issa said in a statement to Times of San Diego.
