Fauci on 'solid legal ground' in face of prosecution threat, lawyer says

A lawyer for Anthony Fauci insists his client is on "solid legal ground" after Fauci was threatened with prosecution for refusing to answer questions during a combative congressional hearing.

Fauci, the ex-White House chief medical adviser, appeared on Wednesday before a US Senate committee investigating his handling of the Covid pandemic.

He invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination during testimony more than 100 times, angering Republicans.

Committee chairman Senator Rand Paul suggested Fauci could face contempt-of-Congress proceedings as a result. But Fauci's lawyer said his client was on safe footing, adding: "Rand Paul may be a doctor, but he is not a lawyer."

Paul has long accused Fauci of trying to cover up the origin of Covid, and of funding research at a lab in Wuhan in China, where some theories say the pandemic began. Other theories point to natural exposure to an infected animal as the origin of the pandemic.

Fauci denies any wrongdoing.

Discussing Fauci's refusal to answer questions on Wednesday, Paul told CBS News: "I think there is a very real chance that he could be prosecuted for that."

It remains unclear whether Fauci could face any charges. He was given a pre-emptive pardon by Joe Biden at the end of his presidency, but Paul suggested that the scope of that pardon could be tested legally.

During the session, Fauci repeatedly told the panel he was invoking the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution under the advice of his lawyers.

Invoking the Fifth Amendment in itself is not a crime, and is routinely used by defendants in criminal investigations at every level of the US judicial system.

Paul, a Kentucky senator, said the committee would vote next week on holding Fauci in criminal contempt of Congress.

If approved, the resolution would go to the Senate floor, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner. But it could need 60 votes to pass - a long shot since that would require Democrats to side with Republicans.

If the resolution was passed through the Senate, it would be referred to the top prosecutor for the District of Columbia for possible prosecution.

Congressional expert Daniel Schuman, the executive director of the American Governance Institute, says Paul faces a complex path to get to a successful contempt vote, however.

"I don't know if they can get there in the committee," he said.

Fauci's lawyer David Schertler said in an email to CBS: "We are completely confident that Dr Fauci has a valid Fifth Amendment privilege here and is on solid legal ground in asserting it."