Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines last week to hold the longtime infectious disease expert in contempt.
In a pointed letter to Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, a lawyer for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said any effort to compel him to appear before a Senate subcommittee, after a contentious July 29 hearing, would be to "impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.”
Except that we have live footage of the J6 rioters committing federal crimes up to and including sedition, insurrection, and treason; which was broadcast on national television and replayed extensively for weeks. And not one but two investigations by a special counsel who successfully brought the case before a grand jury which concluded that a crime did likely occur. And multiple FBI investigations resulting in hundreds of convictions, to boot.
Versus Anthony Fauci, where the only even suggestion that he was involved in any wrongdoing comes directly from the same propagandists and conspiracy theorists who were responsible for the J6 riot and have brazenly weaponized the justice department on sham trials in retaliation against perceived political opponents.
Yeah, you’ve got no paddle in this argument. He was pardoned preemptively because it was already obvious that these freaks would try to persecute him.
Claiming Fauci committed any crimes is what’s pure speculation here. And besides, the burden of proof is on the accuser. They couldn’t come up with anything to incriminate him before, so harassing him again about it is akin to double jeopardy.
Or he did something that needed pardoning. Which is more likely.
Funding research abroad is not a crime. Covering up a paper trail leading to gain of function bat virus experimentation is.
We don’t know that he didn’t do anything indictable. We do know he can’t be indicted.
Agreed. Pleading the 5th is the only sane response.
…you claim without evidence while accusing me of speculating about his innocence…
Is there any reason to believe he did this other than right-wing conspiracy nutjobs say he did? Just cause Cousin Earl talks about it at holidays is no reason to indict.
We don’t know that you didn’t do anything indictable either. Fortunately for you that’s not enough to bring you to court. That’s not how our justice system works.
Which is what he did. And now he’s refusing to play their games because he knows they have no cards.
The claim above was that “It’s not that he’s done anything incriminating”. We do not know this. The preemptive pardon makes this even less likely.
It depends how linked he is to his aide
I have made no claim either way.
Please, go ahead and make it more abundantly clear that you don’t know how the US justice system works. If people could be indicted simply because there’s no proof of their innocence, then no one would be safe from prosecution.
Say you work retail and your coworker gets busted for murder. Are you somehow implicated because you work with the person?
Neither has Fauci. That’s what pleading the fifth is.
Read the initial statement.
“It’s not that he’s done anything incriminating”.
It is not “we can prove in court he did something indicatable”. This is not a case of innocent until proven guilty.
If you are a boss and your subordinate does something wrong that is work related, you are either implicated or negligent. Neither are good.
I’m not correcting Fauci. I’m correcting the inital statement above.