Dr. Anthony Fauci was seen looking downcast outside his Washington, D.C., home on Thursday, just hours after a Senate committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The former top health official was later driven away by his wife, who made an obscene gesture toward a photographer outside their residence.

Only hours after the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to refer him to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, Fauci was photographed wheeling a recycling bin to the curb outside the $2.4 million home he shares with his wife, Georgetown University professor Christine Grady. Appearing solemn, Fauci completed the chore before getting into the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by Grady.

As they left the neighborhood, Grady, apparently upset by the presence of a photographer, made an obscene gesture toward the camera before driving away. Fauci was seen staring silently out the window as the incident unfolded.

Earlier in the day, the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during testimony before the committee last week.

If ultimately convicted of misdemeanor contempt of Congress, Fauci could face a sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of as much as $1,000.

Republican lawmakers argued that Fauci was not entitled to repeatedly invoke the Fifth Amendment because of the sweeping presidential pardon he received from then-President Joe Biden covering potential federal offenses committed between January 2014 and January 2025.

“The assertion of a Fifth Amendment privilege only adheres to those instances where the witness has a reasonable fear of future prosecution, and it must be tailored to any such fear,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) noted.

Fauci appeared before the committee after receiving a subpoena from Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has long accused the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of concealing the origins of COVID-19 and misleading the public during the pandemic.

In addition to the congressional investigation, Fauci is also facing scrutiny from the state level, with three state attorneys general reportedly issuing subpoenas as part of a joint investigation into the former White House COVID adviser.

{Matzav.com}