Anthony Fauci has been found guilty of contempt of Congress after invoking his constitutional right not to answer questions more than 100 times last week.
The fact that he can be prosecuted despite that right - and that he was pardoned by former President Joe Biden as a precaution - may backfire on Republicans, for whom Fauci has been a red herring.
"Many predict that President (Donald) Trump will pardon people in his administration who will later be called for congressional hearings. So the precedent here will be important," Mark Osler, a law professor at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis, told the AP.
Punishing witnesses
All members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines. Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who sits on the committee, called the decision “a dangerous precedent,” according to NBC News .
If we are going to punish witnesses for exercising their statutory right, future witnesses can argue that they are exposing themselves to possible punishment regardless of how they act.
Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, angered Trump by not supporting his unfounded claims about how the pandemic should be handled. Many Republicans have since accused him of what they see as the country's mismanagement during the pandemic.
Politically motivated
This applies not least to Rand Paul, who believes that Fauci lied. At last week's hearing, Paul repeated claims that the pandemic originated in a laboratory, which he claims was covered up.
Fauci's lawyer David Schertler calls Thursday's vote a political stunt.
"The Senate should reject Senator Paul's baseless and politically motivated reprehensible resolution. For years, the senator has proclaimed to anyone who will listen that Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted and put in prison. Dr. Fauci has committed no crime, and Senator Paul knows it," he said, according to CNN.
The question of Fauci's guilt is now referred to the Department of Justice, and ultimately Jeanine Pirro, federal prosecutor in the capital region - and strong Trump supporter - who will decide on possible indictment.
