WASHINGTON, July 30 (DC Times Online) — In Washington, D.C., Sen. Ted Cruz called for Anthony Fauci to face contempt, perjury charges and jail time after Fauci repeatedly refused to answer questions at a Republican-led U.S. Senate hearing.
Fauci, the former White House COVID-19 adviser and former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared before a Senate committee on July 29, 2026. The hearing, led by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, focused on Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and questions about its origins, according to the hearing remarks and subsequent reporting from The Washington Post, USA Today and Fox News video coverage.
During the hearing, Fauci said he was invoking his Fifth Amendment rights and would not answer questions. The Fifth Amendment allows a person to refuse to answer questions that could be used to incriminate them. The Washington Post reported that Fauci’s refusal could, for now, limit the record available for any claim that he lied under oath.
Cruz responded sharply in interviews after the hearing. He said Fauci should be held in contempt of Congress, prosecuted for perjury and sent to jail. Cruz also called Fauci “the most damaging bureaucrat in the history of America.” Fox News reported that Cruz tied his demands to what he described as Fauci’s repeated dishonesty about COVID-19-related matters.
What Cruz is accusing Fauci of
Perjury means lying under oath. Contempt of Congress is a separate congressional process used when lawmakers believe someone has refused to comply with a subpoena or refused to answer questions properly. In this case, the available sources do not show any court filing, criminal complaint or indictment against Fauci.
That matters because accusations are not findings. The reporting shows Cruz making the accusation, and it shows Fauci declining to answer, but it does not show a court saying Fauci committed a crime.
What happened at the hearing
Paul said the committee would vote the following week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. The hearing also included discussion of a document release tied to Paul’s office. Yahoo and Fox News reported that Paul had released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci diary entries and a 465-page collection of emails and other documents, and Fauci said the release was meant to embarrass and intimidate him.
The exact number of times Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment varies across the source material. What is clear is that he refused to answer a broad set of questions and did so repeatedly.
Why Cruz keeps targeting Fauci
Cruz has been attacking Fauci for years. In a 2021 Senate press release and related Fox News coverage, Cruz called Fauci “the most dangerous bureaucrat in the history of the country” and said Fauci had been dishonest about masks and about gain-of-function research funding. Cruz also cited a federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which can punish false statements made to Congress.
This latest clash is part of the larger fight over Fauci’s role in the pandemic and how public health officials handled the crisis. But for now, the public record in the materials provided stops at accusations, a refusal to answer, and a threatened committee vote — not a completed criminal case.
