Senators investigating the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic have now obtained a copy of Dr Anthony Fauci’s phone during the unprecedented crisis as the health official awaits whether he will be held in contempt. 

Fauci was grilled by senators on the Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations about public health measures during the pandemic, during which he refused to answer questions and invoked his Fifth Amendment right over 100 times.

On Thursday, the senators on the subcommittee will vote on whether to hold Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer the questions. 

Senators have not said whether they will release their findings to the public, but the findings could be crucial to understanding how public health officials made decisions during the unprecedented pandemic. 

The Department of Health and Human Services has obtained a copy of the phone and has transferred it to the subcommittee for review, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A spokesperson for Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the subcommittee, told the publication that Fauci used the phone while serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

The subcommittee has pressed for documents related to how public health officials handled the pandemic, including Fauci’s journals, which were released earlier this week.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Journal that Johnson and Senator Rand Paul have received millions of documents related to Fauci from government servers, and are still pushing for more. 

Dr Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He is pictured above in front of the senators on July 29 

Fauci refused to answer questions when grilled by senators on the subcommittee. He is seen before the elected officials during a hearing on July 29

Fauci has faced mounting pressure from the Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to answer questions about the Covid-19 pandemic

Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and was a critical leader during the Covid-19 pandemic.

His decisions during the health emergency have come under scrutiny and become the subject of political polarization. 

After Donald Trump was elected president in 2024, then-President Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned Fauci as Republicans vowed to federally prosecute the lead scientist.

Fauci has now found himself at the center of the subcommittee’s investigation, with Senator Paul accusing him of covering up a conspiracy theory that the virus came from a lab leak. 

Fauci has denied the accusations against him and accused Paul of an ‘unhinged obsession’ with him.  

‘Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me,’ Fauci said during his opening statement at the senate hearing. 

‘The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words “behind bars.”‘

‘Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,’ he added. 

Fauci accused the senators investigating him of an ‘unhinged obsession.’ He’s pictured leaving the hearing after refusing to answer questions on July 29 

During questioning, he repeatedly told the senators: ‘On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.’ 

Fauci’s attorney David Schertler was physically removed by security in an explosive moment when he attempted to speak on behalf on Fauci.

‘I didn’t invite you here to testify,’ exclaimed Paul before setting the guards on him to drag him out.

As part of the investigation, Fauci’s personal journals have also been released, which Paul argued showed ‘his love for the newfound fame COVID brought him.

Paul published a paragraph from Fauci’s writings, accusing the scientist of ‘fangirling’ over explaining Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, to Barbra Streisand.

‘She wanted to know if it was okay to get [an] mRNA vaccine. I told her yes,’ Fauci wrote of the ‘great call.’

He then spoke about listening to Streisand’s music on the Alexa device before saying the longtime star ‘really did not know what Alexa was.’

He then admitted to having ‘butt called’ her later the same day, only to discover Streisand had been planning to call him anyway to ask about differences between the Moderna and Pfizer jabs.

Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, was removed from the hearing by guards as Senator Paul scolded him 

Fauci will return to Capitol Hill to face a contempt vote for refusing to answer the senator’s questions. 

Republican senators on the subcommittee have argued that he did not have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment because he was already pardoned. 

Fauci’s presidential pardon applies only to federal cases, so it does not protect him from state prosecutions. 

After his testimony, officials in Alabama, Louisiana and Florida have announced investigations against Fauci. 

If the subcommittee votes to hold Fauci in contempt, the matter would then be sent to the Senate for a full vote or referred to federal prosecutors.

Fauci could then potentially face a misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt, which can result in fines and a prison sentence of up to a year if convicted.