A Senate committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If Fauci had went to federal trial, gotten convicted, and then gotten a pardon; he wouldn’t have to worry about state charges.
That’s wrong, as @archer correctly explained.
He’s never been to federal trial, and he can’t go to federal trial for anything during that decade.
That’s correct, as long as “anything” falls within the scope of the pardon during that time period.
So if he pleads the fifth with a pardon, he should be able to be compelled to testify, and held in contempt if he won’t.
Only if pleading the Fifth gives him no protection from other potential federal charges not covered by the pardon. If the committee had really wanted to compel testimony, they could have offered Fauci immunity for anything disclosed during his testimony. They didn’t. So a trap was probably being set. It’s unlikely Fauci’s legal counsel are all idiots, so they wouldn’t have advised him to take the Fifth for no reason.
But if he doesn’t plead the fifth, Texas can prosecute him under Texas state law and the pardon means nothing.
Texas can prosecute him under Texas state law whether he pleads the Fifth before Congress or not.
It’s a weird “grey area” because it’s not a real area.
That looks like it’s intended to mean something, but is so vague that it’s impossible to know what.
That’s wrong, as @archer correctly explained.
That’s correct, as long as “anything” falls within the scope of the pardon during that time period.
Only if pleading the Fifth gives him no protection from other potential federal charges not covered by the pardon. If the committee had really wanted to compel testimony, they could have offered Fauci immunity for anything disclosed during his testimony. They didn’t. So a trap was probably being set. It’s unlikely Fauci’s legal counsel are all idiots, so they wouldn’t have advised him to take the Fifth for no reason.
Texas can prosecute him under Texas state law whether he pleads the Fifth before Congress or not.
That looks like it’s intended to mean something, but is so vague that it’s impossible to know what.