Senator Rand Paul said his committee will vote next week on whether to hold Dr Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, escalating a dispute after Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed action could increase political and legal pressure on Fauci, though any contempt process would face further procedural and legal hurdles.

Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, declined to answer more than 100 questions after being subpoenaed by Paul’s Republican-led committee. Paul released over 1,000 pages of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary entries and argued that Fauci’s pre-emptive presidential pardon prevented him from invoking the Fifth Amendment; Fauci said the hearing was intended to bolster calls for his prosecution.