President Donald Trump's campaign to invalidate former President Joe Biden's pardons gave Anthony Fauci the ammunition to stonewall Senate Republicans at a Wednesday hearing, according to a pro-Trump former prosecutor.
Bill Shipley, who represented dozens of Jan. 6 defendants, made the case on X.
Fauci, 85, the former top government health official, had been forced by Republicans to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which subpoenaed him over the pandemic response and COVID-19's origins, Politico reported.
He repeatedly asserted his Fifth Amendment right and did not answer a single question.
As the hearing continued, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee chairman, made his frustration clear.
"It's against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress," Paul warned Fauci. "There will be repercussions for your refusal to testify."
After Paul's threat, Fauci's attorney David Schertler tried to interject. But Paul had Capitol Police remove him from the hearing room, Politico noted.
Schertler released a statement shortly after his removal.
"It was outrageous for Sen. Paul to exclude his counsel for counsel making a legitimate legal point," Schertler said. "It proves the baseless and vindictive nature of this proceeding and Rand Paul's personal vendetta against Dr. Fauci."
Shipley argued that Trump's quest to void Biden's pardons had undermined the efforts of Senate Republicans.
"The threats to challenge his pardon — legally baseless IMO — give him cover to assert the Fifth since he can claim there is a potential that he might lose the benefit of the pardon and his testimony might then incriminate him," Shipley wrote on X.
In December 2025, President Donald Trump declared on Truth Social that all documents signed by Biden's autopen — a machine that replicates a signature — were "null, void, and of no further force or effect," explicitly including pardons.
In March 2025, Trump had already targeted pardon recipients directly. "Anyone receiving 'Pardons,' 'Commutations,' or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect," Trump wrote.
Republicans have argued that the Biden pardon actually stripped Fauci of the right to remain silent — because a pardon eliminates the threat of prosecution that the Fifth Amendment is designed to guard against, Politico reported. Fauci could, however, be prosecuted for any crimes he was accused of after the pardon was issued.
Shipley argued Congress could fix the problem by writing Fauci a formal grant of immunity — a legal guarantee that his testimony cannot be used against him — using the exact language of Biden's pardon. If Fauci then refused to testify, he would face contempt charges, Shipley said.
Fauci said in his opening statement he was convinced that Paul's goal was to entrap him, citing Paul's "obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution," Politico reported.
