00:00Second the motion.
00:01Senator Johnson? No.
00:04Senator Langford? No.
00:05Senator Scott? No.
00:07Senator Hawley? No.
00:09Senator Moreno? No.
00:11Senator Ernst? Yes.
00:12Senator Moody? Yes.
00:14Senator Peters? Yes.
00:17Senator Hastin? Yes.
00:18Senator Blumenthal? Yes.
00:20Senator Fetterman? Yes.
00:23Senator Kim? Yes.
00:25Senator Gallego? Yes, by proxy.
00:27Senator Slocken? Yes, by proxy.
00:29Senator Paul? No.
00:40Mr. Chairman,
00:41on the vote of those present, the yeas are five,
00:43the nays are eight. On the vote by proxy,
00:45the yeas are two, the nays are zero. On this vote,
00:47the yeas are seven, the nays are eight, and the motion
00:49is not agreed to.
00:51Mr. Chair?
00:53Senator Hassen? I move
00:55to table consideration of this resolution
00:57until the chairman invites the views of
00:59legal experts who can speak to the
01:01constitutional questions and legal authorities
01:03Chairman Paul has raised in his
01:05contempt of Congress resolution.
01:06This resolution should be tabled until our
01:09committee can hear from independent experts
01:11about the applicability of the
01:13Fifth Amendment and other constitutional
01:14considerations raised by the chairman's actions.
01:18This motion is intended to avoid accountability.
01:21I will oppose this motion and urge my colleagues
01:23to do the same.
01:24Press the roll call.
01:26Clerk, call the roll.
01:28Senator Johnson? No.
01:30Senator Lankford? No.
01:31Senator Scott? No.
01:33Senator Hawley? No.
01:35Senator Marino? No.
01:36Senator Ernst? No.
01:38Senator Moody? No.
01:40Senator Peters? Yes.
01:42Senator Hassan? Yes.
01:44Senator Blumenthal? Yes.
01:46Senator Fetterman? Aye.
01:48Senator Kim? Yes.
01:50Senator Gallego? Yes, by proxy.
01:52Senator Slotkin? Yes, by proxy.
01:54Senator Paul? No.
01:58Mr. Chairman?
01:59Senator Blumenthal?
02:01Senator Blumenthal?
02:01Let's hear the vote first.
02:03On the vote of those present, the yeas are five,
02:06the nays are eight. On the vote by proxy,
02:07the yeas are two, the nays are zero. On this vote,
02:09the yeas are seven, the nays are eight, and the motion is not agreed to.
02:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Blumenthal?
02:15I move to postpone consideration of this resolution until the committee
02:19has an opportunity to hear from Dr. Fauci's attorney,
02:24who was forcibly removed from the hearing last week.
02:29I should point out that Dr. Fauci had a well-founded fear,
02:35fear based on facts, that he was in jeopardy of prosecution for perjury.
02:41In fact, the chairman and others on the committee have said the quiet part out loud.
02:46They've shouted it repeatedly that their objective in that proceeding was,
02:51in fact, to put Dr. Fauci behind bars.
02:55He was represented by counsel who attempted to speak at this proceeding.
03:00Even during the darkest days of the McCarthy hearings,
03:06counsel were allowed to speak.
03:09We denied that opportunity to Dr. Fauci,
03:13and we should hear from his counsel before we move on this motion
03:21so that we can hear his side of the legal argument here.
03:28And I would simply predict, Mr. Chairman,
03:30based on the long history of assertion of self-incrimination rights,
03:36that there is virtually no chance that a court would actually approve any contempt
03:41because he had a well-founded fear of self-incrimination,
03:47which entitled him to invoke the Fifth Amendment,
03:52and we should hear from his counsel.
03:54I ask for a roll call vote.
03:56Even when the Fifth Amendment is appropriately taken where no pardon exists,
04:00the Fifth Amendment doesn't allow you to testify on the other side of the question.
04:05Basically, you are allowed not to self-incriminate.
Comments