Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, has long despised Fauci, going so far as to suggest the scientist should be thrown in prison. Fauci has denied all of this, but with an emboldened GOP consuming Washington, Paul has found his time to strike. This alone plausibly gives Fauci a reason to abstain from saying a word to Republicans, let alone under oath. AdvertisementSay the DOJ does decide to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress; Bowman believes that it likely won’t hold up in court anyway. First, Paul bypassed the full Senate and simply held a committee vote, which is technically a violation of internal Senate rules and federal statute.