Analysis: Trump did many of the things Republicans criticize Fauci for | CNN Politics

After years of criticism, Republicans are bringing the heat in their longstanding efforts to target former health official Dr. Anthony Fauci. A Senate committee voted Thursday along party lines to hold him in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a hearing last week. The Justice Department must now decide whether to charge Fauci, which seems quite possible given how politicized the department has become under President Donald Trump. But targeting Fauci — some six years after the Covid pandemic began — is also a selective exercise for Republicans. And that’s because many of the offenses he stands accused of could potentially be lodged at the man who ran the first 10 months of the government’s Covid response from the most powerful perch: Trump. At the hearing last week, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Rand Paul jumped right into his allegations against Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Publicly, Anthony Fauci promoted the theory that the virus arose naturally,” the Kentucky Republican said, “while privately he was well aware o