Yes. Absolutely. Let’s start the Covid-19 arguments again before Midterms.
Sent to newspapers 7/31/2026
Why the Senate is dividing us over Covid-19 again.
On Wednesday, everyone’s phone blew up with heavy partisan yelling over a topic we left behind five years ago – the pandemic.
This began over the weekend when Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, an ophthalmologist, began releasing more than 1,100 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary notes from 2019-2022 to the public. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had directed the scraping of department servers for pandemic details and his probe uncovered Fauci’s personal notes which he handed over to Paul.
Sen. Paul, the chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, immediately called a hearing for Wednesday to grill Fauci in an attempt to strip him of his Fifth Amendment rights, claiming his past blanket pardon from President Biden removed all threat of self-incrimination.
And, unless you were living under a rock this week, Fauci and his counsel felt differently, responding to every single question at the July 29 Senate committee hearing with an invocation of his Fifth Amendment rights. Depending on how you choose your news, this was reported as a stance against McCarthyism or an admission of guilt. Fauci’s lawyer was even physically escorted from the committee chamber at one point.
For me it was a low point of this Congress. It showed that it can move quickly when it wishes to. Just not on anything that improves the lives of Americans. But to provoke arguments, to divide us, to reopen old hurts, act on long-simmering personal grudges – sure! Let’s bring all that back.
Anthony Fauci began working at the National Institutes of Health in 1968, forgoing the greater income and potential leisure of working as physician in private practice. As the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984-2022, he served under seven presidents, retiring at the age of 82. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008 for his work on HIV/AIDS research and received a Presidential Commendation from President Trump on his last day in office in 2021 for his work on Operation Warp Speed, the effort to field the Covid-19 vaccine.
He also maintained personal notes on his computer at NIH, which is how we got here today. Fauci is 85. Those of us in later generations know better than to leave personal opinions on institutional servers. This naïveté has landed Fauci in the mess he is in this week.
The main smoking gun from the diary notes I have seen so far is that Fauci was amazed at his fame over the pandemic. While embarrassing to have revealed, I don’t think this is a chargeable offense. I’ve not read the notes in their entirety.
Sen. Paul has scheduled a contempt of Congress hearing next week (How fast things can move in the Senate with the proper motivation! If only the fiscal year 2027 budget…). That effort has an uphill battle – requiring 60 votes and overcoming a Democratic filibuster. It will likely go nowhere.
The last individuals found in contempt of Congress who were referred to criminal prosecution were White House strategist Steve Bannon in 2022, and White House trade advisor Peter Navarro in 2023. Both were convicted of criminal contempt after stonewalling the bipartisan January 6 committee and served 4-month prison sentences in 2024. Navarro had not been pardoned by Trump as he left office in 2021; Bannon did have a pardon, but not for contempt.
Bannon was pardoned for wire fraud and money laundering on January 20, 2021 by President Trump. Sen. Paul is attempting to trap Fauci the same way with pursuing contempt charges, but it is a long shot.
First, Fauci’s attorneys argue he can only be convicted of new crimes after his pardon – such as contempt. He is therefore permitted to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Second, there are not enough votes in the 2026 Senate to reach a 60-vote majority for a contempt finding for a referral for criminal charges, as there were in 2022. No Democrat will cross the aisle for this one.
Yet, Sen. Paul persists and an ugly chapter in American history – where we prevailed against an unseen enemy – is being used to divide us again with conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. Let’s give this sideshow the minimal attention it deserves and instead consider demanding action on efforts that will propel the country forward, such as a responsible budget, sensible immigration reform, cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, and, oh, I don’t know, conflict of interest enforcement for government officials at every level of government.
At any rate, early voting begins in just over two months.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at merritt@merrittocracy.news.