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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Republican Senator Bernie Moreno has defended using an expletive while speaking with Dr. Anthony Fauci during a contentious Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who helped lead the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by Senator Rand Paul, who chairs the Republican-led committee.
Paul has for years accused Fauci of lying about the origins of the virus that caused the pandemic. In previous hearings, Fauci has denied the accusation. But on Wednesday, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer further questions. Though he received a pardon in early 2025 from outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, some Republicans suggested he could still face charges for any perjury committed during Wednesday's hearing.
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During Wednesday's hearing, Moreno berated Fauci as he declined to answer questions. The Ohio Republican said he had decided to run for office after learning a woman was arrested at a middle school football game in 2020 for refusing to wear a mask.
"Here I am sitting in front of you six years later, saying, who the f*** do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country," Moreno said.
Newsweek has contacted Moreno and Fauci's attorney for further comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
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Moreno defended his remarks during an appearance on The Scott Jennings Show, a conservative radio program, after the hearing.
"That was me being nice, by the way," Moreno told the host. "That was holding back, trying to be polite, given the respect that I have for the office, for the institution. But the reality is, this guy did enormous harm to a lot of people, millions of people."
Moreno also said he believed Fauci should be held in contempt for declining to answer questions.
"I believe what he did today was contempt of Congress, and I hope we hold a vote on that soon and hold him in contempt," he said. "This guy's got to be held accountable. People paid a price; he needs to pay a price."
Paul has said the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt for declining to answer questions. He did not say whether he would push for a criminal contempt referral to federal prosecutors or another charge.
Fauci’s Attorney Hits Back
David Schertler, Fauci's attorney, hit back at Paul's push to hold Fauci in contempt for declining to answer questions.
"We are completely confident that Dr. Fauci has a valid Fifth Amendment privilege here and is on solid legal ground in asserting it," he said in an email to CBS News. "Rand Paul may be a doctor, but he is not a lawyer."
In an earlier statement provided to Newsweek, Schertler said Paul's accusations against Fauci were "false and disgraceful."
The circumstances surrounding Fauci's appearance at the hearing "regrettably made his continued cooperation impossible," Schertler said. "For that reason, on the advice of his legal counsel, Dr. Fauci asserted his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to decline to answer questions."
He added that Paul's "groundless but incessant calls for Dr. Fauci's prosecution also have included repeated challenges to the validity of the pardon issued by President Joseph Biden in January 2025 to protect Dr. Fauci against the very kind of unjustified and politicized prosecutions that Chairman Paul is calling for."
"Chairman Paul's public crusade against Dr. Fauci can only be described as an obsessive vendetta," Schertler continued. "It triggers what the Supreme Court has called a 'basic function' of the Fifth Amendment—'to protect innocent men ... who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.'"
In a heated moment during the hearing, Paul ejected Schertler from the room after he tried to speak without being recognized. Schertler said the removal was "outrageous and demonstrates the completely biased and baseless nature of this proceeding."
Moreno Calls Out Fauci’s Attorney
After Schertler's removal, Moreno questioned Fauci over his decision to hire him.
"He's a high-profile criminal attorney," Moreno said, shortly before holding up an article about Schertler published by the conservative Washington Free Beacon in 2023.
That article quoted an unnamed attorney who described Schertler as someone you call if you're in "deep s***."
Moreno said: "There's an article here in the Washington Free Beacon that talks about why you would hire a guy like David Schertler. And the comment is if you're in deep s***, that's who you call. Do you feel like you're in deep s***?"
Fauci replied, "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution."
Moreno Criticized for Silence on Daughter’s Abuse Allegations
Some social media commentators accused Moreno of having harsher words for Fauci than the fellow Republican accused of assaulting his daughter.
Representative Max Miller, a two-term congressman up for reelection in November, has denied allegations of domestic abuse made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the senator's daughter.
According to court filings and police interviews previously reported by several outlets, Emily Moreno accused Miller of several instances of abuse, including allegations that he threatened her with a firearm and physically assaulted her. Moreno alleged that Miller threw hot water from a skillet at her, held a gun to her head, pushed her against a wall and fractured their child's collarbone, The New York Times reported.
The senator has not issued any public comments on the matter.
"Bernie Moreno will get tough with Fauci but not the man who beat up his daughter," Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko wrote on social media.
Tara Setmayer, a co-founder and the CEO of the Seneca Project, a bipartisan super PAC, and a former GOP communications director, wrote on X: "I wonder why Sen. Moreno hasn't said this to his son in law Rep. Max Miller? His daughter has accused him of horrific domestic abuse against her and his 2 yr old granddaughter. Where's his energy for THAT??"
Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist and founder of the nonprofit Lift Our Voices, wrote on the platform, "Moreno is the tough guy who will not say a word about the Republican congressman allegedly beating the s*** out of and pulling a gun on Moreno's own daughter."
Comedian Mike Drucker wrote on X: "Moreno's son-in-law violently assaulted his daughter and may have broken his granddaughter's collar bone but he hasn't said a word about it because said son-in-law is also a Republican. Republican men will protect each other before they ever protect their families."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Shakeema Edwards.
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