President Donald Trump stated on Monday, August 10, 2026, that he has not spoken to Attorney General Todd Blanche or Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., regarding any prosecution of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Trump made the remarks during an interview with Semafor’s Shelby Talcott in the Oval Office, saying, “I have not spoken to them about that, no.”

This statement comes shortly after Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a resolution last Thursday holding Fauci in contempt of Congress. The resolution followed a hearing in which Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times and declined to answer GOP lawmakers' questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the hearing, Fauci addressed concerns about COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnancy. In a January 2021 text, Fauci noted the second dose of the vaccine could "theoretically" be linked to miscarriage in the first trimester. However, one week later, he publicly stated that the Food and Drug Administration had found "no red flags" among over 10,000 pregnant women who participated in vaccine trials.

Fauci also expressed a preference for vaccination over infection during pregnancy, stating, “I would rather take my chances with the vaccine than getting infected while I’m pregnant, because of the adverse effect and adverse outcome on pregnancy [of getting COVID-19].”

The texts between Fauci and other health officials, including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, are part of a collection of approximately 34,000 messages obtained by congressional offices.

Senator Rand Paul commented on the contempt resolution, noting, “This is outside of the ordinary bill-making process. It doesn’t have to go to the House, it doesn’t have to be signed by the president and really doesn’t have to go before the Senate.”

Sources