Senate committee says it has a backup copy of Anthony Fauci’s iPhone as it weighs contempt referral

A Senate committee said it has obtained a backup copy of Anthony Fauci’s iPhone as it weighs whether to hold the former White House chief medical adviser in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions from Republican members during a prior round of testimony.

According to The Guardian, the panel has the phone’s backup copy and was reviewing the matter as part of its deliberations on whether to advance the contempt procedure. The report describes the questioning as “hostile” and says Fauci relied on the Fifth Amendment during the exchange.

The committee’s consideration comes after Fauci declined to provide answers to questions directed at him by Republican lawmakers. The Fifth Amendment invocation is central to the committee’s assessment because contempt of Congress is generally aimed at enforcing congressional subpoenas and ensuring witnesses comply with lawful requests for information.

In its reported account, the committee’s move to evaluate contempt follows a dispute over the scope of the questions Fauci faced and whether his refusal was sufficiently justified to avoid enforcement action. The new development about the iPhone backup indicates the panel is also incorporating competing claims about what evidence is available to Congress and what form it takes.

The Pentagon and public health agencies were not cited in the report, and the record provided does not specify whether the phone material is intended for investigators in a criminal context or solely for the committee’s oversight function. It also does not identify which specific Senate committee is involved, the date of the earlier testimony, or the exact questions Fauci declined to answer.

The procedural next steps, as reflected in how contempt cases typically proceed, would require the committee to move from internal deliberation to a formal action, such as adopting a resolution or making a referral that can be considered by the full Senate. If contempt is advanced, it can become a matter for the courts to decide if and how a witness’s refusal must yield to Congress’s investigative authority.

While the phone-related development may affect how the committee frames its need for enforcement, Fauci’s Fifth Amendment position remains a constitutional defense in the current dispute. The provided reporting does not indicate that the committee has resolved the underlying legal arguments about congressional authority or the proper boundaries of compelled testimony, but it suggests the panel is moving forward with a fact-development process as it weighs enforcement.