Tonight in Your Rights: Targeting Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci slammed Rand Paul's "unhinged obsession" — then remained silent.
In tonight’s legal roundup, Sen. Rand Paul sets the stage to try to prosecute Fauci, and Comey’s defense filings reveal Trump’s deep involvement in the criminal investigation. Defense filings provide the first “behind the scenes” glimpse of Comey’s seashells probe.
Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times on Wednesday, testifying that Sen. Rand Paul’s “unhinged obsession” with him left little doubt that the goal was entrapment.
Congressional Republicans repeatedly sought to target Donald Trump’s enemies like James Comey and Jack Smith for criminal prosecution, drafting referrals widely viewed by legal experts as weak and politically motivated. Fauci said that Paul’s words and actions make the Kentucky senator’s objectives transparent.
Touting his more than 50 year tenure inside the National Institutes of Health, Fauci noted in his opening statement that he had testified before or briefed Senate or House committees more than 200 times.
“I proved that I believe in and respect the value of legitimate congressional oversight,” Fauci said, noting that he testified under oath during the coronavirus pandemic for several days-long questioning.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, however, was different for Fauci because of its current chairman’s openly declared vendetta against him.
“However, given Sen. Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary, aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion that I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,’” Fauci said.
Toward the end of his tenure, former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci and others to avoid "unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions."
Republicans contend that Fauci’s acceptance of that pardon strips him of Fifth Amendment protections from testifying about topics covered by the pardon, which covered any conduct in government service from Jan. 1, 2014 through Jan. 20, 2025.
Paul vowed to seek to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress, scheduling a vote before the Committee on Aug. 8.
During the hearing, Paul ordered security to eject Fauci’s attorney David Schertler, who had tried to make a legal point before the Kentucky Republican cut him off, stating that the Committee didn’t recognize him.
By Schertler’s count, Paul has posted more than 600 tweets about Fauci since the pandemic, routinely calling for his prosecution. Schertler said that Paul’s “slanderous” and “outlandish” attacks have resulted in death threats against Fauci and his family members.
“The accusations that Chairman Paul continues to propagate are false and disgraceful, and we will examine all options to hold him accountable,” Schertler said in a statement.
‘Behind the scenes’ bombshells from Comey’s probe
Donald Trump personally demanded updates from the Secret Service and Justice Department about investigating James Comey on the day that the former FBI director posted a photograph of seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.”
“Behind the scenes, the Secret Service was closely coordinating with the DOJ and the President himself,” Comey wrote in a vindictive prosecution motion released late on Tuesday. “The Secret Service sent frequent updates to Air Force One, in response to direct requests from President Trump who wished for an update in advance of speaking to the press.”
The explosive defense filings reveal Trump’s deep involvement in the criminal investigation, as well as federal agents’ awareness that they were taking actions that broke the law.
A Secret Service supervisor admitted that surveilling Comey was “legally” a “bad idea” because there was no belief of “imminent danger to life.”
“Another agreed that it was ‘legally questionable’ but indicated they ‘might do it anyway,’” the vindictive prosecution memo continues. “The next day, the Secret Service conducted that surveillance—following a request by the ‘number three’ person at the DOJ—as Mr. Comey and his wife returned to Washington, including as they stopped to visit the grave of their deceased son.”
Comey’s attorneys also narrated the Trump Justice Department’s mad scramble to support their baseless theory that “86” was mafia code for “to kill,” against every dictionary definition and all of the evidence from its investigation. In that effort, the FBI sought help from dubious witnesses, including an “estranged” associate of Comey’s with an axe to grind and the notorious mobster Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano.
The first, identified in court papers only as “Person-1,” openly hoped Comey “goes to jail,” offered authorities only “speculation,” and disclosed having gone to “rehab” for unspecified reasons that the FBI declined to ascertain.
The FBI used this interview to seek multiple search warrants targeting Comey, and an agent claimed in a sworn affidavit that “Person-1” had “immediately” assigned a violent meaning to the numbers.
In fact, Comey’s attorney said that the interview notes revealed that the FBI’s characterization of the interview was “false” — and potentially, “material perjury.”
“In the two recorded interviews with the Secret Service (May 2025) and FBI (April 2026), Person-1 indicated that their first reaction (‘initial thing’) was to connect the term ‘86’ only to its food-service meaning (‘the only way I ever heard it’),” Comey’s attorneys wrote in a memo seeking a hearing to suppress the evidence.
“Person-1” began to think differently after listening to Rudy Giuliani’s podcast, which claimed that “86” was Mafia code for murder and that Comey, a former mob prosecutor, must have known that.
Giuliani, who was a U.S. Attorney, appeared to be virtually alone in that belief among mob prosecutors. FBI agents searched the Bureau’s Sentinel for any records tying Comey to case records invoking “86,” only to find “inconclusive results.”
The FBI agent who ultimately sought the warrants also scoured the case file for United States v. John Gambino, only to find no reference to the numbers throughout the six-week trial that Comey prosecuted.
In evident desperation, prosecutors contacted “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, a Mafia turncoat who admitted to involvement in 19 murders before testifying against John Gotti. A corrupt mass murderer, Gravano once called Trump a “gangster” as a compliment and term of affection, but his insights also proved unhelpful to Comey’s prosecutors.
“Mr. Gravano did not recall ever discussing the term ‘86’ with Mr. Comey, or otherwise ever hearing the term uttered in connection with trial,” the memo states. “While Mr. Gravano claimed that all law enforcement agents would be familiar with the term’s alternative organized crime meaning referring to murder, he also claimed that a ‘gangster would never use that term’ because they knew that law enforcement knew what the term meant. As with Person-1, Mr. Gravano did not indicate that he understood the seashells post to be a threat by Mr. Comey to carry out violence personally.”
Gravano also recommended that prosecutors reach out to another storied prosecutor of the mob: John Gleeson, who later became a federal judge and submitted a declaration in Comey’s support.
“The claim that ‘86’ is mafia jargon for ‘kill’ is preposterous,” Gleeson swore in an affidavit. “If it weren’t made in the context of seeking to deprive a man of his liberty, it would be laughable.”
On Thursday, All Rise News will host a live-stream with former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner about what these revelations mean for Comey’s seashells prosecution and the government officials who brought it.
Tune in here at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.
Blanche on the ropes?
Last night, All Rise News shared a deep dive on Sen. John Cornyn’s refusal to commit to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general without a signed document formally rescinding the $1.776 billion slush fund and reining in Trump’s tax amnesty.
Cornyn revealed today that Blanche hasn’t met his demand, and they canceled a meeting. The Texas Republican separately expressed concerns about Blanche using his office to continue to serve as Trump’s lawyer.
The confirmation vote, initially scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed.
Fauci is such a good man. It hurts my heart to see how all of the GOP treats him. How he manages to not get angry, I do not know. His patience is an example to all of us. A reminder to hold our fire and let the fools have their day. WE must be like him in that regard. Know our rightness of purpose and let their meanness take themselves down. I hope Fauci knows how many millions of US are on his side! He is the one who should have 'The Honorable Dr. Fauci' in front of him!
Thank you, Adam, as always, for keeping us informed about the daily horrors. We need to know, no matter how dreadful they are.