CNN Rants: Trump's 'Department of Grievance' Will Wrongly Prosecute Fauci

Siena Do
August 8th, 2026 6:34 PM

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CNN Erin Burnett OutFront on Snapstream

On July 29, Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. And on Thursday, the committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions as simple as what color his tie was. A few hours later, CNN’s OutFront, guest hosted by Brianna Keilar, lamented over what they saw as an unjust possible prosecution.

Keilar’s first move was to attack D.C.’s U.S Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who would head the case with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche:

KEILAR: Pirro is already on shaky ground after dropping the cases against multiple people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. So, this could be a way for her to get back in Trump's good graces. And not only that, but for Pirro, this case could be personal. She's had it out for Fauci for years.

 

 

Well, CNN has "had it out for Trump for years," but that apparently doesn't put them "on shaky ground." Keilar spoke with Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes, who drove home the point that Trump “removed Fauci's government-issued security. He received a number of death threats, so he had security -- he took that away from Dr. Fauci.” 

 

 

Clearly, Holmes was implying that Trump wanted someone to kill Fauci. But Fauci was never entitled to continued government protection. He left office at the end of 2022, so it wasn't surprising that Trump undid it when he came into office last year.

Keilar also spoke to former Trump White House Attorney Ty Cobb for a legal perspective (though the only thing he’s litigating now is a case of TDS). 

Cobb predicted the DOJ would attempt to prosecute Fauci “only because that, as we know now, that it's no longer the Department of Justice. It's the Department of Grievance and Revenge.” Cobb also criticized Pirro, saying Trump “has put her in a position where I think she's determined to follow his marching orders.”

CNN and the Trump haters it endlessly places on its set can't imagine anyone would think Biden's DOJ was all about revenge against Trump, prosecuting him for manifold offenses. Biden's U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves prosecuted almost 1,600 Trump supporters in January 6 prosecutions, while violent crime in DC went wild on his watch.

 

 

Once he had aired his personal disdain for Trump’s administration, Cobb continued to the subject matter that he was actually there to talk about:

KEILAR: Do you think it was a mistake for him to take the Fifth? 

COBB: Oh, no, I think he absolutely did the right thing to take the Fifth. There is no question that Rand Paul wants him behind bars, that the Republicans want to exact some measure of vengeance with regard to Dr. Fauci and that he did the absolute right thing. He was well advised by his lawyer, who's a very good lawyer, David Schertler, to take the Fifth. He took the Fifth.  

 

 

If David Schertler was “a very good lawyer,” then why was he ejected from the Senate hearing room for speaking without recognition? It seems like “a very good lawyer” would know to be on his best behavior in front of Congress. Unless he thought being removed would be good PR.

Despite what CNN and the other leftist outlets would have you believe, the DOJ isn’t prosecuting Fauci just because they feel like it. One would need to be truly blinded by ideology to claim refusing to answer questions from the Senate 111 times after insulting the committee’s chairman is not contempt of Congress.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
8/6/26
7:01:19 p.m. Eastern

BRIANNA KEILAR: Breaking news, Anthony Fauci's future now in the hands of Trump's Justice Department. Prosecutors now deciding whether to prosecute Dr. Fauci after a Senate committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. The former top public health official invoked his fifth amendment right more than 100 times during testimony about the U.S. Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

(...)

7:02:17 p.m.

KEILAR: Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right, citing the Republican chairman of the committee, Rand Paul, saying Fauci should be "behind bars." Remember, former President Biden gave Fauci a blanket pardon for exactly that reason. 

The two people who will ultimately push this case forward at DOJ are Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. And Pirro is already on shaky ground after dropping the cases against multiple people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. So, this could be a way for her to get back in Trump's good graces. 

And not only that, but for Pirro, this case could be personal. She's had it out for Fauci for years.

[cut to first video]

JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the alleged knowing prince of all things COVID.

[cut to second video]

PIRRO: Fauci, I think the man is a totalitarian dictator type. 

[cut to third video]

PIRRO: Fauci is a liar. He's not in denial. He's a liar. 

[cut to fourth video]

PIRRO: This Fauci, we were bamboozled by him for far too long.

[cut back to live]

KEILAR: Now, in a moment, I'll speak with former Trump White House Attorney Ty Cobb. 

But first, I want to go to Kristen Holmes. She is OutFront live outside the White House. And Kristen, it certainly sounded like Trump supports the prosecution of Anthony Fauci. What are you learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES: [inaudible] what the Department of Justice decides to do with that. 

And we have seen, the second term, President Trump and the Department of Justice really working together to go after a number of President Trump's perceived political enemies, which Dr. Fauci is certainly one of. We've seen him go after James Comey, Letitia James. Now, not all of these charges have stuck. 

And as you mentioned, there are a lot of questions as to the legality of whether or not there's actually even a case there, and that could be brought forward to the Department of Justice. So this is going to be not only a big political test, as you laid out, but also a big legal test. Can they actually come up with a case as President Trump so clearly wants? 

Now, President Trump has really been at odds with Dr. Fauci since the COVID 2020 pandemic, but it was since he came back into office that you have seen those knives out. 

Just a reminder, earlier this term, President Trump actually removed Fauci's government-issued security. He received a number of death threats, so he had security - he took that away from Dr. Fauci, saying he didn't need it anymore. And that was just the beginning of what we have seen with President Trump going after Fauci at every turn, ranting today in that, kind of, brief clip you played, that was probably the most tame President Trump has been when it comes to Fauci that we've heard since the beginning of this term. 

So right now, a lot of eyes are going to be on the Justice Department, on both Todd Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, people already thinking, especially with Blanche, that this is a politicized, weaponized Justice Department. What are they going to do next?

KEILAR: Yeah. Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House, thank you. 

Ty Cobb is OutFront. Ty, the DOJ said it has received this criminal referral now from the Senate. They're reviewing it. Do you expect that they'll charge Fauci?

TY COBB: I do only because that, as we know now, that it's no longer the Department of Justice. It's the department of grievance and revenge, and Trump's efforts to beat up on Pirro this week for having finally acknowledged the facts as opposed to further indulging his fantasy about what really caused the damage to the reflecting pool has put her in a position where I think she's determined to follow his marching orders. 

And we know Todd Blanche, having attempted to assist the president and looting the Treasury of almost $2 billion and immunizing him from further IRS review, along with his family, he is willing to do virtually anything the president demands. 

So, I suspect the Department of Justice will indict Dr. Fauci. And I also suspect that a court will throw it out and that certainly that no jury would ever convict him.

KEILAR: So, I mean, to that point, why do you think there's not a real case against him? And do you think it was a mistake for him to take the Fifth?

COBB: Oh, no, I think he absolutely did the right thing to take the Fifth. There is no question that Rand Paul wants him behind bars, that the Republicans want to exact some measure of vengeance with regard to Dr. Fauci and that he did the absolute right thing. He was well advised by his lawyer, who's a very good lawyer, David Schertler, to take the Fifth. He took the Fifth. 

He's not a lawyer. He's a doctor. And his lawyer advised him to take the Fifth. I think it was the prudent thing to do and the correct thing to do. And I think it's a complete defense to, uh, to the charge of contempt.

(...)

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