A US Senate committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former top US infectious disease official, in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a referral pushed by its Republican chair, Rand Paul of Kentucky, a longtime Fauci antagonist. The vote followed a hearing last week where Fauci, who is 85 and retired in 2022, invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. In a related development, Senate investigators have obtained a copy of Fauci's cellphone. The contempt referral now moves to the full Senate.