Dr. Anthony Fauci’s long-running political and legal battle took another dramatic turn Thursday after a Senate committee voted to hold the former top U.S. infectious-disease official in contempt of Congress — only hours before he was photographed quietly taking out the trash at his Washington, D.C., home.

Fauci appeared somber as he wheeled a recycling bin toward the curb outside the $2.4 million property he shares with his wife, Christine Grady. The unusually mundane scene came at the end of an extraordinary day in which lawmakers voted to refer the contempt matter to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8-5 along party lines after Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a recent hearing. According to the New York Post report, he invoked the constitutional protection 111 times while facing questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origins of the virus.

Republican lawmakers have argued that Fauci’s testimony was evasive and that a pardon he received from then-President Joe Biden covering potential federal offenses between 2014 and January 2025 undermined his stated basis for refusing to answer certain questions. Sen. Josh Hawley argued that the Fifth Amendment privilege must be connected to a reasonable fear of prosecution and appropriately limited to that concern.

The committee’s action does not mean Fauci has been convicted of a crime. A contempt referral would still have to move through the Justice Department and the legal system, and the ultimate outcome remains uncertain. If convicted of the misdemeanor contempt charge described in the report, Fauci could face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Meanwhile, the confrontation followed Fauci home in a much more personal way. After he eventually got into a vehicle with Grady, photographers continued recording the couple. Grady, visibly frustrated by the media attention outside their home, reportedly responded with an unmistakable gesture toward the cameras before driving away.

The striking images came as Fauci faces scrutiny from multiple directions. In addition to the Senate investigation, three state attorneys general have subpoenaed him as part of a broader investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and his public statements during the pandemic.

For years, Fauci was one of the most recognizable public faces of the U.S. pandemic response. Now, the former government health official is confronting a very different kind of spotlight — one involving congressional contempt, renewed investigations and questions over testimony that lawmakers say they still want answered.

And perhaps the most revealing moment came not inside the Senate hearing room, but outside Fauci’s home: as cameras captured the couple leaving, his wife appeared to make it unmistakably clear exactly how she felt about the renewed scrutiny.