Ted Cruz demands Fauci face jail time, labels him America's 'most damaging bureaucrat'

The Texas senator accused Fauci of perjury and contempt after he refused to answer questions at a Senate hearing

Hannah Brennan / Fox News  

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for Anthony Fauci to be held in contempt, prosecuted for perjury and sent to jail after the former White House COVID-19 advisor pleaded his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday.

"Years from now, they'll look back and say, ‘What collective madness overtook this country?’" Cruz told Fox News Digital.

"I think Anthony Fauci has had contempt for Congress and contempt for the American people for decades," he said. "His diary shows that he deliberately lied to the American people over and over and over again." 

Cruz made the comments after Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul announced he will seek contempt charges against Fauci after Fauci dodged self-incrimination by refusing to answer any questions throughout the entirety of the hearing.

"Dr. Fauci ought to think about what it says about the end of his career, that what he will be remembered for the most is pleading the Fifth more than 100 times," Cruz said.

US military launches airstrikes on Iran after foiled missile attack on US forces                                                         Associated Press / NEW YORK POST  

The US military said early Thursday it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” conducted in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan.

The latest barrage came after the US partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers.

Central Command said in a social media post that over the span of two hours the US struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.

The new strikes came hours after President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts US troops.

Iranian state media said two people were injured in attacks on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz and that explosions were also reported in Khuzestan province to the northwest.