Dr Fauci made mistakes. But his persecution is a travesty | Margaret Sullivan

It's easy to second-guess decisions made during the pandemic, but that doesn't justify the Republicans' politicized response. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious-disease specialist during the Covid-19 pandemic, is far from perfect. Much about the disease was unknown or being learned midstream during a crisis, and decisions needed to be made in real time with major consequences.

Now, with hindsight, we can see more clearly. It's easy to second-guess Fauci, yet he surely doesn't deserve the current treatment, as a highly politicized Republican-led Senate committee attempted to humiliate him. Fauci, now retired, invoked the fifth amendment over 100 times during last week's Senate committee hearing. This is the supposed impetus for holding him in contempt, though reasonable given the circumstances.

The committee has referred the matter to the justice department for possible criminal prosecution. Fauci saw the writing on the wall and invoked the fifth amendment during his opening statement. Republican committee chairperson, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, accused Fauci of funding research in China that started the pandemic and lied about it.

Fauci strongly denies these allegations. Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned Fauci before leaving the White House, but this doesn't cover anything that happened after January of last year or protect him from state or local prosecution. The politicized persecution of Fauci goes back years, with rightwing commentators and politicians making him their supervillain.

Fauci and his family received death threats, and Steve Bannon's podcast was kicked off Twitter after calling for Fauci's beheading. While there may be legitimate debate about what went wrong and who was at fault, the current persecution of Fauci is a travesty. There's little reason to believe Trump's weaponized justice department will put an end to it.