Dr Fauci found in contempt of US Congress + We need to talk about Ariana Grande

**Chris Spyrou** (0:08)
Hey, Chris Spyrou with you. Welcome to The Briefing. Discussion around Ariana Grande's weight reached a fever pitch this week. Photos from her tour and new music videos show her shrinking frame, prompting fans to worry over what's going on behind the scenes. The public discourse hasn't gone unnoticed, and it has us asking, do we have a responsibility to raise concerns over Ariana's weight?

**Natasha Lee** (0:29)
The box that I had put myself in, in that bubble that I had created for myself, just got smaller and smaller, the less people sort of acknowledged it. And I think that's why, I mean, the illness thrives in silence. It thrives in secrecy. It needs that secrecy to continue.

**Chris Spyrou** (0:47)
That chat is coming up in the second half of this episode. But first, here are the headlines, and it is just once again, you and I, I Am Flying solo today on Friday, August the 7th.
We are starting overseas and in the US where a Senate committee has voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's face of the COVID response, in contempt of Congress. Fauci fronted the committee last week to answer questions about the pandemic and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times. He says he was acting on legal advice and protecting himself from the committee's chair, Republican Senator Rand Paul.

**Anthony Fauci** (1:27)
The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars.

**Chris Spyrou** (1:49)
Now, Paul reckons Fauci had nothing to be afraid of because he had received a pardon from Joe Biden on his last day in office back in 2025, and that covered anything as far back as 2014
But that pardon only covers Fauci up to the day it was signed. Anything he says or does now isn't protected by that pardon, so refusing to talk to Congress, for example, could technically still land him in trouble. So too could any state or local charges not covered by the presidential pardon. The Democrats are, as expected, not entirely happy about this. They're calling it rushed and a years-long crusade to nail Fauci, and they've slammed Paul for skipping the usual full Senate vote and sending it straight to the Justice Department. And that's where it sits now. It's only a referral, so it is up to the US Attorney's Office in Washington to decide whether to actually investigate it and follow through. Whether or not they will, that is anyone's guess. Now, it is important to note that taking the fifth is not an admission of guilt, and contempt prosecutions and convictions are pretty rare in the States.
Back home, and a 15-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a beloved shopkeeper in Melbourne's west. Van Viet Trung is being hailed a hero after he tried to stop a group of teenagers allegedly robbing a nearby clothing store on Saturday when they turned on him. He was violently bashed on the street just metres away from his own shop. For almost 30 years, Van ran his grocery store alongside his wife, and the 60-year-old was ready to retire. Instead, his loved ones have flown in from Vietnam to say their final goodbyes. His family is calling for justice, and a grieving community is demanding change. And that message was communicated to the new Premier Ben Carroll, who met with the family yesterday, where he pledged more police patrols and multicultural support for the community.
It's from my heart, really, Hattie.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:44)
Lives have been ruined. The victim's life, his family, everyone is grieving.

**Chris Spyrou** (3:50)
Five teens were charged over the incident, the youngest just 12, each charged with a fray, violent disorder, intentionally causing serious harm and intentionally causing injury. Charges against one of them, a 13-year-old, have since been dropped, while police confirmed yesterday that the 15-year-old's charges have been upgraded to also include manslaughter. Vans Grocery Store, a fixture in Sunshine, is closed for now, and on Saturday, the community will gather to pay their respects.
One of the six men accusing former broadcaster Alan Jones of sexual abuse has denied making up his claims for money, and we can now report exactly how that played out now that a suppression order has been lifted. The former athlete and police officer who can't be named for legal reasons says he met Jones when he was about 14 years old as a rising sports star.
The court heard the former Wallabies coach gave him a phone within weeks of meeting, then a car, then an allowance that rose from $350 to $600 a week over nine years, totaling about $110,000 over that nine year period. In cross-examination on Wednesday and Thursday, Jones' barristers said the complainant got the ages wrong, pointing to records showing the phone and car came when he was 18 or older, not while he was still a schoolboy as he'd first claimed. The complainant accepted that. Jones' barrister also accused him of casting generous support as something sinister, and suggested he only went to police after losing his job and seeing Jones arrested in 2024, seeing it as a life-changing opportunity to cash in. The man told the court he had contacted police after seeing the arrest in the media, but says he's not looking for money and only looking for proper justice. He also insisted his account of the alleged assaults was true, even where he'd muddled the timeline. Jones has pled not guilty to all 22 counts of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent. The hearing continues.