Fauci Pleads Fifth Amendment to Avoid Senate Questions on COVID Pandemic Response

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29 and declined to answer questions about the COVID pandemic. Citing advice of counsel, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

In his opening statement he accused Sen. Rand Paul of an “unhinged” campaign, “slanderous comments,” and releasing unredacted personal diary pages “aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me.” Fauci concluded that the sole purpose of the hearing was to extract statements that could support prosecution and put him “behind bars.”

Paul chairs the committee and had released more than a thousand pages of the diary entries shortly before the session. Those pages have been cited by critics as raising questions about public statements made during the pandemic. Fauci’s attorney was removed from the hearing room after an interruption.

The former NIAID director has long denied misleading Congress about research funding and virus origins. Wednesday’s refusal to answer under oath marked a sharp departure from his previous appearances. The committee’s next steps, including any contempt vote, will determine how far the confrontation continues.