Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a dramatic Senate hearing on Wednesday, refusing to answer questions from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as a contentious investigation into his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic escalated.

At the outset of the hearing, Fauci sharply criticized Paul, accusing the senator of waging a relentless campaign against him and arguing that the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s inquiry was designed solely to build a criminal case against him.

“Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, 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, ‘behind bars,’” said Fauci.

He continued by explaining why he would not respond to the committee’s questions.

“Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion. Therefore, although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.”

As the hearing progressed, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases repeatedly declined to answer additional questions, invoking the Fifth Amendment at least a dozen more times while Paul pressed him about so-called “gain of function” research conducted in China.

Paul also questioned Fauci about the scope of the broad pardon granted to him by Joe Biden during the closing days of his presidency in January 2025, asking whether the pardon affected his decision to invoke constitutional protections.

“Have you refused this pardon, or do you have any reason to believe this full and unconditional pardon, this grant of immunity would somehow require you to plead the Fifth Amendment?” asked Paul.

Fauci again refused to provide a substantive response.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” answered Fauci.

In his opening statement, Paul outlined what he described as serious concerns regarding Fauci’s defense of federally funded “gain of function” research and alleged efforts to conceal or destroy government records connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is a crime to destroy federal records,” said Paul. “Yet our investigation reveals your assistant diligently reported that she deleted tons of emails in 2024. You testified that you did not delete federal records. Who’s telling the truth? You or your assistant?”

The Kentucky senator further alleged that the committee had uncovered multiple instances in which Fauci instructed government officials to erase communications, pointing to one specific email exchange from early 2020.

“The committee has obtained repeated instructions, from you, telling federal officials to delete communications,” added the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “On February 2nd, 2020, one day after [a conference call on COVID-19 originas], you told [then-NIH Director Dr.] Francis Collins, ‘Please delete this email after you read it.’”

The hearing comes as federal prosecutors continue pursuing related investigations. In May, David Morens, a longtime adviser to Fauci, was indicted on charges alleging he concealed and destroyed federal records.

{Matzav.com}