WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci took the Fifth Amendment at the start of a Wednesday appearance before a Senate committee, accusing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) of trying to put him “behind bars” over his handing of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci, 85, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), stunned the panel and millions of watching Americans when he claimed during his opening statement that “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.’”
“Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,” Fauci added. “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.”
Fauci went on to give the same response dozens of times as senators proceeded with their planned questions: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”
Paul, who had planned to press Fauci about federal funding of risky so-called “gain of function” research in China, appeared flustered and agitated by the doctor’s move — which came despite Fauci receiving a full pardon from then-President Joe Biden in January 2025.
“The chairman has denied your assertion of privilege and directed you to answer them, but you nonetheless refuse and stand on privilege despite the existence of the pardon,” Paul said at the conclusion of his questioning.
“The committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so. It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress.
“There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.”
The Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman had also asked Fauci if he had refused Biden’s pardon or if he had “any reason to believe this full and unconditional pardon, this grant of immunity would somehow require you to plead the Fifth Amendment.”
In his opening remarks, Paul had called attention to Fauci’s defense of gain of function research funded by the NIAID and the alleged concealment or destruction of federal records related to the pandemic.
An adviser to Fauci, David Morens, was indicted by federal prosecutors in May for concealing and destroying federal records.
“It is a crime to destroy federal records,” Paul reminded the witness. “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 committee has obtained repeated instructions, from you, telling federal officials to delete communications,” Paul added. “On February 2nd, 2020, one day after [a conference call on COVID-19 origins], you told [then-NIH Director Dr.] Francis Collins, ‘Please delete this email after you read it.’”
During the early stages of the hearing, Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, sat by him. After Paul began threatening repercussions against the former COVID-19 czar, Schertler began speaking out in protest, setting off the Kentucky senator in an explosive exchange.
“You will respect these proceedings. You were told not to sit at the [witness] table. You insist on sitting at the table, and we told you you would not be recognized. You are not invited here for testimony, sir. You are being disruptive,” Paul shot back.
After Schertler ignored Paul’s admonition not to speak again, the senator ordered security to escort him out, to applause from the audience.
“You are not recognized, sir. Security, please remove him from the room,” Paul said. “Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today.”
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Schertler later said in a statement that his ejection was “outrageous and demonstrates the completely biased and baseless nature of this proceeding.”
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Rand Paul Announces Vote to Hold Dr. Fauci in Contempt of Congress (VIDEO)
Senator Rand Paul on Wednesday announced the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer any questions during the hearing.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former NIAID director and face of America’s disastrous COVID response, finally appeared under subpoena Wednesday morning before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
After enjoying his celebrity status and appearing on all of the networks during the Covid pandemic, all of a sudden Fauci doesn’t want to talk.
Dr. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in his opening statement in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on his actions that led to the COVID pandemic and his many lies told to the American public.
Fauci destroyed lives and crushed countless businesses during the Covid pandemic.
People died alone because of Fauci’s Covid policies and now he believes he doesn’t have to answer for his actions despite having a BLANKET pardon.
Senator Paul said the Committee will vote on a resolution to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt for pleading the Fifth Amendment more than 80 times despite having blanket immunity.
“Because you refuse to answer citing a privilege that is unsupported because of your pardon and after being denied to do so, this committee has scheduled to vote next week on a resolution certifying your contempt,” Rand Paul told Fauci.
After the hearing, Rand Paul went off on Fauci for unlawful use of the Fifth Amendment.
“This has probably never been tested legally. If you’ve been granted complete immunity…do you still need Fifth Amendment protections, or do they apply?” Senator Paul said.
“All you had to do today was tell the truth!” Rand Paul told reporters.
“If he testified and told the truth, even if he admitted to destroying thousands of records, which we think happened, there’s no penalty that attaches, it would just be the truth,” Rand Paul said.
“I think the courts will have to figure out whether or not if you have a complete pardon, whether you have a liability against discrimination,” Rand Paul said.
Senator Joni Ernst told Fox News that Fauci pleaded the Fifth Amendment 111 times.
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