Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment at Senate Hearing
Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, declining to answer questions about his role in the federal response to COVID-19. The infectious-disease specialist, appearing before Congress for the 20th time since the pandemic began, said he acted on legal advice and believed committee chair Sen. Rand Paul was seeking statements that could support calls for his prosecution.
Paul, a Republican and Fauci critic, accused him of approving funding for risky coronavirus research and concealing responsibility for the pandemic. He warned that Fauci’s refusal to testify could lead to a contempt of Congress referral. Republicans also argued that a pardon issued by former president Joe Biden, covering Fauci’s government activities from 2014 through January 2025, would not protect him from consequences related to the hearing.
The proceeding renewed partisan disputes over the United States’ pandemic response and the still-unresolved origins of COVID-19. Paul and other Republicans say the virus may have escaped from a laboratory and have questioned federal grants that supported coronavirus research involving a Chinese laboratory. Fauci has said he remains open to both laboratory-leak and natural-origin theories, while maintaining that available evidence more strongly supports animal-to-human transmission and that the funded experiments could not have produced the pandemic virus.
Democrats on the committee criticized the hearing as an attempt to make Fauci a scapegoat for decisions made across the Trump and Biden administrations. More than 150 scientists also rejected the allegations in a public letter, saying credible evidence had not been presented.
The hearing became increasingly contentious when Paul ordered Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, removed. Schertler later called Paul’s accusations false and said legal options would be considered. The confrontation underscored how Fauci, once widely recognized for his public-health service, remains a polarizing figure.