1w ago

Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in Rand Paul Senate hearing

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Other Sources

Anthony Fauci declined to answer any questions before a Senate committee focused on the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday morning.
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 said in front of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Context

Fauci, who was subpoenaed to appear by Kentucky Senator and committee chair Rand Paul, has long sparred with the senator over the origins of the coronavirus that caused the pandemic. Days before Wednesdays' hearing, Paul released over 1,000 pages of Fauci's private writings, accusing him of covering up origins of COVID-19.
At the hearing, Fauci pointed out that he has responded to similar questions in previous testimony. And Fauci accused the senator of being obsessed with trying to get him behind bars.
The hearing comes days after Paul released diary entries he says were written by Dr. Anthony Fauci – the country's leading infectious disease specialist during the COVID-19 pandemic – that chronicle Fauci's daily life between December 2019 and December 2022.
The over 1,100 pages of entries span the final years of his tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He retired in December 2022.