WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major hearing took place Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s response.
Dr. Anthony Fauci — the nation’s top infectious disease specialist during the pandemic — was subpoenaed by Republicans to appear before the hearing.
“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The scientist in charge of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during the contentious Senate hearing.
Dr. Anthony Fauci served at the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, for 54 years and as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years.
During opening remarks, the 85-year-old said he consistently shared information with lawmakers throughout his tenure, including during the pandemic.
“Well over 200 times over those 38 years. During and after the COVID pandemic, I have appeared multiple times for hearings in the Senate and the House,” said Dr. Fauci. “During and after the COVID pandemic, I have appeared multiple times for hearings… and sat for several days-long transcribed, sworn interviews, answering questions about the very issues that are now the subject of this hearing.”
The hearing was largely a showdown between Fauci and one of his top critics, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“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. “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… I will invoke my right under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.”
“I heard very few questions today that I would say were unhinged or politically motivated. All of these were scientific questions,” Chairman Paul said after the hearing.
Most Democrats called the hearing political theater.
“This hearing appears to be a culmination of months of biased and selected efforts by the majority to basically legitimize a predetermined conclusion that was reached years ago,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., ranking member of the committee.
“There weren’t really any surprises,” said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who sits on the committee. “He’s going to, of course, go with the Fifth and then there would be a lot of theater.”
After the hearing, Republicans expressed frustration with Fauci’s unanswered questions.
“The reason he’s not answering questions is he knows that he did wrong. He knows that he violated federal law by soliciting cash prizes using federal instrumentalities, federal employees, federal resources on federal time,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “He got over a million dollars in cash prizes during the pandemic, and he used his employees to do it, his chief of staff, his personal assistant, various other members of the agency. It’s unbelievable.”
Sen. Paul told reporters that his committee will vote next week on a resolution to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress.
“If the vote is affirmative, it’ll be sent to the Department of Justice. They will have to make a decision whether to,” said Paul.
When asked Tuesday if the DOJ should get involved and examine Fauci’s pardon by former President Joe Biden, President Trump said that he respects the pardon and that the power of pardon is “very powerful.”
