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.”
Schertler later said in a statement that his ejection was “outrageous and demonstrates the completely biased and baseless nature of this proceeding.”
