Fauci Pleads 5th Amendment More Than 100 Times During Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, who oversaw the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to answer accusations that he lied about the origins of the virus.

But Fauci never answered a single question.

Instead, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times while senators asked him various questions about his handling of the pandemic.

Fauci already received a preemptive pardon from then-President Joe Biden just before he left office so he wouldn’t face any criminal charges from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Even with that shield, if it were found he lied under oath, it could have opened the door for perjury charges.

It’s possible that’s why Fauci chose not to answer any questions Wednesday.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who subpoenaed Fauci to testify, said there could still be criminal charges forthcoming.

“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,” Paul stated. “It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress.

“There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.”

Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, was also thrown out of the hearing after repeatedly speaking out in protest.

“You will respect these proceedings,” Paul said. “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. … 

“Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today.”

The proceedings followed the release earlier this week of Fauci’s personal diaries, which detailed his private thoughts on the origin of the COVID virus, along with his infatuation with the celebrity attention he was receiving.

The diaries were released by Paul after they were retrieved from government computer servers and handed over by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Though Fauci has long stated he believed the virus jumped from animals to humans, he wrote in his diary that only two of the scientists on a conference call believed natural origin was likely.

Fauci privately speculated the virus may have, in fact, been leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology — where coronaviruses were being studied and modified — but publicly he blasted the idea as a right-wing conspiracy.

Privately, he criticized China for “essentially shutting down the country.” Publicly, he helped spearhead efforts to shut down schools and lock down huge parts of the economy.

Now that we’re more than six years from the start of the pandemic, many Americans believe the virus leaked from a lab and that Fauci helped cover it up since his agency helped fund the research.

Many Americans are also resentful about other consequences that came from the handling of the pandemic — including taking the COVID vaccine, children’s education being set back due to school closures, and numerous small businesses failing.

Reactions to Wednesday’s hearing largely remained split among party lines, with Republicans supporting it and Democrats continuing to defend Fauci.