Anthony Fauci Summoned to Senate Over Covid-19 but Refuses to Testify, Invoking the Fifth Amendment

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former top U.S. adviser on the Covid-19 pandemic, declined to testify Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He invoked his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination.

Just minutes after the hearing, convened by Republican Senator Rand Paul, began, Fauci made it clear that he would not answer questions. He said the proceedings were intended to expose him to the risk of criminal prosecution. “I have been summoned before this committee solely to be compelled to say something that could be used to justify repeated promises that I will end up ‘behind bars,’” he said.

During his career, Fauci has appeared before Congress more than 250 times. However, this was the first time he chose not to testify, invoking the protection of the Fifth Amendment.

Republicans wanted the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to address allegations concerning the management of the pandemic, the origins of Covid-19 and the funding of scientific research at the Wuhan laboratory. As a result, the hearing was marked by a tense atmosphere.

During his opening statement, Rand Paul argued that the preemptive pardon granted by former President Joe Biden does not prevent Congress from investigating whether Fauci made false statements. “A pardon does not change history, erase documents or prevent Congress from finding out what happened,” the senator said.

Before the hearing, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had warned that Fauci could be charged with perjury if he lied under oath again.

Disagreements between Fauci and Rand Paul have continued for years. They have largely centered on so-called “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Paul insists that the National Institutes of Health financially supported experiments that increased coronaviruses’ ability to infect. Fauci, for his part, has repeatedly rejected the claim, maintaining that no NIH-funded study fell under the official definition of such experiments.

More than 1,100 pages of the personal journal Fauci kept during the pandemic were released by Rand Paul just days before the hearing. The former official described the publication of the materials as an attempt to “intimidate and humiliate” him.

At the end of his remarks, Fauci explained that his refusal to testify came after consulting with his lawyers. He added that, despite the decision, he continues to respect the U.S. Congress.

The hearing ended without testimony from Fauci. Meanwhile, the political debate over the origins of Covid-19 and how the pandemic was managed remains one of the fiercest disputes in the U.S.