Fauci cites Fifth Amendment repeatedly in Senate hearing

Former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times during a tense Senate hearing Wednesday, repeatedly declining to respond to lawmakers’ questions about handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci said he followed his attorney's advice because he feared his testimony could be used to support efforts to prosecute him, despite receiving a presidential pardon in 2025.

Republican Senator Rand Paul announced the committee will vote next week to hold Fauci in contempt. The senior doctor defended his decision by stating Paul’s primary goal was to compel testimony that could lead to his prosecution and put him “behind bars.”

Some of the hearing’s questions were about the virus’s origins and if NIH-funded research in China played a role in it.

Over 150 infectious-disease experts signed a public letter defending Fauci, whose career spanned advising seven US presidents.