Former US Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Republican-led Senate hearing on Wednesday, declining to answer questions about his role in the federal COVID-19 response after being subpoenaed to appear.
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Fauci, who led the nation’s pandemic response, said he was acting on legal advice and described the decision as difficult. His refusal to testify immediately escalated tensions in an already highly charged political dispute over the origins and management of the coronavirus pandemic.
Clash with senator Rand Paul over pandemic response
The hearing was requested by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has repeatedly accused Fauci of misleading Congress about COVID-19’s origins and the US government’s involvement in related research.
In his opening statement, Fauci accused Paul of pursuing a political campaign aimed at securing his prosecution.
“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this Committee is to prompt me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,’” Fauci said.
Paul, in turn, alleged that Fauci helped fund virus research that contributed to the pandemic and later attempted to obscure his involvement. “Instead of an apology, you have for years avoided responsibility,” Paul said.
Research funding dispute
A central focus of the hearing was US-funded research conducted through EcoHealth Alliance in collaboration with a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Republican lawmakers have suggested this research may have played a role in the emergence of COVID-19.
Fauci has previously rejected claims of wrongdoing, stating that the research funded by the National Institutes of Health did not involve the type of high-risk gain-of-function experiments critics allege. He has also said that while he considered multiple theories, the strongest evidence still supports a natural origin of the virus.
Most scientists continue to believe COVID-19 likely emerged naturally from animals before spreading to humans, though the lab-leak theory remains politically contentious. A Republican-led congressional subcommittee in 2024 did not find evidence linking Fauci to misconduct.
Political fallout, records, defence
Ahead of the hearing, Senator Paul released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s personal diary entries from the pandemic period, claiming they contradicted Fauci’s public statements. Some entries reflecting early uncertainty about the virus had already been disclosed in Fauci’s memoir and prior interviews.
The hearing drew criticism from Democrats, with Senator Gary Peters calling it a partisan exercise focused on past disputes rather than current policy concerns.
Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, dismissed the allegations as “false and disgraceful” and said legal options were being considered. Meanwhile, more than 150 scientists signed a letter defending Fauci, stating that “no credible evidence has been produced” to support the accusations and urging Congress to end what they called “witch-hunts.”
