Dr. Anthony Fauci chose to plead his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent during a highly anticipated hearing Wednesday on his role in COVID-19 pandemic policy before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which is chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).Fauci said in his opening testimony that he was invoking his right to remain silent because the hearing was called by Paul to get him “to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges” to see him in prison.At the opening of the hearing, Paul slammed Fauci for concealing the possibility that the virus that causes COVID-19 could have come from a lab in China.
Paul subpoenaed Fauci, former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for a public hearing after the former top infectious disease doctor refused to testify voluntarily regarding his role in setting pandemic policy.Paul said in his opening statement that Fauci used his position to conceal federally funded risky “gain-of-function” virus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in order to shield himself and his agency from culpability for starting the pandemic.“One million Americans died from COVID-19. Some estimate as many as 15 million people died worldwide from COVID-19,” Paul said. “Publicly, Anthony Fauci promoted the theory that the virus arose naturally, while privately he was well aware of a mountain of evidence suggesting the virus originated in the lab. The American people deserve answers.”IN FOCUS: Fauci’s legacy: Shattered public trustAt the start of the hearing, only two Democrats were present in the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee room. Almost all Republicans were there from the beginning.Ahead of the hearing, Paul criticized legacy media outlets for their “uncritical adulation” of Fauci during the pandemic that allowed him to influence controversial policies, including strict vaccine mandates, shutting down schools, and masking children.
