Fauci repeatedly declined to answer questions from members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, saying: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”As questioning began, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to nearly every substantive question, ultimately doing so roughly 115 times during the hourslong hearing, according to a review of the testimony by the Washington Examiner.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases opened his testimony by accusing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee chairman, of using the hearing to target him personally.“Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,’” Fauci said.Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
