Fauci pleads Fifth at Senate pandemic response hearing
Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing as Rand Paul pressed him on pandemic-era journal entries.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
Dr. Anthony Fauci pleads Fifth was the headline out of a Wednesday Senate hearing, where the former federal infectious disease official declined to answer questions about his role during the 2020 pandemic response, TMZ reported.
According to TMZ, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to every question during the hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul led the questioning, TMZ reported. The Kentucky senator focused on Fauci’s private journal entries covering the period from December 2019 through December 2022.
Paul had subpoenaed Fauci to testify, according to TMZ. Fauci previously served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Why did Fauci plead the Fifth?
TMZ did not report Fauci’s stated reason for invoking the Fifth Amendment at the hearing. The Fifth Amendment allows a person to decline to answer questions when answering could expose them to possible self-incrimination.
The hearing centered on Fauci’s leadership during the pandemic, TMZ reported, with Paul using the session to press him over materials from the first three years of the COVID-era crisis.
Fauci’s refusal to answer left the committee without fresh testimony from one of the best-known public health officials from the pandemic period. TMZ described Paul’s subpoena as a bid to make Fauci appear before the committee, but reported that the questioning produced no answers from him.
No further details about the specific questions asked, the contents of the journal entries, or any additional action by the committee were reported.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is one of the congressional panels that can hold hearings, call witnesses and seek records as part of its oversight work. In this case, TMZ reported, the focus was Fauci’s pandemic-era leadership and the private journals Paul wanted to question him about.
Fauci’s appearance puts him back in the center of Washington’s long-running fight over the pandemic response. Paul and Fauci have clashed publicly before, but the details reported from Wednesday’s hearing were limited to the subpoena, the focus on journal entries and Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment throughout questioning.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.