Topline

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., threatened to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the infectious disease expert declined to answer questions during an hours-long hearing before a Senate committee Wednesday morning, choosing to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.

Key Facts

Paul, chair of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said at the conclusion of Fauci’s testimony the committee will vote next week on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress for declining to answer questions.

After making a brief opening statement in which he accused Paul of an “unhinged obsession with me,” Fauci did not answer any questions during the hearing, citing his Fifth Amendment right.

Paul warned Fauci during the hearing it is “against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress” and suggested he could face “repercussions” for refusing to testify.

Paul argued Fauci’s pardon by former President Joe Biden precludes him from invoking the Fifth Amendment, but acknowledged whether he has that right is a “legal question that the courts may have to decide.”

Fauci’s refusal to answer questions sparked outrage among Republicans, including Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier, who said in a post on X his office would investigate Fauci, whose “lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable.”

Read Fauci’s Entire Opening Statement

“Mr. Chairman, ranking member Peters, members of the committee. I served at the [National Institutes of Health] for over 54 years, 38 of those as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Over that period, I proved that I believe in, and respect, the value of legitimate congressional oversight. In fact, I testified before, and/or briefed, Senate and House committees well over 200 times over those 38 years. During and after the COVID pandemic, I have appeared multiple times for hearings in the Senate and the House, usually under oath, and sat for several days-long transcribed sworn interviews, answering questions about the very issues that are now the subject of this hearing. However, given Sen. 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, quote, behind bars, unquote. Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion. Therefore, although it pains me to do so, because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions. Thank you.”

surprising fact

Paul ordered security to remove one of Fauci’s lawyers from the room after he attempted to speak following Paul’s claim Fauci will be subject to “repercussions” for refusing to testify. The New York Times reported the lawyer was David Schertler, one of several attorneys present with Fauci. “You are being disruptive,” Paul said, adding, “Another word and you’re gone,” before asking security to escort him from the room. “Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half-dozen attorneys that he brought along today,” Paul said.

Can Fauci Plead The Fifth After Being Pardoned?

Fauci was pardoned by former President Joe Biden shortly before he left office, though Paul has argued the pardon will not protect him from any potential perjury committed during his Senate testimony. Biden’s pardon of Fauci covers any potential federal offenses committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and the date Biden issued the pardon, Jan. 19, 2025. Despite his presidential pardon, some legal scholars have said Fauci is still able to plead his Fifth Amendment rights because he may be under threat of prosecution, as Paul has repeatedly called for him to be prosecuted. Richard Hughes IV, legal expert at George Washington University, told The Atlantic that whether Fauci can plead the Fifth comes down to whether he is under a “realistic threat of prosecution,” which he said seems highly plausible. Randy Zelin, a criminal defense lawyer and adjunct professor at Cornell Law School, previously told Business Insider all anyone needs to plead the Fifth is “a reasonable apprehension of criminal prosecution,” saying even if someone is pardoned for potential federal offenses, this does not preclude them from facing state-level charges.

Trump Slammed Fauci As ‘Crazy’ Ahead Of Hearing

President Donald Trump criticized Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in a post on Truth Social, minutes before he began testifying. He said Fauci’s “ideas were CRAZY,” claiming he “overrode” Fauci on Operation Warp Speed, the plan to develop COVID-19 vaccines. He also alleged Fauci “strongly disagreed” with the theory the virus came from a lab in Wuhan, claiming Fauci was “always trying to protect China.” Trump said he “relied less and less” on Fauci over time, saying he made “too many bad calls, like on MASKS,” accusing Fauci of being an anti-masker before becoming a “super-masker.” Trump claimed he warned Biden that Fauci “was no good, either didn’t have a clue, or was dishonest,” but said Biden gave him “vast destructive power.” Some of Fauci’s diary entries were fiercely critical of Trump, whom Fauci described in some entries as “out of control,” “a total embarrassment” and “incorrigible.”

key background

Paul released a trove of Fauci’s personal diary entries, largely written while he was in government service during the COVID-19 pandemic, last weekend. Paul alleged the diaries show what Fauci “wrote privately and what he told the country are two different stories.” Some of Fauci’s critics have pointed to alleged discrepancies between Fauci’s public statements and diary entries, including his claim in 2022 that he had “nothing to do” with school closures, while his diary entries say he “convinced” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to close schools in 2020. Other critics have said Fauci’s diaries show he was reveling in his sudden fame during the pandemic, as some entries describe his interactions with celebrities and the various Fauci-themed merchandise people created—though in one diary entry, he wrote of the merchandise: “Geeeez!! I do not like this one bit.” Paul has long been a Fauci critic, and the two have sparred in congressional hearings dating back to the early days of the pandemic.

further reading

Fauci Testifies Tomorrow: Here’s What We Learned From His Diaries (Forbes)