'This is the way he wants to be remembered': Fauci's lawyer kicked out of COVID-19 origins hearing
Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee on Wednesday after being subpoenaed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has led several investigations into Fauci’s handling of the pandemic and National Institutes of Health funding for virus research in China.
Fauci said he had testified more than 200 times over his nearly four decades running the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and that he could not answer questions on the advice of his lawyers.
Every question posed to Fauci was met with the invocation of the Fifth Amendment, leaving lawmakers with little new insight to his thinking or actions during the pandemic. Fauci has appeared before congressional panels several times since the outset of the pandemic, that have regularly turned into partisan brawls among lawmakers.
Several Republican lawmakers viewed Fauci’s refusal to answer questions as an admission of guilt and claimed he did not need to invoke the Fifth Amendment because of the pardon granted by former President Joe Biden over concerns he could be targeted by a potentially vindictive prosecution by the Trump administration.
“I certainly understand why, on the advice of counsel, you're not answering any questions because I think it'll be almost impossible for you to answer the questions truthfully without really demonstrating what you did, your culpability,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
The Fifth Amendment protects individuals from being compelled to provide testimony that could incriminate them. Courts have consistently held invoking the right is not an admission of guilt by itself.
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Path to Full Story on 29 Eyewitness NewsPosted: Wednesday Jul-29-2026 12:44 PM
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