Ex-US health official Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in volatile Senate hearing

Former top US public health official Dr Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a tense Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, refusing to answer questions regarding the origins of COVID-19 and early federal pandemic responses.

The hours-long session before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee degenerated into a fierce clash between the retired scientist and Republican lawmakers.

Fauci, 85, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for nearly four decades, declined to answer more than 100 questions on the advice of his legal team.

In a statement before asserting his constitutional right, Fauci accused committee chairman Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) of pursuing an “unhinged obsession” with sending him to prison. Fauci stated that answering questions under oath was a deliberate attempt to trap him into potential perjury charges.

Paul and GOP members pressed Fauci on whether federal funding supported dangerous “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, and cited over 1,000 pages of newly leaked personal diary entries that lawmakers argue contradict his past public statements.

Despite a preemptive presidential pardon issued by Joe Biden before leaving office, legal experts noted that testifying under oath could still leave Fauci exposed to potential perjury prosecutions if lawmakers alleged inconsistent statements.

Enraged by the repeated refusals, Senator Paul announced that the committee will vote next week on holding Fauci in contempt of Congress, which could prompt a referral for criminal prosecution.