Anthony Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment During Contentious Senate Hearing

Washington — Former U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a contentious Senate hearing focused on U.S.-funded coronavirus research in China and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday quickly became divided along party lines. Chairman Rand Paul accused Fauci of helping finance what he described as dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and said the committee would consider holding him in contempt for refusing to answer questions.

Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades, said at the start of the hearing that he had testified before Congress more than 200 times during his career.

He argued that Paul’s repeated calls for his prosecution left him with the conclusion that the hearing was intended to obtain statements that could be used against him.

“Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions,” Fauci said.

During several hours of questioning, Fauci gave essentially the same response to nearly every question, saying he was declining to answer on the advice of counsel.

Paul questioned Fauci about federal funding for coronavirus research in Wuhan, the laboratory-origin theory, gain-of-function research, government record-keeping and a presidential pardon issued to Fauci before the previous administration left office.

The Kentucky Republican also cited assessments from U.S. intelligence agencies that have concluded with varying levels of confidence that a laboratory-related origin may be more likely than natural transmission.

After Fauci repeatedly declined to respond, Paul said the committee would vote the following week on a resolution recommending that he be held in contempt of Congress.

“We had hoped to hear testimony from Anthony Fauci today. We haven’t,” Paul said at the conclusion of the hearing. “I really did want to hear from Dr. Fauci. I wanted to hear perhaps an apology.”

Democratic members of the committee criticized the hearing as politically motivated and said it diverted attention from current public health priorities.

Ranking Member Gary Peters described the proceeding as a departure from the committee’s bipartisan tradition and accused Republicans of working toward a predetermined conclusion. He said Congress should instead focus on preparing for future pandemics and strengthening the country’s public health infrastructure.

Several Democratic senators praised Fauci’s decades of government service and defended his use of constitutional protections. Republican lawmakers argued that his refusal to answer prevented the committee from examining decisions made during the pandemic.

The hearing highlighted the continuing political divide over the U.S. response to Covid-19 and the unresolved debate surrounding the origins of SARS-CoV-2.

Governments, intelligence agencies and scientists continue to examine whether the virus emerged through natural transmission or a laboratory-related incident. No international consensus has been reached. (Source: IANS)