Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly pleads the Fifth in dramatic Senate hearing about Covid pandemic | CNN Politics

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the US government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify Wednesday just minutes into a Capitol Hill hearing that Republicans outwardly hoped would undermine the scientist and open him to claims of perjury.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the US government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify Wednesday just minutes into a Capitol Hill hearing that Republicans outwardly hoped would undermine the scientist and open him to claims of perjury.

Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee after being subpoenaed by Sen. Rand Paul, Fauci cited what he characterized as the Republican chairman’s “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution” as his reason for refusing to speak.

But Republican Senators proceeded with the hearing anyway, peppering the scientist with inquiries about National Institutes of Health-funded research and the origins of Covid-19. Fauci mostly stared straight ahead, invoking his Fifth Amendment right over four dozen times within the first two hours. But at times, frustration appeared to flash across his face.

And in a particularly dramatic moment, Paul had Fauci’s attorney escorted out as the lawyer repeatedly tried to interject and invoke Fauci’s Fifth Amendment rights.