# Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment repeatedly at Senate Covid origins hearing

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/anthony-fauci-refuses-to-answer-questions-during-us-senate-hearing-about-covid-origins/
- Published: 2026-07-29T17:32:37+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-29T23:47:40+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC World (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx85vkk0gko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Americas, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Fauci invoked the Fifth over 100 times at a Senate Covid hearing.
- He cited fear of a perjury prosecution pushed by Senator Rand Paul.
- Fauci's lawyer was ejected; Trump called Fauci "crazy" during the hearing.

## Summary

Anthony Fauci, the former head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times at a Senate hearing on the origins of Covid-19, refusing to answer questions from Republican senators. He said he feared his testimony could be used to pursue a perjury prosecution against him, telling the committee that its chairman, Senator Rand Paul, had an "obvious obsession" with seeing him jailed. The stand-off, which pitted Fauci against long-standing Republican accusations that he concealed information and misled the public about the pandemic, underscored how divisive the debate over Covid's origins remains in the US years on.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security hearing, chaired by Paul, grew increasingly heated as the Kentucky senator repeatedly pressed the 85-year-old Fauci to "apologise" and warned the committee would vote the following week on holding him in contempt of Congress. One of Fauci's lawyers, David Schertler, was removed from the room after repeatedly interjecting, and later branded the proceedings a "baseless and vindictive" personal vendetta by Paul. Although a pre-emptive pardon from former President Joe Biden shields Fauci from federal prosecution for actions taken between 2014 and 2025, he remains exposed to charges over anything since, including his conduct before the committee. President Donald Trump weighed in during the hearing, calling Fauci "crazy" and reiterating his own long-held view that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, a claim Fauci has consistently disputed.

## Coverage

- [BBC World: Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment repeatedly at Senate Covid origins hearing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx85vkk0gko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)
- [Daily Mail: Dr Fauci REFUSES to answer any COVID-19 questions and blasts Rand Paul's 'unhinged obsession' with him as he invokes Fifth Amendment](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16011909/Dr-Fauci-REFUSES-answer-COVID-19-questions-blasts-Rand-Pauls-unhinged-obsession-invokes-5th-Amendment.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.