Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment Rights In Senate Hearing, Accuses Rand Paul Of ‘Unhinged Obsession With Me’

Jul 29, 2026 08:19 PM - 1 hour ago 4

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Dr. Anthony Fauci declined to reply questions during a Senate proceeding Wednesday morning, invoking his Fifth Amendment authorities and accusing committee chair Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has said Fauci should beryllium “behind bars,” of an “unhinged obsession pinch me.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies earlier a Senate committee Wednesday morning. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

In a prepared opening statement, Fauci accused Paul of calling him to attest “to get maine to opportunity something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated nationalist pledges that I extremity up successful his words, quote, down bars.”

“Any reasonable personification who has followed his unhinged obsession pinch maine would readily travel to the aforesaid conclusion,” Fauci said.

Fauci said he will invoke his Fifth Amendment authorities connected the proposal of counsel, though he said it “pains” him to do truthful fixed his “decades-long grounds of cooperating pinch Congress.”

Fauci besides accused Paul of releasing much than 1,000 pages of his diary complete the play to embarrass and intimidate him, besides accusing him of making “repeated slanderous comments astir me” and an “obsession pinch calling for my prosecution.”

After Fauci’s opening statement, Paul began asking questions, to which Fauci responded he would invoke his Fifth Amendment authorities and diminution to answer.

Trump Slammed Fauci As ‘Crazy’ Ahead Of Hearing

President Donald Trump criticized Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic successful a post connected Truth Social, minutes earlier he began testifying. He said Fauci’s “ideas were CRAZY,” claiming he “overrode” Fauci connected Operation Warp Speed, the scheme to create COVID-19 vaccines. He besides alleged Fauci “strongly disagreed” pinch the mentation the microorganism came from a laboratory successful Wuhan, claiming Fauci was “always trying to protect China.” Trump said he “relied little and less” connected Fauci complete time, saying he made “too galore bad calls, for illustration connected MASKS,” accusing Fauci of being an anti-masker earlier becoming a “super-masker.” Trump claimed he warned Biden that Fauci “was nary good, either didn’t person a clue, aliases was dishonest,” but said Biden gave him “vast destructive power.” Some of Fauci’s diary entries were fiercely captious of Trump, whom Fauci described successful immoderate entries arsenic “out of control,” “a full embarrassment” and “incorrigible.”

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