Dr. Anthony S. Fauci refused on Wednesday to answer questions from a Senate committee, repeatedly invoking his constitutional right not to incriminate himself before a panel dominated by hostile Republicans who accused him of causing the coronavirus pandemic and insinuated that he enriched himself while Americans died.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,\u201d Dr. Fauci repeated almost 100 times during a nearly three-hour hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.<\/p>\n
The hearing was part Washington theater, part political Rorschach test, highlighting deep partisan divisions over Dr. Fauci, who spent nearly 40 years as the government\u2019s top infectious disease expert, advising presidents of both parties and generating bipartisan respect until his efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 turned him into a polarizing figure.<\/p>\n
When it ended, Senator Rand Paul, the panel\u2019s chairman, announced that the committee would vote next week on whether to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress, contending that he was not entitled to Fifth Amendment protection. <\/p>\n
\u201cDid his actions lead to the largest man-made plague in history?\u201d Mr. Paul asked as the session concluded. \u201cAre millions dead because of his experiments?\u201d Dr. Fauci left the room stone-faced and flanked by police officers.<\/p>\n
Democrats praised Dr. Fauci for his decades of public service and delivered speeches excoriating the Trump administration\u2019s health policies without asking him questions. Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, began by thanking Dr. Fauci, who took his first job at the National Institutes of Health in 1968, for \u201cmore than 50 years of service to this country,\u201d adding, \u201cIt must be enormously frustrating to know that this hearing is designed to entrap you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans, led by Mr. Paul, painted him as a narcissist who was personally responsible for every Covid death or adverse vaccine reaction and mocked him for invoking the Fifth Amendment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat day of the week is it today?\u201d Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri asked, knowing Dr. Fauci would refuse to answer. \u201cWhat color tie are you wearing? What color is the carpet in front of you?\u201d Each time, Dr. Fauci gave his one-line response.<\/p>\n
Calling Dr. Fauci \u201ca megalomaniac and a liar,\u201d Mr. Hawley then accused him of secretly profiting from his public service by applying for \u201ccash prizes totaling over a million dollars.\u201d In 2021, the Israel-based Dan David Foundation awarded Dr. Fauci $1 million for \u201cdefending science,\u201d an award that was widely reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n The session was an escalation of a yearslong battle between Mr. Paul, a physician whose specialty is ophthalmology, and Dr. Fauci. The Kentucky senator accuses Dr. Fauci of funding research in China that sparked the pandemic, and then lying about it to Congress \u2014 accusations Dr. Fauci vehemently denies.<\/p>\n In a brief opening statement, Dr. Fauci, who appeared under subpoena, noted that he had testified before Congress more than 200 times during the 38 years he ran the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cOver that period, I proved that I believe in and respect the value of legitimate congressional oversight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever,\u201d Dr. Fauci added, \u201cgiven Senator Paul\u2019s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, \u2018behind bars.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Fauci received a pre-emptive pardon from President Joseph R. Biden Jr., but the pardon<\/a> protects him only from federal prosecution for actions he took through the date it was issued, Jan. 19, 2025.<\/p>\n Mr. Paul told Dr. Fauci that he \u201ccan\u2019t have it both ways,\u201d by refusing to testify while under the pardon\u2019s protection. But legal experts said the pardon would not protect Dr. Fauci from being accused of lying under oath.<\/p>\n The session became volatile early on when Mr. Paul told him there would be \u201crepercussions\u201d for his refusal to answer questions. When Dr. Fauci\u2019s lawyer, David Schertler, started to speak on Dr. Fauci\u2019s behalf, Mr. Paul cut him off.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother word and you\u2019re gone!\u201d the senator said sharply. Mr. Schertler kept talking, and Mr. Paul ordered security to show the lawyer to the door.<\/p>\n Mr. Paul released more than 1,100 pages<\/a> of Dr. Fauci\u2019s typewritten diary over the weekend, and Republicans used excerpts to re-litigate many of the old controversies about the Covid response: the safety of mRNA vaccines, the lab leak theory, the lockdowns, Dr. Fauci\u2019s mask recommendations.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, the American people deserve an apology,\u201d Mr. Paul said in his opening statement. He accused Dr. Fauci of saying \u201cone thing in public, and another in private\u201d \u2014 a reference to the diary.<\/p>\n With the exception of gentle questioning from Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, the Republicans were brutal \u2014 and brutally personal \u2014 with Dr. Fauci. Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, claimed that Dr. Fauci alone was responsible for Covid lockdowns, deaths, vaccine injuries and Americans\u2019 loss of trust in public health.<\/p>\n \u201cThe haphazard information you released and pushed on the American people with little research is appalling,\u201d Mr. Scott said, adding, \u201cYou forced loved ones to die alone, destroyed the federal government\u2019s credibility when it comes to public health.\u201d<\/p>\n The pandemic was a fast-moving crisis, and Dr. Fauci\u2019s diary makes it clear that he and scientists like him were dealing with an unknown virus in which the science was evolving quickly. Mr. Scott\u2019s comments stood in stark contrast to those of Mr. Lankford, who acknowledged that the pandemic was \u201cuncharted territory.\u201d<\/p>\n At the center of Mr. Paul\u2019s inquiry is whether the coronavirus originated naturally, as Dr. Fauci believes, or in a laboratory. Mr. Paul insists that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Dr. Fauci ran from 1984 until his retirement at the end of 2022, funded dangerous research in China that spun out of control and essentially created the virus that led to the pandemic. Dr. Fauci says that is not true.<\/p>\n That research, called gain of function, involves tinkering with the genetic makeup of viruses so that scientists can better understand how they evolve and use that information to prevent future pandemics. On Tuesday, President Trump announced fresh restrictions<\/a> on such work.<\/p>\n While Dr. Fauci\u2019s institute did fund research at the Wuhan laboratory in China, the National Institutes of Health has repeatedly said the viruses being studied with American tax dollars were distinct from the one that caused Covid-19. But Mr. Paul asserted that the Dr. Fauci had stuck to a narrow definition of gain-of-function research that did not capture the risks of work his institute had funded in Wuhan.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American people weren\u2019t asking for a semantics debate over what is gain of function,\u201d the senator said. \u201cThey were asking for common sense over whether this research was dangerous in Wuhan.\u201d<\/p>\n The top Democrat on the panel, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, accused Mr. Paul of waging a politically motivated inquiry to \u201cbasically legitimize a predetermined conclusion that was reached years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Fauci and Mr. Paul have been tangling with each other for years. In 2021, when the senator accused Dr. Fauci of lying while testifying before the Senate, Dr. Fauci replied, \u201cIf anybody is lying here, Senator, it is you.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Schertler, Dr. Fauci\u2019s lawyer, said in statement that he believed that exchange \u201ctriggered\u201d the senator\u2019s campaign against his client. But he did not deliver the statement, because Mr. Paul refused to let him speak. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, read parts of the statement into the record.<\/p>\n \u201cThe accusations that Chairman Paul continues to propagate are false and disgraceful,\u201d the statement said, \u201cand we will examine all options to hold him accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Fauci has also tangled with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose 2021 book, \u201cThe Real Anthony Fauci,\u201d accused Dr. Fauci of colluding with Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Kennedy promoted the book on social media<\/a> after the hearing.<\/p>\n