Fauci pleads the fifth 100+ times as Senate eyes contempt charges
Republicans say newly released COVID diary contradicts Fauci's public claims as Sen. Rand Paul moves toward contempt vote.
Hours after the release of a bombshell government diary, Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly pleaded the Fifth before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday, refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions more than 100 times under subpoena.
“Although it pains me to do so... 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, 85, said in his opening statement before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
For the rest of the hearing, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) answered question after question with the same response: he would not testify, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The Fifth Amendment states that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”
