Anthony Fauci Pleads The Fifth During Highly Anticipated Hearing

For instance, in one entry from February 2020 discussing a conference call between Covid scientists, Fauci says the doctors did not have "total agreement" about where the virus came from.

Paul charged that in 2010, research conducted by Ron Fouchier, a Dutch virologist, produced a version of H5N1, commonly known as bird flu, that was transmissible "through the air between mammals." "And half the scientific community said, ‘Oh my God, this could be the end of the world.

What we know

Daily Caller Anthony Fauci Pleads The Fifth During Highly Anticipated Hearing https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/29/anthony-fauci-pleads-the-fifth-during-highly-anticipated-hearing- 2026-07-29T13:45:29.833Z Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. “On advice of counsel I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” Fauci repeatedly said in response to Paul’s questions.

Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said Paul's release of his diary entries was one reason he would not answer senators' questions. During opening remarks, Paul claimed Fauci's diary entries contradicted what he told the American people about the origins of the virus.

Fox News - Politics WATCH: Rand Paul says there's one thing Americans have never heard from Fauci https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-rand-paul-says-theres-one-thing-americans-have-never-heard-from-fauci 2026-07-29T11:35:34.406Z Sen.

The details

In the lead up to Wednesday’s hearing, Paul unveiled over 1,000 pages of Fauci’s diary, providing his own color commentary online about Fauci's motivations leading up to and during the pandemic. WATCH: RAND PAUL SAYS FAUCI LOBBIED FOR $1M PRIZE WHILE LEADING COVID RESPONSE The lawmaker has had his sights set on Fauci since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and accused him of funding research in China that led to the eventual outbreak of the virus. And though Fauci has been out of the public spotlight since 2022, when he stepped down from his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the two will finally get the chance to square up and settle the feud. Gain-of-function research, or work that enhances a virus's transmissibility or lethality, and Fauci’s alleged role in funding that type of research through his position at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has been Paul’s focal point for years in his crusade against the former COVID-19 czar.

Reactions

"Although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government ... 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 said. Fauci noted that he had previously testified under oath before several Congressional committees under oath, but he asserted that Paul has an "obvious obsession" with pushing for Fauci to be prosecuted had led him not to answer questions this time. Paul suggested that while Fauci said publicly that Covid originated naturally, he privately believed the virus originated in a medical lab.

What to watch

It was a profound judgment error." Paul and Fauci are set to square off Wednesday morning in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the panel that Paul leads, in a clash that has been years in the making.