Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday morning before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, in which Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and others questioned him about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Paul has called for Fauci’s arrest over accusations that he lied to Congress about the origins of the disease and contributed to its outbreak. On Jan. 20, 2025, Fauci received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden for any crimes he may have committed over a 10-year span.
The hearing came several days after Paul released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s private diary.
Entries chronicled the daily life of the then-head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases between December 2019 and December 2022.
The entry drawing the most attention came from Jan. 26, 2020, just two months before the U.S. began lockdowns to fight the spread of COVID-19.
“It now appears using epi data and genomic data that the first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market. The infections spread among people weeks before the Chinese reported that they were dealing with a new infection and that gave the virus time to establish itself in multigenerational (sustained) spread. Remember, early on the Chinese were saying that there is no human to human transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market. Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Having said that, somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans,” Fauci wrote.
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Paul referenced this entry as the hearing began.
“Publicly, Anthony Fauci promoted the theory that the virus arose naturally, while privately, he was well aware of a mountain of evidence the virus originated in a lab,” Paul said.
Following these opening remarks, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., accused Paul of “relitigating the past” and avoiding the nation’s more important issues.
“This hearing appears to be a culmination of months of biased and selected efforts by the majority under the guise of a ‘committee investigation’ to basically legitimize a predetermined conclusion that was reached years ago,” Peters said.
To each question, Fauci has responded, “On the advice of council, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.”
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This story will be updated.