The 5 most shocking moments from Anthony Fauci’s Senate COVID testimony
Josh Christenson / NEW YORK POST
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
stunned Republican senators on Wednesday
when he refused to answer their questions about the COVID-19 pandemic
by invoking his Fifth Amendment right at the start of a congressional
hearing.
Unlike other instances of witnesses taking the Fifth,
however, that wasn’t the end of the proceeding, as GOP and Democratic
members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee continued quizzing
Fauci for under four hours.
Republicans, led by Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.), demanded answers on
the origins of the pandemic, inconsistencies related to his public
remarks on COVID mandates versus his private comments and his support
for funding for risky “gain of function” research abroad that can make
viruses more infectious.
Democrats used their time on the dais to reflect on the “biased” nature
of the proceedings, with Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and others
calling out Paul for excluding them from preparations for the hearing
and other investigative work by the committee’s majority.
At its conclusion, Paul announced that his committee would begin
contempt of Congress proceedings against Fauci next week and questioned
the validity of the sweeping pardon former President Joe Biden granted his former White House COVID czar in January 2025.
