Dr. Anthony Fauci’s highly anticipated Capitol Hill clash with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took an unexpected turn early Wednesday morning when the veteran public-health official invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions during a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Fauci, the 85-year-old former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was subpoenaed last month by Paul, a long-standing critic of Fauci who has suggested the doctor should be prosecuted and jailed in connection with the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The senator, who chairs the committee, has questioned the origins of the deadly virus and alleged that Fauci helped to cover up potential evidence that COVID originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. Paul has also criticized the public-health policies that emerged from that period, including school closures and mask mandates.

In his opening statement, Fauci detailed his history of public service, noting that he had served at National Institutes of Health for more than 54 years, including his 38 years leading the NIAID. In that time, Fauci said he had “proved that I believe in and respect the value of legitimate congressional oversight,” noting that he had “testified before and/or briefed Senate and House committees well over 200 times over those 38 years.”

At the end of his opening statement before Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci invokes the Fifth Amendment. pic.twitter.com/5A6UXxFrin— CSPAN (@cspan) July 29, 2026

At the end of his opening statement before Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci invokes the Fifth Amendment. pic.twitter.com/5A6UXxFrin

But Fauci indicated that Wednesday’s hearing was distinctly different from those past appearances.

“Given Senator Paul’s 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........

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