In his final hours in office, President Joe Biden issued a preemptive, blanket legal pardon for Dr Anthony Fauci, the most visible US health official during the Covid pandemic, for any and all actions he took from 2014 on, the same kind of pardon he granted his son Hunter Biden. Fauci, like Hunter Biden, thus literally rose above the law.

That’s what made yesterday’s decision by Fauci to take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee so shocking.  

After Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth, chairman Rand Paul told Fauci he would face ‘repercussions’ for refusing to answer questions based on a valid congressional subpoena. Fauci attorney David Schertler then tried to address the committee but was cut off by Senator Paul, who said he was not recognised to speak. Paul then ordered security to remove Fauci’s lawyer from the committee room.

‘For Anthony Fauci, fearmongering was always an excellent career move’

‘For Anthony Fauci, fearmongering was always an excellent career move’

Yesterday, Paul had responded to a reporter’s question about how he would respond to arguments he was trying to put Fauci in a position to perjure himself.

‘There’s no risk to perjury if you tell the truth,’ Paul said. ‘In fact, he can even admit to not telling the truth in the past. He can admit destroying records. He can admit to not adequately presenting both sides of equations, which isn’t really a crime. He can admit to anything. The only thing he can’t do is lie again.’ He stipulated that Fauci had no right to obstruct a congressional inquiry.

But the story is much bigger than that. Fauci was appearing under subpoena to address grave questions of government accountability during the pandemic. In April, a federal grand jury indicted Fauci’s former senior adviser, David........

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