Hawley grills Fauci over COVID diaries, invoking 5th amendment
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Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday, refusing to answer more than 100 questions during a heated Senate hearing as Republican lawmakers accused him of misleading Congress about the COVID-19 pandemic and using government resources to benefit personally.
The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., focused on Fauci's handling of the pandemic, COVID-19's origins, gain-of-function research and thousands of pages from Fauci's pandemic-era diaries.
Appearing under subpoena, Fauci declined to answer nearly every question on the advice of his attorney.
"I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution," Fauci repeatedly said throughout the hearing.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley opened his questioning by asking Fauci what day of the week it was, the color of his tie and the color of the carpet in front of him. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment each time.
"Nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh, Doc?" Hawley said before arguing Fauci had no Fifth Amendment protection because he received a presidential pardon from former President Joe Biden in early 2025.
"This isn't about the Constitution. This isn't about the law," Hawley said. "This is about contempt. Contempt for this body and contempt for the American people."
Hawley then accused Fauci of enriching himself during the pandemic by directing federal employees to pursue cash awards on his behalf.
"You got rich while people were dying," Hawley said. "Hundreds of thousands of Americans — over a million in the end — and you were getting rich."
Holding up internal emails, Hawley alleged Fauci used taxpayer-funded employees to help secure multiple awards, including the Dan David Prize, which carried a $900,000 cash award.
"It was a $900,000 cash award," Hawley said. "He got it because he used federal employees to get it."
Hawley alleged Fauci used at least eight federal employees to prepare award nominations and later lobby ethics officials to approve his acceptance of the prize money.
"You turned your staff into a full-time application machine," Hawley said. "Federal law prohibits the solicitation of cash awards using federal employees, federal resources, federal offices, federal email and federal time. And you did all of it."
Each time Hawley asked whether he violated federal ethics rules or used government resources for personal gain, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Near the end of his questioning, Hawley accused Fauci of seeking publicity and personal recognition rather than focusing on the nation's pandemic response.
"You wanted to be the most famous scientist in the world," Hawley said. "Somewhere along the line, it became all about you."
He concluded by accusing Fauci of harming public trust in science.
"You've lied to the American people and you've lied to this body," Hawley said. "You've disgraced your profession by doing it. You have done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime."
Fauci did not respond to the accusations, again citing his Fifth Amendment rights.
In his opening statement, Fauci accused Paul of trying to build a criminal case against him.
"The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, 'behind bars,'" Fauci said.
Democratic senators defended Fauci, arguing the hearing was politically motivated and that Republicans had produced no evidence proving he committed crimes related to the pandemic response.
Paul announced the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer lawmakers' questions.
The hearing marked Fauci's second appearance before Congress since leaving government service in 2022 and highlighted the continuing political divisions over the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
