Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former chief White House medical adviser, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights this morning, refusing to answer Republican senators’ questions about the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out swinging, rattling off a fiery list of accusations on Fauci’s motives and handling of the pandemic.
Why did Fauci refuse to answer questions?: Fauci blamed Paul for his decision not to answer any committee questions. “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,” Fauci said, “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, quote, ‘behind bars.’”
Paul fumed over Fauci’s decision. “It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress,” Paul concluded his unsuccessful questioning. “There will be repercussions for your refusal to testify today.”
Paul also removed one of Fauci’s attorneys from the hearing room.
To be clear, this feisty grilling wasn’t a bipartisan effort. Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), the top Democrat on the committee, admonished Republicans for attacking Fauci.
“It also feels like there’s a new public health threat hitting us every month,” he said, noting thousands of Americans are sick from the cyclosporiasis outbreak without federal agencies fully pinning down the source. But instead, he argues Paul is “relitigating the past.”
Peters also pointed to a number of emerging health emergencies, chiding the Trump administration’s handling of current threats, including the 35-year high of measles cases, Ebola, the hantavirus scare, screw worm, etc.
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OTHER TOP MOMENTS:
Spotted seated behind Fauci: Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, who hosts “The Ingraham Angle.” 🎥 Footage from ~Ingraham’s angle~ (See what I did there??)
Fauci was called a lot of names: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) bashed Fauci repeatedly, calling him a “megalomanic,” “narcissist and a “liar.” “You’ve done more to harm science than anyone in my lifetime,” Hawley told Fauci.
Blumenthal helps out Fauci: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) used his time to read Fauci’s attorney’s statement in an effort to defend him. He also referenced former Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), arguing this hearing is an effort to trap Fauci into saying something incriminating.
Moreno handed Fauci a constitution: Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) had his aide bring a copy of the constitution to Fauci’s desk “to have for future reference.”
Trump unsurprisingly commented on the hearing: “His ideas were CRAZY!” Trump wrote as part of a lengthy social media post.
‘THE DOCTOR AND HIS DIARY: WHAT FAUCI’S INNERMOST MUSINGS REVEAL’:
“More than 1,100 pages long and dating from 2019 to 2022, Dr. Fauci’s diary reads like a black comedy of manners in which a 79-year-old social-climbing scientist becomes the face of the government’s response to a pandemic and then the toast of the town — the toast of this town. As the death toll rises, so too does the doctor’s status and self-regard. He falls in with a fast crowd and becomes consumed by his own image.” (The New York Times)
Plus: Here are five takeaways on Fauci’s diary entries during the COVID-19 response.
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