Fauci Cites Fifth Amendment Amid Intense Senate Covid Inquiry

WHO:

CNN - Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right under the advice of his attorneys.

CNN - Sen. Rand Paul characterized the hearing as a "public crusade" against Fauci.

CNN - Dr. Anthony Fauci, 85 years old, is the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

CNN - Sen. Rand Paul is the Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

CNN - Rep. James Comer is a Republican representative who warned about the limits of President Biden's pardon for Fauci.

CNN - President Donald Trump stated that Fauci "made too many bad calls" during the pandemic and added that he "didn’t let (Fauci) shut the Country down."

CNN - Rep. James Comer warned that President Biden's pardon for Fauci has limits and that Fauci must be held accountable if he lies.

CNN - Fauci stated that the hearing was a "public crusade" against him led by Sen. Rand Paul.

CNN - Sen. Rand Paul claimed that a pardon does not prevent Congress from investigating.

CNN - Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

CNN - Sen. Rand Paul, Republican Senator from Kentucky

CNN - President Joe Biden

CNN - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US Health and Human Services Secretary

CNN - David Schertler, Fauci’s attorney

CNN - Sen. Gary Peters, highest-ranking Democrat on the committee

WHAT:

CNN - Fauci stated that he invoked his Fifth Amendment right at the beginning of the hearing, marking the first time he has done so in over 250 appearances before Congress.

CNN - Fauci's legal team described the circumstances surrounding his appearance as making his continued cooperation with Congress "impossible."

CNN - Paul stated, "A pardon that protects a person from criminal prosecution doesn’t rewrite history. It does not erase documents," during his opening remarks.

CNN - Kennedy expressed hope that Fauci would perjure himself during the hearing regarding the origins of Covid-19 and related topics.

CNN - Fauci stated that this was the first time he invoked the Fifth Amendment during his appearances before Congress.

CNN - Paul released 1,100 pages of Fauci’s diary, which documents his concerns about the pandemic and internal conflicts.

CNN - Kennedy revealed that he had handed the diary files to Paul after an eight-month search.

CNN - Fauci's refusal to answer questions during the hearing was characterized as a move that deprives his Republican critics of meaningful exchanges to relitigate his alleged mishandling of the Covid-19 response.

CNN - Paul stated, "A pardon that protects a person from criminal prosecution doesn’t rewrite history. It does not erase documents."

CNN - Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during the Senate hearing.

CNN - Fauci stated, "Although it pains me to do so because of the respect that I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions."

CNN - Paul stated, "Let the record record that the witness has refused to answer whether there’s a folder in front of him based on his Fifth Amendment right."

CNN - Paul claimed that Fauci's refusal to answer questions deprived Republicans of meaningful exchanges to relitigate his alleged mishandling of the Covid-19 response.

CNN - Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during the Senate hearing.

CNN - Fauci stated, "Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me..." during his testimony.

CNN - Paul vowed to force a vote holding Fauci in contempt for his refusal to answer questions.

CNN - Fauci's legal team described the circumstances of the hearing as making his cooperation with Congress "impossible."

CNN - Fauci stated that the hearing was intended to get him to say something that could lead to his prosecution, saying, "the sole reason (Sen. Paul) 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.’"

CNN - Fauci's legal team described the circumstances of the hearing as making his cooperation with Congress "impossible."

CNN - Paul stated, "A pardon that protects a person from criminal prosecution doesn’t rewrite history. It does not erase documents."

CNN - Paul released 1,100 pages of Fauci’s diary, which documents his concerns about the pandemic and internal conflicts.

CNN - Kennedy expressed hope that Fauci would perjure himself during the hearing regarding the origins of Covid-19 and related topics.

CNN - Fauci's diary entries span from late 2019 to December 2022, documenting his concerns about the pandemic and internal conflicts.

CNN - Paul and Kennedy expressed their hope that Fauci would perjure himself during the hearing regarding the origins of Covid-19 and related topics.

CNN - Fauci's legal team stated that the circumstances surrounding his appearance "regrettably made his continued cooperation (with Congress) impossible."

CNN - Paul had Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, escorted out of the hearing for attempting to interject.

CNN - Sen. Gary Peters lamented that the hearing was focusing on Fauci at the cost of the committee’s other priorities, stating, "Instead of focusing on the national security challenges that we are facing in our country right now, today’s hearing looks backwards, revisiting questions this committee has already examined."

CNN - Fauci's legal team described the circumstances of the hearing as making his cooperation with Congress "impossible."

CNN - Paul released 1,100 pages of Fauci’s diary, which documents his concerns about the pandemic and internal conflicts.

CNN - Kennedy revealed that he had handed the diary files to Paul after an eight-month search.

CNN - Fauci's legal team claimed that the circumstances surrounding his appearance "regrettably made his continued cooperation (with Congress) impossible."