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Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not testify at a Senate committee hearing on his role in the U.S. response to COVID-19 after slamming the proceeding as having been designed to push him into making incriminating statements.

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“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 would allow him to meet his repeated pledges to get me behind bars,” he said of Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

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The now-retired Fauci was the early face of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Paul has long been critical of Fauci and last week released some of Fauci’s personal diaries, which included his thoughts on the pandemic response and his growing fame.

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On Wednesday, Paul said he would seek to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions despite having been preemptively pardoned by outgoing President Joe Biden in 2025.

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“The way I look at it is all he had to do was tell the truth today, and he had no liability,” Paul said. “He could have easily answered correctly.”

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Fauci, 85, noted in his opening statement that he had testified before Congress more than 200 times over nearly four decades, saying “I proved that I believe in and respect the value of legitimate congressional oversight.”

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Fauci and Paul have publicly sparred about the origins of the pandemic. On Wednesday, the senator repeated his allegations that Fauci obfuscated evidence that points to the disease originating in a lab in Wuhan, China.

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Paul opened with a tirade against Fauci, repeating accusations that under Fauci’s watch the U.S. funded so-called “gain-of-function” research in China that triggered the spread of COVID-19.

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The senator insists Fauci lied about that to Congress, which he has repeatedly denied.

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“I hope today Dr. Fauci will come clean, admit it was a mistake to fund dangerous research in China, admit that the risk of this dangerous research exceeded any possible benefits, ask forgiveness, and pledge to help our government devise safeguards so a manmade epidemic never happens again,” Paul said before Fauci declined to testify. “Instead of an apology, you have for years avoided responsibility.”

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More than six years after the pandemic’s onset, the debate over whether COVID-19 leaked from a lab remains intense. Fauci has maintained that the virus had natural origins, even if he’s said he is open to the idea of a lab leak.

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Ahead of the doctor’s appearance, a group of more than 150 scientists, physicians and public health activists signed an open letter calling on lawmakers to “stop the on-going vilification and harassment” of scientists, while denouncing “absurd” accusations against Fauci.