Fauci Pleads The Fifth in Covid Hearing, Citing Rand Paul's 'Unhinged Obsession with Me'

Anthony Fauci on Wednesday appeared before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee, but pleaded the Fifth to avoid answering questions by Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and others about his obfuscation of facts surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. 'However, 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, 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. 'Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,' he added. Fauci brought several attorneys with him to Wednesday's hearing, one of whom was removed from the proceedings at Paul's direction after the attorney continued to speak without being recognized.