Fauci pleads the Fifth in Senate hearing about origin of COVID-19 virus

Anthony Fauci, the former top US infectious disease expert, declines to answer questions at a Senate hearing, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and accusing Republican Sen. Rand Paul of an 'unhinged' campaign to see him imprisoned. 'Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions,' Fauci tells the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Paul chairs, in his opening statement. The Kentucky Republican has for years called for Fauci to be indicted and accused him of lying to Congress about whether the National Institutes of Health funded 'gain-of-function' research in Wuhan, China, and of helping cover up the origins of COVID-19.