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Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in hearing before Rand Paul and Senate GOP

The Washington Post · back to the audit

Anthony S. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing Wednesday where Republicans plan to press the retired government scientist on whether he was sufficiently truthful in past testimony about the covid-19 pandemic. Fauci, who helped lead the nation's pandemic response and frequently appeared before Congress during his 54-year government career, said that it 'pains me' to now invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. But he alleged that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), a longtime adversary who convened Wednesday's hearing, was wrongly seeking to trap him in a misstep that could lead to perjury charges. '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 that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, "behind bars,"' Fauci said.