Dr Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment at Senate COVID hearing

scienceJul 30, 2026341,559

Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on the US Covid-19 response, delivering a single 24-word sentence at the start: "Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions." The hearing lasted well over two hours as Republican senators pressed Fauci with accusations they said could show perjury or a cover-up; Fauci said Sen. Rand Paul was motivated by an "obsession with calling for my prosecution." Committee chairman Rand Paul vowed to hold a contempt vote next week that could prompt the Justice Department to consider criminal charges. Democrats pushed back, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal calling the session part of a longer campaign to vilify Fauci and downplay the pandemic that killed more than one million Americans. Republicans proceeded with the hearing despite Fauci's repeated refusals to answer, and both sides left the session deepening partisan divisions rather than producing new factual findings about Covid origins or government conduct.

Jack Hopkins-The Original

@therealjackhopkins.bsky.social

History will remember Dr. Anthony Fauci as a hero. The best part? There is nothing the MAGA cult can do to stop that.

4402h ago

JoanHaskins65

So true!! Dr. Fauci is a true national and global hero.

Marlena (#felon47 is NOT my President) ❌👑4

The face of a true hero 💙

CLE1

Oh, but how they will lower & debase themselves trying!!!

elroy1313.bsky.social1

Love the dude. Class act and he is the best of America. His payback for all he has sacrificed is to have a bodyguard for him and his wife the rest of his life. Thank you Dr Fauci.....

KurtRexCooper1

Yes. We remember Florence Nightingale as a hero. Dr. ⁠John Snow who mapped the 1854 Soho cholera epidemic in London, is a hero.

Angus McTavish 𝔸𝕄 🇨🇦🇺🇦🦫🍁1

Fauci is a HERO Fauci is a GLOBAL HERO

Barb McQuade

@barbmcquade.bsky.social

Fauci may invoke his 5th Am right, despite Biden’s pardon, which applies only to crimes he “may” have committed in the past. Unless Congress grants him immunity from using his statements against him, he has a reasonable fear of future prosecution from this DOJ. www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

44813h ago

B Gilmer9

This creates a problem for Congressional oversight if any witness has credible fear that just showing up can result in a referral. Seems Smith got referred for prosecution for something he was not asked at all, but based on whet Jim Jordan wanted him to say.

thedad2024.bsky.social9

He would be stupid to talk to this congress, look what they have tried to do to Comey , and others. He is not a dumb man at all. He saved my life when all the maga were dying all around me from not wearing masks

Emmy1087

So Republicans could prosecute Fauci for some random comment he makes in a hearing? Is that what they're angling for?

Mark Brandriss5

Absolutely, but I'd call it a near-certainty rather than a reasonable fear. As Fauci noted in his brief comments, the main purpose of the hearing was to give Republicans a pretext to start investigating him again. They want to turn it into a farcical media circus before the midterms.

hopelessinamerica.bsky.social4

He committed no crimes. This is classic Trump. Distraction from…. This time Iran

snowbanker.bsky.social3

Josh Hawley's arrogance and disrespectful theatrics were disgraceful in tone and substance.

Quoting this

Anthony Michael Kreis24

I am still unsure here. Aside from the fact thay Fauci’s tactical decision is the smart one and the fact that Rand Paul is not acting in good faith, I still don’t think it can be entirely true that a witness under subpoena can make this kind of determination for things they haven’t yet said.

born miserable

@bornmiserable.bsky.social

for anyone losing their shit over Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment at least 100 times during his Senate hearing

screenshot of an NBC News link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-deposed-ny-ag-civil-probe-business-practices-rcna42355

U.S. NEWS

Trump invokes Fifth Amendment nearly 450 times in N.Y. AG's civil probe of his business practices

An attorney for Trump said the former president answered only one question, about his name, during the four-hour deposition.

18720h ago

born miserable23

Fox News is currently juggling conspiracy theories over what Fauci is hiding in his diaries but hey, if Trump and his henchmen defy subpoenas and invoke the Fifth, that’s presidential immunity blah blah blah

Well, That Was Spooky6

Weird how these freaks are convinced it was a horrible disease grown in a lab but also nothing to worry about and masks were foolish.

Rachel2

Gee why would he do that with a crooked senate? Hard to imagine eh?

WuClanTang, Algae Horticulturalist2

That poor guy. WHY?!?! What do they want from him? I’m not even sure what they’re saying he did wrong.

Sanho Tree

@sanho.bsky.social

I am pleasantly surprised to see something politically relevant and morally upstanding coming from TMZ. Like Harvey Levin, I also lost many friends to AIDS in the 80s and 90s, but many are alive today because of the hard work of Anthony Fauci. This commentary is worth watching.

1335h ago

Mi nombre es Teo2

It’s not that it’s not worth watching. He makes some decent points but I hope everyone has this in mind when they do. So when he repeats misguided talking points created after the fact & offers unfounded crticism of exceedingly difficult decisions you have proper context of what it was really like

Quoting this

Rebecca Bratspies, Author2

Say it again for those in the back. These are dark day.

Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸

@rweingarten.bsky.social

Fauci dedicated his life to protecting public health. Smearing him for political gain is politics at its worst. Millions died in the pandemic; instead of focusing on preventing the next one, some Republicans are attacking an American hero who helped lead in a dark time. apnews.com/article/fauc...

547h ago

Allan Schlosser2

Lest we forget, Trump's Covid denialism resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

dan ozzi

@danozzi.bsky.social

some guy tried to talk to me about anthony fauci and i just said “i don’t know who that is.” total convo ender. dude genuinely short circuited. feel free to use it. can’t recommend enough.

685h ago

Legal AF

@legalafmtn.bsky.social

Michael Popok on Dr. Anthony Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment: Everybody is a target of illegitimate prosecution under the Trump administration.

391h ago

Sam Bellamy

@sambdesk.bsky.social

Rep. Josh Hawley, July 29, 2026: “You became a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar. You’ve lied to the American people." No, not Trump. Hawley, the man who saluted the Jan. 6 rioters before they stormed the Capitol, was referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Do better, Missouri.

182h ago

2strong2silence.bsky.social

@2strong2silence.bsky.social

The same people that are vowing to never forgive Anthony Fauci for saving their lives are the same bunch that tell every Black American as loudly & as often as possible to get over all the fucking atrocities committed by them since they dragged our ancestors here in chains.

155h ago

Being Liberal ®🗽🏳️‍🌈

@beingliberal.bsky.social

Self-professed Constitutional conservative Rand Paul had Anthony Fauci's attorney removed from the hearing room earlier today. Mind you, this happened shortly after Fauci exercised his Fifth Amendment rights on the advice of said counsel.

142h ago

Quentin Dempster

@quentindempster.bsky.social

While Murdoch media condemns Anthony Fauci re taking the 5th during Congressional hearings it’s worth noting that whatever the genesis of COVID (lab accident/animal transmission?) the rapid invention of mRNA vaccines saved millions worldwide and preps us for the next pandemic.

112h ago

Lee West

@whodat35.bsky.social

Commentary: Senate Republicans try to smear Fauci over COVID, but he refuses to play their game | LA Times www.latimes.com/business/sto...

62h ago

Trump Action Tracker

@trumpactiontracker.bsky.social

Anthony Fauci, the former top U.S. infectious disease expert, declined to answer questions at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination and accusing Republican Senator Rand Paul of an "unhinged" camp... TAT: [Attacking science | Suppressing dissent]

157h ago

arabSnowflake

@arabsnowflake.bsky.social

I’m old enough to remember that republicans didn’t care one bit when Trump took the 5th over 400 times for fraud? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

913h ago

Michael J. Stern

@michaeljstern.bsky.social

Mazel to Andy Cohen for giving a mazel to Dr. Anthony Fauci on the day that GOP leaders attacked a dedicated public servant who has saved countless lives.

102h ago

3 sources

thehill.comRand Paul surprised Fauci invoked Fifth Amendment despite immunity cnn.comDr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invokes the Fifth in dramatic Senate hearing about Covid pandemic | CNN Politics bbc.comAnthony Fauci refuses to answer questions during tense US Senate hearing about Covid origins

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Dr Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment at Senate COVID hearing

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