Fauci Pleads the Fifth at Senate Hearing on COVID, Escalating Long-Running Clash With Republicans

President Donald Trump likewise weighed in before the hearing, saying on Truth Social that Fauci “made too many bad calls” during the pandemic and asserting that he “didn’t let (Fauci) shut the Country down.” Trump has repeatedly criticized Fauci’s recommendations on masks, shutdowns, and other public health measures.

Biden’s pardon shielded Fauci from federal prosecution over actions and testimony connected to his government service during the pandemic. But Republicans have argued that any false statements made in new testimony could expose him to fresh legal jeopardy, a possibility Paul openly discussed before the hearing.

Asked this week about concerns that the hearing was designed to lure Fauci into committing perjury, Paul dismissed the criticism. “There’s no risk to perjury if you tell the truth,” he told reporters. “The only thing he can’t do is lie again.”

Democrats criticized the hearing as a partisan exercise. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the committee’s top Democrat, argued the panel should be focusing on current national security threats rather than revisiting disputes over the pandemic. “Instead of focusing on the national security challenges that we are facing in our country right now, today’s hearing looks backwards,” Peters said at the hearing. “Rather than building on that work to strengthen our preparedness against future disasters, we are instead relitigating the past.”