By Matthew Holloway |
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) criticized former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci for invoking the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during subpoenaed testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Fauci appeared Wednesday at a full committee hearing chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who questioned him about the federal response to COVID-19, government-funded research in China, and recently released portions of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary. Fauci repeatedly declined to answer, stating that he was acting on the advice of counsel and invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Throughout the hearing, Dr. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment a total of 111 times.
“I was one of the first to question the counsel Dr. Anthony Fauci was giving during the COVID-19 response in 2020, and I have been proven right about him many times over,” Biggs said.
“However, there is no victory lap because millions of American lives and livelihoods were destroyed thanks to Fauci’s insistence on his unscientific opinions,” Biggs added. “History has already judged Fauci — and will continue to do so in the years to come.”
Sen. Paul subpoenaed Fauci to appear before the committee and, ahead of the hearing, released 1,141 pages of diary entries covering Fauci’s work during the pandemic. The senator said the documents raised new questions about what Fauci knew regarding COVID-19’s origins, research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the effects of pandemic restrictions. Fauci maintained that the entries were consistent with his previous public statements.
Sen. Paul said the committee would vote next week on a contempt referral over Fauci’s refusal to answer its questions. The referral would need approval from the committee and the full Senate before being sent to the Department of Justice, which would decide whether to seek an indictment.
The dispute is complicated by the preemptive pardon issued to Fauci by former President Joe Biden on Jan. 19, 2025. The clemency warrant granted Fauci a “full and unconditional pardon” for any federal offenses he may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014, through the date of the pardon arising from his service at NIAID, on the White House Coronavirus Task Force and COVID-19 Response Team, or as chief medical adviser to the president.
Sen. Paul and several Republican senators argued that the pardon removed Fauci’s ability to claim that answers concerning the covered period could expose him to federal prosecution. Fauci’s attorneys disputed that conclusion. The pardon does not cover conduct after Jan. 19, 2025, including any potentially false statements made during later testimony, and legal analysts said federal courts have not resolved whether a pardoned witness may invoke the Fifth Amendment when questioned by Congress about pardoned conduct.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tested the scope of Fauci’s refusal by asking him what day it was and the colors of his tie and the carpet. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to each question. Hawley also alleged that federal employees had worked on Fauci’s nominations for awards carrying monetary prizes. Fauci did not respond to those allegations during the hearing.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) questioned Fauci about closed schools and churches, missed childhood vaccinations, and diary entries concerning the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci gave the same Fifth Amendment response to each subject.
Fauci accused Sen. Paul of conducting an “unhinged” campaign to have him prosecuted and said the hearing was intended to induce him to make a statement that could be used in a future criminal case. His attorney, David Schertler, called Paul’s investigation an “obsessive vendetta” and denied the allegations against Fauci. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the committee’s ranking Democrat, described the hearing as one-sided and aimed at validating a predetermined conclusion.
Biggs’s statement accused Fauci of misleading Congress about research funding and the origins of COVID-19. Fauci has denied lying to lawmakers and has maintained that the research at issue did not meet the federal regulatory definition of gain-of-function research.
The cause of the pandemic remains unresolved. The FBI has assessed that a laboratory incident was the most likely origin, while the CIA reached a similar conclusion in 2025. Four other intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council have favored natural transmission from an animal, according to assessments summarized following the hearing.
Biggs’s opposition to Fauci’s pandemic recommendations dates to the spring of 2020. In May 2020, he and Sen. Paul co-authored an opinion column titled “Anthony Fauci wants America closed until there’s nothing to reopen,” arguing that Americans should be permitted to evaluate health risks and decide whether to patronize businesses or remain home.
Biggs also published an April 2020 column calling for the removal of economic restrictions and was appointed that month to the Congressional Task Force on Reopening the American Economy. He later advocated for reopening schools and allowing parents to decide whether their children would return to in-person instruction.
“The United States should never again fall prey to the lockdown tactics that he and others around him employed and encouraged,” Biggs said.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
