Washington: Former top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before a sharply divided Senate committee, as Republican lawmakers revived allegations over US-funded coronavirus research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and sought answers on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday (local time) quickly became a fierce partisan confrontation, with Chairman Rand Paul accusing Fauci of helping fund “dangerous gain-of-function research” in Wuhan and later announcing that the committee would consider holding him in contempt for refusing to answer questions despite appearing under subpoena.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades, began the hearing by saying he had testified before Congress “well over 200 times” during his career. He said Senator Paul’s repeated calls for his prosecution left him with “the only conclusion” that the hearing was intended to force him to say “something, anything” that could support those efforts.
“Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions,” Fauci said.
Throughout several hours of questioning, Fauci responded to virtually every question with the same statement: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.”
Paul questioned Fauci extensively about US funding for coronavirus research in Wuhan, the laboratory origin theory, gain-of-function research, federal record-keeping and a presidential pardon issued to him before leaving office.
The Kentucky Republican argued that intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI and Department of Energy, had concluded that a laboratory origin was more likely than a natural one, and pressed Fauci to explain decisions made during his tenure.
After Fauci repeatedly declined to answer, Paul said the committee would vote next week on a resolution recommending that he be held in contempt of Congress.
“We had hoped to hear testimony from Anthony Fauci today. We haven’t,” Paul said at the close of the hearing. “I really did want to hear from Doctor Fauci. I wanted to hear perhaps an apology.”
Democrats on the committee strongly criticised the hearing, arguing it was politically motivated and distracted from current public health challenges.
Ranking Member Gary Peters said the hearing represented “a sharp departure” from the committee’s bipartisan tradition and accused Republicans of pursuing “a predetermined conclusion”. He argued Congress should instead focus on preparing for future pandemics and strengthening public health infrastructure.
Several Democratic senators also praised Fauci’s decades of public service and defended his decision to invoke constitutional protections. Republicans, on the other hand, said that his refusal to answer questions prevented the committee from examining decisions made during the pandemic.
The hearing underscored how deeply divided Washington remains over the US response to Covid-19, more than six years after the pandemic began.
Questions surrounding the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the risks of gain-of-function research continue to be debated by governments, intelligence agencies and scientists worldwide, even though no international consensus has been reached on the virus’s origin.
