AUGUST 1, 2026
Dr. Anthony Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment at Senate COVID-19 Hearing, Contempt Vote Threatened
Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared under subpoena before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, 2026, and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than answer questions about his conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee is chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who announced the committee would hold a vote next week on a contempt resolution. Before the hearing, Paul released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci's pandemic-era diary entries.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House COVID-19 adviser, testified under subpoena on July 29, 2026, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In his opening statement, Fauci said: "Although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress — under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions."
Senators questioned Fauci over his pandemic policy decisions and his alleged role in funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) highlighted Fauci's 2020 InStyle magazine interview during the hearing, drawing a contrast between Fauci's willingness to answer lifestyle media questions during the pandemic and his refusal to answer congressional questions in 2026. Paul said afterward that the committee would hold a contempt vote next week, arguing that Fauci's Fifth Amendment invocation was legally unsupported because former President Joe Biden had issued him a blanket pardon. "The Fifth Amendment is to claim immunity from self-incrimination," Paul said. "But if you've already been given immunity, you can't self-incriminate unless you lie." Paul also said he believes a contempt resolution could pass out of committee, but that a full Senate vote — which requires 60 votes — would be less certain.
The 1,141-page diary package released by Paul contained entries that both sources described as revealing discrepancies between Fauci's public statements and private notes. Fox News reported that one diary entry documented an early scientific discussion about whether features of the virus could have been deliberately inserted, while Fauci subsequently expressed a public preference for a natural origin. Fox News also reported that Fauci wrote he influenced New York and California officials to close schools, even as he publicly stated he was not responsible for school shutdowns.