July 29 2026 - 7:00pm
Anthony Fauci is in a trap of his own making. By accepting a high-profile role on Donald Trump’s Covid task force in 2020, he gave press interviews almost daily for months. At the same time, we now know that Fauci kept a diary of private thoughts on a public email account. This is why Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing today. It’s his least bad choice.
After Rand Paul opened the hearing with a comprehensive tour of Fauci’s record on gain-of-function research, the lab leak, and lockdowns, Fauci delivered a brief statement explaining his decision not to answer questions, which included a crucial part: “The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words, quote, ‘behind bars’.”
Fauci remained uncharacteristically quiet as Republican senators mocked and cussed at him. Rather than sparring over his Covid record as in prior hearings, Fauci responded to every single question asked of him with one simple sentence: “Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.”
As Fauci himself noted in his briefing opening statement, he’s never been shy about testifying in front of Congress and that includes hearings on Covid. In fact, one of the key reasons Joe Biden offered Fauci a pardon is likely because Republicans believe Fauci perjured himself clearly in a hearing years ago on gain-of-function research amid a cross-examination by Rand Paul.
Now that Paul released Fauci’s diaries, which RFK Jr. describes as “government records created on a government computer by a federal employee”, testifying under oath is a dangerous game. Fauci kept voluminous notes about what he did and what he thought. On top of that, he spoke to the public just about every day. Nobody with so much on the record could be expected to keep track of all of it, especially with senators trying to imprison them, without getting into hot water.
There’s one exception to that. A person with a consistent record of honesty could likely avoid problems. Unfortunately for Fauci, his diary reveals the opposite. He continued to publicly promote the wet market theory of Covid’s origin after dismissing it in his diary. He publicly said he had nothing to do with school closures while bragging about convincing them to close in his diary. He publicly said people should consider canceling Thanksgiving while privately dining with CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
Fauci is correct that Rand Paul is eager to punish him. He’s incorrect to assert it’s all just a witch hunt. Paul knows his voters are furious at American institutions over the pandemic — among other issues — and that Fauci symbolizes Washington’s arrogance and corruption. Nobody in the doctor’s shoes would have been perfect under the circumstances, but Fauci needlessly incriminated himself with dishonest behavior in his diary while also holding himself up as “the most credible scientist in the world”. It’s not Rand Paul’s fault that Fauci is in trouble right now. For that, Anthony Fauci is to blame.
