Anthony Fauci sat before Congress on Wednesday to answer for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He didn't answer anything. He just read a prepared opening statement, explained his intent to invoke the Fifth Amendment, and then, as senators began asking questions, repeated the same rehearsed response to every one of them. "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution," he said, again and again.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) asked whether Fauci had a red folder sitting on the table in front of him. Fauci wouldn't say. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked him what day of the week it was. He asked the color of his tie. He asked the color of the carpet. It didn’t matter how innocuous the question was; it didn’t matter when there was zero risk of self-incrimination. More than 100 times, Fauci recited the same line.
So why would a man who has already been pardoned by Joe Biden refuse to answer what day it is?
The answer comes down to a trap Fauci built for himself.
Biden's pardon only covers conduct that occurred before January 20, 2025. It does nothing to protect anything Fauci says under oath after that date. That distinction mattered a great deal on Wednesday, because Fauci has faced accusations of lying to Congress before, and this hearing put him in a genuinely difficult spot.
In 2021, Fauci told Paul under oath that it was false to claim the National Institutes of Health had ever funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Newly released documents directly contradict that testimony. There are other times Fauci has been accused of lying to Congress as well.
And, he probably did.
That left Fauci with three options, and none of them were good. He could repeat the same claims he made to Congress in the past and risk a fresh perjury charge his pardon wouldn't cover. He could admit under oath that he lied the first time, which wouldn't expose him to prosecution but would finish off his credibility with anyone still inclined to defend him. Or he could simply refuse to answer anything, which is exactly what he did.
ICYMI: Josh Hawley Exposed Anthony Fauci's Fifth Amendment Charade Then Went for the Takedown
That choice carries its own problem. A pardoned man cannot invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying about conduct his pardon already covers, and Hawley made that point to Fauci directly. "As you very well know, as the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more, Brown v. Walker, 1896. When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege," Hawley told him during the hearing.
The committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. Contempt of Congress covers refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena, disrupting proceedings, or obstructing an oversight investigation, and it carries real consequences. A conviction can bring up to one year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
Fauci spent years telling Congress he had nothing to hide. On Wednesday, faced with a chance to prove it, he chose silence instead. He walked into that hearing room trying to avoid answering for testimony he gave years ago, and he may have walked out having created a brand-new legal problem entirely of his own making.
