Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared poker-faced as he declined questions from lawmakers for more than three hours at a July 29 Senate hearing.
His responses were consistent throughout the hearing: refusal to answer on the advice of his counsel. The former public health chief, who led the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Fauci was subpoenaed earlier this month to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to be questioned about the origins of COVID-19 and his role during the pandemic.
Days before the hearing, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who heads the committee, released more than 1,000 pages of diaries Fauci kept during the doctor’s time as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
After the July 29 proceeding – during which Fauci faced both scathing criticism from Republicans and appreciative praise from Democrats – Paul said he plans to to schedule a committee vote next week to push for contempt charges against Fauci.
Here’s what to know about why Fauci was questioned, what he’s being accused of and what’s next.
Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, is sworn in before his testimony about the COVID-19 pandemic in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on July 29, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Fauci is appearing under subpoena and invoking the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer Paul’s questions about federal funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and research on whether the coronavirus could have come from animals or from a lab experiment.
(Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)
Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, testifies about the COVID-19 pandemic in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on July 29, 2026, in Washington, DC.
(Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who’s been pushing for answers about the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, ordered security to remove Dr. Anthony Fauci’s lawyer after he said the lawyer refused to stay in his seat.
(Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
Sen. Rand Paul is pictured during Anthony Fauci’s hearing.
“”This is the way Anthony Fauci wants to be remembered,” Paul said before calling in security.
He said Fauci still has a team of about a half dozen lawyers sitting in the audience, but they are not allowed to accompany their client at the witness table.
(Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)
Anthony Fauci prepares to testify about the COVID-19 pandemic. Former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to shield him from criminal investigation, but Paul has said if Fauci perjures himself, the pardon for past actions won’t protect him.
(Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)
People listen as Anthony Fauci testifies. Fauci is refusing to answer Republicans’ questions about the origins of the coronavirus, instead choosing to sit in a witness chair and take criticism from senators as he invokes his Fifth Amendment right against incriminating himself.
(Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)
Hearing takeaways: Fauci under fire as he pleads Fifth
Why was Fauci questioned at Senate hearing?
Fauci was subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about his oversight of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul, who leads the committee, and Fauci have publicly sparred for years over a theory that the COVID-19 virus may have began in a Chinese lab.
“Fauci and his team destroyed public trust in the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and our public health institutions,” Paul said in a July 28 X post. “Accountability is long overdue.”
What is Fauci accused of?
Paul has accused Fauci of destroying government records.
The senator and other lawmakers have also questioned Fauci’s recommendations for social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.
Ahead of the July 29 hearing, Paul released more than a thousand pages of diaries Fauci kept throughout his tenure. Paul obtained the journal through a subpoena as part of his committee’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
In them, Fauci in part wrote about President Donald Trump, calling him “out of control,” a “true embarrassment” and “an idiot.”
The 85-year-old infectious disease expert retired from his job in 2022.
Why did Fauci plead the Fifth Amendment?
Former President Joe Biden, before he left office in 2025, pardoned Fauci for his actions dating to 2014. However, Fauci could still face charges for any actions since that pardon, such as perjury if lawmakers were to argue he lied while testifying.
Fauci, who has testified in congressional hearings hundreds of times during his career, invoked the Fifth Amendment for all answers at the proceeding. However, he also read a scathing opening statement about Paul’s “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”
“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, ‘behind bars,'” Fauci said. “Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.”
What happens now?
Paul said he will schedule a committee vote next week to move toward recommending contempt charges against Fauci.
The senator argued that Fauci’s Fifth Amendment privilege is “unsupported” because of Biden’s pardon.
He also argued that the committee’s questions for Fauci were only limited to the period covered by Biden’s pardon.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Joey Garrison, Zachary Schermele
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fauci questioned at Senate hearing. Here’s what he’s being accused of
