“Given Sen. Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, 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.

At the opening of the hearing, Paul slammed Fauci for concealing the possibility that the virus that causes COVID-19 could have come from a lab in China.

Paul subpoenaed Fauci, former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for a public hearing after the former top infectious disease doctor refused to testify voluntarily regarding his role in setting pandemic policy.

Paul said in his opening statement that Fauci used his position to conceal federally funded risky “gain-of-function” virus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in order to shield himself and his agency from culpability for starting the pandemic.

“One million Americans died from COVID-19. Some estimate as many as 15 million people died worldwide from COVID-19,” Paul said. “Publicly, Anthony Fauci promoted the theory that the virus arose naturally, while privately he was well aware of a mountain of evidence suggesting the virus originated in the lab. The American people deserve answers.”

IN FOCUS: Fauci’s legacy: Shattered public trust

At the start of the hearing, only two Democrats were present in the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee room. Almost all Republicans were there from the beginning.

Fauci said that his attorneys advised him to remain silent because of Paul’s “unhinged obsession” regarding the alleged cover-up of U.S.-funded risky virus research.

Paul repeatedly asked Fauci detailed questions about his agency’s funding gain-of-function research, which in layman’s terms is the genetic manipulation of viruses to make them more dangerous. Fauci refused to answer the questions.

One of Fauci’s multiple attorneys, who the committee identified as Dave Schertler, was removed from the hearing room after attempting to speak on behalf of his client. Paul repeatedly said that the attorney was not recognized to speak, and security escorted him from the room.

Paul said that he did not recognize Fauci’s assertion of Fifth Amendment privilege because former President Joe Biden issued a sweeping preemptive pardon for Fauci before leaving office, covering from 2014 to 2025.

“The chairman has denied your assertion of privilege and directed you to answer, but you nonetheless refuse and stand on privilege despite the existence of the pardon,” Paul said. “The committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so.”

Ahead of the hearing, Paul criticized legacy media outlets for their “uncritical adulation” of Fauci during the pandemic that allowed him to influence controversial policies, including strict vaccine mandates, shutting down schools, and masking children.

Paul said at the start of the hearing that the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 “could never have been inflicted without you aiding and abetting the crime.”

“While you did not impose every restriction, you used your public authority to justify them,” Paul said.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has been critical of Fauci’s role in vaccine mandates, chided Fauci for refusing to answer questions from the committee. 

“I’ve been deluged with questions to ask Dr. Anthony Fauci that there are so many legitimate questions that deserve answers, and now you’re not willing to provide those answers,” Johnson said.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the Democrat on the committee, did not use his time to answer questions of Fauci and instead said that the hearing should be about addressing contemporary security concerns rather than “relitigating the past.”

“We’re not going to make our nation safer by doing these kinds of activities, and I hope that we can restore our legitimate bipartisan oversight that’s going to help strengthen our public health and pandemic preparedness and other homeland priorities,” Peters said.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) expressed sympathy for Fauci.

“It must be enormously frustrating to know that this hearing is designed to entrap you,” Hassan said. “It must be very frustrating for your attorneys to hear the chair’s mischaracterization of the legal issues and posture that impact your decisions at the witness table today.”

This is a developing story and will be updated. Congress reporter Lauren Green contributed to this report.