Former top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination on Wednesday (July 29), refusing to answer questions during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.

Fauci accused Committee Chairman Rand Paul of conducting an "unhinged" campaign aimed at entrapping him into criminal prosecution. He declined to answer 15 consecutive questions regarding NIH research funding and COVID-19 pandemic origins.

During the hearing, Senator Paul ordered Capitol Police security to eject Fauci's defense attorney, David Schertler, after Schertler attempted to address the panel without chair recognition. Paul asserted that a 2025 presidential pardon from former President Joe Biden does not shield Fauci from testifying and warned that refusing to answer questions could result in congressional obstruction charges.

In a statement, Schertler called Paul's pursuit "an obsessive vendetta" and said the accusations "are false and disgraceful, and we will examine all options to hold him accountable." Schertler said a verbal clash between Fauci and Paul at a 2021 hearing triggered "an intense and seemingly pathological course of retribution, revenge and obsession," by the Kentucky senator toward Fauci.

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US Senator Paul ejects Fauci's attorney from Senate hearing

VIDEO SHOWS: VARIOUS OF U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL ORDERING FAUCI'S ATTORNEY REMOVED FROM THE HEARING ROOM

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES (JULY 19, 2026) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

1. SENATE COMMITTEE HEARING IN PROGRESS, U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL SPEAKING IN BACKGROUND/ (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL, SAYING:

"We'll hold off, but you will respect these proceedings. You were told not to sit at the table. You insist on sitting at the table, and we told you you would not be recognized. You are not invited here for testimony, sir. You are being disruptive. Would you behave this way in a courtroom? No, because the judge would put you in jail. I can't do that today, but I can have you escorted from the premises. So I would say, sir, sit quietly and don't say another word. I said, sit quietly, you are not recognized. Another word and you're gone."

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: "Mr. Chairman, I'd like to hear what the attorney has to say."

PAUL: "He is not recognized by the committee or the chair. If he speaks again, he will be removed from the room. This testimony is from Anthony Fauci. This is not a game with his lawyers. He can advise, his lawyers can give him advice, he's got a half dozen here. They are all allowed to talk to him. All right? But the attorneys are not recognized. In fact, the attorney was told not to sit at the table, and he's not obeying that recommendation. There's a row behind you, sir. That's where you were told to sit, and you're not."

2.(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL, SAYING:

"Would you behave this way in a courtroom? No, because the judge would put you in jail. I can't do that today, but I can have you escorted from the premises. So I would say, sir, sit quietly and don't say another word. I said, sit quietly, you are not recognized. Another word and you're gone."

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL, SAYING:

"And now you're disrupting the proceedings. And so, look, this is the way Anthony Fauci wants to be remembered, for a lawyer not listening to the rules. That's the way you want to be remembered, and that's what you're going to do. You are not recognized, sir. Security, please remove him from the room. Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today."

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR RAND PAUL, SAYING:

"And now you're disrupting the proceedings. And so, look, this is the way Anthony Fauci wants to be remembered, for a lawyer not listening to the rules. That's the way you want to be remembered, and that's what you're going to do. You are not recognized, sir. Security, please remove him from the room. Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today."