Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in heated COVID-19 Senate hearing

Retired immunologist Anthony Fauci, 85, has declined to answer questions from United States senators about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, invoking protections under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.On Wednesday, Fauci appeared before a Republican-led committee on homeland security and government affairs, led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has been critical of the physician’s record during the pandemic.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US health officials urge booster shots as COVID variants spreadlist 2 of 3Dr Anthony Fauci, face of US pandemic response, to step downlist 3 of 3Did a report really say masks don’t help prevent the spread of COVID?end of listRepeatedly, Fauci offered the following line: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based on my rights under the Fifth Amendment.”In his opening statement, he explained that it “pains” him to invoke the Fifth Amendment, but he said he feared Paul might twist his words to seek a criminal prosecution.“The sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to prompt me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘b...