Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination at a contentious US Senate hearing on Wednesday, refusing to answer questions about American funding for coronavirus research in China and allegations that he misled Congress about the origins of Covid-19.
The extraordinary appearance reopened one of Washington’s most politically divisive disputes: whether the pandemic began through natural transmission from animals or a laboratory-related incident in Wuhan, and whether US officials adequately scrutinised research conducted there with American funding.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and became a prominent face of the US government’s Covid-19 response during the pandemic, was subpoenaed to appear on Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the virus’s origins.
“I have appeared multiple times for hearings in the Senate and the House, usually under oath, and sat for several days-long transcribed sworn interviews, answering questions about the very issues that are now the subject of this hearing,” Fauci said in his opening remarks.
Committee chair Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has repeatedly accused Fauci of covering up evidence supporting the lab-leak theory tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
“Can you explain to the committee why you chose to fund this dangerous research in China?” Paul asked.