Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in Senate hearing

Retired immunologist Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions during a Republican-led Senate hearing on COVID-19, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Senator Rand Paul accused Fauci of funding risky research in China and covering up the pandemic's origins. Fauci stated he feared Paul's goal was to see him prosecuted, and he refused to testify voluntarily, deepening partisan divisions over the pandemic response.