Former National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci repeatedly refused to answer substantive questions from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, leaving the Kentucky Republican frustrated but unfazed.

Fauci’s Testimony

Fauci and Paul previously engaged in heated exchanges during an earlier hearing, when the lawmaker warned the immunologist against lying to Congress about his role in the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and his support for gain-of-function research.

Fauci began his opening statement by stating that he had testified before Congress over 200 times during his 38-year tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. However, when Paul began a series of in-depth questions, Fauci began repeatedly pleading his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Paul argued that Fauci did not have that ability during a congressional investigation conducted under a lawful subpoena, noting that it is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 to knowingly make false statements to Congress.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.