Dr. Anthony Fauci's invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic during a Senate hearing that he described as a years-long partisan crusade intended to smear him. After his brief opening remarks, the 85-year-old former National Institutes of Health official then invoked the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and declined to answer the committee's questions. That's one thing you give up when you take the Fifth Amendment," he said. As public support for the nation's institutions declines under a health agency that elevates conspiracy theories, public health officials "have it backwards," according to Paul. While "COVID-19 exposed serious deficiencies in our nation's public health infrastructure," the committee is avoiding asking "forward-looking, life-saving questions" to "better prepare Americans when the next emergency occurs."