Fauci invokes 5th Amendment during Senate testimony, refrains from answering lawmakers’ questionsPHOTO: Fauci being sworn in to testify, Photo Date: 07/29/2026 (Photo: MGN / PBS NewsHour)(ABC NEWS) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped lead the U.S. response during the COVID-19 pandemic, invoked the Fifth Amendment amid plans to testify before the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on Wednesday and refrained from answering questions. The committee is chaired by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has long accused Fauci of deceiving Americans about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul focused his questioning on Fauci’s personal journal entries between December 2019 and December 2022, as well as the origins of COVID-19, but Fauci declined to answer the questions. Republicans on the committee hammered Fauci over entries in his journal that they claim show he contradicted himself and sought personal fame. Democratic senators thanked Fauci for his years in public service and dismissed the questions posed by their Republican colleagues.