Fauci hearing recap: Top 5 most shocking moments from ex-NIAID Director's explosive Senate hearing

Dr Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stunned Republican senators on Wednesday when he refused to answer their questions about the COVID-19 pandemic by invoking his Fifth Amendment right at the start of a congressional hearing. Unlike other instances of witnesses taking the Fifth, however, that wasn’t the end of the proceeding, as GOP and Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee continued quizzing Fauci for under four hours. Republicans, led by Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.), demanded answers on the origins of the pandemic, inconsistencies related to his public remarks on COVID mandates versus his private comments and his support for funding for risky “gain of function” research abroad that can make viruses more infectious.