1. Rand Paul\u2019s \u2018unhinged obsession\u2019 with Fauci<\/p>\n
The hearing was centered around an assertion Paul has promoted for years: that the Covid pandemic began in 2020 as a \u201cleak\u201d from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, even as virologists see a natural jump from animals to humans as more likely.<\/p>\n
This belief underpinned Paul\u2019s argument for bringing Fauci before the committee. If the pandemic was indeed started by a \u201clab leak\u201d, Fauci \u201ccould be responsible for this entire pandemic\u201d because the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided the institute with a sub-grant, he later told reporters.<\/p>\n
His only witness was Fauci, who served as a key adviser to Trump and Joe Biden during the pandemic, and has become a political punching bag on the right.<\/p>\n
Paul has interrogated Fauci in the past. Fauci appeared at Senate hearings at least a dozen times, according to his attorneys, and answered lawmakers\u2019 questions. Fauci described Paul\u2019s investigation as an \u201cunhinged obsession\u201d with seeing him \u201cbehind bars\u201d, and one that had led to starkly different advice from his attorneys this time around.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough it pains me to do so, because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys I will invoke my right under the fifth amendment of the constitution to refrain from answering your questions,\u201d said Fauci.<\/p>\n
Paul appeared to know Fauci would do this. The senator had a copy of a law which he claimed compelled Fauci to testify ready to hand to him.<\/p>\n
2. Criticism of scientists continues<\/p>\n
Scientists have not witnessed Fauci\u2019s compelled testimony \u2013 he only appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday under subpoena \u2013 without dissent. A group of 155 scientists wrote an open letter<\/a> calling for the government to stop the \u201cvilification and harassment of many American scientists\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe charges against Dr Fauci are baseless, suggesting he covered up the origins of Covid, that he bribed or persuaded other scientists to join his cover-up, that Niaid-funded research sparked the pandemic, that he personally holds patents on the virus, and that he\u2019s working with intelligence agencies to suppress the true story of the pandemic,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n \u201cNo credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Paul\u2019s frustration with fifth amendment<\/p>\n Whether or not Fauci can successfully invoke the fifth amendment of the US constitution \u2013 which allows Americans to decline to answer questions that could incriminate them, without repercussions \u2013 became a part of the hearing itself.<\/p>\n Fauci received a presidential pardon before Biden left office. Recent presidential pardons from Trump and Biden have led to renewed debate<\/a> about whether the amendment can be invoked when a witness appears before federal lawmakers post-pardon.<\/p>\n Visibly frustrated by Fauci\u2019s assertions, Paul told him: \u201cThere will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Paul told reporters he intends to call a vote for contempt of Congress next week, in the committee on homeland security and security and governmental affairs where Fauci appeared.<\/p>\n His Republican colleague, Josh Hawley of Missouri, later joined in. \u201cYou don\u2019t have any rights under the fifth amendment,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is about contempt: contempt for this body and contempt for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Republican criticism of Fauci wide-ranging<\/p>\n Republicans lined up to attack Fauci. The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson accused him of covering up unfavorable information about Covid vaccines, which he described as \u201cexperimental gene therapy\u201d, even after scientists credited them with saving millions of lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Republican senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio demanded Fauci apologize for a military policy that required service members to take the Covid vaccine, to Americans who lost businesses during the pandemic, and to a single Ohio mother who was arrested<\/a> for not wearing a mask during an outdoor football game early in the pandemic. The senator called Fauci a \u201ctotal and complete disgrace\u201d. The Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa criticized use of aborted fetal tissue in research.<\/p>\n The Democratic senator Gary Peters of Michigan argued the hearing was an attempt to \u201cturn one person into a scapegoat for a crisis that hundreds of officials across the Biden and Trump administrations\u2019 were responsible for handling\u201d, warning: \u201cThis is only going to deter other scientific experts from public service.\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Criticizing science important for Republicans<\/p>\n The Trump administration has invoked the \u201clab leak\u201d<\/a> theory to criticize past pandemic policies \u2013 even as the party has asserted that the end of the pandemic justified cutting $11.4bn<\/a> state and local health department funding.<\/p>\n Disruptions to government funding that imperiled critical research into cancer and Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a> are justified as ridding the government of a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n