Aaron Siri: “Fauci Made a Big Mistake Pleading the Fifth”
Updated
US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Chairman Rand Paul said the committee will vote on potential contempt charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci for refusing to answer questions during Wednesday’s hearing. Dr. Fauci was subpoenaed to testify at the hearing, and he invoked his 5th Amendment right not to testify. That is the right not to self-incriminate oneself against potential criminal charges. Supreme Court precedent does not grant this right to individuals who have a pardon as Dr. Fauci has.
During the Senate hearing, Dr. Fauci read an opening statement indicating that Senator Paul is attempting to embarrass and intimidate him to say something that “could vindicate his repeated public pledges” to put Fauci in jail. Fauci explained that while he has cooperated and testified before Congressional committees over 200 times in his 54 years at the NIH, he would be invoking the 5th amendment in response to Senator Paul’s “unhinged obsession.” Fauci proceeded to invoke his right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during the hearing and declined to answer a single question.
Brown v. Walker (1896) is the Supreme Court precedent that determined a right against self-incrimination can not be invoked if an individual has accepted a pardon for the related crime. President Biden signed a blanket pardon for Dr. Fauci that covered any offenses he “may have committed” from January 1, 2014 to January 19, 2025 in his government roles, including as Director of NIAID, member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the White House COVID-19 Response Team, or the Chief Medical Advisor to the President.
The only known exception relates to Burdick v. United States (1915), in which Burdick denied a pardon from President Wilson so that he could retain his right against self-incrimination. Dr. Fauci graciously accepted the pardon and thanked President Biden, but insisted he had not committed any crimes.
After Dr. Fauci’s opening statement, Chairman Paul told Fauci that there is a copy of Section 192 of Title II of the US Code in a red folder in front of him. Paul noted that this describes that it is a crime for a witness appearing under subpoena to refuse to answer any questions pertinent to the question under inquiry. Chairman Paul asked Fauci if he had the folder in front of him, to which Fauci pleaded the Fifth.
The code referenced by Chairman Paul specifically states that Fauci could be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by jail time of one month up to one year and a fine of up to $100,000.
According to Chairman Paul, the committee will vote on whether to bring contempt charges against Fauci for refusing to answer questions during the hearing. The contempt citation would be signed by the President of the Senate, which is currently Vice President JD Vance. Then the citation will be formally referred to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia under 2 U.S.C. § 194. At that point, the Department of Justice would have the discretion to prosecute Dr. Fauci accordingly.
Senator Paul has referred Dr. Fauci to the DOJ for criminal prosecution for perjury during previous Congressional testimonies, but no charges have ever been filed. In July 2025, Paul sent another referral because an auto-pen signed the presidential pardon from Biden.
Attorney Aaron Siri said Dr. Fauci made four mistakes at the guidance of his lawyers in the way he invoked the 5th amendment during the hearing to avoid answering questions. Siri said that Dr. Fauci’s opening statement made specific claims which can open the door to questioning about those topics. Fauci said he had previously answered questions that are now the subject of the hearing as part of sworn testimony. That opens the door to those statements being questioned further.
In Brown v. United States (1958), the US Supreme Court ruled that a witness who voluntarily testifies for his own defense cannot claim a 5th Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination.
Siri also pointed out that the 5th Amendment can only be used when there is “real and appreciable danger.” Senator Josh Hawley asked Dr. Fauci questions about the day of the week and the color of his tie, which would not incriminate him for any crime. Siri said Senator Hawley knew exactly what he was doing to set up Dr. Fauci to invoke the 5th Amendment to improper questions.
Dr. Fauci said in his opening statement that he would be invoking the 5th Amendment for all questions from the committee, which Siri said is improper. The right to protect oneself against self-incrimination is question-specific, so preempting the Fifth before any questions are asked is improper.
Lastly, Siri said ignoring the broad presidential pardon by invoking the Fifth for questions that would fall within the bounds of the pardon “was a misstep that may come back to bite him later.”
Early in the hearing, Chairman Paul told Fauci, “It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress. There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.” In response, one of Dr. Fauci’s lawyers chimed in. Paul quickly responded, “You’re not recognized.” He threatened the attorney with dismissal from the courtroom if he said another word.
Ranking Member Gary Peters said he wanted to hear what the attorney had to say. Chairman Paul said, “This testimony is from Anthony Fauci. This is not a game with his lawyers.” After the lawyer started speaking again, Paul asked for security to remove him from the hearing. The crowd clapped in response.
Fauci advisor David Morens has already been indicted on a conspiracy charge and deleting and concealing records related to the COVID-19 origin cover-up. An email from February 2020 details that Dr. Fauci was discussing with Jeremy Farrar and Francis Collins about how to get ahead of the origin discussion just a day after a discussion was held among them about the evidence that the virus had a man-made origin. Dr. Fauci asked Collins to delete the email after reading it.
Another email shows that Fauci and Collins helped with the Proximal Origins paper that dismissed the lab-leak hypothesis, “but are appropriately not mentioned.” This can be classified as a conflict of interest because Collins and Fauci were heads of the agencies involved with funding the Wuhan coronavirus research. Morens also co-wrote a paper concluding natural origins for COVID-19 after Peter Daszak gifted him some wine.