Dr. Fauci Calls Out Rand Paul’s ‘Unhinged Obsession’ With Him in Fiery Opening Statement

Dr. Anthony Fauci accused Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) of having an “unhinged obsession” with him and his work leading the U.S. Government’s response to Covid-19 during his opening statement before Congress on Wednesday morning.

The doctor then invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 29 seconds later.

Before rejecting answering questions, Fauci pointed to his decades of public service and noted he had testified before or briefed lawmakers hundreds of times in his career.

He then called out Paul, who was leading the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s hearing on COVID.

“Given Sen. Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my un-redacted personal diary, aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘Behind bars,'” Fauci said.

He continued, “Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.”

Fauci then said he was invoking the Fifth Amendment, even though it “pains” him to do so.

His opening statement comes a few days after Paul published Fauci’s diary from the pandemic.

The diary showed Fauci was fixated on media coverage, often jotting down notes on press interviews and private conversations he had alongside stats on the rising death toll. Fauci’s diary also revealed his close ties to several prominent journalists, including the doctor writing about a “relaxed” dinner with CNN star Jake Tapper — a week after Fauci told Americans to “sacrifice” Thanksgiving.

Fauci’s opening statement followed Paul accusing him of “aiding and abetting the crime” of COVID lockdowns minutes earlier.

“Children lost years of education, small businesses built over a lifetime disappeared, patients delayed cancer screenings and other medical care, families were separated from dying relatives, workers were ordered to accept a medical procedure or lose their jobs; worship, assembly, employment, education, and travel were restricted in the name of science,” Paul said. “While you did not impose every restriction, you used your public authority to justify them.”

He added, “While you concluded that Covid occurred naturally, your private record tells a different story.”

Fauci went on to invoke the Fifth Amendment over a dozen times.

Watch above via Fox News.

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