Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, ordered security to remove one of Dr. Anthony Fauci's attorneys from the hearing room Wednesday, escalating a tense confrontation over Fauci's refusal to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The attorney, David Schertler, had attempted to speak multiple times as Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Paul refused to recognize him, and when ranking member Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) tried to use his own time to let Schertler address the committee, Paul overruled him.
“Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today,” Paul said, as Schertler was escorted out.
Schertler's firm has represented Fauci in previous congressional hearings, but this marked a new low in the long-running feud between Paul and the former chief White House medical adviser. The clash came just moments after Fauci, in his opening statement, accused Paul of an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”
“The only conclusion I can reach is that 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.
As Paul began his questioning, Fauci repeatedly declined to answer each query, citing his Fifth Amendment right. He gave the same response to questions from Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.). The hearing was part of a broader Republican push to investigate the origins of the virus and the government's pandemic response.
Fauci had been subpoenaed by Paul to appear and testify. Over the weekend, Paul released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci's personal diary, which included unvarnished opinions about President Trump and early musings on the virus. The leak has further inflamed partisan tensions, with Democrats accusing Paul of a vendetta.
Earlier this week, Trump attacked Fauci ahead of the hearing, renewing their long-standing animosity. The diary entries, which also reveal tensions with other officials, have been cited by Republicans as evidence of Fauci's alleged mismanagement.
Paul's decision to remove Schertler drew sharp criticism from Peters, who accused the chair of silencing Fauci's legal counsel. “This is not how we conduct oversight,” Peters said, though his objections were overruled.
The hearing, which was expected to last several hours, quickly devolved into a procedural standoff. Fauci's Fifth Amendment invocation—a rare move for a former senior government official—underscored the high stakes as Republicans seek to hold him accountable for pandemic-era decisions.
