Dr Anthony Fauci pleads the Fifth at Covid hearing

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that Dr Anthony Fauci, the former senior U.S. health official closely associated with the federal Covid-19 response, refused to answer questions during a Senate hearing focused on the origins of the pandemic. The report, published July 29, 2026, said Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment protection rather than provide testimony to lawmakers.

According to Al Jazeera, Fauci said he was concerned that Republican members of the Senate could seek to use his answers as the basis for a perjury case. The article did not provide further detail on the specific questions he declined to answer, the committee involved, or whether any legal action has been initiated.

The Fifth Amendment allows individuals in the United States to avoid giving testimony that could expose them to criminal liability. Invoking it does not amount to an admission of wrongdoing, but in politically charged hearings it can intensify scrutiny and become a major point of public debate.

The hearing sits within the continuing U.S. political and scientific dispute over how Covid-19 first emerged, including questions about early infections, research oversight, and government transparency. Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades and advised presidents during the pandemic, has remained a central figure in congressional inquiries into the public health response and the origins debate.