Why is MAGA trying to jail America's top doctor?

**Jon Sopel** (0:02)
This is a Global Production. The Kentucky Senator, Rand Paul, who has long had Anthony Fauci in his sights, he called Fauci to give evidence to this committee and was the person responsible for releasing the private diaries of Anthony Fauci, which does seem to show Dr Fauci in a slightly vain light. It has been alleged in the past by the American right that Dr Fauci was responsible for funneling some American federal government money to Wuhan and the Coronavirus Research Institute at Wuhan, which, of course, some people believe actually is responsible for the COVID pandemic in the first place. There was no manual. They were flying blind.

**Louise Casey** (0:49)
What day of the week is it today?

**Anthony Fauci** (1:01)
On the advice of Council, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

**Jon Sopel** (1:08)
What color is the carpet in front of you?

**Anthony Fauci** (1:13)
On the advice of Council, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment.

**Jon Sopel** (1:19)
This is the circus that unfolded in the Senate yesterday. When Republicans were trying to put on the stand Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who led the fight against COVID, and he decided the best thing to do was to stay stum and plead the fifth. During COVID, Anthony Fauci became the most famous official in American political history. Why now is half of American politics apparently determined to put their equivalent of Chris Witte in jail? Welcome to The News Agents.
It's Jon. It's Lewis. And the committee hearing was so predictable in some ways because the Republicans in America, MAGA in America, absolutely hates, detests and loathes Dr. Anthony Fauci. And I think it's fair to say that Dr. Anthony Fauci would reciprocate some of that, particularly to the committee chairman, the Kentucky Senator, Rand Paul, who has long had Anthony Fauci in his sights. And as committee chair, he called Fauci to give evidence to this committee and was the person responsible, as you said in the introduction, Lewis, for releasing the private diaries of Anthony Fauci, which, let's put it mildly, does seem to show Dr. Fauci in a slightly vain light. Yeah. So just to remind you, Anthony Fauci became famous certainly throughout America, but around the world because he was the head of the CDC Center for Disease Control, sort of their equivalent, I suppose, of what was then sort of Public Health England and so on. It's actually a sort of bigger, more sprawling organization than that. But as I said in the introduction, he was kindly the American equivalent of Chris Whitty, sort of chief medical advisor to President, then President Trump, the Trump administration. And yesterday, as Jon was saying, he was called before this Republican-led committee in the Senate, and the hearing focused or was supposed to focus on the origins of COVID-19, especially in terms of the research funding that it has been alleged in the past by the American right that Dr. Fauci was responsible for funneling some American federal government money to Wuhan and the Coronavirus Research Institute at Wuhan, which of course some people believe actually is responsible for the COVID pandemic in the first place. Now, everyone knew, this is a long running pedigree in terms of Senator Paul's obsession with him, the American rights obsession with him. So much so that the viewers and listeners might remember, President Biden actually gave a pardon to Fauci, a preemptive pardon as part of that last batch of presidential action that he had of his administration, because he believed, I think correctly, that the incoming Republican Congress and administration would do anything they could to try and incriminate the guy and potentially put him in prison. But that pardon does not cover things that happen in the future. I.e. and this is the reason why Fauci decided to plea the fifth repeatedly on the advice of his lawyers. If he were to say something before Congress that could then be construed by the bad political actors in Congress or on that committee, as perjury or contempt of Congress or as having misled in some way, then he could potentially be liable to legal action in the future despite that pardon, which is why he repeatedly refused to answer questions. Republicans, of course, argue that his refusal to answer questions raises serious questions about him and basically say that it is essentially guilt by omission. Well, they're also going further. They want to have a vote on whether by pleading the fifth that was contempt of Congress.
Two amendments or two bits of the Constitution rubbing up against each other, whereby it is the right and the power of senators and congressmen and women to call people to give evidence.