Former Top US Health Official Refuses to Answer Origin of Covid-19

WASHINGTON: Former top United States (US) infectious disease official Anthony Fauci on Wednesday faced a tense question-and-answer session from Republican senators regarding the origin of Covid-19.

However, on the advice of his lawyer, he invoked his constitutional right not to answer the question.

It was the latest episode in the long-running feud between Fauci, who served for decades as the country’s leading infectious disease expert, and Republican Senator Rand Paul.

Paul began the hearing by repeating his claim that when Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the US had funded gain-of-function research in China which he alleged triggered the Covid-19 outbreak.

The senator also claimed that Fauci had lied to the US Congress about the matter, a claim Fauci has repeatedly denied.

Paul continued to allege without evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic originated from a lab leak and that it had been covered up.

The senator had issued a subpoena against Fauci, who has since retired, to testify before the US Senate committee.

However, referring to what he described as Paul’s obsession with him, Fauci said he would invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution not to answer questions to avoid incriminating himself.

He acknowledged that the decision was extremely difficult to make.

Fauci said his lawyers believed Paul intended to trap him into making a mistake that could lead to charges of perjury.

At the end of the nearly three-hour hearing, Paul said the committee would vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking his Fifth Amendment right.

US President Donald Trump also commented via his social media platform Truth Social, saying Fauci’s ideas in the early stages of the pandemic were “crazy”, besides accusing him of trying to protect China.

“I said from the very beginning that the virus originated from the Wuhan Lab in China. Fauci vehemently denied that claim and always tried to protect China,” said Trump.

The origin of the pandemic continues to be a heated debate in the US, including between Trump, who was president when the pandemic began in 2020, and public health officials including Fauci.

AGENSI