'You got rich while people were dying': Hawley grills Fauci over amassing wealth during Covid

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in a striking exchange with Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, refusing to answer what day of the week it was or what color tie he was wearing. Hawley also grilled Fauci over the wealth he amassed during the pandemic during the Wednesday morning hearing.

“Nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh, Doc?” Hawley said. “Let's try something. What day of the week is it?”

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci responded.

“What color tie are you wearing?” Hawley asked.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci answered.

“What color is the carpet in front of you?” Hawley then asked.

Again, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment. Hawley then argued that Fauci no longer had Fifth Amendment protections because of his recent pardon by former President Joe Biden.

“The Supreme Court has been clear for a century or more. Brown v. Walker (1896): When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege,” Hawley said.

“You know that. Your lawyers sitting behind you now, shifting nervously in their chairs—they know it,” he continued. “This isn't about the Constitution. This isn't about the law. This is about contempt—contempt for this body and contempt for the American people.”

Hawley pressed further, accusing Fauci of using federal employees on taxpayer time to solicit personal cash awards during the pandemic. He specifically cited emails showing Fauci’s then-chief of staff, Greg Fulkers, working to secure the $900,000 Dan David Award and noted that Fauci allegedly applied for and received multiple other cash prizes using government resources and staff.

“You got rich while people were dying,” Hawley said. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans—over a million in the end—and you were getting rich. … You used eight separate federal employees on federal time, using federal resources, to solicit cash awards. Isn't that true?”

Fauci repeatedly declined to answer, invoking the Fifth Amendment each time. Hawley closed by calling the pattern “a multi-month, multi-year course of self-dealing” and accused Fauci of becoming “a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar” who had “done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime.”

Throughout the entirety of the hearing, Fauci pleaded the Fifth 111 times, per Fox News.