Hawley Exposes Fauci’s Self-Dealings, Fauci Pleads the Fifth

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Dr. Anthony Fauci in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing over his self-dealings, pursuit of awards and cash prizes, and illegal use of federal employees and resources amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci pled the Fifth each time, refusing to answer any of Senator Hawley’s questions. Fauci even pled the Fifth when Senator Hawley asked what day of the week it was, what color his tie was, and what color the carpet in front of him was, proving he had no intention to answer questions in good faith. Senator Hawley began , “Let’s just get one thing straight: you don’t have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you’ve been pardoned , as you very well know, as the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more. Brown v. Walker , 1896. ‘When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege.’ … I think I know why you’re doing it. It’s because you don’t want to answer questions. It’s because you did all kinds of terrible things. It’s because during the pandemic you got rich, didn’t you? You got rich while people were dying. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, over a million in the end, and you were getting rich. And not only were you doing that, you were using federal employees with taxpayer money to apply for and solicit cash prizes for you personally, cash prizes totaling over a million dollars. You did all of that during the pandemic, didn’t you? That’s a question.” Dr. Fauci refused to answer Senator Hawley’s question, stating , “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.” “You remember Greg Folkers, who was that? … Your chief of staff is the answer. Do you remember Patricia Conrad? Who was that?” Hawley asked . “She was your personal assistant. And what were these individuals doing in the depth of the pandemic in November of 2020, when millions of Americans were suffering from COVID? What were they doing? I tell you what they’re doing. Folkers was on your behalf, soliciting and gathering information for a cash award. Let’s look at it. We’ve got his email right here, right over my shoulder. Folkers says, ‘I’m working on this nomination for the Dan David Award for Fauci. We need to beef up the COVID part. Do you have language in the can that you could share that delineates how we responded in new ways to COVID?’ He sends this to multiple federal employees. What was the Dan David Award? Do you remember, Doc?” Fauci again invoked the Fifth Amendment. Senator Hawley continued , “It was a $900,000 cash award. $900,000 cash award, and he got it because he used federal employees to get it. And this wasn’t the only award, was it, Dr. Fauci? In fact, you applied for and received at least eight other federal cash prizes on federal time using federal employees and federal resources … You turned your staff into a full-time application machine.” “The most hilarious part is that you weren’t content to even dragoon them into applying for all of these cash awards. You then had them go out to the ethics agencies and ethics watchdogs, and demand that you be able to get the money. That’s right. We’ve got it in your emails. Your staff and employees on federal time, using federal resources, being paid with federal dollars, are soliciting cash for you, and then they’re turning around and saying to the agency, ‘We don’t want just an answer. We want to get to yes because Fauci wants the money. He wants it. We want to get to yes, and yes takes time.’ This is your chief of staff again using federal email to pressure the agency’s own ethics people so that you can get money, so that you could get rich, and it violated the law, didn’t it, Dr. Fauci?” Hawley questioned . The Senator received no answer from Fauci. “Federal law, as you very well know, prohibits the solicitation of cash awards or other personal benefits for federal employees, and it certainly prohibits using your own employees to do this … It says it right there in black and white. You cannot use federal resources, federal dollars, federal employees, federal offices, federal email, federal time to solicit cash awards. And you did all of it. And the worst part is, thousands of people were dying while you were doing it. You were supposed to be the nation’s doctor, and you’re playing one on TV, but this is what you were doing with your time. Isn’t that true?” he interrogated . Fauci parroted his invocation of the Fifth Amendment. Senator Hawley grilled Fauc i, “I can’t quite figure out is that why you were so obsessed with it because you’re already rich. I mean, and your scheme worked here. I mean, your net worth now is north of $12 million. You got over a million dollars in cash awards during COVID, during a 12-month, 24-month span during COVID. A million bucks you knocked down in cash money using federal resources. Now you’re worth more than $12 million. You’ve got a pension that, in its first year, paid out north of $400,000 a year. A million people dead. You’re getting rich. A million people dead. You’re using federal employees to get cash awards for you—a million people dead—and you’re here taking the Fifth because you don’t want to admit that what really happened in all that time was a multi-month, multi-year course of self-dealing. Isn’t that true, Dr. Fauci?” Fauci once again refused to answer. “Silence is admission. And here’s the real thing: at the end of the day, it wasn’t just about the money, really, was it? It was really about a power trip. I mean, through all of this, you want to be the most famous scientist in the world. You were so focused on getting every award and every drop of cash that you could, all because you wanted to be on TV. You wanted to be the sun god of science. You wanted to be the guy who was in charge of it all. You wanted to lambast Trump. You wanted to make sure that nobody else stole your spotlight … You could sit for InStyle magazine, but you’re here taking the fifth. You could sit for InStyle magazine and get a million bucks in cash awards, but now the cat’s got your tongue. I bet he does. I tell you what. Here’s my conclusion from all of this: This was really all about you the whole time. Somewhere along the way, you lost your way. You may have been a good public servant at one time. I don’t know, but I can tell you from reading your emails now, from looking at what you did, how you used your employees. Somewhere along the line, it became all about you. You became a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar, and you’ve lied to the American people, and you’ve lied to this body, and you’ve disgraced your profession by doing it. You called yourself the most famous scientist in the world. You’ve done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime, and I hope you’ll go home and write that in your diary,” Senator Hawley concluded . Watch Senator Hawley’s full exchange with Dr. Fauci here .