Hawley: What day of the week is it today? [wNqUPmlCQyn]
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked Dr. Anthony Fauci a series of simple questions on Wednesday after the infectious disease expert invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. "What day of the week is it today? … What color tie are you wearing? … What color is the carpet in front of you?" the Missouri Republican asked. "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution," Dr. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said to each question. In his opening statement, Dr. Fauci said he would refuse to answer the committee's questions, citing Chair Rand Paul's (R-KY) "obvious obsession" with calling for his prosecution, his "repeated slanderous comments" about him, and the Kentucky Republican's decision to publicly release his personal journal. "The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words — quote — 'behind bars,'" he told senators. "Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion." #cspan #joshhawley #anthonyfauci #fifthamendment #covid