Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment over 100 times at US Covid hearing

Former top US health official Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a tense Senate hearing into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Fauci said he feared Republicans would use his testimony to pursue perjury charges, accusing Senator Rand Paul of having an “obvious obsession” with prosecuting him.

Senator Paul has repeatedly accused Dr Fauci of misleading Congress and covering up the pandemic’s origins, after releasing his pandemic-era diary entries.

The Senate panel is expected to vote next week on whether to hold Dr Fauci in contempt.

The US Senate panel will vote next week on whether to hold Mr Fauci in contempt.