Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of using taxpayer-funded staff to pursue more than $1 million in personal cash awards during the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations Fauci declined to address as he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment.
The exchange came during a contentious hearing Wednesday, where the former White House COVID advisor had been subpoenaed to appear before the Republican-led committee by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Hawley accused Fauci of directing federal employees to help secure lucrative awards while millions of Americans were grappling with the pandemic.
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"You were using federal employees with taxpayer money to apply for and solicit cash prizes for you personally, cash prizes totaling over $1 million," Hawley said. "You did all of that during the pandemic, didn't you?"
Rather than respond to Hawley's questions, Fauci repeatedly said, "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution."
Hawley then pointed to what he described as internal emails from Fauci's staff, including one from former chief of staff Greg Folkers discussing a nomination for the Dan David Prize. According to Hawley, the email asked federal employees to bolster the COVID-19 section of Fauci's nomination by providing language detailing his pandemic response.
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"We're working on this nomination for the Dan David Award for Fauci," Hawley read from the email. "We need to beef up the COVID part."
Hawley alleged the Dan David Award carried a $900,000 cash prize and claimed Fauci used federal employees to help obtain it. He further accused Fauci of using government staff and resources to pursue at least eight additional cash awards, including honors from the Partnership for Public Service, the Adelson Prize, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Medicine and the CDC Foundation.
"In fact, you turned your staff into a full-time application machine," Hawley said. "You actually wrote to people and said, 'Do you think maybe I'd qualify?'"
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Hawley also alleged Fauci used eight separate federal employees on government time to assist with the award applications, asking whether the claims were true.
Fauci again declined to answer, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, something he did more than 100 times over the course of the hearing.
Although the retired infectious disease expert was granted a presidential pardon by former President Joe Biden, critics have argued he could still be prosecuted if he commits perjury while testifying under oath.
In his opening remarks, Fauci accused Paul of having an "obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution."
"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, unquote," he said.
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Hawley told FOX Business that Fauci "has zero rights under the Fifth Amendment" because of his pardon.
"He got rich while people were dying," Hawley said. "He used federal employees with taxpayer money to apply for and solicit cash prizes. He needs to answer for it."
Fauci said he invoked the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his legal counsel, while acknowledging that doing so was difficult for him.
