Fauci, the Fifth and His Future

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee this week to answer questions about his conduct during the Covid pandemic and his role in funding gain of function research that appears to have played a role in what followed.

Fauci had received a last minute preemptive pardon from the Biden administration for any actions he took in his official government conduct from 2014 until January 19, 2025.

Despite this, Fauci still pled the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination over 100 times during the hearing.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/dr-fauci-invokes-fifth-amendment-over-100-times-during-senate-hearing-267466821581

Link: https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/fauci-diary-covid-19-rand-paul/

At one point his invocation of the Fifth got so ridiculous that Fauci refused to answer a question about the color of his tie.

You are generally not permitted to invoke the Fifth Amendment in a legal proceeding after receiving a pardon as you are shielded from being prosecuted for any crimes committed during the period the pardon relates.

However, you can be subject to perjury charges for not being truthful and the Presidential pardon does not necessarily apply to state prosecutions.

Fauci was clearly not taking any chances even though he might be charged with Contempt of Congress for his refusal to testify and subject to up to a year in prison if convicted.

His actions were also counter to his earlier statements that he was always willing to testify about everything he did because he had nothing to hide.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/media/fauci-haunted-2022-nothing-hide-vow-invoking-fifth-amendment-111-times

Based on the revelations contained in a daily diary where Fauci had chronicled his activities during the Covid year ( he apparently planned to profit from a book he was going to write) he has good reasons to be concerned.

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5993885-rand-paul-accuses-fauci-dishonesty-diary/

The diary was published prior to the hearing by Chairman Rand Paul who apparently received it from sources at the Department of Health and Human Services in that the contents of Fauci's diary were found on government servers.

At a minimum. the diary is unbelievably damaging to Fauci's reputation.

He spends a lot of time writing about how famous he has become due to Covid.

It is hard to read the diary entries without concluding Fauci is a narcissistic egomaniac.

A sampling compiled by Tom Elliott.

Source: https://x.com/tomselliott/status/2082102330753999242

At worse, it shows he was saying one thing in private and another in public.

For example, he has always stated that "the science" is strong that Covid came about naturally from bats and dismissed that it resulted from a leak at the Wuhan lab which he was involved with in funding experiments.

However, his diary admits that 10 fo 12 experts he consulted early on believed that it was possible the virus had come from Wuhan. 

In public and in any Congressional testimony Fauci  always branded anyone who suggested that Covid came from a lab leak to be a conspiracy theorist.

Fauci also testified under oath and told the public that Covid had a mortality rate of 10x the flu.

However, privately he assessed the rate at .2-.3% which is in the range of a severe annual flu virus.

I was on to Fauci early as I wrote about Covid in these pages.

I could not have known how right I was when I wrote a blog post titled "Two-Faced Fauci?" on April 13, 2020 about one month into the pandemic.

He comes across as someone who doesn't mince words and is a pretty straight shooter.

However, I must also admit that I have seen some things that have troubled me when it comes to Dr. Fauci during the Covid-19 crisis.

First, Fauci has had the top job regarding infectious diseases at the National Institute of Health since 1984---36 years.

As people begin to ask whether we should have been better prepared wouldn't the first person that should be questioned regarding that lack of preparation be Dr. Fauci?

Yes, I know he is only a bureaucrat and he doesn't control funding and the like. However, politicians have one million issues (and especially Presidents) on their plates. Fauci had responsibility that included one very big issue---our response to a pandemic. Did he use his platform and his influence effectively to insure we were prepared?

I also have a hard time in understanding how Dr. Fauci can stand up at those press conferences and say that his sole focus is on health recommendations to the President.

He is being charged with overseeing the public health of the United States. Yes, that includes the nation's short term response to the virus. However, how do public health concerns also not extend to the longer term implications of the economic shutdown.

He says he is not an economist. In my view, it is not enough for him to say that it is not his concern. There is a public health component in that as well that he should be considering and weighing in his recommendations.

On July 19, 2020 I asked "Does The Substance Match The Style" after Fauci was featured on the cover of InStyle magazine along with a glowing interview by Norah O'Donnell of NBC News.

In that blog post I also pointed out the dangerous insider relationships between people like Fauci and the D.C. media establishment. That link is shown time and again in the Fauci diary.

What is especially telling in all of this is that Dr. Fauci, a man with a lot of style but little substance to point to on Covid-19, is treated as if he was a deity by the media and D.C. establishment.

Donald Trump, a man with little style but who has proven to have a lot of substance and results to show in 3+ years in office, is treated as if he is the devil.

It says a lot about what is important in Washington.

The problem is that we are living in very dangerous and consequential times today.

Style doesn't cut it any more.

It is long past the time that the media masters and D.C. insiders should be the ones deciding what is good and bad for the country. 

On June 3, 2021 I wrote about Fauci in a blog post titled  "Fauci: Good Doctor of Fraud?". 

I had a very wise boss and mentor who advised me early in my career to always be on the look out for what he referred to as "the articulate incompetent".

These are the people who look good and sound great. They usually attended the best schools and know how to ingratiate themselves to the people who count. However, when you really considered what they said or did, there was nothing there. 

In the corporate world these people could quickly impress others and be persuasive in their presentations. However, there was no substance to back up the style. This fact eluded most people and articulate incompetents could inflict major damage on an organization because they had people doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

Anthony Fauci seems to me to be an articulate incompetent.

 Of course, it you are current in your BeeLine reading you should have seen my blog post of a month ago about Fauci and others asking the question "Will Anyone Ever Be Held Accountable" that also republished my blog post  titled "Truth and Lies" from January 26, 2024.

That blog post documents Fauci's frantic efforts early in 2020 in covering up NIH funding of the Wuhan lab's work on coronaviruses.

Fauci and the NIH were living in fear of it being found out they were funding the work on the coronaviruses at Wuhan.

They also knew that the purpose of the work was to create a virus that was more contagious and deadly than was currently in place in nature.

Knowing all of this, it undoubtedly caused Fauci and the NIH to overreact and recommend the draconian response to the virus they did knowing that it was totally at odds with established protocols in dealing with a pandemic.

Fear and guilt had to be enormous motivating factors in what Fauci and his brethren did next.

They could not leave any stone unturned in the Covid response knowing what they appeared to have unleashed.

What would the reaction be if the truth came out and Fauci had not gone all out in the response in order to stop the virus?

After reading those diary excerpts from Fauci where he seems so enamored with his celebrity, I also wonder whether he might have subconsciously wanted the pandemic to linger in order to remain the center of attention.  It is a horrible thought but we know human nature for what it is.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Dr. Fauci.

Will the Senate ask the DOJ to prosecute Fauci for contempt of Congress?

Could the DOJ attempt to challenge the autopen Presidential pardon given to Fauci by the Biden administration?

Will a state such as Florida or Alabama seek to bring some sort of state criminal action against Fauci?

Will the Democrats and media establishment continue to defend and protect Fauci?

I saw an interesting take from someone that suggested that it was not far fetched to believe that we would soon see some (if not most) Democrats and media types throw Fauci under the bus to protect their own reputations in light of the contents of his diary and the documents released by Tulsi Gabbard last month.

Fauci has already seen what the Democrats and media did to another man in his 80's to protect their  credibility and power.

If they could do it to the President of the United States it would be much easier to do it to Fauci.

I cannot imagine Fauci is sleeping well these days.

Fauci seems destined to be seen in the future as more a fool than a hero, if not a full-fledged villain.

That might be enough justice itself for a man so consumed with his celebrity and status within the D.C.and media establishment.

In the meantime, I can sleep well knowing I did not let the sizzle and sycophants surrounding Fauci cloud my analysis and judgment regarding the substance of what I saw to be a deeply flawed man.