Dr. Anthony Fauci was overheard expressing frustration and using an expletive during a walk with his wife on Wednesday evening, hours after invoking his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
Fauci, 85, was seen power-walking near his Washington, D.C. home with his wife, Christine Grady. He was reportedly heard complaining that someone "was shouting at me," and then uttered an expletive. He was wearing a Georgetown University “IronMed 5K” T-shirt and appeared to be handling his phone.
The hearing, which lasted four hours, was convened after Fauci was subpoenaed by Senator Rand Paul. Paul has accused Fauci of allegedly covering up the origins of COVID-19 and misleading the public. During the hearing, Fauci refused to answer numerous questions from Republican senators, citing his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Following the hearing, Senator Paul announced that his committee would initiate proceedings for contempt of Congress against Fauci due to his refusal to answer questions.
Fauci retired in December 2022 after serving 38 years as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He was, at the time of his retirement, the highest-paid government employee, earning $481,000 annually, with a reported net worth exceeding $11 million between himself and his wife.
In 2023, Fauci joined the faculty of Georgetown University as a distinguished professor in the School of Medicine's Infectious Diseases Division. His wife, Christine Grady, previously served as the chief bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and joined Georgetown University in March, where she is a professor of neuroscience and a senior advisor on bioethics and neuroethics.