WATCH: Fauci walks away when pressed on Fifth Amendment, pandemic regrets

Dr. Anthony Fauci declined to answer Fox News Digital's questions outside his home Thursday, walking away when asked whether he regretted pleading the Fifth during a contentious Senate hearing or his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Do you regret the way you handled the hearing, pleading the Fifth so much?" Fox News Digital asked Fauci.

Fauci’s silence came one day after he declined, on the advice of his attorneys, to answer questions before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

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Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and medical advisor to several U.S. presidents, testifies under subpoena about his role in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, at a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

"Although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions," Fauci said in his opening statement.

The former White House COVID adviser was questioned over his response to the pandemic and his policy decisions, and was accused of funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China.

Paul argues Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment was unsupported because Biden pardoned him and said the committee will vote next week on a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress.

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Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Anthony Fauci declined to testify in a Senate committee hearing on his role in the US response to Covid-19, invoking his 5th Amendment rights. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"The Fifth Amendment is to claim immunity from self-incrimination," Paul said on the Will Cain Show on Wednesday. "But if you've already been given immunity, you can't self-incriminate unless you lie."

Fauci also stayed silent when asked if he regrets the decisions he made as the public’s health leader during the pandemic.

"Is there anything you would do different on COVID sir?" Fox News Digital asked after Fauci refused to answer questions about his Senate hearing.

FAUCI'S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED

Dr. Anthony Fauci walks away after Fox News Digital questioned him outside his home over pleading the Fifth during his Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Senate hearing on Wednesday. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)

Paul released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary entries before the hearing, arguing they revealed discrepancies between Fauci’s private notes and public statements.

One entry documented an early discussion in which several scientists considered whether features of the virus could have been deliberately inserted. Fauci subsequently publicly favored a natural origin.

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Fauci also said publicly that he was not responsible for rallying schools to shut down during the pandemic. But he wrote in his diary that he influenced both New York and California government officials to lock down their state’s school systems.

Paul, with the support of other GOP senators, has announced that he is seeking contempt charges against Fauci following his refusal to answer questions in Wednesday’s hearing.