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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) today accused former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci of enriching himself during the COVID-19 pandemic and improperly using federal employees to pursue lucrative cash awards.
As he did throughout today’s contentious U.S. Senate hearing, Fauci repeatedly declined to answer questions, invoking the Fifth Amendment.
Fauci answered nearly every question from Hawley and other members of the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs with, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”
Hawley blamed Fauci’s refusal to answer questions on his wanting to avoid discussing what Hawley described as misconduct during the pandemic that led to a personal accumulation of wealth.
“It’s because you did all kinds of terrible things,” Hawley said. “It’s because during the pandemic, you got rich, didn’t you? You got rich while people were dying, hundreds of thousands of Americans, over a million in the end, and you were getting rich.”
Anthony Fauci has ZERO rights under the Fifth Amendment because Joe Biden pardoned him.
He got RICH while people were DYING.
He used federal employees with taxpayer money to apply for and solicit cash prizes
He needs to answer for it pic.twitter.com/ShaOCQzEDF
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 29, 2026
Hawley pressed Fauci over emails involving former Chief of Staff Greg Folkers and personal assistant Patricia Conrad, revealing that they spent government time helping Fauci secure prestigious awards carrying significant cash prizes.
Reading from what he said was a 2020 email from Folkers, Hawley quoted:
“I’m working on this nomination for the Dan David Award for Fauci. We need to beef up the COVID part. Do you have language in the can that you could share that delineates how we responded in new ways to COVID?”
Hawley, who said the Dan David Prize carried a $900,000 cash prize, alleged it was one of several awards Fauci pursued while serving as a federal employee.
“This wasn’t the only award, was it, Dr. Fauci? In fact, you applied for and received at least eight other federal cash prizes on federal time using federal employees and federal resources.”
The Missouri Republican accused Fauci of turning “your staff into a full-time application machine,” saying federal employees helped prepare nomination materials, gather supporting documentation and communicate with ethics officials to facilitate Fauci’s acceptance of prize money.
According to Hawley, emails showed aides pressing ethics officials for approval. Quoting from the correspondence, Hawley said staff wrote, “We don’t want just an answer. We want to get to yes because Fauci wants the money. He wants it. We want to get to yes, and yes takes time.”
Hawley alleged the conduct violated federal ethics regulations prohibiting the use of government resources to solicit personal financial benefits.
“Federal law, as you very well know, prohibits the solicitation of cash awards or other personal benefits for federal employees,” Hawley said. “It certainly prohibits using your own employees to do this. … You cannot use federal resources, federal dollars, federal employees, federal offices, federal email, federal time to solicit cash awards. And you did all of it.”
Each time Hawley asked whether the allegations were true or whether the conduct violated federal law, Fauci repeated that he was declining to answer on the advice of counsel.
Hawley broadened his criticism beyond the ethics allegations, accusing Fauci of using the pandemic not only to increase his net worth, but also his public profile.
In his closing remarks, Hawley accused Fauci of prioritizing personal recognition over public service.
“This was really all about you the whole time,” Hawley said. “You wanted to be the most famous scientist in the world. You wanted to be the sun god of science.”
🔥 Sen. Josh Hawley MIC DROPPED Tony Fauci
“You called yourself the most famous scientist in the world. You have done more to harm science than ANYBODY in my lifetime.
I hope you will go home and write that in your diary.” 🫳🏻🎤 pic.twitter.com/zO4aQ1Ak2H
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 29, 2026
Hawley had aides hold up a picture of the cover of InStyle Magazine, featuring Fauci and the headline, “The Good Doctor.”
He concluded by calling Fauci “a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar,” adding, “You’ve lied to the American people and you’ve lied to this body. … You’ve done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime. And I hope you’ll go home and write that in your diary.”
Fauci offered no substantive response to the accusations, again invoking the Fifth Amendment before Hawley concluded his questioning.
Watch Sen. Hawley question Fauci here:
Related articles in The Defender
- ‘I Am the Most Famous’: Fauci Basked in Media Spotlight, Newly Released Diaries Show
- Fauci Treated for Pulmonary Infarction Months After Getting COVID Vaccine, Diaries Show
- Fauci Told Colleagues to Delete COVID-Related Communications, Emails Show
- Fauci’s Replacement at NIAID a Cheerleader for Gain-of-Function Research
- Gabbard: Never-Before-Seen Documents Show Fauci Lied to Congress
- U.S. Taxpayers Funded Wuhan Lab — and Made Fauci a Very Wealthy Government Employee, Watchdog Group Says
