00:05I hope today Dr. Fauci will come clean, admit it was a mistake to fund dangerous research
00:11in China, admit that the risk of this dangerous research exceeded any possible benefits, ask
00:17forgiveness and pledge to help our government devise safeguards so a man-made epidemic never
00:23happens again. But the real question is, was it dangerous? Was it a wise decision to fund
00:32this? And you haven't deviated from that. You've never admitted that it could have been a mistake
00:37funding this research in China. The American people weren't asking for a semantics debate
00:43over what is gain-of-function. They were asking, does common sense say this research was dangerous
00:49in Wuhan. Do you swear that the testimony we'll give before this committee will be the truth,
00:56the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help you God.
01:03Given Senator Paul's obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous
01:12comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing
01:24and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling
01:34me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his
01:42repeated public pledges that I end up in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.
01:51Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same
02:02conclusion. Therefore, although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative
02:12branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of
02:20my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from
02:28answering your questions. Thank you.
02:32Can you explain to the committee why you chose to fund this dangerous research in China?
02:38On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth
02:44Amendment of the Constitution.
