Today Anthony Fauci pled the Fifth Amendment 80-plus times in front of Senator Rand Paul’s committee, refusing to answer questions about COVID origins, gain-of-function research, and the internal record of his own conduct during the pandemic.
You may be asking: Why did he refuse? The honest answer is sitting in the diary that was released to the public last week. Here are five specific entries that explain, in Fauci’s own handwriting, why he could not afford to answer any of Paul’s questions truthfully.
Entry 1 — DeSantis Drawn as “Death”
The single most damning image circulating from the diary is Fauci’s hand-drawn cartoon of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. DeSantis is depicted as the personification of Death — hooded, skeletal — with Fauci himself drawn as the crusading hero opposing him.
DeSantis is the governor who kept Florida’s schools open, its beaches accessible, and its economy running while Fauci’s guidance closed most of the country. Florida’s outcomes have been studied ever since and consistently look strong on the metrics Fauci said would kill people. That Fauci was privately drawing the man who was empirically correct as literal Death is not a joke. It is a window into the frame of mind driving national COVID policy — and it is exactly the kind of thing you never want a Senate committee to make you explain under oath.
Entry 2 — Dana Bash of CNN Emailed Fauci Attack Lines Against Jim Jordan
Which media personalities fare the worst in Fauci’s diary? Some standouts. @DanaBashCNN emailing Fauci quotes about how “Jim Jordan trips over his own asshole trying to debate Anthony Fauci.” https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/2081375356112572636
— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) July 28, 2026
This one broke the “credentialed journalist” myth in real time. CNN’s chief political anchor, Dana Bash, was privately emailing Fauci attack lines against a sitting Republican congressman conducting oversight — not as reporting, not as commentary, but as coaching. The receipts are in the diary. That is not an oversight target defending himself; that is a federal official coordinating with a hostile network anchor to smear the member of Congress asking hard questions.
Ask yourself what happens if Fauci answers Rand Paul’s questions honestly about that coordination. That would be, at minimum, additional testimony that could become the foundation for further charges. He can’t say yes. He can’t safely say no. So he pleads the Fifth.
Entry 3 — Alyssa Farah Was Working to Get Dr. Scott Atlas Fired
Wow, @Alyssafarah — formerly of the Trump Admin, currently of The View — emailed Fauci in 2020 saying she’s trying to get Dr. Scott Atlas fired: “He goes rogue and it’s wildly unhelpful. I’m so sorry.” https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/2081141223813783558
— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) July 28, 2026
Dr. Scott Atlas was the one senior White House COVID advisor consistently telling President Trump the truth about lockdown costs and school closure damage. Alyssa Farah Griffin — then a Trump White House communications official, now a co-host of The View — was privately emailing Fauci to apologize on behalf of Atlas and coordinate his removal. That is a diary entry that becomes a Senate follow-up question the moment Fauci answers anything under oath.
Entry 4 — Prayer Medal Depicting Himself
Among the more surreal items in the released files: a photograph of a Prayer Medal — the kind you might see for a saint — with Fauci’s face on it. Fauci saved this in his personal records. The “Dr. Anthony Fauci Fan Club” account had reposted it, and Fauci archived it as if it were a keepsake.
By itself, cringe. In the context of a Senate hearing about whether one man’s ego drove the closure of America, it is entered evidence. Every diary entry showing Fauci archiving worship of himself makes it harder for his lawyers to argue his COVID decisions were coldly scientific rather than personally motivated.
Entry 5 — “America Is Thirsty” Clipping
Fauci physically clipped and saved a media article whose headline was “America Is Thirsty” — referring to himself. He clipped it. He saved it. It went into his personal file. He held onto it as, presumably, something he wanted to look at again later.
This is not the record of a public servant reluctantly stepping into the spotlight during a crisis. This is the record of a man who genuinely believed the country revolved around him — and who kept a shoebox of proof.
Why Today’s Fifth-Amendment Meltdown Makes Sense Now
Read the five entries above and then watch the hearing footage from today. The 80-plus Fifth Amendment invocations, the shaking hands, the pre-written statement his attorney tried to read for him, the security removal of the same attorney — none of it is the behavior of a man confident that the record clears him.
It is the behavior of a man whose own private records show a completely different figure than the one presented to the American public for four years. A figure who drew opponents as Death. Who coordinated attack lines with legacy media. Who worked to remove dissenting advisors from the White House. Who archived worship of himself as if it were sacred.
Anthony Fauci pled the Fifth today because Anthony Fauci wrote everything down. The full Fauci Files continue to be serialized by investigative journalist Julie Kelly. Companion story: Will Fauci Actually Go to Jail? Rand Paul Files Contempt Today.
Follow @julie_kelly2 for daily diary breakdowns. Follow @RandPaul for the contempt vote schedule. And remember — every one of the entries above is written in Fauci’s own hand, in his own private records, saved by Fauci himself. The wheels of accountability turn slowly, but they only turn at all when someone is willing to open the box the record was kept in.
