Jack
Anthony Fauci came to Capitol Hill with a small army of lawyers and a plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
Then one of those lawyers tried to jump into the questioning—and Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul had seen enough.
Paul ordered security to remove attorney David Schertler from the hearing room after Schertler repeatedly interrupted the proceedings and attempted to speak without being recognized.
“You’re disrupting the proceedings,” Paul told him. “Security, please remove him from the room.”
🚨 HOLY CRAP! A furious Sen. Rand Paul just had security REMOVE Dr. Anthony Fauci's disruptive attorney
This whole thing is a shtshow!
"You're DISRUPTING the proceedings! THIS is the way Fauci wants to be remembered…security, please remove him from the room!" pic.twitter.com/3jqZpeEH1i
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 29, 2026
“Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half-a-dozen attorneys he brought along today,” Paul said after Schertler was escorted out.
Schertler later defended what he had been trying to do. He told reporters that Fauci had a valid Fifth Amendment privilege and a right to assert it.
After he was removed from the hearing room, Dr. Anthony Fauci's attorney, who did not identify himself, told reporters, "Dr. Fauci has a valid Fifth Amendment privilege, and he has the right to assert it. That's what I was trying to tell the committee." pic.twitter.com/t0ElP63uWS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2026
The spectacle came during Fauci’s subpoenaed appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee identifies Fauci as the only witness on the panel. The subpoenaed hearing began at 8:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.