Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) delivered a scathing rebuke of Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): And certainly see why. You know what I can’t quite figure out is that why you were so obsessed with it because you’re already rich. I mean, and your scheme worked here. I mean, your net worth now is north of $ 12 million. You got over a million dollars in cash awards during COVID, during a 12-month, 24-month span during COVID. A million bucks you knocked down in cash money using federal resources. Now you’re worth more than $ 12 million. You’ve got a pension that in its first year paid out north of $ 400,000 a year. A million people dead, you’re getting rich. A million people dead, you’re using federal employees to get cash awards for you. A million people dead, and you’re here taking the fifth because you don’t want to admit that what really happened in all that time was a multi-month, multi-year course of self-dealing. Isn’t that true, Dr. Fauci? DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. HAWLEY: Yeah, well, silence is admission. And here’s the real thing. At the end of the day, it wasn’t just about the money, really, was it? It was really about a power trip. I mean, through all of this, you want to be the most famous scientist in the world. You were so focused on getting every award and every drop of cash that you could, all because you wanted to be on TV. You wanted to be the sun god of science. You wanted to be the guy who was in charge of it all. You wanted to blambast Trump. You wanted to make sure that nobody else stole your spotlight. You wanted to be the guy. You had time to sit for InStyle Magazine. Here’s what you were doing with your time. You could sit for InStyle Magazine, but you can’t answer questions for the American people. You could sit for InStyle Magazine, but you’re here taking the fifth. You could sit for InStyle Magazine and get a million bucks in cash awards, but now the cat’s got your tongue. I bet he does. I tell you what, here’s my conclusion from all of this. This was really all about you the whole time. Somewhere along the way, you lost your way. You may have been a good public servant at one time. I don’t know, but I can tell you from reading your emails now, from looking at what you did, how you used your employees, somewhere along the line, it became all about you. You became a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar, and you’ve lied to the American people and you’ve lied to this body, and you’ve disgraced your profession by doing it. You called yourself the most famous scientist in the world. 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. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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