Stephen A. Smith on Fauci: ‘You can’t show up on Capitol Hill and plead the fifth 111 times’

Media Stephen A. Smith on Fauci: ‘You can’t show up on Capitol Hill and plead the fifth 111 times’ Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/31/26 8:15 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/31/26 8:15 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith said Thursday that former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci should have answered lawmakers’ questions during the hostile Senate hearing earlier this week, instead of invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.

Smith argued that Fauci owed the public an explanation after serving as the face of the nation’s COVID-19 response.

“As it strictly pertains to the coronavirus pandemic, my attitude is, with you being the face that you have been, you can’t show up on Capitol Hill and plead the Fifth 111 times,” he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. “You just can’t do that. That’s not right. You’ve got to answer some questions.”

During a three-hour hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, Fauci pleaded the Fifth 111 times as Republicans blasted him over his handling of the pandemic and accused the doctor of covering up the U.S.’s involvement in the gain of function research that could have caused the spread of the virus.

Smith acknowledged that Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years, may have had a legitimate legal reason to remain silent — pointing to a pardon he received from President Biden on his final day in office for potential offenses between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025.

“Anything that he said clearly could potentially incriminate him and could give them fodder to come after him for future potential transgressions, and they can go after him that way, and I certainly don’t want an 85-year-old man thrown in jail, particularly with his exemplary service,” the commentator told NewsNation.

During the hearing, Republicans argued Fauci had no basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment, when the doctor continuously repeated his one-line phrase: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

Before the hearing, committee chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s personal diary and work records. Fauci condemned the move as an attempt at “embarrassing and intimidating” him.

Paul, who has sought to indict Fauci, is also threatening to hold him in contempt after the hearing.

While Democrats praised the doctor for his decades of public service and leadership in the infectious disease space, many Republicans accused him of being responsible for COVID-19 related deaths, vaccine injuries and for destroying the American public’s trust in the healthcare system.