Fauci’s COVID-origins hearing shows how conspiracy theories became political weapons

Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, 2026. AP Photo/Allison Robbert Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions from a Senate committee more than 100 times on July 29, 2026. The Republican-led hearing – convened to scrutinize Fauci’s management of the pandemic and the origins of COVID-19 – was the latest chapter in a political story that began in 2020, when uncertainty, fear and…