Paul has security remove Fauci lawyer's for interrupting hearing

Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday morning had a security officer remove Dr. Anthony Fauci's lawyer from a Senate hearing after he attempted to make a statement. 

Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told the attorney he was not authorized by the committee to testify and warned him that he would be removed if he spoke again. 

When the attorney attempted to speak again, Paul had an officer remove him from the hearing room.

Paul said the attorney, who is being identified as David Schertler, was allowed to counsel his client but could not testify and that Fauci had a "half-dozen other" attorneys in the room.

Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for four decades, including during the coronavirus pandemic.

He agreed to testify involuntarily.

Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has accused Fauci of funding "gain-of-function" research in China that created the virus and started the pandemic and of lying about it to Congress. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to such questions.

 Earlier this week, Paul released over 1,100 pages of Fauci's typewritten notes amid the pandemic that has sparked renewed interest about what he might have thought about the start of the virus versus what he said publicly. 

Fauci has a pre-emptive pardon from former President Joe Biden, but the pardon protects him only from federal prosecution for actions taken through the date it was issued, Jan. 19, 2025, which appears to not cover what he migh say Wednesday.