Anthony Fauci Pushed for Answers Over Bill Gates' Security Clearance During COVID-19 Pandemic in Heated Senate Hearing

The heated exchange between Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul during a Senate hearing had a new twist, RadarOnline.com can reveal, as Bill Gates' name was mentioned.

During the back-and-forth on Wednesday, July 29, Paul revealed the Microsoft billionaire held a top-level security clearance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Bill Gates was given Q security clearance from 2014 to 2021," Paul noted toward the end of the hearing, alluding to the clearance the businessman received during the Obama administration.

The high-level access authorization was granted by the Department of Energy (DOE). It is equivalent to a Department of Defense Top Secret clearance. Gates was granted clearance due to his involvement with TerraPower, a company that focuses on nuclear innovation.

However, after Florida Senator Rick Scott asked Fauci if he partnered with "Bill Gates on global health initiatives or vaccines, or if he had "knowledge of Bill Gates partnering with China on sensitive research."

In response, Fauci had nothing to say after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right.

Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has a connection to Gates. Back in 2003, the medical expert served on a scientific advisory board that received partial funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

And in 2021, Gates admitted he was left baffled after he and Fauci were at the center of conspiracy theories focused on COVID-19.

"Nobody would have predicted that I and Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories," Gates told Reuters at the time. "I'm very surprised by that (and) I hope it goes away." Gates also offered up praise for Fauci and his handling of the virus.

Meanwhile, Fauci has been criticized by Paul and other Republicans over allegations he hid the true origins of the pandemic. He was pardoned by President Joe Biden during his last days in office to avoid any possible prosecution.

Despite the pardon, Paul, after becoming chairman of a major Senate Committee, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attempted to bring perjury charges against Fauci.

During the July 29 hearing, Fauci, who appeared under a subpoena from Rand Paul, accused the Republican of being "obsessed" with seeing him "behind bars."

"The sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to prompt me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, 'behind bars,'" the 85-year-old said.

He continued, "Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion. Therefore, although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions."

Fauci would go on to invoke the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during the hearing.

President Trump has also voiced his dislike for Fauci, recently accusing him of having "crazy" ideas, claiming the COVID-19 virus "came from the Wuhan Laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China."

Paul has alleged that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded viral research in Wuhan, China, that created virulent and contagious strains of coronavirus.

Fauci, however, has denied the allegations. Evidence that the virus was leaked from a lab has yet to be discovered.