One hundred and eleven times. That's how many times Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid falling into the perjury trap Sen. Rand Paul was setting for him. Dr. Fauci was not brought in to testify because they needed to know more about what he had said and done in the past. No, he has not only testified multiple times about all of these issues in the past, but they are covered by the broad pardon of him that President Joe Biden granted before he left office.

The purpose here was the trap. Sen. Paul was open about it. He told reporters before the hearing that any statement made by Dr. Fauci at the hearing would not be protected by the presidential pardon — so if there were any inconsistency between what Dr. Fauci said now and then, no matter how small or insignificant, it could be the basis of a perjury charge. Paul has made no bones about his desire to see Dr. Fauci behind bars. Not that he can single-handedly succeed at doing so, but he got a gaggle of Republican senators who should have known better to follow his lead.

It is the purpose of the Fifth Amendment to prevent such persecutions. That's what this was, pure and simple, and thankfully we have a Constitution to invoke to stop it.