James Uthmeier announced a state inquiry into Anthony Fauci’s pandemic-era conduct after the former federal health official repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during testimony before a Senate committee.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Wednesday that his office has opened an investigation into former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, escalating state-level scrutiny after Fauci declined to answer questions under oath about the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uthmeier disclosed the inquiry only hours after Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The hearing focused on gain-of-function research, U.S. funding connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the origins of COVID-19 and apparent differences between Fauci’s private notes and his public statements.
“Fauci’s lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable,” Uthmeier wrote in announcing the investigation. “My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci. It’s past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID.”
The attorney general did not immediately identify the Florida laws under review, the specific conduct his office intends to examine or whether the inquiry is criminal, civil or both. The announcement nevertheless marked the first confirmed state investigation arising from Fauci’s Senate appearance.
Fauci, 85, testified under subpoena before the committee chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., one of his most persistent congressional critics. He refused to answer dozens of questions, with reports placing the number of Fifth Amendment invocations anywhere from more than 50 to more than 100.
Fauci accused Paul of having an “unhinged obsession” with prosecuting him and argued that the hearing was intended to place him in a position where he could face a perjury allegation. His attorneys advised him not to respond to questions that could potentially create legal exposure.
Paul and other Republicans challenged that position by pointing to the preemptive federal pardon former President Joe Biden granted Fauci before leaving office. They argued that the pardon protects Fauci from federal prosecution for covered conduct occurring before it was issued, but does not shield him from possible state charges, civil claims or prosecution for false statements made after the pardon’s effective date.
The constitutional protection against self-incrimination can still involve legal questions beyond federal prosecution, including potential exposure under state law. Invoking the Fifth Amendment does not establish guilt or prove that the witness committed a crime.
Uthmeier’s announcement followed a public appeal from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who called on governors and attorneys general in Florida, Texas, West Virginia and Arkansas to pursue possible state cases against Fauci. Luna referred to the former NIAID director as Dr. “Mengele,” invoking Nazi SS physician Josef Mengele, and accused Fauci of wrongdoing involving children and COVID-19 vaccines.
“Dr. ‘Mengele’ Fauci may be protected by a federal pardon but that does not hold against state prosecution and civil lawsuits,” Luna said.
“I am calling on the great Attorneys General and Governors of FL, TX, WV, and AR to bring charges against Fauci for crimes against children in exposing them to a vaccine that has now been PROVEN to hurt people. He is and will go down in history as one of the darkest souls who has ever been in federal government.
“There is NO JUSTICE unless he is held responsible for the crimes HE committed against HUMANITY.”
Luna’s statements are allegations and political characterizations, not judicial findings. Fauci has not been convicted of crimes related to vaccine policy, pandemic restrictions, research funding or the origins of COVID-19.
The Senate hearing revisited issues that have followed Fauci since the pandemic, when he became one of the federal government’s most prominent public health officials. Republicans have accused him of misleading Congress about National Institutes of Health-supported research involving coronaviruses in China and of obscuring evidence that the outbreak may have resulted from a laboratory-related incident.
Lawmakers also questioned Fauci about diary entries and other records released by Paul that reportedly reveal private discussions about the virus’s origins and the government’s public messaging. Critics contend the documents show contradictions between what Fauci knew internally and what he told lawmakers and the public.
Fauci has denied lying to Congress and has repeatedly disputed claims that U.S.-funded research created the virus or caused the pandemic. He has also defended the federal health response as an effort to reduce illness and death amid rapidly changing scientific information.
The dispute has expanded beyond questions about virology and research funding to encompass school closures, business restrictions, masking policies and vaccine mandates. Critics blame those measures for educational losses, economic hardship and injuries attributed to vaccination, while Fauci and other former officials have argued that public health recommendations were made under emergency conditions to limit transmission and protect hospitals.
Uthmeier’s inquiry could test whether Florida authorities can identify conduct connected to the state that falls outside the protection of Biden’s federal pardon. A presidential pardon applies to federal offenses and cannot independently prevent a state from investigating or prosecuting violations of its own laws.
The attorney general’s office had not announced a timetable, potential witnesses or records it plans to seek. Its investigation now places Florida at the center of a broader effort by Republican officials to compel additional disclosure about pandemic decision-making after Fauci declined to provide answers in Congress.
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