Three state attorneys general subpoena Anthony Fauci

Healthcare Three state attorneys general subpoena Anthony Fauci Comments: by Max Rego - 08/06/26 9:42 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/06/26 9:42 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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A trio of Republican attorneys general subpoenaed former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Wednesday, as part of a joint probe into the former health official’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) joined forces with West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey (R) and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) in issuing the investigative subpoena into Fauci.

The probe will center on awards, professional opportunities, financial incentives, grants and COVID-19 guidance Fauci either received or provided that impacted businesses and consumers in the Sunshine State, according to a release from Uthmeier’s office.

Fauci’s diary entries during the pandemic, which Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released last month, reveal the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was aware his remarks compelled state and local lawmakers to close schools and businesses in the early stages of the pandemic.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took a different approach, prioritizing the reopening of schools and businesses. The outgoing Sunshine State governor has also repeatedly criticized Fauci over the years for his handling of the pandemic.

In his journal, the doctor often noted his growing fame during the public health crisis, pointing to his daily media appearances and highlighting his interactions with celebrities.

“It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country,” he wrote in May 2020.

Uthmeier said the doctor could have broken Florida law if he “personally profited” off of the guidance he issued.

“Fauci’s diary focused more on self-promotion than the legitimate safety concerns from the mRNA vaccines,” the Florida attorney general added in the release. “While Fauci was pushing for book deals, awards, and fortune and fame, Floridians were being deceived and harmed by his misrepresentations.”

During his testimony last week before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — which Paul chairs — Fauci pleaded the Fifth Amendment 100-plus times in response to questions from Republican lawmakers. GOP senators spent much of the hearing taking Fauci to task for his handling of COVID-19.

The panel voted on Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. The committee’s report, including a criminal referral, is now expected to head to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

A copy of the resolution Paul shared to social media states the Kentucky Republican found Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment “unsupported as applied” to questions pertaining to the period subject to a preemptive pardon President Biden issued to his former health adviser in January 2025.

In the release from Uthmeier’s office, McCuskey said Fauci’s refusal to answer questions from senators on the Homeland Security panel was “concerning.”

The West Virginia attorney general added, “The American people deserve to know if they or their elected leaders were misled or manipulated. Both my Office and I support Attorney General Uthmeier’s efforts to uncover the truth.”

Murrill also said the public “deserves answers” about the origins of the pandemic and the government’s response, adding, “What we know already is Fauci lied—we just don’t know yet how much.”

The subpoena to Fauci commands him to produce documents from Jan. 3, 2020, through the present by the end of the month.

The list of requested documents includes awards Fauci received or was considered for, a grant the NIAID provided in 2022 to the University of Florida Scripps Biomedical Research Program and “professional opportunities” the doctor either pursued, considered or was offered, including professorships, book deals and memoir contracts.