Florida AG Probes Fauci for Possible State Offenses Not Covered by Federal Pardon

The investigation was announced after a congresswoman asked Uthmeier and other state officials to investigate the former federal health official’s conduct.
Florida AG Probes Fauci for Possible State Offenses Not Covered by Federal Pardon
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, testifies before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Washington on July 29, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
Janice Hisle
Janice Hisle
Senior Reporter
|Updated:
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Citing Dr. Anthony Fauci’s “lack of candor to Congress,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on July 29 that his office is opening an investigation to “get the truth of what happened” while Fauci served as a top federal health official during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uthmeier made the announcement via a post on X, calling Fauci’s refusal to answer questions that morning by invoking the Fifth Amendment numerous times “unbelievable.”

His remarks came shortly after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) asked him and other state officials to act.

“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,” Luna wrote on X.

“There is NO JUSTICE unless he is held responsible for the crimes HE committed against HUMANITY.”

Luna did not explain why she called upon just those four states to act.

She and Uthmeier were reacting to Fauci’s refusal to answer questions that senators posed during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing over Fauci’s conduct during the pandemic.

Fauci, who formerly headed the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the advice of his attorneys.

However, Luna, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and others said they believe President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci on Jan. 20, 2025, made him ineligible for that protection. The pardon shields Fauci from prosecution for any federal offenses from 2014 to 2025.

Luna’s post stated that the pardon “does not hold against state prosecution and civil lawsuits.”

The office of Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, told The Epoch Times on July 29: “We do not have any comment at this time.”

This is a developing story that will be updated.
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Janice Hisle
Janice Hisle
Senior Reporter
Janice Hisle mainly writes in-depth reports based on U.S. political news and cultural trends, following a two-year stint covering President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. Before joining The Epoch Times in 2022, she worked more than two decades as a reporter for newspapers in Ohio and authored several books. She is a graduate of Kent State University's journalism program. You can reach Janice at: [email protected]
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