Florida AG Vows State Probe After Fauci Invokes the Fifth Amendment 111 Times in Senate Hearing
Ron DeSantis supports the move.
Anthony Fauci, the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director who invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times Wednesday during a Senate hearing, may still face legal difficulties, one state attorney general said.
Dr. Fauci, a physician who left government in December 2022, was lambasted by GOP senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee both for his statements and actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and for refusing to answer any questions they posed.
“It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress. There will be repercussions for your refusal to testify today,” Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, the committee chairman, told him.
Mr. Paul scheduled an August 5 committee vote on a resolution recommending Dr. Fauci be held in contempt of Congress.
While Dr. Fauci steadfastly cited “the advice of counsel” in refusing to respond to pandemic-specific queries, Missouri Republican Josh Hawley got the same answer when he asked the hearing’s sole witness what day of the week it was and the color of the hearing room’s carpet.
Dr. Fauci’s repeated refusals to answer questions prompted Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to announce an investigation.
“Fauci’s lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable,” Mr. Uthmeier wrote on social media Wednesday. “My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci. It’s past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID.”
While the Florida attorney general didn’t promise a prosecution, several observers noted the January 19, 2025, pardon outgoing President Joe Biden granted Dr. Fauci only applies at the federal level. If he were found to have committed a state-level crime, that could be prosecuted, Oval Office pardon or no.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who appointed Mr. Uthmeier, his then-chief of staff, to the post, appeared to agree.
“Fauci received a blanked presidential pardon so he has no basis to invoke the fifth over that conduct,” the governor wrote (likely meaning “blanket” not “blanked”). “Find him in contempt!”
Mr. Uthmeier did not identify a suspected violation of Florida law or explain what conduct might give the state jurisdiction.
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