Three States Investigate Fauci After Senate Contempt Vote

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote this Thursday on whether to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The move follows a July 29 hearing where the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases invoked his Fifth Amendment right 111 times to avoid questions regarding the origins of COVID-19 and his tenure. Committee Chairman Rand Paul overruled the invocation, arguing that a full federal pardon granted by former President Joe Biden on January 19, 2025, waived Fauci's privilege against self-incrimination.

Parallel to the federal proceedings, Attorneys General from Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama launched state-level investigations into Fauci's conduct. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill alleged that Fauci lied during previous depositions by claiming he did not recall key details that are now contradicted by discovered contemporaneous records and personal diaries. These diaries reportedly show Fauci privately speculating that the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, contradicting his public statements.

While Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for federal offenses committed between 2014 and 2025, officials including Senator Tommy Tuberville noted that the pardon does not prevent state-level prosecutions. Fauci defended his silence during the hearing, characterizing the proceedings as an attempt to entrap him. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is reviewing the validity of the federal pardon due to allegations involving the use of an autopen while Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize the action.