'It's past time': Florida launches investigation into Fauci

The Sunshine State might ultimately have Anthony Fauci making diary entries behind bars.

D.C. Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs gave Anthony Fauci an energetic tongue-lashing during a hearing on Wednesday, but a tongue-lashing is all, because the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases decided to invoke the Fifth Amendment over 100 times.

'Bring charges against Fauci for crimes against children in exposing them to a vaccine that has now been PROVEN to hurt people.'

Despite subsequent talk of a potential charge of contempt of Congress, Fauci appears, at least for now, to be safely beyond the reach of federal lawmakers. He received a "full and unconditional" autopen pardon during Joe Biden's final hours in office, which gives him a pass for possible federal crimes going back to Jan. 1, 2014 — a pardon that President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday he "respects."

Fauci is not, however, safe from state-level prosecution, which now appears to be in the cards in Florida.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) tweeted after the hearing, "Fauci's lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable."

RELATED: Anthony Fauci LASHED OUT at Steve Deace in newly released diary entry — and Deace FIRES BACK

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"My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci," continued Uthmeier. "It's past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID."

Uthmeier's office did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

"Not surprised perhaps the best state attorney general in America seems willing to take this up," said the eponymous host of BlazeTV's "Steve Deace Show," who authored a book with co-host Todd Erzen — "Faucian Bargain: The Most Powerful and Dangerous Bureaucrat in American History" — which Fauci complained about in his diary.

"If we cannot hold an obvious fraud and fiend like Fauci accountable somehow as a party, then I’m not sure how we can hold anyone significant accountable for anything," Deace told Blaze News. "And history says to a very dark place we go when a people loses faith that such obvious evil and corruption will be punished."

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was also among those who lauded Florida for taking the initiative, writing, "Appreciate my good friend [James Uthmeier] for leading."

Uthmeier made the announcement just minutes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) discussed on X how a state attorney general or a local state attorney might land Fauci in a Florida court and nearly an hour after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) noted, "Dr. 'Mengele' Fauci may be protected by a federal pardon but that does not hold against state prosecution and civil lawsuits."

"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," continued Paulina Luna. "He is and will go down in history as one of the darkest souls who has ever been in federal government."

RELATED: Diaries expose Fauci obsessing over his own fame during height of COVID as millions died

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

When asked by talking head Jesse Watters on Wednesday evening whether Fauci has criminal exposure, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, "I definitely think he should be held in contempt [of Congress] and that process will go forward."

As for state-level exposure, DeSantis said, "The attorney general of Florida has an investigation into Fauci. I would love to see something happen there. The reality is a federal official has a lot of defenses to go if they are dragged into state court, and, in fact, he could probably remove it to federal court. So we'll see how that plays out. I hope that there's accountability."

There is a broader state-level effort to hold Fauci accountable that kicked off last year.

In February 2025, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and 16 other state attorneys general — including former acting Florida Attorney General John Guard — launched an investigation into Fauci's role in the COVID-19 response, "demanding accountability for alleged mismanagement, misleading statements, and suppression of scientific debate."

The state AGs further accused Fauci of leading "a deliberate campaign to stifle the voices of premier health scholars regarding the lack of adequate testing of vaccines" and engaging in a propaganda campaign that "contributed to serious vaccine injuries — and in some cases, death."

While the multistate investigation does not appear to have yet yielded any charges, indictments, or determinations, Wilson — now the Republican nominee for governor of South Carolina — referred to the initiative on Wednesday and stated, "We will continue pursuing the truth because the American people deserve nothing less."

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