Anthony Fauci spent years insisting he had nothing to hide from Congress.
Last week, under oath and subpoena, he refused to answer 111 questions in a row.
Now three state attorneys general found something in his private diary that his federal pardon cannot touch.
Fauci Diary Entries Contradict Years of Congressional Testimony
Rand Paul released 1,114 pages of Fauci's personal diary last week – notes kept on a government computer spanning December 2019 through 2022.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill went straight to the point: "Fauci lied. Louisiana and Missouri deposed Dr. Fauci. At the time, he claimed to not recall many key details of his own actions and now we are discovering contemporaneous records he kept."
Those records show Fauci advising New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to impose a shelter-in-place order – the kind of specific, decision-level influence he publicly downplayed for years.
One entry from January 2020 acknowledged that the wet market was not the source of the virus but merely "the amplifier" – language that directly contradicts what Fauci told the American public throughout the pandemic.
A May 2020 entry captures how Fauci saw himself at the height of the crisis: "It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country."
He was more concerned with his celebrity than the truth.
Biden Pardon Does Not Cover State Criminal Charges
Joe Biden handed Fauci a sweeping federal pardon in his final hours in office.
It covered federal crimes only.
Presidential pardons cover federal offenses only – state courts are a different jurisdiction entirely. That gap is now exactly where three Republican attorneys general are aiming.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier moved first, announcing a state investigation the day after the Senate hearing and describing Fauci's congressional performance as "unbelievable."
Louisiana's Murrill made it three states on Saturday, saying her office will investigate "whether he committed any other offenses that could be pursued in our State courts."
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry – who personally participated in deposing Fauci during his own tenure as the state’s attorney general – endorsed the announcement immediately.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, now running for governor, made the stakes plain: "Anthony Fauci is responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Alabamians."
"The 'pardon' signed by Joe Biden's autopen doesn't apply to state-level crimes," Tuberville added.
If Tuberville wins in November, Alabama will have a governor who has publicly committed to pursuing Fauci through every available legal mechanism.
Fauci Told Congress He Did Not Close Schools His Diary Says Otherwise
Democrats and their allies in the press call this a witch hunt.
That framing ignores four years of documented deception.
Fauci told Congress he had not funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan – Senate investigators say that was false.
His staff was instructed to delete official government records, including emails discussing the pandemic's origins narrative.
Fauci claimed publicly that a lab leak was implausible while his own diary recorded that top infectious disease experts privately thought the opposite.
And when finally subpoenaed and seated before Congress under oath, he refused to answer 111 consecutive questions – including, at one point, a question from Sen. Josh Hawley asking him to identify the color of his tie.
Rand Paul has scheduled a contempt of Congress vote for August 5.
Paul also raised a legal point that should terrify Fauci's attorneys: a presidential pardon eliminates the federal criminal exposure that makes the Fifth Amendment valid in the first place.
Biden's pardon wiped out Fauci's federal jeopardy on covered conduct. That means he had no legal basis for refusing to answer. Every invocation was contempt.
State attorneys general, a contempt vote scheduled for this week, and a 1,114-page diary that contradicts years of sworn testimony.
Joe Biden cannot autopen his way out of state courts.
Sources:
- Michael Sinkewicz, "Louisiana becomes latest state to launch Fauci investigation following explosive Senate hearing," Fox News, August 2, 2026.
- Ward Clark, "Biden-Pardoned Fauci Now Faces Florida State Investigation," RedState, July 29, 2026.
- "Fauci's Fifth fuels vow to haul him into court 'every day' despite Biden pardon," Fox News Digital, August 1, 2026.
- Alabama Attorney General's Office, "Attorney General Marshall Joins Multi-State Effort to Hold Dr. Fauci Accountable for COVID-19 Response," February 11, 2025.
- Sen. Rand Paul, Chairman's Statement, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, July 29, 2026.
