Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci listens during a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
By Michael Schwarz August 7, 2026 at 6:47am
Anthony Fauci enjoyed his sudden celebrity status during COVID.
Now, the former bureaucrat faces legal questions about whether he leveraged that status to secure professional and financial awards for himself, while at the same time issuing COVID-related guidance that left ordinary citizens crushed.
In a Wednesday press release, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that his office, in conjunction with West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, issued an investigative subpoena demanding that Fauci produce a range of documents dating from Jan. 3, 2020, through the present.
The subpoena stemmed from the recent release of Fauci’s COVID diary.
As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci emerged as the public face of the federal government’s COVID response. In that capacity, the now-former bureaucrat pushed masks, social distancing, lockdowns, and eventually the “vaccine.” He also appeared regularly across various media platforms.
Late last month, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee published Fauci’s diary, preserved on Department of Health and Homeland Security servers, and shared with the committee by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fierce and longtime critic of Fauci.
In that diary, Fauci recorded observations and opinions that often differed from his public COVID guidance. He also dwelt at length on his newfound fame.
Will Fauci be charged with a crime in Florida?
“Government officials have a certain level of immunity in their official capacities, but if Fauci personally profited off of the ‘guidance’ he issued, that very well could have broken Florida law,” Uthmeier said. “Fauci’s diary focused more on self-promotion than the legitimate safety concerns from the mRNA vaccines. While Fauci was pushing for book deals, awards, and fortune and fame, Floridians were being deceived and harmed by his misrepresentations.”
On July 29 — shortly after the release of his diary — Fauci appeared before Paul’s committee. Notwithstanding a preemptive pardon from then-President Joe Biden, the now-former bureaucrat refused to answer questions from lawmakers. Instead, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment, even in response to mundane questions unrelated to COVID.
That performance earned Fauci mockery even beyond the political world. It also helped earn him subpoenas from the three state attorneys general.
“Dr. Fauci’s recent refusal to answer Congress’s questions about his actions during the pandemic is concerning,” McCuskey said. “The American people deserve to know if they or their elected leaders were misled or manipulated. Both my Office and I support Attorney General Uthmeier’s efforts to uncover the truth.”
Murrill echoed those remarks.
“The public deserves answers to about a million questions related to the pandemic, its origins, and the government’s actions in response,” she said. “What we know already is Fauci lied—we just don’t know yet how much. But he lied about something as basic as keeping a diary. The truth will come out.”
The press release cited Fauci’s diary entries regarding “substantial awards including an approximately $900,000 Dan David Foundation prize, a NIAID research grant to the University of Florida Scripps Biomedical Research program, offers of named professorships and book deals, board positions, private foundation partnerships, and other professional and financial opportunities concurrent with his federal role and public recommendations impacting Florida” as matters of concern to investigators.
The subpoena gave Fauci until Aug. 31 to produce documents pertaining to those “substantial awards.”
Meanwhile on Thursday, Paul’s committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt. The Department of Justice will now decide whether to prosecute.
Then, in the wake of Wednesday’s subpoena announcement, three other states might also bring charges.
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Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
