Joe Biden spent his final hours in office signing a pardon to keep Anthony Fauci out of prison.
Biden's lawyers thought they had covered everything.
But Fauci has one criminal exposure his pardon cannot reach – and it just got worse.
Florida Launches State Investigation as Fauci Pleads Fifth 111 Times
Dr. Anthony Fauci walked into Wednesday's hearing and invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times.
Rand Paul immediately scheduled a contempt vote for August 5.
Sen. Josh Hawley pointed out the immediate problem: a pardoned man has no Fifth Amendment privilege – the Supreme Court settled that in Brown v. Walker in 1896.
"You don't have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you've been pardoned," Hawley told Fauci directly.
Fauci invoked the Fifth anyway.
The contempt fight is not the biggest problem Fauci left that building with.
Any federal prosecution of Fauci lands in Washington, D.C. – where a jury would treat him like a folk hero.
Biden's pardon was built to cover exactly that scenario.
It covers nothing outside federal jurisdiction.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a state investigation before the Senate hearing had even concluded.
"Fauci's lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable," Uthmeier wrote. "My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci. It's past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID."
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called on attorneys general in Florida, Texas, West Virginia, and Arkansas to act – noting directly that Biden's pardon "does not hold against state prosecution and civil lawsuits."
Senator Tommy Tuberville told Newsmax he agreed – and added a personal pledge.
"It was a federal pardon from an autopen," he said. "Joe Biden never really signed it. Somebody else did. So that will be contested."
Tuberville, Alabama's Republican gubernatorial nominee this fall, then told Newsmax exactly what happens if he wins in November.
"We will find out if there's a possibility that we can bring him to Alabama, to put him in front of a court and a jury, to see if we can put this guy in prison," Tuberville said.
Biden Autopen Pardon Faces State Prosecution Challenge
The pardon itself is on shaky ground before any state charges are filed.
On Biden's final night in office, his chief of staff Jeff Zients signed off on the pardon documents – with internal emails showing a staffer routed the final decisions to Zients' office just after 10 p.m.
Biden never personally executed the document.
Rep. James Comer cut to it after the hearing: "Dr. Fauci clearly knows his autopen pardon is on legally questionable grounds and decided to protect himself today rather than provide the truth to the American people."
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson had been building toward this moment since February 2025.
Wilson assembled a multistate coalition of attorneys general, putting Washington on notice that any state law violations Fauci committed remained fair game regardless of Biden's pardon.
"President Biden's blanket pardon of Dr. Fauci is a shameful attempt to prevent accountability," Wilson said. "If any of these findings indicate violations of state laws, we are fully prepared to take appropriate action to ensure justice is served."
Florida's move turned that coalition into something with teeth.
It does not cover what a Florida or Alabama or South Carolina jury decides happened on their soil.
A jury in rural Alabama won’t be as fond of Fauci as one made up of liberal DC voters.
Fauci spent 38 years at NIH believing he answered to no one.
Republican state attorneys general are about to remind him what accountability looks like – and Biden's autopen cannot reach a single one of them.
Sources:
- Theodore Bunker, "Sen. Tuberville to Newsmax: Alabama Could Pursue Case Against Fauci," Newsmax, July 29, 2026.
- "AG Uthmeier Launches Investigation Into Fauci After Senate Testimony," Florida Voice News, July 29, 2026.
- "Florida AG Probes Fauci for Possible State Offenses Not Covered by Federal Pardon," The Epoch Times, July 29, 2026.
- "Biden-Pardoned Fauci Now Faces Florida State Investigation," RedState, July 29, 2026.
- "Florida Announces Investigation Into Fauci Since His Pardon Isn't for State Charges," PJ Media, July 29, 2026.
- "Attorney General Alan Wilson Leads Coalition of AGs Investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci's COVID-19 Response," South Carolina Attorney General Press Release, February 2025.
- "Fauci's Fifth Amendment Plea Shows Biden Autopen Pardon on 'Legally Questionable' Ground, Comer Says," Fox News, July 29, 2026.