Florida’s attorney general has issued a state subpoena to Dr. Anthony Fauci, opening a probe into whether pandemic guidance and post-government deals led to personal profit. The investigation targets awards, incentives, diary entries and interactions tied to decisions that affected Florida residents and businesses. Republican officials are pushing this as accountability for actions they say shaped lockdowns, mandates and the public health response. Several other state attorneys general have voiced support for the inquiry.
The subpoena seeks documents and communications that could show what Fauci knew and when he knew it, and whether federal guidance crossed into personal gain. The inquiry centers on awards and professional opportunities that followed his public role during COVID-19. Florida officials say those connections warrant a thorough look under state law.
That scrutiny intensified after Fauci’s appearance before a Senate committee where he invoked the Fifth many times and after discussion of a federal pardon. Republicans on both the state and federal level framed the hearing as incomplete, arguing key questions were left unanswered. The state probe follows that momentum, aiming to fill gaps the Senate appearance did not address.
We issued a formal subpoena to Dr. Fauci under Florida state law, seeking a breadth of documents ranging to what he knew when he knew it, his doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines that he’s out there promoting, and we’re really focused in on his self-dealing, the attorney general told the press. The move is presented as a civil start that could expose improper private deals tied to public duties.
“Evidence has come to light that he was trying to personally profit off of this. This is outside of his government duties, his official role: He’s trying to pursue book deals, awards, get connected with high rollers that might help him come into millions and millions of dollars. This is wrong, and it could go towards a deceptive trade practice, fraud, public nuisance, you name it. I think there’s many aspects of Florida law that now are implicated.”
Officials say much of the troubling material emerged from diary entries and other records that came to light after the pandemic. Those notes, they argue, show a mix of public guidance and private ambition that deserves legal scrutiny. The state subpoena targets awards Fauci applied for or received, and any pandemic-related incentives flowing from organizations, domestic or foreign.
“We know one award in particular, he made $900,000 on that,” the attorney general added while pointing to specific payouts tied to post-pandemic honors. Investigators are reportedly examining the Dan David Prize and other high-profile recognitions that yielded substantial sums. The focus is on whether those rewards followed actions that harmed businesses or residents in Florida.
The subpoena also requests records about opportunities Fauci considered and communications with Florida entities about vaccination sites, social distancing, mask orders and school closures. State lawyers say those details could reveal whether public directives were entangled with private gain. “It starts as a civil inquiry,” the attorney general said, signaling the probe may expand if evidence warrants criminal or consumer-protection claims.
Other Republican state attorneys general reacted quickly and offered cooperation. West Virginia’s attorney general called Fauci’s refusal to answer Paul’s questions “concerning” and said the American people deserve to know whether they were misled or “manipulated.” That language frames the matter as not only legal but moral, a question of public trust.
Louisiana’s attorney general added pressure, saying the public “deserves answers to about a million questions related to the pandemic, its origins, and the government’s actions in response.” She alleged Fauci had lied and said that “we just don’t know how much” so. “But he lied about something as basic as keeping a diary. The truth will come out.”
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