(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former President Joe Biden’s astonishing pardon of Anthony Fauci may have backfired, as more than a dozen state prosecutors are investigating what exactly the former White House COVID czar did that required exoneration.
A coalition of 17 state attorneys general launched a criminal investigation into whether Fauci violated state laws in his work during the pandemic, Headline USA has learned.
The group, led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, is demanding accountability for potential mismanagement, misleading statements and suppression of scientific debate.
They announced the probe in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, requesting documents that could lead to “potential prosecutions.”
“As state Attorneys General, we possess the authority to address violations of state law or breaches of public trust,” they wrote. “We are fully committed to investigating any malfeasance that may have occurred to the fullest extent of our authority and are prepared to collaborate with you in further efforts.”
🚨 I’m leading a coalition of state AGs to investigate Dr. Fauci’s role in the COVID-19 response. New Congressional findings expose lies & mismanagement. If there’s evidence of state-level crimes, we want to see it and prosecute it. Biden’s pardon won’t stop us. pic.twitter.com/rtSK7LTnFz
— Alan Wilson (@AGAlanWilson) February 5, 2025
Wilson blasted Biden’s pardon as a “shameful attempt to prevent accountability,” according to a press statement. Wilson warned that if evidence shows Fauci violated state statutes, prosecutors will be “fully prepared to take appropriate action to ensure justice is served.”
In the waning hours of his presidency, Biden issued a sweeping pardon covering all criminal offenses Fauci may have committed dating back to Jan. 1, 2014.
Fauci unashamedly welcomed the pardon, all the while saying he had not broken any laws. “It feels good and I’m grateful to the president for doing it,” he told CNN. “I have done nothing wrong. Certainly nothing criminal. No grounds at all.”
Doctor Anthony Fauci tells me he is “grateful” for the pardon he received from President Biden, noting he had just received word from his attorney this morning that the pardon had gone through.
“It feels good and I’m grateful to the president for doing it,” Dr. Fauci said in a…
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 20, 2025
The pardon—much like those granted to the Biden family—was broad and preemptive. Never before had a president granted such extensive immunity for crimes that hadn’t even been uncovered.
Former President Gerald Ford’s pardon of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, covered offenses from Jan. 20, 1969, through Aug. 8, 1974.
Tellingly, Biden’s pardon came just weeks after the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a bombshell report exposing several government falsehoods about COVID-19.
“To say we are troubled by the scope and timing of the pardon—on the heels of the Subcommittee’s Final Report—would be a gross understatement,” the attorneys general wrote.
They urged Congress to use “all available tools” to ensure that Biden’s “shameful pardon does not frustrate accountability.”
The letter’s signatories are:
- Jonathan Skrmetti, attorney general of Tennessee
- John Guard, acting attorney general of Florida
- Liz Murrill, attorney general of Louisiana
- Ken Paxton, attorney general of Texas
- Steve Marshall, attorney general of Alabama
- Raúl Labrador, attorney general of Idaho
- Drew Wrigley, attorney general of North Dakota
- Derek E. Brown, attorney general of Utah
- Todd Rokita, attorney general of Indiana
- Marty Jackley, attorney general of South Dakota
- Tim Griffin, attorney general of Arkansas
- Austin Knudson, attorney general of Montana
- Andrew Bailey, attorney general of Missouri
- Kris Kobach, attorney general of Kansas
- John B. McCuskey, attorney general of West Virginia
- Mike Hilgers, attorney general of Nebraska
