Was there anything wrong with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic? On February 5, 2025, 17 state attorneys general signed and sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune about Dr. Fauci, the US response to COVID, and current Congressional efforts to find instances of pandemic-related misconduct.
This letter comes just over two months after the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released its final report on December 2, 2024. The 520-page report is the result of a two-year investigation into the key takeaways from the pandemic and how the United States can improve its response in the event of a future pandemic.
The report details numerous failures involving the National Institute of Health (NIH), the World Health Organization (WHO), mask mandates that lack scientific evidence, prolonged lockdowns, and other issues. It also mentions that Dr. Fauci was quoted as saying that social distancing guidance “sort of just appeared”.
Furthermore, in a letter to Congress, Chairman Brad Wenstrup stated that the “pandemic highlighted a distrust in leadership,” a sentiment echoed by the current 17-state coalition calling for a renewed investigation into one of the United States’ pandemic leaders, Dr. Fauci.
The coalition is led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, and it includes Florida Acting Attorney General John Guard. According to a press release on Attorney General Wilson’s official website, they are “demanding accountability for alleged mismanagement, misleading statements, and suppression of scientific debate”.
The letter also praises Congress for its continued efforts to root out misconduct and seek state-level cooperation in the pursuit of state law violations. According to the final report, the coalition believes there were issues with COVID’s point of origin, Congress’s misinformation about NIH funding, NIH oversight failures, and the suppression of opposing views within the scientific community during the pandemic.
More specifically, the attorneys general find that “Dr. Fauci worked to discredit the ‘lab leak’ theory despite mounting evidence supporting it” and “allegedly provided false testimony regarding NIH-funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology”.
In addition to this, they claim that “NIH reportedly mismanaged taxpayer funds by failing to properly oversee grants to EcoHealth Alliance, which funneled funding to the Wuhan lab” and furthermore that “scientists who raised concerns about vaccine risks were allegedly silenced, limiting public awareness of potential side effects” .
As such, the coalition opposes President Biden’s “sweeping pardon for Dr. Fauci” and claims that his “federal pardon does not preclude state-level legal action.” On these grounds, the attorneys general request that “Congress provide them with any relevant findings that could lead to state investigations and potential prosecutions”.
They claim that this would reaffirm Congress’ “commitment to maintaining public trust, ensuring transparency, and avoiding similar failures in future public health crises.” Their intention is to encourage “Congressional leaders to continue their investigative efforts and ensure that all responsible parties are held accountable at both federal and state levels” .
Attorney General Wilson stated, “President Biden’s blanket pardon of Dr. Fauci is a shameful attempt to prevent accountability.” If any of these findings indicate violations of state laws, we are fully prepared to take the necessary action to ensure justice is served.”
