Louisiana is jumping into the growing fight over Anthony Fauci, with state officials saying the former federal health chief may still face legal trouble even after a presidential pardon. The push comes on the heels of a heated Senate hearing, where Fauci repeatedly declined to answer questions and now faces fresh scrutiny over what he knew, when he knew it, and what records may show.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said her office is opening an investigation into Fauci after his appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Fauci, who once led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked his Fifth Amendment right 111 times during the hearing and refused to give lawmakers direct answers. That kind of silence tends to raise even more questions, not fewer.
Murrill said the issue is bigger than one hearing. She pointed to what she described as newly discovered contemporaneous records and said Fauci had previously claimed not to remember key details about his actions. Her message was blunt: “Fauci lied,” Murrill wrote. “Louisiana and Missouri deposed Dr. Fauci. At the time, he claimed to not recall many key details of his own actions and now we are discovering contemporaneous records he kept.”
She also made clear that Louisiana would not stop at the federal pardon angle. According to Murrill, the state can still look at potential violations under state law, even if Fauci was pardoned by former President Joe Biden. That matters because state prosecutors do not have to play by the same rules as federal ones, and that opens the door for a whole new round of legal pressure.
Governor Jeff Landry backed up the effort, saying Louisiana is now in line with other Republican-led states that want answers. He pointed to his own experience working cases as attorney general and said he was glad to see Louisiana join Alabama and Florida in the fight. The tone from state leaders is clear: they are not interested in letting this drift into the memory hole.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier already announced that his office is reviewing Fauci after the Senate hearing. He said any and all potential violations of Florida law are under review, which signals that this is not just about political messaging. It is about whether state-level charges can be built from the records, testimony, and public statements now being pulled apart.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has also been outspoken, arguing that a presidential pardon cannot wipe away state crimes. He said Fauci’s federal protection does not apply to offenses beyond Washington’s reach, and he framed the matter in hard terms, saying Fauci should be held accountable for the damage tied to the pandemic response. Tuberville has even said that if he becomes governor, he would look at ways to pursue state charges and support civil claims.
That kind of language shows how much the politics around Fauci have hardened. What once looked like a debate over public health decisions has turned into a much sharper fight over responsibility, records, and whether officials told the truth under oath. For critics, the Fifth Amendment pleas only deepened the suspicion that there is more to uncover.
The legal question now is whether the states can actually move from outrage to action. Louisiana joining Alabama and Florida gives the effort momentum, and it also keeps pressure on Fauci at a time when lawmakers and attorneys general are pushing for answers about his pandemic-era role. Every new statement, deposition, and document dump seems to make the cloud around him a little darker.
Fauci’s attorney was contacted for comment, but the bigger story is already out in the open. State after state is signaling that the issue is not finished, and the next phase could be just as messy as the hearing that started it all.
