WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiple Republican state attorneys general are intensifying their push for accountability over the origins of COVID-19 and the shutdown policies that followed. This week, two states opened formal investigations into former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Yesterday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he has issued a subpoena to Dr. Fauci on behalf of the state of Florida in an attempt to uncover the truth about what he knew when, and potentially seek damages. AG Uthmeier is the first state attorney general to issue a subpoena to Fauci, who pled the fifth over 100 times during his Senate hearing last week.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced August 1 that her office is joining the multi-state investigation into Fauci’s actions, saying newly uncovered records contradict Fauci’s own sworn testimony. “Fauci lied,” Murrill said. Murrill said the investigation will examine whether Fauci’s conduct amounts to offenses state prosecutors could charge.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced his state investigation days earlier, on July 29. “My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci,” Uthmeier said. “It’s past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID.”
Louisiana’s move brings it alongside Alabama and Florida in probing Fauci’s actions in state court, with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry – who as attorney general joined a 2022 deposition of Fauci – voicing his support.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has thrown his support behind the U.S. Senate’s investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci and directed his own office to review whether Fauci’s pandemic-era conduct violated Oklahoma law, including possible fraud or conspiracy charges.
These state-level actions build on a 14-state Republican AG coalition formed in 2020 by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, calling for a federal-state partnership to hold China accountable for the pandemic. That coalition has grown to 17 states, arguing that a federal pardon cannot shield Fauci from state-level scrutiny and has pressed Congress for a full accounting of the government’s pandemic response. The coalition includes attorneys general from Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, Indiana, South Dakota, Arkansas, Montana, Missouri and Kansas.
Republican AG actions represent the most significant state-level challenge yet to the federal government’s official narrative on COVID-19, with Republican AGs signaling they intend to use every legal tool available to determine what officials knew, when they knew it, and who bears responsibility for the policies that shut down schools, businesses and communities across the country.
“Fauci hurt our children, impugned our freedoms, and cost the American people trillions in economic impact. He mandated that we trust science regardless of common sense. For six years, Republican AGs have been freedom’s front line from fighting shutdowns to making China pay for their economic damages,” said Adam Piper, Executive Director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. “Republican Attorneys General aren’t waiting on Washington to tell the truth about COVID-19. From day one, our AGs took China to court while Fauci was managing his press clippings. That work is accelerating today.”
Additional states are expected to announce similar action in the coming weeks.
Background
Fauci’s own private diary, released by Senator Rand Paul July 2026, shows that as early as January 2020 his own scientists warned him the virus could have been “deliberately inserted.”
While Fauci managed his public image, Republican AGs were already moving against Beijing directly. Eric Schmitt, who served as Missouri Attorney General, filed suit against China in April 2020 – the first state to do so – accusing the Chinese Communist Party of concealing the outbreak and hoarding personal protective equipment; Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed a similar suit shortly. In March 2025, Missouri secured a historic $24.5 billion default judgment against China, (Missouri AG’s Office). Mississippi’s suit is seeking more than $200 billion in damages and remains pending; China has not paid the Missouri judgment and has since filed suit against Missouri in response (WLBT).
Republican AGs also led legal challenges to pandemic-era shutdown policies including blocking mask mandates, keeping churches open and against vaccine mandates.
# # #