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Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci may be spending more time in the Deep South than he envisioned after officials in Alabama and Florida announced plans to investigate whether he can be held accountable under state law for maladministration of the COVID-19 response.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., argued that former President Joe Biden’s blanket pardon eliminated Fauci’s federal criminal exposure for covered conduct and undercut his basis for refusing to answer.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., alluded to that detail and told Fox News Digital that same pardon cannot prevent prosecution at the state level under the Constitution, which says presidential pardons cover “offenses against the United States.”
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“Anthony Fauci is responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Alabamians,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “The ‘pardon’ signed by Joe Biden’s autopen doesn’t apply to state-level crimes.
“When I’m governor of Alabama, I will look into ways we can hold Fauci accountable for all of the Alabamians who died under his watch.”
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Tuberville, who is favored to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Kay Ivey in November, indicated he would order Fauci to Montgomery, Alabama, as many times as he could to face state charges and encouraged Alabamians to bring their own civil claims against the 85-year-old immunologist.
Speaking to Newsmax from the Capitol, Tuberville separately fumed that Fauci “should be locked up before he leaves this building today.”
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“We lost 20-30,000 (people) in Alabama alone, and I hope every damn one of them sues Fauci.”
Tuberville said if state prosecutors can’t imprison Fauci, he would support voluminous litigation to “put him in court for the rest of his life where he can listen to the death he caused.”
He told Fox Business he regularly heard from Fauci during COVID on the HELP Committee and now believes Fauci “lied … and knew he was lying” due in part to revelations in the doctor’s diary.
“He’s going to court every day of his life for the rest of his life. And he’s going (to) have to look these people in the face, these families, because the pardon does not cover state government.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Ivey for comment on whether she would pursue similar action in the final months of her administration.
Florida also is investigating Fauci’s COVID-era tenure.
Attorney General James Uthmeier confirmed to Fox News Digital that “any and all potential violations of Florida law” are on the table.
“Our inquiry will focus on what Fauci knew, when he knew it, and how he misled the American people. We will examine the physical and monetary harms to Floridians that may have resulted from his deceptions and determine whether his conduct exposes him to liability under state law,” Uthmeier press secretary Jae Williams said.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who is running for governor to succeed boss Gov. Ron DeSantis, fully backed Uthmeier’s probe in an interview Thursday with Fox News Digital.
“There has to be accountability … between families getting threatened and our kids not being able to potentially go to school because of the risks coming from Fauci,” he said.
Collins noted he is a 100% disabled retired amputee veteran and said he couldn’t get care from Veterans Affairs unless he had a COVID-19 shot.
“I had to make a choice of getting my prosthetic care and having a leg to walk on versus taking an immunization that I didn’t want or believe in,” he said, blaming Fauci’s prescriptions for “generational loss” of businesses nationwide.
Asked about Fauci criticizing DeSantis in his diary, Collins said it was a badge of honor to be the state on the receiving end of “pejoratives.”
DeSantis “became America’s governor. Greatest governor in our state’s history, largely because of what he did in COVID. When our president, our federal government, other world leaders were attacking him, he stood there and took it over and over and over.
“We protected America,” he said of Tallahassee’s government. “We pushed back on the Fauci-Ouchie and all the nonsense that came from it. … I’m glad (Fauci) was offended.”
DeSantis similarly called Fauci the “most destructive bureaucrat in the history of the United States of America” when asked on Fox News to respond to the diary entries that called DeSantis a “jerk” and more.
While California’s current leadership complied with and welcomed Fauci’s prescriptions, Steve Hilton, the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, said he drafted a plan similar to his Deep South compatriots to bring the bureaucrat to justice after watching Fauci plead the Fifth.
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“What an absolute disgrace — when will there be any accountability for this guy,” Hilton said in a statement.
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“I tell you, when I’m governor of California we will have a COVID Accountability Commission,” he said on Facebook, Hilton said the panel would examine Fauci and California officials over policies “who caused so much pain and suffering and cruelty in this absolute disaster of public policy.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Fauci via counsel for comment. DeSantis’ office directed Fox News Digital to his quoted comments.
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