Fauci's Lawyers Launch a Legal Defense Fund as Three State Attorneys General Open COVID Probes Despite His Pardon

Lawyers for Anthony Fauci have set up a legal defense fund for the former NIAID director, telling Reuters on Aug. 21 that responding to a growing set of state and federal investigations into his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic will require substantial resources. Counsel David Schertler said Fauci 'is facing an unprecedented legal barrage for a retired civil servant.' Fauci will receive no payment from the fund, which is structured as a trust with an independent corporate trustee; his lawyers say neither he nor they control distributions, invoices are reviewed by an independent adviser, and any remainder goes to charity.

The arrangement is a marker of how far post-pandemic scrutiny has run past the protection of a pardon. Biden issued Fauci a preemptive pardon in January 2025, but that does not reach state investigations or the cost of complying with them, and the burden falls on a private individual rather than the government he served.

Senator Rand Paul has asked the Justice Department to prosecute Fauci after he invoked the Fifth Amendment at a July hearing. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has subpoenaed him; West Virginia and Louisiana said they would support that effort.