Exclusive-Fauci’s lawyers set up legal defense fund as US probes multiply

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Lawyers for Anthony Fauci have launched a legal defense fund for the former top U.S. infectious disease expert, saying that the need to respond to a growing number of state and federal investigations related to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic will require substantial resources.

In January 2025, then-President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Fauci, amid accusations from Republican lawmakers that he played a role in research that contributed to the pandemic and later sought to cover up its origins, claims that have not been independently substantiated. 

Fauci, who led the U.S. response to COVID-19, has denied the allegations.

U.S. Republican Senator Rand Paul has asked the Department of Justice to prosecute Fauci after he refused to answer questions about the pandemic at a congressional hearing last month. Three state attorneys general have since launched their own probes against him.

The defense fund underscores how Fauci, once the public face of the U.S. response to COVID-19, has become a central target of Republican efforts to revisit the origins of the pandemic and scrutinise government decision-making during the health crisis. His lawyers say the mounting investigations could result in lengthy and costly legal proceedings despite Biden’s pardon.

“Dr. Fauci is facing an unprecedented legal barrage for a retired civil servant, and he deserves a robust defense against these unfounded and frivolous actions,” David Schertler, counsel to Fauci, said in a statement to Reuters. “Dr. Fauci has not done anything wrong, and we are prepared to fight back against this shameful harassment of an honorable man who dedicated his career to saving lives.” 

The launch of a legal defense fund has not been previously reported. 

Fauci, 85, led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for nearly 40 years and advised seven U.S. presidents. He retired in 2022. 

During the pandemic, he was a leading proponent of lockdown measures, mask requirements and vaccine development that ultimately helped the United States and other countries emerge from COVID. Such recommendations against a novel virus were endorsed by many global health officials and governments worldwide. Scientists and intelligence agencies remain divided over whether COVID was caused by a leak from laboratory experiments in China, or from transmission from animals to humans.

TORRENT OF ATTACKS

Yet Fauci has faced a torrent of attacks over the U.S. response to COVID, largely from Republicans, both during President Donald Trump’s first term and then Biden’s. Paul has repeatedly called for Fauci to be jailed and blamed him for the U.S. death toll from the pandemic, which exceeded 1 million.

Fauci invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions during the July hearing in Congress, citing Paul’s “unhinged” campaign to see him imprisoned. 

Allegations about Fauci’s role in the pandemic have proliferated among Republican lawmakers. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote a book about Fauci and has helped Paul’s inquiries.

Kennedy said health department staff spent eight months locating Fauci’s private diary on multiple government servers and gave the records to Paul, who publicly released them. Paul and Republican Senator Ron Johnson have also begun to release private text messages from a copy of Fauci’s government cell phone. 

David Morens, a former adviser to Fauci, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to grant research funding and the COVID pandemic. Paul has referred to that case multiple times this week, asking whether it could implicate Fauci. 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to Fauci and said he would investigate whether the infectious disease expert “personally profited off the COVID ‘guidance’ he issued.” West Virginia and Louisiana said they would support Uthmeier’s effort. Fauci will have to secure legal assistance in at least those three states, his lawyers said, in part for document review and production in response to the subpoena. 

Fauci will not receive any payment or other form of distribution from the legal defense fund, his lawyers said. It is set up as a trust with an independent corporate trustee, according to Fauci’s legal team. 

Neither Fauci nor his lawyers have control over how the money will be distributed or how the fund will be managed, his lawyers said. Invoices submitted by Fauci’s attorneys will be reviewed by an independent expert adviser, they said. 

Once all of Fauci’s litigation concludes, any remaining funds will be distributed to charity, his lawyers said. 

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Sanjeev Miglani)