Anthony Fauci and the inquiries into the pandemic's origins

Biden weighed preemptive pardons for officials Trump had criticized or threatened.^[9][10] In the final hours of his presidency, he pardoned Fauci, along with Gen. Mark Milley and staff of the House January 6 committee.^[2] Trump ended Fauci's federal security detail days later.^[11] Biden's other end-of-term clemency is followed in a separate arc.

The investigations continued in 2026. In April, a former adviser to Fauci, David Morens, was indicted on charges of hiding communications about COVID research, and in August he pleaded guilty to conspiring to conceal records.^[12][13] Before a Senate hearing in July, excerpts from Fauci's diary were published, and at the hearing he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times.^[14][3] Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines to hold him in contempt and refer him to the Justice Department.^[15][16] Florida, Alabama and Louisiana opened investigations into him,^[17][18] and Republican senators released his text messages about the safety of COVID vaccines in pregnancy.^[19] Fauci declined a second Senate appearance in August,^[20] and in September Democrats blocked Sen. Rand Paul's effort to give a former Fauci assistant immunity to testify.^[21] Diary entries released in October showed him disparaging Trump and recounting a ransomware attack that cost him files.^[22]