Former US Coronavirus czar Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing a state investigation after declining to answer questions during a US Senate hearing on the origins of Covid-19 and the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the probe after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times on Wednesday.

“Fauci’s lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable. My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci. It’s past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID,” Uthmeier wrote on X.

Senator Rand Paul, who led the hearing, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis argued that Fauci had no legal basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment because former President Joe Biden had granted him a blanket pardon covering potential federal offenses.

Fauci justified his actions by citing what he described as Paul’s “obvious obsession” with his “prosecution.”

Both Paul and DeSantis called for Fauci to be held in contempt of Congress – a formal finding that a witness has obstructed a congressional investigation.

DeSantis also said that the former White House medical adviser could face legal action at the state or local level, noting that Biden’s pardon applies only to potential federal crimes.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz called for Fauci to face criminal charges following the hearing. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, the Texas lawmaker called the former White House medical adviser “the most damaging bureaucrat in the history of America” and said he “should go to jail.”

The investigation comes after years of clashes between Florida officials and Fauci over the federal Covid response. Under DeSantis, the Republican-run state became one of the leading critics of lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine policies promoted during the pandemic.