Peter Navarro Tells Steve Bannon Book Sales Will Get AGs After Anthony Fauci

Peter Navarro, the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, told viewers of Steve Bannon's War Room on Saturday that buying his new book would help push Republican state attorneys general to prosecute Anthony Fauci, the former government infectious disease chief.

Navarro made the pitch while promoting Why Fauci Must Rot in Prison, which is due out on Tuesday. The call was a sales appeal, not an official administration action. But it came from a sitting White House official, and he named the states he wants to see act.

"The more books we sell, the more we're gonna get attorneys general in states like Florida and Kansas and Louisiana to go after this son of a bitch," Navarro said. "And we can do it together."

Peter Navarro's Fauci Book Pitch on War Room

Navarro cast the bestseller list as the goal. "Right at Amazon War Room, you got a great chance to help me put Fauci in prison," he said. "The strategy here is over the next couple of days, we've got to drive more sales."

"If we can get Why Fauci Must Rot in Prison on the New York Times bestseller list, we'll make this thing go viral," he added.

Bannon, who wrote the book's foreword, opened the segment by telling Navarro, "Your book is on fire," and promised "another all day bookathon on Tuesday." Navarro said the foreword's author had agreed that "instead of calling the book, why Fauci Must Die in Prison, we say he must rot in prison."

The promotion has already drawn an ethics challenge. On October 9, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics. It argues that Navarro used his official position to sell the book, including by holding it up during an interview from his White House office.

Why Fauci's Pardon Leaves State Charges Open

President Joe Biden gave Fauci a preemptive pardon in January 2025, just before leaving office. It covers federal offenses tied to his government service, according to the pardon document.

A presidential pardon reaches only federal crimes, and Republican attorneys general moved on that gap within weeks. On February 5, 2025, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson led 17 states, Kansas, Florida and Louisiana among them, in asking congressional leaders for information that could support state cases.

The effort picked up after July 29 of this year. That day, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times at a Senate hearing called by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Fauci has not been charged with any crime. He said Paul had called him before the committee "to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges" that Fauci end up "behind bars," the Inquirer reported. Florida and Louisiana both announced inquiries in the days that followed, Fox News reported.

The Legal Hurdles Facing a State Case

The Florida probe is narrower than Navarro's title suggests. Attorney General James Uthmeier opened a civil investigation, not a criminal one, and subpoenaed records on Fauci's awards, financial benefits and contacts with vaccine makers, WUSF reported in August. The probe cites possible deceptive trade practices, fraud or public nuisance.

Uthmeier himself pointed to the main obstacle. "Government officials have a certain level of immunity in their official capacities," he said, "but if Fauci personally profited off of the 'guidance' he issued, that very well could have broken Florida law."

That framing ties Florida's case to Fauci's personal finances, not to the pandemic policies Navarro's book attacks.

What Happens Next

Navarro laid out two events for Tuesday, the release day. From 10 a.m. to noon Eastern on Bannon's show, he said, he would "have some great guests and talk about how Fauci screwed us." Then, from noon to 2 p.m. on Real America's Voice, he plans "another marathon call in session." At the last one, he said, "We had over 50 phone calls that came in with folks who talked about personally how Fauci had harmed them and their family."

Bannon closed by thanking him "for working for the country and the president all day long, all weekend long, like you always do."

Navarro's pitch depends on state prosecutors. Florida and Louisiana opened their inquiries after the July 29 hearing, and as of WUSF's August report, Florida's was a civil probe built around whether Fauci personally profited.