Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released newly declassified records that she said show former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci directed millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer funding to coronavirus research connected to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and later concealed key information about the origins of COVID-19 as the pandemic spread across the globe.
In a statement accompanying the release, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the records include communications, intelligence materials, emails, and internal documents that it claims shed new light on federal funding for coronavirus research involving Wuhan-based scientists and Fauci’s role in overseeing programs linked to that work.
The records indicate that taxpayer-funded grants were routed through research partners working with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. They also raise questions about statements Fauci made under oath during congressional hearings examining the origins of COVID-19 and U.S. involvement in overseas coronavirus research.
Federal intelligence officials said the release contains what they described as “never-before-seen communications and documents” detailing Fauci’s role in directing U.S.-funded research connected to Wuhan and efforts to suppress information related to the lab-leak theory as government agencies assessed the origins of the virus.
“The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world. After years of lies, censorship, and cover-ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard said.
The documents also detail interactions between public health officials and members of the intelligence community during reviews of the pandemic’s origins. Gabbard said the records show information linking U.S.-funded coronavirus research to Wuhan-based experiments was downplayed or withheld while competing explanations for the outbreak were being publicly debated.
She said the records expose what she described as years of concealment surrounding the pandemic and reveal how government officials worked to shape public understanding of the outbreak while key questions about federal research funding remained unresolved. The release further asserts that information about the research, its risks, and its potential connection to the origins of the pandemic was withheld from both Congress and the American public.
Gabbard said the documents provide new evidence supporting claims that information surrounding the research and its possible implications was not fully disclosed during the pandemic.
Fauci has previously denied misleading Congress and has rejected allegations that he sought to conceal information about the origins of the virus or improperly funded research that contributed to the pandemic.
