WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released newly declassified documents Thursday alleging that Dr. Anthony Fauci helped steer U.S. taxpayer money to risky coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, then worked with elements of the intelligence community to shape the public narrative around COVID-19’s origins.
The release, issued on Gabbard’s final day as director of national intelligence, accuses Fauci of funding dangerous gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses before the pandemic and later influencing intelligence assessments that downplayed or dismissed the lab-leak theory.
ODNI’s press release alleges Fauci “manipulated intelligence” and lied to Congress in 2024 when he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.
“The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world,” Gabbard said. “After years of lies, censorship, and cover ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability.”
The documents were released after what ODNI described as a yearlong declassification review ordered under President Donald Trump’s transparency mandate.
According to ODNI, the materials include communications and whistleblower testimony alleging that intelligence analysts who challenged official COVID-origin conclusions faced retaliation, career pressure or marginalization.
The release claims Fauci had close relationships with intelligence officials and helped create what ODNI called a “circular reporting loop,” in which scientists tied to NIAID funding advised intelligence agencies, those recommendations shaped official assessments, and those assessments were then cited publicly as scientific consensus.
The controversy centers on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, U.S.-funded coronavirus research, and whether SARS-CoV-2 emerged naturally from animals or escaped from a lab.
For years, the lab-leak theory was dismissed in many political, media and scientific circles as fringe or conspiratorial. But U.S. intelligence agencies have since acknowledged that both a natural spillover and a laboratory-associated incident are plausible explanations. Agencies have differed on which theory is more likely, and some assessments have been made with low confidence.
Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has repeatedly denied suppressing the lab-leak theory. He has also denied that NIH-funded work in Wuhan caused the pandemic.
Still, the new ODNI release is likely to fuel a fresh round of congressional scrutiny, public anger and demands for accountability over pandemic-era decisions, federal research grants and the government’s handling of dissenting views.
The stakes are enormous. COVID-19 killed millions worldwide, upended economies, shut down schools, strained hospitals, divided families and reshaped public trust in health agencies, politicians, scientists and the media.
The new documents also raise broader questions about dangerous pathogen research, gain-of-function experiments and whether U.S. taxpayer money should ever support high-risk biological work in foreign labs, especially in countries with limited transparency.
ODNI said Gabbard has referred whistleblower allegations to the intelligence community’s inspector general.
The release does not by itself settle every scientific question about the pandemic’s origin. But it does mark one of the strongest official U.S. government accusations yet that Fauci and intelligence officials helped hide or distort information about Wuhan research and the lab-leak possibility.
The political and public-health fallout is likely just beginning.