Declassified U.S. Intelligence Documents Link Dr. Fauci to Coverup of SARS-CoV-2 Lab Leak

On June 18, 2026, outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a collection of declassified documents through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) alleging that former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci, MD used intelligence agencies to suppress evidence that the mutated SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.^{1 2}

The newly released documents allege that Dr Fauci directed millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding to EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based research organization, which funneled that money to the Wuhan Institute for gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.^{3 4} Gabbard stated in a video posted on X that this research “is now widely viewed as the source of the unintentional lab leak that sparked the pandemic.”⁵

Among the newly released “never-before-seen” materials are internal e-mails from the 90-day COVID pandemic origins review ordered by President Trump. Documents show that Fauci selected scientists whose research had received NIAID funding to advise the intelligence community, which ultimately led to a consensus rejecting the lab leak theory.⁶

Gabbard said:

The tactics used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook: politicized self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected President by restricting his access to vital facts needed to keep the country safe. It’s time the American people learn the real story.⁷

Allegations Fauci Lied Under Oath

Gabbard alleged that the new documents show that Fauci lied under oath to Congress in 2024. When asked repeatedly whether he spoke with the FBI, CIA, DIA, or any U.S. intelligence agency concerning viral gain of function research before, during, or after the pandemic, Fauci told lawmakers, “not to my knowledge about COVID.”⁸ The released documents appear to directly contradict that testimony.⁹

Whistleblowers Were Intimidated

Gabbard said multiple intelligence community whistleblowers came forward to report retaliation for challenging the intelligence community’s assessment of the origina of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to Gabbard, senior leaders removed the whistleblowers’ anonymity after they filed complaints and required that their managers or attorneys be present during ODNI meetings where the whistleblowers were providing testimony, which fostered a climate of fear and intimidation, potentially shielding the truth from emerging.¹⁰

Congressional Reaction

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who continues to press Fauci in Senate hearings on virus gain-of-function research, celebrated the release of these documents. He insists that President Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci, granted before Biden left office, should be challenged in court claiming that Fauci not only destroyed records but directed others to do the same.¹¹

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin agreed, stating:

The presidential pardon doesn’t impact state charges so there still may be some possibilities there. I think where there’s fraud involved, I’m not sure where the statute of limitations apply to all of his potential crimes.¹²

The Vaccine Reaction began tracking the evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 laboratory origin in April 2021, when it first reported on former CDC Director Robert Redfield’s public statement that the new coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was engineered in a lab.¹³

In July 2023, The Vaccine Reaction reported that the U.S. government officials had confirmed the first three patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were researchers actively working at the Wuhan Institute at the time of infection. The article stated:

U.S. government officials have admitted that the first patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus were researchers working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, despite claims by former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Anthony Fauci, MD that ‘we may never know’ the true origin of the novel coronavirus. Although former U.S. president Barack Obama banned gain-of-function research in 2014, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials bypassed the ban by outsourcing the research to China.¹⁴

In January 2024, this publication further reported on documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The article stated:

More evidence has emerged that the COVID-19 pandemic began when a lab engineered mutated coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) leaked from a biohazard lab in Wuhan, China. Documents…have revealed that in 2018, scientists at the Wuhan Virology lab (WIV) had plans to make coronavirus spike proteins capable of infecting human cells that would be ‘inserted into SARS-CoV backbones.’ The proposal identified EcoHealth Alliance president Daszak as the principal investigator, with the work being partly conducted at the Chinese lab. Allegedly, the U.S. scientists involved attempted to hide from the DoD agency funding the project the fact that the high-risk virus research would take place in a Chinese lab where there are inadequate safety precautions.¹⁵

In May 2024, The Vaccine Reaction covered former Dr. Redfield’s public demand that the Biden administration release the U.S. State Department’s COVID-origin documents, noting that Congress had voted unanimously to authorize their declassification.¹⁶

The Indictment of Senior NIH Advisor Further Implicates Fauci

Two months before Gabbard’s release, a federal grand jury in Maryland indicted David M. Morens, M.D., Fauci’s senior adviser at NIAID from 2006 to 2022, on charges of conspiring to conceal government records related to COVID and the EcoHealth Alliance gain-of-function grant.¹⁷

The indictment alleges that Morens and two co-conspirators agreed to conduct official government business through his personal Gmail account rather than the government issued email accounts, so that their communications would not be captured by Freedom of Information Act requests.¹⁸

E-mails obtained during the investigation of Morens show that Fauci knew about the plan to use private emails to avoid accountability. Morens wrote in one email:

I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.¹⁹

Subpoenas Issued to Fauci

The U.S. Senate issued subpoenas to Fauci requiring him to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee following the release of these documents and after his refusal to voluntarily testify. During previous hearings, Fauci denied that he was involved with the funding of virus gain-of-function research.²⁰

Fauci has not publicly responded to Gabbard’s document release. He previously denied all allegations that he covered up the origins of COVID, lied to Congress, or funded dangerous gain-of-function research.²¹

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