Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Thursday declassified hundreds of pages of records related to the origins of COVID-19, releasing documents that she says reveal how federal officials and outside scientists shaped the government’s understanding of the pandemic.
The documents focus heavily on the debate over whether COVID-19 emerged naturally or leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Gabbard said the records expose years of censorship, secrecy and efforts to suppress competing theories about the virus’s origins.
“The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world,” Gabbard said in a statement.
“After years of lies, censorship, and cover ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” she added.
According to Gabbard, investigators reviewed documents and interviewed whistleblowers who claimed they faced retaliation for challenging conclusions favored by senior public health and intelligence officials.
Much of the newly released material centers on former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and his interactions with intelligence agencies during government reviews of COVID-19’s origins.
Today, on my final day as Director of National Intelligence, I’m releasing never-before-seen communications and documents exposing how Dr. Fauci provided millions in US taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, worked with politicized elements… pic.twitter.com/ZMdliW4zyS
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) June 19, 2026
The records show Fauci repeatedly directed intelligence officials to scientists associated with the influential March 2020 paper “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2.”
That paper argued a laboratory origin was unlikely and became one of the most influential scientific publications of the pandemic.
Documents previously obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests showed some authors privately discussed the possibility of a lab leak while publicly supporting a natural-origin explanation.
The newly declassified records indicate Fauci encouraged intelligence officials to consult several of those same scientists during a 90-day origins review ordered by former President Joe Biden.
In June 2021, Fauci recommended that intelligence officials speak with Scripps Research virologist Kristian Andersen, the lead author of the paper.
Other records suggest Fauci also pointed officials toward work conducted by Tulane University virologist Robert Garry, another co-author.
The documents further show Fauci received intelligence briefings during the review process.
Gabbard argued that Fauci’s involvement created a potential conflict of interest because his agency had funded coronavirus research that involved collaborations with researchers connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The records also reveal significant disagreements within the intelligence community.
Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Z Division concluded in May 2020 that the Wuhan lab possessed all the necessary conditions for an accidental release of a modified coronavirus.
“We assess that all the necessary conditions for an accidental release of a laboratory-modified coronavirus were present at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in mid-to-late 2019,” the report stated.
The analysts based their findings on scientific literature as well as classified intelligence information.
However, other intelligence agencies disagreed with aspects of that assessment, particularly regarding whether a precursor virus existed at the Wuhan facility.
The documents suggest officials at the National Intelligence Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence often relied on outside academic experts rather than biological weapons specialists from agencies such as the FBI and the National Center for Medical Intelligence.
The records also reveal that University of North Carolina virologist Ralph Baric, who worked with Wuhan researchers on coronavirus projects, advised intelligence officials multiple times during the pandemic.
Baric served on the Biological Science Expert Group, which provides scientific expertise to intelligence agencies.
Another section of the records references intelligence reports involving researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who reportedly became ill during the fall of 2019.
While the underlying intelligence remains classified, the references appear consistent with earlier reports that several Wuhan researchers experienced symptoms before the outbreak became public.
The documents also include records related to a 2021 whistleblower complaint alleging Fauci misled Congress regarding whether federally funded research at the Wuhan lab qualified as gain-of-function research, The Daily Caller reported.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
