Outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a large batch of documents Thursday night that she said showed Dr. Anthony Fauci helped suppress the COVID lab leak theory and later misled Congress about his role.
Gabbard announced the release in a video posted to X on her final day in the position.
In the video, she accused Fauci of helping direct U.S. taxpayer money toward what she described as dangerous gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
A press release from Gabbard’s office claimed the documents show Fauci was working closely with intelligence officials during the pandemic, even as he presented himself publicly as an independent scientific authority.
According to Gabbard, Fauci played a major role in shaping intelligence assessments about where COVID came from.
“Fauci was the behind-the-scenes advisor who, with his hand-picked experts, pushed the IC to endorse a natural, animal origin to hide his dangerous research,” Gabbard said in the release.
She also accused Fauci of using his public role during the pandemic to push “lies, disinformation, and censorship.”
The release went further, claiming that Fauci lied under oath during his 2024 testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Gabbard’s office said the newly released correspondence contradicts Fauci’s answers about whether he had communicated with intelligence agencies regarding viral research.
During that hearing, Fauci was asked whether he had spoken with the FBI, CIA, DIA, or any U.S. intelligence agency about viral research before, during, or after the pandemic. According to Gabbard’s release, Fauci avoided giving direct answers before saying, “not to my knowledge about COVID.”
Gabbard’s office said that answer was false.
The release also cited testimony from multiple whistleblowers who said intelligence analysts who questioned the preferred conclusion about COVID’s origins were threatened, pushed aside, or faced professional consequences. According to those claims, dissenting views were discouraged, and evidence that did not support the natural-origin theory was buried or ignored.
Gabbard’s office also alleged that Fauci helped build a system in which a small circle of government-backed scientists repeatedly influenced intelligence findings about the origins of COVID. Those findings were then used publicly to dismiss or discredit the lab leak theory.
The documents, according to the release, show intelligence officials often accepted Fauci’s recommendations and relied on experts who already agreed with his position.
Gabbard said the release was meant to expose how federal officials handled one of the most consequential questions of the pandemic: whether COVID emerged naturally or could have come from a lab.
The document trove was made available to the public through Gabbard’s office.
Former President Joe Biden had previously issued a preemptive pardon for Fauci before leaving office, a move critics said was intended to shield him from possible prosecution related to his pandemic-era conduct. Supporters of Fauci have argued the pardon was necessary to protect him from politically motivated investigations.
The new release is likely to renew scrutiny of Fauci’s role during the pandemic, especially his public statements about the lab leak theory, his communications with federal officials, and his involvement in research funding connected to the Wuhan lab.