Washington DC: On her final day as the United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard released “never-before-seen” documents linked to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. She accused former top US health official Dr. Anthony Fauci of funding controversial research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and helping to suppress information regarding the virus’s origin. Sharing a video message on X, Gabbard stated: “It is time for you to know the truth.”
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Gabbard’s Major Allegation – Fauci Funded Wuhan Research
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At the center of Gabbard’s allegations is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and later served as the chief medical advisor to former US President Joe Biden. According to Gabbard, Fauci approved millions of dollars in funding from US taxpayers for research related to bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. She claims that this funding promoted so-called “gain-of-function” research—scientific experiments in which viruses are modified to study how they might become more infectious or dangerous.
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Gabbard said that the recently released documents show that such research “was conducted with US-backed funds and was possibly linked to the events that ultimately led to the global pandemic.”
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What is Gain-of-Function Research ?
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Gain-of-function research involves modifying pathogens to better understand how diseases spread, evolve, or infect hosts. Some argue that this research helps scientists prepare for future outbreaks and develop vaccines. However, some warn that modifying viruses carries significant risks if laboratory safety measures fail. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has long been at the center of international scrutiny because Wuhan was the city where COVID-19 first appeared in late 2019.
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A Three-Step Effort to Conceal the Truth
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Gabbard accused Fauci of orchestrating a three-step effort to conceal the truth. According to her, in the first step, Fauci funded ‘gain-of-function’ research in Wuhan. In the second step, he worked with select experts and intelligence officials to steer public and intelligence assessments toward the “natural origin” theory. While in the third and final step, he positioned himself as the primary authority on the pandemic and dismissed or censored opposing views.
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Gabbard alleged, “Fauci used every platform available to promote lies, misinformation, and censorship.” One of the most shocking allegations concerns the US Intelligence Community itself. Gabbard stated that whistleblowers told her office that analysts who questioned official conclusions about the origin of COVID faced pressure and retaliatory action.
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According to her, some intelligence officials were prevented from supporting the lab-leak theory, while others feared career consequences for challenging the prevailing narrative. She claimed that the testimonies revealed a pattern of “suppressing dissent, silencing critics, and hiding the truth.”
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What is in the Documents?
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Although Gabbard has described these files as “never-before-seen,” many of the issues raised have been debated publicly for years. There have been reports previously that research projects linked to the Wuhan lab received funding associated with the US, and there have long been political and scientific debates in Washington regarding Fauci’s role in the discussion over the virus’s origin.
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A review of the released files shows that they include various internal emails and communications among intelligence officials. However, many portions have been hidden (i.e., they have been ‘redacted’). Critics say that there is no “smoking gun” in these documents that could prove that the matter was intentionally covered up.
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The origin of COVID-19 remains one of the greatest unsolved questions of the pandemic era. Some scientists believe that the virus is most likely to have spread from animals to humans and may have spread through Wuhan’s wildlife market.
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Meanwhile, some argue that the possibility of the virus accidentally leaking from a lab cannot be ruled out and that this should be investigated further. In recent years, several US government agencies have expressed varying levels of confidence in the lab-leak theory, but there is no global consensus on this matter.
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