The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on Thursday released a series of documents purporting to contain evidence that former US director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and former chief medical advisor to the President, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was involved in manipulating intelligence assessments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned from the position on Friday, accused Fauci of politicizing leadership within the intelligence community in order to suppress information regarding the origin of COVID and US funding of research on bat coronaviruses prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.
Gabbard announced her resignation a month ago, saying that she was stepping down for personal, not political, reasons.
Gabbard also accused Fauci of lying under oath to Congress in 2024 by denying that he had knowledge of or participated in discussions with intelligence officials about the research, some of which was conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese research institute, is suspected of being the source of an accidental lab leak that may have led to the widespread transmission of the virus.
According to documents released by Gabbard, the Wuhan Institute of Virology participated in research into the risk of bat-to-human transmission of coronavirus. Documents detailed that the research was being conducted, in part, to develop interventions to prevent the spread of such viruses.
Gabbard alleged, in a video statement released on X/Twitter, that Fauci and some of his associates pressured the intelligence community to push the narrative that COVID originated from a natural animal source, rather than the possibility of an unintentional lab leak.
She accused Fauci of orchestrating a “deliberate attempt to cover up the truth,” during which she claimed that he “pushed lies, disinformation, and censorship.”
Gabbard stated that her office received testimony from whistleblowers within the intelligence community who reportedly faced threats and retaliation for challenging the narrative put forth by Fauci.
One contractor alleged that they were fired days after coming forward to ODNI as a whistleblower on the matter. Other intelligence analysts reported that efforts were made to undermine the whistleblower process by attempting to remove the anonymity of those who came forward with complaints.
Gabbard decried the “atmosphere of intimidation” she alleged was created by Fauci and the NIAID, asserting that Americans deserve “ transparency, truth, and accountability” after the hardships experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
