Gabbard releases documents that say Fauci has influenced research into the origins of COVID
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Shortly before leaving office amid controversy over who will replace her, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard used one of her last acts in the American intelligence community to highlight the role of Dr. Anthony Fauci in discussions regarding the government’s review of the origins of COVID-19.
Although many things are familiar, Gabbard’s release underscores his attempt to ask questions about Fauci, the origins of COVID and the organization’s support for virus research part of his legacy to close the intelligence community.
As Gabbard fires her last draft, Bill Pulte, who has drawn criticism for his lack of intelligence experience, will take over the Office of the Director of National Intelligence while Trump’s nominee is permanently on hold.
Jay Clayton, the attorney and former SEC chairman whom Trump tapped to lead the ODNI permanently, saw his confirmation process delayed after the president said he was still raising his nomination to pressure Congress to pass voter identification.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on global threats at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on March 18, 2026. (Wina McNamee/Getty Images)
WHY TRUMP CHOOSES BILL PULTE TO LEAD INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS
Pulte is a construction entrepreneur and real estate executive who served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. His tenure at the housing agency has sparked controversy over allegations that he used FHFA authority to target Trump’s political opponents, allegations that have fueled concerns among key senators that he may try to arm the intelligence community at the behest of the president during his administration.
“We don’t need an armed DNI, we need experts there,” said Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune speaking of Pulte. Some powerful congressional Republicans, such as Sens. Cornyn, Cassidy, Murkowski, Collins and Tillis, also expressed opposition or concern about Pulte’s takeover of ODNI.
Senate Democrats share many of the same concerns as their GOP colleagues.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Adam Schiff, Mark Warner and Ron Wyden all expressed concern that Pulte would arm the US intelligence service against Trump’s enemies. Like many Republicans, they criticized him for his lack of intelligence.
William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), during a news conference at the headquarters of the Federal Housing Finance Association (FHFA) in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Political observers believe that Clayton will face very little Senate opposition to his confirmation. However, the upper house has so far proven unwilling to move forward with the president’s voter identification law, making his progress difficult and setting the stage for a battle between the White House and Congress.
While lawmakers and the president are back and forth over the fate of ODNI, Gabbard wanted to highlight Fauci’s writings as they come out.
The documents he released on Thursday night include information that was already known to the public as well as others that appear to have not yet been reported publicly.
Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Gabbard’s release contains recently declassified documents showing that intelligence officials considered but ultimately rejected Fauci as an outside reviewer of the COVID-19 genesis test, warning that he would appear to have a conflict of interest.
In a separate exchange, intelligence officials tasked with analyzing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic argued that they should take Fauci’s recommendations on who to interview in their investigation.
“For those who don’t know me, I am him [REDACTED] and, thus, lead [intelligence community’s] 90-day study of the origin of POTUS COVID,” one official wrote in an email. “In accordance with the below, Dr. Fauci recommended that the IC reach out to the people below who were authors of the attached paper as part of the study.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 23. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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One official questioned whether it was wise for the intelligence community to take the advice of a “policymaker” like Fauci when conducting internal affairs, “especially given the various strong views on the matter and the statements regarding their conclusions.”
The intelligence chief responded that Fauci should not be considered a policy maker in this context, but rather a key news expert.
“In this case, given Dr. Fauci’s background we would certainly like to follow his outreach proposals,” they wrote. “In this case he is not a policy maker….he is an SME with a lot of knowledge of current and historical research who probably knows better than most of the real experts on the Coronavirus.”
A CIA spokeswoman previously said Fauci had undue influence on the intelligence community’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19, a claim Gabbard now wants to raise with his release.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, conservatives alleged that Fauci and other public health officials downplayed or helped avoid scrutiny of the lab leak theory despite U.S. financial links to coronavirus research in Wuhan, where the disease originated. Gabbard created his collection of documents as a way to look at how the intelligence community incorporated information from people like Fauci when investigating the origins of the virus.
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“Fauci worked with politicized leadership in the Intelligence Community (IC) to suppress the truth about his actions, the origin of the virus leak, and his role in directing US funding for this dangerous research that caused so much damage and so many lives lost,” said an ODNI press release accompanying the documents. “These documents reveal Fauci’s direct role in influencing and using IC testing on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024, when under oath he denied knowledge or participation in conversations with intelligence officials about virus research.”
Gabbard left her role at ODNI to care for her husband, who has a rare form of cancer, Fox News Digital first reported.
