Former White House Covid czar Anthony Fauci worked with intel officials to bury his “wrongdoing” and “abuses of power” throughout the pandemic and then misled Congress about it, according to newly declassified records.
Released Thursday evening by outgoing Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, the “never-before-seen” files purport to show how Fauci “worked with politicized career leadership in the Intelligence Community (IC) to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’ lab-leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives,” as described by ODNI. The agency additionally claimed that these communications further unveil the former National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director’s “direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19,” and how he allegedly “lied to Congress in 2024” by denying under oath any knowledge of or participation “in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.” Joe Biden granted Fauci a last-minute sweeping pardon as one of his final presidential acts.
“The Covid-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world. After years of lies, censorship, and cover ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard said in a statement accompanying the release. “The tactics used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook: politicized self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected President by restricting his access to vital facts needed to keep the country safe.”
In its press release summarizing the findings, the ODNI highlighted the influential “roles” Fauci played during the Covid outbreak, roles that reportedly stemmed from his relationships with IC officials. Among the alleged actions were funding “risky coronavirus research,” working as a “behind-the-scenes advisor” alongside his “hand-picked experts” to advance the narrative that Covid had a “natural, animal origin,” and pushing “lies” and “censorship” as the country’s leading Covid “pundit.”
As The Federalist previously reported, Fauci was an early opponent of the theory that the Covid outbreak resulted from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Records released in the years since the pandemic’s outbreak have indicated that Fauci instructed his then-right-hand man, David Morens, to speak with corporate media in an apparent attempt to downplay such a hypothesis.
The Justice Department recently indicted Morens for allegedly partaking in an unlawful “scheme” to avoid open records requests related to Covid-19 research grants.
The ODNI said that the newly released documents show how Fauci and “politicized” IC leaders “created a self-serving circular reporting loop,” in which he “provided hand-picked NIAID-funded scientists to advise the IC,” and that input was later used to “shape” IC assessments that were “publicly cited as scientific consensus to refute the lab-leak theory.” The declassified communications, the agency maintained, demonstrate that intel officials “almost always incorporated [Fauci’s] recommendations,” while simultaneously “ignoring experts who might dissent from [his] narratives.”
The ODNI further said that “analysts who challenged” Fauci’s claims “faced threat of retaliation, were marginalized, and often suffered career setbacks,” according to intel whistleblowers.
The records reviewed by the ODNI also appear to indicate that Fauci misled Congress about the extent of his communications with intel officials throughout the pandemic.
While testifying before lawmakers in 2024, the former NIAID director was asked by then-Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, whether “[b]efore, during, or after the COVID–19 pandemic, [he had spoken] to the FBI, CIA, DIA, or any U.S. intelligence agency concerning viral research of any kind.” After a short exchange on the exact timeframe, Wenstrup more specifically pressed about whether he had such conversations “related to, say, Covid-19.”
Fauci said he was merely “briefed by intelligence agencies about possibilities of there being activities going on in different laboratories” after inquiries into the virus began.
