Tulsi Gabbard releases declassified documents on COVID‑19 origins and Ukrainian lab network

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard disclosed a cache of declassified documents in the days before leaving office. The files detail a network of about 120 biological‑research facilities in 30 countries, including 40 sites in Ukraine, that have been funded with roughly $200 million since 2005 under the Nunn‑Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program. The documents list pathogens such as anthrax, MERS, SARS and Ebola and note that some laboratories have BSL‑3 containment, but they do not provide direct evidence that the sites are developing offensive bioweapons.

The release coincides with Gabbard’s statement that the papers contain internal memos, whistle‑blower allegations and intelligence material related to investigations of the COVID‑19 pandemic’s origin. She accused former NIH director Anthony Fauci of lying to Congress in 2024 and called for transparency about the virus’s possible laboratory or natural source. Russian media later mis‑characterised the material as proof of a U.S. bioweapon program in Ukraine, a claim the documents do not support. Gabbard is set to step down, with Bill Puls appointed acting director by President Donald Trump.