{"id":2613246,"date":"2026-06-11T05:23:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-targets-fauci-links-to-national-security-in-covid-origins\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T05:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:28:25","slug":"rand-paul-targets-fauci-links-to-national-security-in-covid-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-targets-fauci-links-to-national-security-in-covid-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Rand Paul targets Fauci links to national security in COVID origins"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frand-paul-targets-fauci-links-to-national-security-in-covid-origins%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2613246&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Newly released documents from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci leveraged his connections to influence national security agencies\u2019 thinking on the origins of COVID-19. Paul says the papers-nearly 90 pages of emails and other records-show Fauci steering the National Security Council and related intelligence bodies to downplay the idea that the virus came from a biomedical research lab incident in China, and that intelligence assessments relied heavily on Fauci\u2019s longstanding expertise as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.<\/p>\n<p>The documents are presented as corroborating allegations by CIA whistleblower james Erdman, who testified that in 2021 fauci helped shape the intelligence community\u2019s narrative toward a natural origin rather than a Wuhan lab source. The records also describe Fauci guiding NIH-funded scientists to provide details to intelligence officials during the 90-day review requested by President joe Biden and participating in classified briefings where he suggested which experts to consult-specifically including Kristian Andersen, whose work early on questioned the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-said-he-would-press-china-on-the-origins-of-covid-he-hasnt\/\" title=\"Biden Said He Would Press China on the ...s of COVID. He Hasn\u2019t.\">lab-leak theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additional material highlighted in the dump concerns a Defense Department whistleblower report involving the DARPA-linked DEFUSE project, associated with EcoHealth Alliance and Fauci associate Peter Daszak. According to the article, DARPA rejected the proposal due to gain-of-function concerns, while the whistleblower report alleges the project was funded through NIAID and conducted at the Wuhan lab, potentially tying it to the pandemic\u2019s beginnings. The documents discussed do not detail what happened after Fauci reviewed the report.<\/p>\n<p>the article notes political dispute over the inquiry: Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) accuses Paul of running the probe in a partisan way, arguing that a closed-door Fauci interview later this month would exclude Democrats and that Democrats were blocked from participating in related whistleblower hearings and testimony.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New documents released on Thursday by Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rand-paul\/\">Rand Paul<\/a> (R-KY) reveal that Dr. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/anthony-fauci\/\">Anthony Fauci<\/a> used deep connections to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/intelligence-community\" type=\"link\" id=\"washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/intelligence-community\">intelligence community<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >influence key national security agencies<\/a> in the debate over the origins of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/covid-19\" type=\"link\" id=\"washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/covid-19\">COVID-19<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul, chairman of the Senate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/there-it-is-fired-cyber-expert-chris-krebs-admits-in-senate-hearing-that-dominion-voting-machines-linked-to-the-internet\/\" title=\"THERE IT IS: Fired Cyber \u201cExpert... Chris Krebs Admits in ...ate Hearing that Dominion Voting Machines Linked to the Internet\">homeland security committee<\/a>, published nearly 90 pages of emails and other documents on Thursday detailing how Fauci steered the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/national-security-council\/\">National Security Council<\/a> and other bodies in the intelligence apparatus to downplay the theory that the virus came from a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wuhan-lab\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wuhan-lab\/\">biomedical research lab incident in China<\/a>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4602553\/gop-attorneys-general-demand-abortion-pill-water-safety-tests-epa\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>GOP attorneys general demand abortion pill water safety tests from EPA<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4601598\/pro-life-activists-skeptical-fda-abortion-pill-study\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Pro-life activists skeptical of FDA abortion pill study<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4600779\/who-rolls-out-program-africa-cdc-halt-ebola-outbreak\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>WHO rolls out $518 million program with Africa CDC to halt Ebola outbreak<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The multi-decade document dump demonstrates the degree to which the national security community depended upon Fauci\u2019s expertise as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 20 years prior to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 1 million Americans died during the pandemic following the spread of the novel coronavirus, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/covid-19\/\">SARS-CoV-2<\/a>, from Wuhan, China, in late 2019, and Paul has increasingly used his committee chairmanship to investigate Fauci\u2019s alleged role in obscuring the origins of the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fauci served as the director of NIAID, one of the most well-funded branches of the National Institutes of Health, from 1984 to his retirement in 2022. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his tenure, Fauci acted as an adviser for the National Intelligence Council, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cia\" type=\"link\" id=\"washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cia\">CIA<\/a>, and other\u00a0agencies on SARS viruses and other pathogens potentially being genetically manipulated to develop weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The documents released by Paul corroborate allegations from whistleblower <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/watch\/2597161\">James Erdman<\/a>, a career operations officer at the CIA who told the Senate committee on May 13 that Fauci was intimately involved in steering the intelligence community\u2019s assessment of the origins of COVID in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his testimony last month, Erdman said Fauci used his position to sway the intelligence community\u2019s report on the virus\u2019s origin to fit the narrative that it had a natural origin, rather than coming from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emails reveal Fauci guided NIH-funded virologists and epidemiologists within his orbit to provide critical information to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-military-officials-unite-in-opposition-to-biden-admins-iran-deal\/\" title=\"Israeli Military Officials Unite in Opposition to Biden Admin\u2019s Iran Deal\">intelligence community officials<\/a> during the development of the 90-day review of the origins of COVID commissioned by then-President Joe Biden from the intelligence community in May 2021.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Security Council on June 4, 2021, convened a classified briefing for Fauci, during which he advised intelligence personnel on experts to contact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3382824\/five-years-ago-fauci-dismissed-lab-leak-theory-advisers-doubted\/\"><strong>FIVE YEARS AGO: FAUCI DISMISSED LAB LEAK THEORY EVEN AS ADVISERS PRIVATELY DOUBTED<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-majority-disapprove-of-bidens-handling-of-the-chinese-coronavirus\/\" title=\"Poll: Majority Disapprove of Biden&#039;s Handling of the Chinese Coronavirus\">experts recommended<\/a> by Fauci was Kristian Andersen, lead author of the influential paper published in 2020 in <em>The Lancet<\/em> that downplayed the credibility of a lab leak in the early stages of the outbreak. Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins aided in the drafting of the paper, documents now show. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Records show Fauci forwarded a copy of Andersen\u2019s paper to National Security Council officials on July 8 after another classified reading-room session about the virus\u2019s origins. Fauci called the group of authors \u201chighly qualified virologists\u201d and told the intelligence officials that their work \u201csummarizes what I said yesterday\u201d during the classified meeting the day prior.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 14, 2022. (AP Photo\/Cliff Owen, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-defense-department-whistleblower-report\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defense Department whistleblower report<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additional emails in the document dump reveal Fauci may have swayed national security officials to de-emphasize a whistleblower report about potential U.S. and NIH involvement in creating the COVID-19 virus. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emails from the summer of 2021 show Fauci met with members of the National Security Council at the White House that August to review a Defense Department whistleblower report from a Marine Corps fellow with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine whistleblower said in his report, filed in August 2021, that the project, known as the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/2959870\/fifteen-agencies-aware-of-controversial-ecohealth-coronavirus-research-paul-says\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/2959870\/fifteen-agencies-aware-of-controversial-ecohealth-coronavirus-research-paul-says\/\">DEFUSE project<\/a>, was proposed for DARPA funding by EcoHealth Alliance, run by Fauci associate Peter Daszak.\u00a0The goal of the project was to alter coronaviruses in an attempt to inoculate bats and prevent a SARS virus pandemic. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1243323\/daszaks-coronavirus-grant-was-rejected-by-pentagon-over-gain-of-function-concerns-a-year-before-pandemic\/\">denied the proposal<\/a> because it was deemed too high-risk and potentially in violation of the federal moratorium on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3078664\/senate-republicans-push-to-remove-risky-virus-research\/\">gain-of-function research<\/a>, a type of genetic engineering of pathogens that makes them more virulent or more easily infectious to humans.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the whistleblower report says the project was funded by Fauci through NIAID to be conducted at the Wuhan lab in 2018 and was the likely source of the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSARS-CoV-2 is an American-created recombinant bat vaccine, or its precursor virus,\u201d the 2021 whistleblower report said. \u201cIt was created by an EcoHealth Alliance program at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), as suggested by the reporting surrounding the lab leak hypothesis. The details of this program have been concealed since the pandemic began.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The documents released by Paul on Thursday do not outline what happened following Fauci\u2019s review of the DARPA whistleblower report in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DEFUSE project subsequently became the centerpiece of the House Oversight Committee\u2019s investigation into the origins of the pandemic, which eventually led to EcoHealth Alliance being prohibited from all federal funding for future research projects in 2024. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), left, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joins Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) for a hearing to examine origins of COVID-19, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-alleged-partisanship-in-the-investigation\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alleged partisanship in the investigation<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the leading Democrat on the homeland security committee, has accused Paul of conducting the investigation into Fauci in a partisan manner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fauci is slated to testify before the homeland security committee in a closed-door session later this month, but Peters says the meeting is scheduled to only be with Republican members and staff, excluding Democrats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peters <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hsgac.senate.gov\/library\/files\/20260609_letter_tochairpaul_hsgacrulesandprecedent\/\">wrote<\/a> to Paul on Tuesday, before the document dump, to express concern that the move to have a GOP-only transcribed interview with Fauci \u201cis completely unprecedented.\u201d He said conducting the inquiry in a partisan manner \u201cundermines the legitimacy of current and future Committee investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peters also criticized Paul\u2019s handling of Erdman\u2019s whistleblower deposition and public testimony, saying Democrats were effectively blocked from attending both events. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRather than attempting to work together to pursue areas of shared concern, you have directed your investigative efforts at Dr. Fauci in a manner that appears to be pursuing an outcome you have prejudged,\u201d Peters wrote to Paul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Rand Paul documents claim Fauci used intelligence ties to shape COVID-19 origin debate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2666,"featured_media":2613247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-collage-ofhqchm7e-1781135253339-e1781136132377.jpg?1781121009&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[48852,81174,50738,50611,38952],"class_list":["post-2613246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-anthony-fauci","tag-covid-19-origins","tag-misinformation-2","tag-national-security-2","tag-rand-paul"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-collage-ofhqchm7e-1781135253339-e1781136132377.jpg?1781121009&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2613246"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2613250,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613246\/revisions\/2613250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2613247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2613246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2613246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2613246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}