Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the newly declassified materials show longstanding U.S. government funding for more than 120 biolabs worldwide, including facilities in Ukraine that intelligence officials had warned could be vulnerable during the war.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that she is releasing declassified evidence related to U.S.-funded biological laboratories and gain-of-function research overseas, saying the materials document longstanding government support for more than 120 biolabs in more than 30 countries.
Gabbard described the release as one of her final actions before stepping down as director of national intelligence. In a video statement, she said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had spent months reviewing intelligence community files before making the materials public.
“After months of searching through intelligence community holdings and files, today I’m releasing new evidence of longstanding US government funding of more than 120 bio labs in over 30 countries,” Gabbard said.
She said the labs include facilities in Ukraine that could be vulnerable because of the Russia-Ukraine war. According to Gabbard, the intelligence community previously warned that one U.S.-funded biolab in Ukraine likely contained dangerous pathogens and was at risk of attack, seizure or damage.
“Now, these bio labs include labs in places like Ukraine, which could be at risk of compromise due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war,” Gabbard said. “In fact, the intelligence community had previously warned that a US-funded bio lab in Ukraine likely housed dangerous pathogens and remained vulnerable to longstanding threats of Russian attack, seizure, or damage.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence published declassified documents describing U.S. concerns about Ukrainian biolabs during the war, U.S. funding and construction of labs in Ukraine, and diseases, including highly infectious viruses, that U.S. funding supported Ukrainian scientists in studying.
Gabbard said the public had not previously been given the full record of the government’s role in funding and supporting the facilities.
“Until now, evidence regarding the full existence and funding of these laboratories had been knowingly withheld from you, the American people,” she said. “Many of these US government-funded bio labs are currently or have previously engaged in research using hazardous and highly contagious pathogens, and in some cases included dangerous gain of function research with very little visibility or oversight.”
Gabbard tied the release to President Donald Trump’s May 25, 2025, executive order ending federal funding for gain-of-function research around the world. She said she had also issued new guidance at ODNI directing the intelligence community to increase collection related to overseas laboratories and biological research facilities.
“Now, President Trump clearly understands the serious threat dangerous gain of function research poses to the American people, and this is why he took decisive action over a year ago,” Gabbard said. “On May 25, 2025, he signed an executive order to end federal funding of gain of function research around the world.”
“Here at ODNI, I issued new guidance to the intelligence community, directing increased collection on these laboratories and facilities overseas, and we’re already seeing the results of this increased collection,” she continued. “We’re learning new details, for example, on clinical trials that are underway at these facilities, and that are raising significant ethical, financial, and security concerns regarding the supposed public health initiatives and US national security.”
Gabbard accused officials and public health figures of misleading the public about U.S.-funded and supported biolabs.
“Now, despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact that research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, as well as entities within the Biden administration’s national security team, lied repeatedly to the American people about the existence of US-funded and supported biolabs,” she said.
“Not only did they lie, they threatened those who attempted to expose the truth,” Gabbard added. “So, this release today breaks new ground as the information surrounding the existence, history, locations, and funding of these US-funded bio labs has been intentionally covered up by very powerful people who falsely claimed that these bio labs didn’t exist. Now, they accuse anyone who says otherwise to be foreign assets and traitors to America.”
Gabbard said ODNI would keep working with other agencies to determine where the laboratories are, what pathogens they hold and what work is being conducted.
“Now, ODNI and I will continue working closely with partners across the US government to identify exactly where these labs are and what pathogens they contain to end dangerous gain of function research that threatens the health and well-being of the American people and people around the world,” she said.
In an X post, Gabbard said the release includes “never before seen intelligence” on past U.S. funding for biolabs overseas.
“Today, I’m releasing never before seen intelligence revealing new evidence of past US government funding for more than 120 biolabs in over 30 countries, including Ukraine,” Gabbard wrote.
“In support of President Trump‘s Executive Order to end federal funding of dangerous gain of function research around the world, and increase transparency and accountability, ODNI will continue working with partners across the Administration to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, and what ‘research’ is being conducted,” she added.
Gabbard previously said her office was working with NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to investigate whether the United States funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
The release also follows the April indictment of David Morens, a former adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci who oversaw gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. Morens was indicted on charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting.
Gabbard framed Friday’s declassification as part of a broader effort to increase transparency around U.S.-funded biological research and to end work she said could threaten public health and national security.
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