Senator Rand Paul has asserted that newly released documents reveal a coordinated effort to suppress evidence supporting a possible lab origin for COVID-19. He claims these documents expose layers of a "cover-up" involving scientists, intelligence officials, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, and has pledged to continue his investigation until the full truth is revealed.
Paul’s committee obtained records that he says indicate authors of a key March 2020 paper, "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2," privately expressed doubts about a natural origin. According to Paul, private communications, including Slack messages, show researchers Kristian Andersen and Eddie Holmes discussing the likelihood of a lab origin, with Andersen initially putting the odds at 30 percent and Holmes at 20 percent before walking back his statements. Paul suggests these scientists publicly dismissed the lab-leak theory while privately manipulating the narrative.
The documents also allegedly show communication between the paper's authors, intelligence community figures, and leadership at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Paul stated that Andersen anticipated having a "handler" from the intelligence community, and Holmes referred to a source in China as "my spy." The group reportedly discussed the need to "stay off email" and curate correspondence for public records after the leak of a DARPA proposal outlining research on bat coronaviruses.
Paul further alleges that Dr. Fauci was aware of and involved in directing communications regarding concerns about the virus's origins. He claims that on January 31, 2020, weeks before the "Proximal Origin" paper was published, Fauci advised Andersen to direct concerns about a furin cleavage site to the FBI and MI5. Paul suggests Fauci coordinated the scientists' next steps while the public was led to believe the origin question was settled. Records obtained by Paul's committee reportedly show Fauci receiving Top Secret/SCI intelligence briefings on origins for years after the pandemic began.
Paul also cited private notes attributed to Fauci, dated January 26, 2020, which he claims indicate Fauci believed a wet market was an amplifier, not the source, of the virus. These notes allegedly document Fauci's private frustration regarding gain-of-function funding tied to the EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, even as he testified to Congress that no such research had occurred.
Additionally, Paul mentioned records indicating the CIA and ODNI reached out to virologist Dr. Ralph Baric in 2015 to discuss coronavirus evolution. In January 2020, Baric reportedly briefed ODNI's Biological Sciences Experts Group and raised the possibility of a lab origin weeks before the theory was widely ridiculed. Paul has asked the DOJ Inspector General to investigate whether Baric or Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, were used or compensated as FBI confidential informants.
According to Paul, Baric told his committee staff that he was slated to conduct the furin cleavage site work described in the DARPA project and confirmed an experiment in his lab suggested an "optimal" receptor binding domain might weaken a virus, which he stated could undercut arguments against deliberate engineering. Baric also reportedly confirmed his participation in the February 1 call that produced the "Proximal Origin" paper but could not explain how.
Regarding Peter Daszak, documents allegedly show U.S. Customs and Border Protection flagged him as a "person of interest" before his return from the WHO's origins mission in February 2021, citing his extensive collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and his role in funneling NIH funds toward gain-of-function research. Paul claims the FBI intervened, instructing CBP to stand down shortly before Daszak's arrival in the U.S.
Paul's committee has also reportedly released documents detailing the seizure of biological agents, including coronavirus samples, smuggled by Chinese-linked researchers. He noted recent charges against two NIH virologists for attempting to smuggle monkeypox into the country as evidence of long-ignored warnings about dangers within the virological community.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is scheduled to testify before Paul's committee under subpoena on July 29. Paul stated that the documents he has released are publicly available on his website, "The Reading Room."