Tulsi Gabbard’s COVID Files Could Damage US Credibility More Than China’s

By Uriel Araujo

National intelligence director’s declassification of COVID-19 documents has revived the Wuhan lab debate while exposing new questions about Anthony Fauci, EcoHealth Alliance, and US-funded research. Rather than placing blame solely on China, the disclosures highlight a far more complex web of international scientific collaboration and geopolitical rivalry.

On her final day as director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard released last week hundreds of pages of declassified documents on the COVID-19 pandemic, on research concerning China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and the role of Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Under the title “Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID”, the files include internal emails and communications from 2020–2022. The very title, inflammatory as it is, undermines any pretence of neutrality.

According to the official summary, they claim Fauci directed American taxpayer funds via EcoHealth Alliance for gain-of-function-style bat coronavirus research at the WIV, influenced intelligence assessments toward natural origin narratives (in a biased manner), and allegedly misled Congress.

The reception in the US, predictably enough, has been sharply polarized. Supporters see it as accountability, while outlets like CNN argue the documents fall short of proving the strongest claims made.

Although early analyses, such as from Lawrence Livermore National Lab, reportedly found a lab-related incident plausible, there is still no definitive scientific consensus on the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The question has remained unresolved due to significant data gaps. It is true that the (accidental) lab-leak hypothesis has been taken seriously by some reputed scientists and intelligence agencies. It is not dismissed outright at the very least, given the outbreak’s proximity to the WIV lab and the lack of a confirmed intermediate host.

US intelligence remains divided on the matter: the FBI and DOE have leaned toward a lab incident, while the CIA shifted, in early 2025, to view a research-related origin as more likely, though with low confidence, apparently. Distinguished virologists Gustavo Palacios, Adolfo García-Sastre, and David A. Relman (among others) have basically called for continued investigation without preconceptions.

Numerous questions remain about a number of unexplained things pertaining to this coronavirus, and Gabbard’s disclosure does not contain any kind of definite answer, as some may have expected – and ultimately there is no reason to assume as of now that either Washington or Beijing has these answers at all. One may recall, for instance, that seven US service members who participated in the 2019 World Military Games, reportedly developed COVID-19-like symptoms shortly before the pandemic event.

Amid this controversy, it is worth noting that Fauci is not a registered Democrat or Republican: he served under seven presidents from both parties as a career official emphasizing “science over politics”, with no notable campaign donations. In politics, perceptions matter, however: Fauci did become a symbol in the culture wars, heavily backed by Democrats while targeted by Republicans.

In this context, the incumbent Republican administration under Trump will likely blame Beijing for the pandemic while targeting Democrats, and progressives – through Fauci. This indeed fits a broader pattern of the weaponization of selective disclosure. One may recall that similar releases on Ukrainian biolabs, JFK files, Epstein documents (not to mention MKULTRA controversies and the topic of “UFOs”) have often served as instruments in internal political struggles – rather than purely neutral “transparency”.

In any case, convenient narratives that blame China alone overlook complexity. Even in this scenario, it is worth noting that the WIV, albeit under Chinese management, engaged in extensive collaborations with Western partners: EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) received NIH grants and sub-awarded roughly $600,000 to the WIV for bat coronavirus research.

Labelling EcoHealth Alliance as a “Democrat” institution pure and simple is only part of the story (although EHA does align with a liberal scientific Establishment): it has received funding from progressive-leaning foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation, but also from NIH under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in turn maintained broader public health partnerships with Chinese institutions, including early COVID support with China CDC, though not direct virus manipulation, at the WIV. Thus, attempts to pin full responsibility on Beijing may very well backfire in today’s information war.

Geopolitically, increased American tensions with China are likely. Beijing has rejected lab-leak claims as smears and may respond with counter-accusations of US bioweapons activities or hypocrisy over its own global labs.

And, incidentally, Washington has a lot to answer, bipartisanly, regarding its labs, to say the least: the 2007 Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the United Kingdom stands out; not to mention the 1968 Dugway Sheep Incident; plus the bizarre (still unexplained) fact that the anthrax spores in the envelopes used in the 2001 attacks were traced back to USAMRIID (a US Army lab)  at Fort Detrick, 50 miles north of Washington DC.

Back to China-US relations, all of this could complicate trade talks, and Taiwan issues – as well as health cooperation.

The disclosures also mention American support for over 120 biological labs across over 30 countries, including Ukraine. This has sparked calls for broader reviews of high-risk research and may also bring into question the issue (previously dismissed as “conspiracy theory”) of US “biolabs” abroad, thereby further damaging American credibility in the Global South and elsewhere, for that matter.

Domestically, the releases add to the erosion of trust in institutions. They do encourage more transparency on sensitive topics but risk escalating information warfare.

Be as it may, even if one-sided or weaponized, Gabbard’s disclosure produces pieces of the puzzle casting light on liabilities of Western authorities, including liberal institutions. Many ideas once dismissed as conspiracy theories – from MKULTRA experiments to military technology – later turned out to contain considerably more truth than admitted, after all.

Thus far, the current US administration may score political points at home, however, such selective transparency, again, risks backfiring internationally by exacerbating rivalries (in yet another chapter of the domestic Deep State war), while also fuelling global scepticism, and complicating future cooperation – without delivering real closure on pandemic origins, a topic which remains a puzzle.

Uriel Araujo, Anthropology PhD, is a social scientist specializing in ethnic and religious conflicts, with extensive research on geopolitical dynamics and cultural interactions.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.

Categories: Analysis, Covid-19, International Affairs

Tags: China, covid19, Deep State, Democrats, Geopolitics, Health, pandemic, Republicans, USA