Biden FBI Blocked Daszak COVID Origins Interrogation, Paul Says

Newly released documents from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are fueling fresh questions about whether the Biden administration’s FBI prevented investigators from questioning one of the most controversial figures connected to the origins of COVID-19.

According to records released by Paul, the FBI intervened to stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from interviewing EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak when he returned to the United States in February 2021. Daszak had spent years working with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, the laboratory many now believe was the most likely source of the virus that sparked the global pandemic.

Paul, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, said the documents show that CBP’s National Targeting Center had identified Daszak as an “extremely high person of interest.” Agents reportedly intended to question him about his activities in China, his extensive relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, whether he had transported biological materials, and his role in controversial gain-of-function research, which involves modifying viruses to better understand how they might evolve or become more dangerous.

The planned interview never happened.

According to the documents, just three days before Daszak was scheduled to arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, CBP received a message from the FBI’s New York Field Office instructing agents not to stop him. As a result, the inspection and questioning were canceled.

Paul said the newly released records represent only the beginning of his investigation.

“This isn’t the whole story. It’s the start of one,” Paul wrote on X, adding that additional documents will be released on a rolling basis as investigators continue reviewing the evidence.

The disclosure adds another layer to one of the biggest unanswered questions remaining from the COVID-19 pandemic: how the virus first emerged.

For years, the possibility that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was widely dismissed by many public health officials, media organizations, and social media platforms. After Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) first raised the possibility in early 2020, the lab-leak theory was frequently labeled as misinformation or a conspiracy theory. It was not until well into 2021 that many major news outlets acknowledged that a laboratory accident was a plausible explanation deserving serious investigation.

Since then, multiple intelligence agencies and government investigations have concluded that a lab-related origin cannot be ruled out, while debate over the evidence continues.

A major turning point came in 2024 when the House Oversight & Accountability Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released its comprehensive After Action Review following a lengthy investigation.

The committee concluded that the most likely explanation for COVID-19’s emergence was “a laboratory or research-related accident.” Investigators also determined that U.S. government agencies supported gain-of-function research connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology through grants and partnerships that lacked sufficient transparency and oversight.

The report further criticized former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, concluding that he relied on narrow definitions of gain-of-function research while denying federal involvement. It also stated that Fauci encouraged the development of the influential “Proximal Origin” paper, which argued against the lab-leak theory and was widely cited during the pandemic to dismiss alternative explanations.

Committee investigators additionally alleged that officials within NIAID attempted to frustrate Freedom of Information Act requests by using tactics that made records more difficult to locate, including intentionally misspelling names and key terms in official communications.

Paul has long argued that Fauci misled Congress during testimony regarding federal funding for gain-of-function research and has repeatedly called for the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges.

Those calls became largely symbolic after former President Joe Biden issued Fauci a broad pardon before leaving office, making any future prosecution highly unlikely. Even so, Paul has argued that legal action should still be pursued so that courts can determine whether the pardon remains valid in light of ongoing questions surrounding Biden’s mental capacity and decision-making during the final days of his presidency.

The newly released records regarding Daszak are likely to intensify congressional scrutiny over the government’s handling of the pandemic and renew debate over whether key witnesses were protected instead of questioned. With Paul promising additional document releases, the controversy surrounding COVID-19’s origins—and the government’s response—shows little sign of fading.