The GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (SSCP) alleges that former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci was escorted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and influenced on the origins of COVID-19.
The letter, written by Ohio Representative Brad Wenstrup and addressed to Inspector General (IG) Christi Grimm, was made public on Tuesday and claims that Fauci—an immunologist and then-director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)—entered CIA headquarters without a record of entry and participated in an analysis to shape a particular narrative regarding the lab-leak theory.
It is unknown who provided the information to the subcommittee, though the letter mentions one individual—Special Agent Brett Rowland—and requests that the IG make him available for a voluntary transcribed interview.
"Our goal is to ensure the scientific investigative process regarding the origins of COVID-19 was fair, impartial, and free of alternative influence," Wenstrup said in a statement.
"The SSCP has received information from multiple sources across multiple agencies regarding Dr. Fauci's movements to and from the CIA," a committee spokesperson told Newsweek via email. "As such, we have requested a range of relevant documents and a transcribed interview with the special agent who has direct knowledge of Dr. Fauci's detail.
"The SSCP is and will continue to vigorously investigate the serious claims that Dr. Fauci potentially influenced the CIA's analysis."
The spokesperson declined to answer whether Rowland has provided any information to the committee or its members.
"We don't discuss specific meetings, but we routinely engage with experts from inside and outside the government as part of our analytic process," a CIA spokesperson told Newsweek via email.
A spokesperson for Health and Human Services (HHS) told Newsweek via email: "This allegation is the latest distraction put forth by House Republicans after months wasting taxpayer dollars on seemingly endless conspiracy theories, all while failing to produce any new evidence related to the origins of COVID-19,"
An IG spokesperson told Newsweek the office is reviewing the letter for an appropriate response, declining to comment further.
Fauci, who led the White House response to COVID-19 in the Trump and Biden administrations, has been questioned multiple times on whether the virus resulted from a Chinese lab leak or was contracted and spread by crossing the species barrier from an infected animal.
In February, reports issued by the Department of Energy and FBI claimed that the virus came from a lab leak. Fauci strongly suggested the lab leak theory was inaccurate.
"You have to look at the data. I don't see any data for a lab leak," Fauci said. "That doesn't mean it could not have happened, and that's the reason I keep an open mind always about that."
In March, the coronavirus subcommittee again pressed Fauci, alleging that he attempted to obfuscate U.S. funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The accusations were exacerbated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) giving U.S.-based EcoHealth Alliance a $3.7 million grant in 2014, $600,000 of which was sent to the Chinese lab to study bat coronaviruses.
Fauci, 82, previously testified that domestic dollars never financed virus enhancement research in a lab.
On Monday, in an interview with Science, he was again asked about the NIAID-funded Eco-Health Alliance and accusations of his own institution covering up the funding for the specific gain-of-function research.
"I had no idea the grant to [EcoHealth and the Wuhan lab] existed until all this exploded," Fauci said. "It's $121,000-a-year grant and I had a $6 billion portfolio.
"So, when I said to my people, 'Tell me what's going on,' they said, 'This is the guidelines and by no definition whatsoever is that gain-of-function of concern.' Now, people are saying maybe those guidelines are a little too loose. My feeling is, absolutely, you should reexamine that, and if you want to change it, change it."
A document request by the coronavirus subcommittee with an October 10 deadline requests the following:
- Any documents authorizing, supporting or affiliated with Fauci's claimed movements into any CIA owned, operated or occupied buildings between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022.
- Any documents and communications between or among contractors and employees of Health and HHS and the IG regarding Fauci's whereabouts as it pertains to the CIA.
- Any documents and communications between or among contractors and employees of HHS and the IG and employees or contractors of the U.S. Marshals Service regarding Fauci and the CIA entry.
- Any documents and communications between or among contractors and employees of HHS and the IG and employees or contractors of the NIH and NIAID.
Newsweek reached out to the CIA via email for comment.
Update 9/28/23, 8:51 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from the CIA.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
