Outgoing DNI Gabbard Drops Bombshell: US Funded Over 120 Biolabs In 30 Countries With Dangerous Pathogens

Washington: Outgoing US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard dropped a major bombshell on Friday, claiming that the United States government financed over 120 biological laboratories across more than 30 countries, including Ukraine. Gabbard, in a video message posted on X, asserted that the intelligence she was releasing provided fresh evidence of past US funding for biological laboratories. Shockingly, she also revealed that many of these laboratories have worked with pathogens that cause infectious diseases.

In her statement, Tulsi Gabbard asserted that several of the labs supported by Washington had either been conducting or previously conducted studies involving hazardous and highly contagious pathogens. She added that in some instances, the work included “dangerous Gain-of-Function research,” a scientific technique that alters organisms to enhance a biological function. According to a release from the Office of the DNI, though such methods are widely used in vaccine development, they carry major biosecurity risks.

The outgoing intelligence chief framed the disclosure as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order in May, which halted federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function work and suspended any active National Institutes of Health projects meeting that definition. The move was intended to stop US taxpayer money from supporting high-risk pathogen studies in nations of concern or those lacking proper oversight. “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,” Gabbard said in her post.

Further, Gabbard alleged that evidence of the laboratory funding had been “knowingly withheld” from the public and “intentionally covered up by powerful people falsely, claiming that they do not exist and accusing anyone who says otherwise to be foreign assets and traitors to America”. She stressed that politicians, certain health professionals, including former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci, and members of the Biden administration’s national security team had “lied to the American people about the existence of US-funded and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth”.

The DNI statement noted that the work often proceeded with “very little visibility or oversight”. The investigating agencies are already revealing details about ongoing clinical trials and research programmes linked to some facilities, with preliminary findings raising “major ethical, financial, and security concerns,” Gabbard said.

“ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these labs are, 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 added.

Amidst the revelation, a central focus of the disclosure was Ukraine, as according to the ODNI, the new evidence includes million-dollar laboratories there that could be at risk of “compromise” because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The intelligence agencies had previously warned that a US-funded biolab in Ukraine likely housed pathogens responsible for diseases such as brucellosis and anthrax bacteria, and remained “vulnerable” to the longstanding threat of Russian attack, seizure or damage.

The DNI release stated that over 40 labs in Ukraine stored Soviet-era biological weapons pathogens, held “especially dangerous pathogen certification” and maintained repositories of disease-causing agents, including tuberculosis, swine fever, Newcastle disease, SARS and Ebola. It added that the US had paid Ukrainian scientists to study pathogenic avian flu and other infectious viruses inside biocontainment laboratories. The network of Ukrainian scientific collaborators also involved several American academic institutions, among them the University of Florida, University of Alaska, University of Tennessee, University of New Mexico and Kansas State University.

The intelligence agencies said that the ongoing probe would revolve around mapping the locations of these laboratories, assessing what pathogens are being studied, and ensuring dangerous biological materials are properly secured. The government bodies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are part of that effort. 

The disclosures are expected to intensify concerns over laboratory safety, transparency in biological research, and regulation of high-risk pathogen studies.