Fauci briefed Jan 2020 that NIH funded gain-of-function at Wuhan, denied it publicly

Editorial Article

In early 2020, as the world struggled to understand the origins of a novel coronavirus, a critical question emerged: did American research institutions help fund the very research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that might have created it? For months, senior U.S. health officials denied any connection. Documents released through FOIA requests tell a different story.

According to newly released records, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was briefed in January 2020 about potential NIH funding ties to gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab. Yet when asked publicly about this connection in the months that followed, Fauci denied the NIH had funded such research. The gap between what he knew and what he said raises serious questions about transparency during a critical moment in the pandemic's early response.

The timeline matters. In January 2020, an aide briefed Fauci on the NIH's relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Then, on February 1, 2020, Fauci received an email from colleagues describing the virus's "unusual features" — characteristics that some scientists believed indicated genetic manipulation. That same day, Fauci instructed a deputy: "You will have tasks today." The specifics of those tasks remain unclear, but the sequence suggests urgent action was taken.

What happened next is where the discrepancy becomes significant. In public statements and congressional testimony over subsequent months, Fauci repeatedly stated that the NIH had not funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab. These denials came despite the January briefing and despite the growing scientific discussion about the virus's origins. When pressed on the issue, he maintained this position consistently.

The FOIA documents paint a more complicated picture. They show that NIH funding had flowed to EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. While the extent to which these grants specifically supported gain-of-function research remains debated, the documents confirm that funding connections existed that Fauci had been made aware of in real time.