Declassified Video Shows Daszak Describing Chinese Coronavirus Spike Protein Experiments as Fauci Denied Related NIH Funding

Washington, D.C. — Newly declassified U.S. intelligence documents include an email circulating a 2016 video in which EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak described colleagues in China manipulating coronavirus spike proteins from bats to test their ability to bind to human cells, moving the work “closer and closer to this virus could really become pathogenic in people.”

The footage, from a February 23, 2016, New York Academy of Medicine event, was flagged by an intelligence community official in a June 2021 email to colleagues, noting it showed manipulation “to make them more virulent.” The documents were released June 18, 2026, by then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in her final hours in office.

The revelations add to longstanding scrutiny over U.S. taxpayer funding of coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that received grants from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), directed at the time by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Critics argue the evidence contradicts Fauci’s public denials to Congress that NIH funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab.

The Video and Its Content

In the clip, Daszak outlines work on bat coronaviruses similar to SARS:

“We found other coronaviruses in bats … some of them looked very similar to SARS. So, we sequenced the spike protein, the protein that attaches to cells, then we–well I didn’t do this work, my colleagues in China did the work–you create pseudoparticles, you insert the spike proteins from those viruses, see if they bind to human cells,” Daszak said. “And each step of this you move closer and closer to this virus could really become pathogenic in people.”

The video has circulated publicly on platforms like Rumble and C-SPAN archives. The intelligence email highlighted its relevance to debates over viral manipulation and potential pandemic pathogens.

US Funding Through EcoHealth and NIAID

EcoHealth Alliance, led by Daszak, received NIH grants that supported coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A portion of those funds—approximately $600,000—was sub-awarded to WIV researchers for studies involving bat coronaviruses.

In 2021, NIH acknowledged that some experiments funded through EcoHealth met the criteria for enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research, though Fauci and NIH officials maintained at the time that the work did not constitute “gain-of-function” under the agency’s specific definition. The research involved creating chimeric viruses or testing spike protein functionality in ways that enhanced transmissibility or pathogenicity in laboratory settings.

In 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services banned EcoHealth Alliance and Daszak from receiving federal funding for five years, citing concerns over the organization’s oversight of the Wuhan subgrants and alleged facilitation of risky research prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci’s Testimony and Allegations of Misleading Congress

During a May 2021 Senate hearing, Fauci told Sen. Rand Paul that “the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” He repeated similar denials in other congressional settings.

A 2021 whistleblower complaint from an intelligence community official alleged that Fauci provided false testimony to Congress regarding gain-of-function research funded by NIH, thereby “misleading the American people and Congressional oversight.” The complaint was referred by Acting Intelligence Community Inspector General Tamara Johnson to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra rather than the independent HHS Inspector General, with Johnson citing the public nature of the gain-of-function debate.

Gabbard, in releasing the documents, accused officials including Fauci of engaging in a cover-up, stating the tactics were “straight from the deep state playbook: politicized self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected President.”

Fauci has consistently denied lying to Congress and has maintained that the funded research did not meet the technical definition of gain-of-function at the time. He retired before President Trump’s return to office and received a pardon from President Biden in late 2024.

Broader Context and Implications

The declassified materials, part of a larger release by Gabbard, also reference Fauci’s contacts with intelligence officials regarding viral research and contradict aspects of his later congressional testimony. They fuel ongoing debates about the origins of COVID-19, U.S. involvement in high-risk pathogen research abroad, and oversight failures.

Proponents of greater transparency argue the video and funding trail demonstrate that U.S. officials were aware of risky experiments in China years before the pandemic and that public statements downplayed those connections. Skeptics note that pseudovirus experiments (using non-replicating particles) differ from live-virus gain-of-function work and that definitions of the term have been contested.

The episode underscores persistent questions about accountability for pandemic-era decisions, international research collaborations, and the handling of intelligence and scientific information by senior U.S. officials. As additional documents surface, they continue to shape public understanding of the events leading to the global health crisis.