New details have emerged about the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key figure in the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, and efforts to determine whether the virus originated from a Chinese laboratory. Fauci, who previously led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), became a central figure in public health discussions during the pandemic. One theory, often discussed in political circles, suggests the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists were studying coronaviruses in bats. Some supporters of former President Donald Trump believed Fauci and others might have concealed evidence of such a leak. According to a recent report by The New York Times, the FBI and the Justice Department continue to investigate the origins of the pandemic. In early 2023, then-Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino questioned agents at the bureau’s Washington, D.C., headquarters about delays in the investigation and the lack of focus on government scientists. As part of this renewed push, FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors have collected evidence, including phone, email, and payment records, from at least eight scientists, including Fauci. When contacted for comment, the FBI’s national press office said it had no response, and the Justice Department also did not provide a statement. Dr. David Morens, a former adviser to Fauci, recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to hide federal records related to pandemic research. He was accused of using a private email account to avoid public records laws while working at NIAID. In September 2025, prosecutors in Maryland issued subpoenas for documents related to Fauci, including emails he may have sent to researchers using a personal account. Additionally, the FBI’s Cleveland office examined whether Fauci or other government scientists may have influenced virologists in early 2020 to downplay the possibility that the virus originated in a lab. Then-President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Fauci, protecting him from any federal crimes committed since January 2014, including during his time as NIAID director or in his role during the pandemic. Despite this protection, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment—refusing to answer questions—more than 100 times during a Senate hearing in late July, avoiding questions about the virus’s origins. Ahead of the hearing, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, released over 1,000 pages from Fauci’s personal diary. In an April 2021 entry, Fauci wrote that members of the “radical right wing,” including Paul, were attempting to link him to the virus’s origin in Wuhan. He described the claims as “a way-out conspiracy theory” but acknowledged the potential for such theories to cause public concern. The committee later voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions during the hearing.