FBI Deputy Director Bongino Says Bureau Probing COVID-19 Origin Cover-Up Allegations
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Wednesday evening that the bureau is actively investigating issues surrounding the origin of COVID-19, including potential efforts to conceal key information, according to Fox News.
While Bongino stopped short of confirming a formal investigation, his comments mark one of the most explicit acknowledgments yet of the FBI’s ongoing interest in the pandemic’s beginnings.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Bongino addressed the public amid rising concerns over a newly identified COVID-19 strain.
“As we read and process reports of a new COVID strain emerging, I want you to know that we are actively investigating, in multiple field offices, the cover-up of the origin of the COVID virus, along with associated matters requiring our attention,” Bongino wrote. “The American people deserve answers.”
The FBI has not released an official statement on the scope or targets of the probe, and no specific individuals or organizations were named in Bongino’s post.
Bongino’s remarks come as a fresh COVID-19 variant, provisionally labeled NB.1.8.1, has been detected in several U.S. states. Federal health officials have not designated it as a variant of concern at this time.
In 2023, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly stated that the bureau held a “moderate confidence” assessment that COVID-19 likely originated from a lab-related incident in Wuhan, China. Beijing has consistently denied such claims, labeling them as politically motivated and lacking evidence.
Bongino’s statement also arrives amid continued scrutiny by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which is investigating whether early messaging from public health officials deliberately downplayed the lab leak theory for diplomatic or political reasons.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was a central figure in the U.S. pandemic response, has repeatedly denied any involvement in a cover-up. Speaking under oath before Congress earlier this month, Fauci called the allegations “entirely false.”
Bongino, a former NYPD officer and U.S. Secret Service agent, was appointed deputy director of the FBI earlier this year by Director Kash Patel. Since assuming the role, Bongino has increasingly used social media to share updates directly with the public, bypassing traditional press briefings.
The investigation, if formalized, would represent a significant development in the years-long search for definitive answers about how the global pandemic began—and who, if anyone, may have sought to obscure the truth.
