Tulsi Gabbard on COVID-19 originated from a lab-related …

Tulsi Gabbard

U.S. Director of National Intelligence

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world. After years of lies, censorship, and cover ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability. The tactics used to hide the truth are 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 by restricting his access to vital facts needed to keep the country safe. It’s time the American people learn the real story.

AI Verified source (Jun 18, 2026)

3mo ago

Policy proposals and claims

COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural zoonotic spillover

votes For

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AI Verified Relevant. Although the quote itself speaks in shorthand about “lies,” “cover ups,” and “the real story,” the source page’s headline and surrounding text explicitly frame it as part of DNI Gabbard’s claim that COVID came from a Wuhan lab-related leak and that Fauci and intelligence officials suppressed that truth. So the quote is presented as a supporting comment/reason on the lab-origin-versus-natural-spillover issue, making a determinable stance substantially more likely. ([dni.gov](https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4166-pr-11-26)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The quote itself alleges a cover-up of "the truth," and the source page makes that truth explicit: it says Fauci hid "the virus’ lab-leak origins," and its headline/body say Wuhan lab research "sparked COVID" through an "unintentional lab leak." So, in source context, the author clearly supports the statement. ([dni.gov](https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4166-pr-11-26)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

The clustering of early cases around the Huanan market reflects where the COVID-19 virus emerged, not just where testing looked

votes Against

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AI Verified The quote accuses officials of covering up the truth and the lab leak, which directly opposes the Huanan-market statement. model:gpt-5.4-mini · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5.4-mini · 3mo ago

Vote inference verification history AI Verified Report this

AI Verified The quote accuses officials of cover-ups and urges truth about the lab story, so against the Huanan-market statement is correct. model:gpt-5.4-mini · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5.4-mini · 3mo ago

Quote authenticity verification history

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AI Verified Authentic. The official ODNI press release "Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID," dated June 18, 2026, contains this wording across two consecutive quoted sentences and attributes it to DNI Gabbard; the submitted text matches the spoken words, with the page’s inserted attribution omitted. ([dni.gov](https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4166-pr-11-26)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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Tulsi Gabbard votes For

Require human-in-the-loop oversight for agentic AI systems acting in high-stakes domains

It will be critical to ensure that humans remain in control of how AI is used and of the machines that may threaten to autonomously violate the interests of the American people across all domains.

AI Verified source (Mar 18, 2026)