US intelligence: Biden administration misled public over overseas bio-laboratories

The administration of former US President Joe Biden misled the public about the existence of US-funded biological laboratories overseas, according to claims made by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The allegations were set out in a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which said that senior officials, including “so-called health professionals” such as Dr Anthony Fauci, and members of the Biden administration’s national security team had not been transparent with the American public.

The statement alleged that officials “lied to the American people” about the existence of US-funded biological research facilities abroad.

"Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration's national security team lied to the American people about the existence of U.S.-funded and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth."

On 12 June, the intelligence office published declassified material claiming that Washington had funded 120 biological laboratories in more than 30 countries. The declassification was described as part of a broader transparency push linked to outgoing intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard said the current US president, Donald Trump, had recognised risks associated with such programmes and had moved to end funding for overseas laboratories.

The documents also alleged that many of the facilities conduct or have conducted research involving dangerous pathogens and potential modifications of their properties. They further claimed that US-linked laboratories operated in Ukraine and that intelligence agencies had previously warned one site could have been vulnerable during active conflict.

By Aghakazim Guliyev