The US' Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has released new evidence revealing that the United States government has funded more than 120 biolabs across over 30 countries, including facilities in Ukraine that remain vulnerable amid the ongoing war with Russia.
According to a press release issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the newly uncovered information ends months of searching through Intelligence Community holdings. The DNI alleges that until now, the full extent of the labs' existence and funding had been "knowingly withheld" from the American public.
“The information surrounding the existence, history, locations, and funding of these US-funded biolabs has been intentionally covered up by powerful people falsely claiming that they do not exist and accusing anyone who says otherwise to be foreign assets and traitors to America,” the release states.
The ODNI warned that some of these facilities, particularly in Ukraine, are at risk of compromise due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Intelligence Community had previously cautioned that a US-funded lab in Ukraine likely housed dangerous pathogens and remained vulnerable to Russian attack, seizure, or damage.
According to the findings, many of these government-funded biolabs are currently or have previously engaged in research using hazardous and highly contagious pathogens, including, in some cases, dangerous Gain-of-Function (GoF) research, often with little visibility or oversight.
President Trump took executive action on May 25, 2025, signing Executive Order 14292 to end federal funding of Gain-of-Function research worldwide. “President Trump understands the serious threat dangerous Gain-of-Function research poses to the American people,” the release noted.
In a statement, DNI Gabbard sharply criticized former government health officials and the previous administration.
“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,” Gabbard said.
She added that the ODNI will continue to work with partners across the government to identify the locations of the labs and the pathogens they contain, with the goal of ending dangerous GoF research that threatens public health and national security.
Gabbard has also issued new guidance to the Intelligence Community directing increased intelligence collection on these overseas laboratories and facilities. The ODNI reports that this directive is already providing new details on clinical trials underway at these sites, raising “significant ethical, financial, and security concerns” regarding the public health initiatives and US national security.