FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino stated Wednesday evening that the bureau is examining issues related to the origin of COVID-19, though he did not confirm the existence of a formal investigation into a cover-up.
Bongino made the remarks in a post on X amid growing media attention on 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.”
Laboratory technicians wearing personal protective equipment work on samples to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province Aug. 5, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
He did not identify specific individuals or entities under scrutiny. The FBI has not issued an official news release on the matter, and the scope of the review remains unclear.
The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Bongino’s comment represents one of the most direct public statements by a senior FBI official regarding the agency’s continued interest in the pandemic’s origin and the surrounding circumstances.
In 2023, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency assessed with moderate confidence that COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. Chinese authorities have consistently denied such claims, calling them politically motivated and unsubstantiated.
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Dan Bongino on the set of “FOX & Friends” at Fox News Channel Studios June 18, 2019, in New York City. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Bongino’s post follows the detection of a new COVID-19 variant, provisionally identified by researchers as NB.1.8.1, which has appeared in several U.S. states. Federal health authorities have not designated it as a variant of concern.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has continued its inquiry into whether early public health messaging downplayed the lab leak theory for diplomatic or political reasons.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former White House health advisor, has repeatedly denied any effort to conceal information, calling those allegations “entirely false.”
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is sworn-in before testifying to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic June 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Bongino has increasingly used social media to communicate bureau updates directly to the public.
A former NYPD officer and Secret Service agent, Bongino was appointed deputy director earlier this year by FBI Director Kash Patel.