The probe comes as the World Health Organization said a new variant of COVID-19 is driving up cases in some parts of the world.
The FBI is investigating the alleged cover-up of the origins of COVID-19, the agency’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, said on May 29, as a new strain of the virus has started to circulate in some parts of the world.
“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 in a post on social media platform X. “You deserve answers.”
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.
— Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) May 28, 2025
You deserve answers.
Bongino did not state which field offices are probing the origins of the virus or which individuals are involved in the alleged cover-up. The FBI has not issued an official statement on the investigation.
The Epoch Times has contacted the FBI for further comment.
In April, the Trump administration changed a White House COVID-19 page to say that the virus likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, in 2019.
The page also criticizes former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, who stepped down as chief medical adviser under the Biden administration in 2022, and other individuals it says repeatedly sought to discredit the lab leak theory.
President Joe Biden on Jan. 20 issued preemptive pardons for Fauci and other individuals. Biden said at the time that the pardons should not be viewed as confirmation that any of the recipients did anything wrong.
The Epoch Times has contacted Fauci for comment.
Bongino’s comments come as the World Health Organization (WHO) said a new variant of COVID-19, identified by researchers as NB.1.8.1, has been driving up cases in parts of the world and is currently spreading in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific regions—including China—and the Mediterranean.
As of mid-May, the new variant accounted for 10.7 percent of global sequences reported, the WHO said in a May 28 update.
