{"id":640841,"date":"2026-07-24T21:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=640841"},"modified":"2026-07-24T21:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:04:34","slug":"fbi-pressured-u-s-customs-to-ditch-plan-to-question-key-fauci-aide-on-return-trip-from-wuhan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=640841","title":{"rendered":"FBI Pressured U.S. Customs To Ditch Plan To Question Key Fauci Aide On Return Trip From Wuhan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The FBI intervened to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from questioning \u201cvirus hunter\u201d Peter Daszak, Ph.D., on a return trip from Wuhan, China, according to documents released this week by Sen. Rand Paul. Three days before Daszak was scheduled to arrive in New York, a CBP Joint Terrorism Task Force liaison wrote, \u201cPlease be advised FBI New York requested we do not stop the subject.\u201d
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Please Follow us on <\/em><\/a>Truth Social<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>X<\/em><\/a>\u00a0, <\/em>Youtube<\/em><\/a>\u00a0, <\/em>Minds<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Telegram<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Rumble<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>GETTR<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Gab<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

by\u00a0Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0FBI intervened<\/a>\u00a0to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from questioning \u201cvirus hunter<\/a>\u201d Peter Daszak, Ph.D., on a return trip from Wuhan, China, according to\u00a0documents<\/a>\u00a0released this week by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).<\/p>\n

The documents show that in February 2021, Daszak, a key aide to\u00a0Dr. Anthony Fauci<\/a>\u00a0and then-president of the\u00a0EcoHealth Alliance<\/a>, traveled to Wuhan as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) investigation into the origins of\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CBP planned to stop and question Daszak on his return to the U.S. that month. But in an email dated Feb. 2, 2021 \u2014 three days before Daszak was scheduled to arrive in New York \u2014 a CBP Joint Terrorism Task Force liaison wrote, \u201cPlease be advised FBI New York requested we do not stop the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team was prepared to question Daszak about the business he conducted in China, his contacts at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and whether he collected or was carrying any samples of viruses or other pathogens.<\/p>\n

One document states that CBP viewed Daszak as \u201can extremely high person of interest\u201d due to his longstanding ties with the Wuhan laboratory.<\/p>\n

A Jan. 11, 2021, CBP email flagged Daszak\u2019s participation in the WHO\u2019s team investigating the pandemic\u2019s origins in Wuhan as a potential \u201cconflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Feb. 2, 2021, email noted that much of the funding Daszak was receiving was \u201cput toward gain of function research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security email contained within the documents, which provided background information on\u00a0Daszak\u2019s research activity<\/a>, referenced an article\u00a0The Defender<\/a>\u00a0published in January 2021.<\/p>\n

Paul released the documents as part of his ongoing\u00a0congressional investigation<\/a>\u00a0into the origins of COVID-19. In a post on X earlier this week, he said the documents\u00a0challenge the narrative<\/a>\u00a0that a lab leak was implausible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people can finally judge the evidence for themselves,\u201d\u00a0Paul wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The American people can finally judge the evidence for themselves.https:\/\/t.co\/t2kKO8eQlp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Speaking to\u00a0The National Desk<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday, Paul said the documents showed that figures in the federal government \u201cwanted to protect\u201d the narrative that COVID-19 originated in, and escaped from, a lab, so they \u201cused whatever means necessary to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that they would use the law enforcement enterprise to achieve that,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Tucker<\/a>, president and founder of the Brownstone Institute, said the documents confirm the \u201cworst versions of what we\u2019ve suspected\u201d and provide \u201cmore empirical evidence than ever\u201d of a concerted effort by figures in the federal government to conceal a lab leak in Wuhan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a high-level plan to protect the virus creators as part of a longer-term
scheme to deploy both pathogens and countermeasures, likely for the purpose of political manipulation, as incredible as that sounds,\u201d Tucker said.<\/p>\n

NIH asked Daszak to bring SARS-CoV-2 specimen to the U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0documents<\/a>\u00a0contained evidence that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked Daszak to obtain the original type specimen of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, and bring it to the U.S.<\/p>\n

According to those who believe COVID-19\u00a0leaked from a lab<\/a>, the virus was likely produced through\u00a0gain-of-function research<\/a>\u00a0at the Wuhan lab, and later escaped.<\/p>\n

Gain-of-function research\u00a0increases the virulence or transmissibility<\/a>\u00a0of viruses and is often used in vaccine development.<\/p>\n

Fox News<\/a>\u00a0reported that Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance had collaborated with the Wuhan lab for over 15 years, including with the lab\u2019s lead researcher,\u00a0Shi Zhengli, Ph.D.<\/a>, widely known as the \u201cbat lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daszak was also principal investigator on NIH grants that funded\u00a0bat coronavirus research<\/a>\u00a0at the Wuhan lab.<\/p>\n

The documents were released just days before\u00a0Fauci is set to testify<\/a>\u00a0before the U.S. Congress on July 29, as part of Paul\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

The document release also came a month after two NIH researchers with ties to Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance were arrested and charged with\u00a0smuggling mpox samples<\/a>\u00a0into the U.S.<\/p>\n

Documents Paul released last month<\/a>\u00a0revealed that Fauci received a\u00a0U.S. intelligence report<\/a>\u00a0in August 2021 suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 was developed in Chinese and U.S. labs as a bat vaccine, that it later leaked from the Wuhan lab and that it contained characteristics that would make it resistant to mRNA vaccines.<\/p>\n

In May, a CIA whistleblower testified before Congress that Fauci led a multi-agency cover-up of COVID-19\u2019s origins and that \u201cDr. Fauci\u2019s role in the cover-up was intentional<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u00a0(HHS) suspended all funding for EcoHealth Alliance<\/a>\u00a0after finding the organization failed to monitor risky coronavirus experiments.<\/p>\n

Last year, Daszak became president of\u00a0Nature.Health.Global<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a nonprofit organization that performs research on public health and pandemic prevention. The group employs\u00a0Dr. David Morens<\/a>, a former top aide to Fauci.<\/p>\n

In April, a federal grand jury indicted Morens on charges related to conspiracy to hide federal records on COVID-19\u2019s origins.<\/p>\n

Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D., based in Athens, Greece, is a senior reporter for The Defender and host of “The Defender In-Depth” on CHD.TV.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u00a9 Children\u2019s Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of\u00a0Children\u2019s Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from\u00a0Children\u2019s Health Defense?\u00a0<\/em>Sign up<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Children\u2019s Health Defense.\u00a0Your\u00a0<\/em>donation<\/em><\/a>\u00a0will help to support us in our efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>\u2018NO AD\u2019 subscription for CDM!\u00a0\u00a0Sign up here and support real investigative journalism and help save the republic!<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

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The FBI intervened to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from questioning \u201cvirus hunter\u201d Peter Daszak, Ph.D., on a return trip from Wuhan, China, according to documents released this week by Sen. Rand Paul. Three days before Daszak was scheduled to arrive in New York, a CBP Joint Terrorism Task Force liaison wrote,… Continue reading FBI Pressured U.S. Customs To Ditch Plan To Question Key Fauci Aide On Return Trip From Wuhan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":640842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=640841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/640842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=640841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=640841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=640841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}