CIA Quietly Consulted Ralph Baric on Coronavirus Engineering Years Before COVID: Letter from Sen. Paul to DNI Gabbard
Baric told intelligence officials in January 2020 the virus could have come from a lab.
A new document released by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) confirms the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were consulting Ralph Baric about coronavirus engineering years before COVID-19.
Baric personally briefed U.S. intelligence officials in January 2020 that the virus “could have come from a lab, possibly after some engineering,” including a possible accidental release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
It’s written directly into the letter released by Senator Paul on October 30, 2025.
Follow us on Instagram @realjonfleetwood & Twitter/X @JonMFleetwood.
If you value this reporting, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
A Hidden 2015 CIA–Baric Meeting on Coronavirus ‘Evolution and Human Adaptation’
The documents show that in September 2015, the CIA—through an ODNI-facilitated contact—reached out to Baric for a classified discussion on coronavirus manipulation and adaptation to humans.
The PDF states:
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contacted Dr. Ralph Baric… to discuss a “possible project” relating to “[c]oronavirus evolution and possible natural human adaptation.”
This one sentence could destroy a decade of denial.
Not only was Baric a collaborator of the Wuhan Institute of Virology—he was already advising the U.S. intelligence community on coronavirus evolution five years before the outbreak attributed to Wuhan.
And the communication did not originate from academia.
It was CIA-affiliated.
Baric Was an Intelligence Advisor—Meeting With ODNI Four Times a Year
The document confirms Baric was not an isolated consultant.
He was part of ODNI’s Biological Sciences Experts Group (BSEG)—a select circle of scientific advisors who brief U.S. intelligence on biological threats.
The letter states that on January 23, 2020, Baric was asked by “the Sponsor” to give a briefing to “B Group”—a reference to the BSEG.
Just six days later, he delivered it.
And what he told them matters.
January 2020: Baric Told U.S. Intelligence the Virus May Have Come From a Lab
On January 29, 2020, Baric emailed ODNI a PowerPoint presentation titled “Origins.”
Inside that presentation, according to the document:
The slide… discussed the possibility of an accidental release by the WIV.
This was before Fauci began publicly insisting the virus was natural.
Before “Proximal Origin” was published.
Before nearly all media outlets declared the lab-leak theory “debunked.”
Baric—the world’s leading coronavirus manipulator—told U.S. intelligence the exact opposite of what the public was later told.
Rand Paul’s Letter Reveals the Scope of What Intelligence Has Been Hiding
In the letter addressed to DNI Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Paul invokes his committee’s jurisdiction to request all records related to:
Baric
Fauci
Collins
Morens
Daszak
Linfa Wang
Jeremy Farrar
Ian Lipkin
Fort Detrick IRF
NIH Rocky Mountain Labs
Gain-of-function research (GOF)
Dual-use research of concern (DURC)
The DEFUSE proposal
DARPA PREEMPT
USAID PREDICT
And all intelligence assessments related to COVID-19 origins
here
This is the entire architecture of the U.S. biodefense system—and every individual who shaped the official COVID-19 narrative.
The implication is obvious: ODNI and CIA possess records that have never been disclosed to Congress or the public.
The Most Damning Line in the Document
Beyond the meetings, the briefings, and the intel connections, this line stands above all else:
I have obtained information that leads me to believe the Intelligence Community is in possession of records critical to the Committee’s ongoing inquiry.
That statement comes from the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
It is, in essence, a formal accusation that the Intelligence Community is withholding evidence about the origins of COVID-19 and about the U.S. role in coronavirus manipulation.
Why Baric Is the Central Figure
The document centers on Baric for a reason.
Baric:
invented the reverse-genetics system used by the Wuhan lab,
collaborated with Shi Zhengli on chimeric SARS-like viruses
trained WIV scientists,
helped create humanized mice for testing,
applied for the DEFUSE grant involving engineered cleavage sites,
communicated repeatedly with ODNI and CIA,
and delivered the January 2020 “Origins” briefing acknowledging a possible lab accident.
It is impossible to understand COVID-19 without understanding Baric’s precise role.
And now, for the first time, official government records confirm that U.S. intelligence agencies were working directly with him—and listening to his warnings—long before the pandemic reached the public.
Bottom Line
The document released by Sen. Rand Paul confirms three explosive facts:
The CIA and ODNI consulted Baric in 2015 about coronavirus engineering and human adaptation.
Baric formally advised U.S. intelligence in January 2020 that COVID-19 could have emerged from a lab—including accidental release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Intelligence Community still holds undisclosed records related to Baric, Fauci, Collins, Daszak, DARPA, and the Wuhan lab—and Congress is demanding them.
This is no longer a debate about “misinformation.”
This is now a matter of documented intelligence involvement—and the possibility that the U.S. government was engaged in coronavirus engineering research, directly or indirectly, years before the world was told COVID-19 emerged naturally.
And they knew.
They knew early.
And they didn’t tell the public.
And for those who follow my work closely, this revelation ties directly into my upcoming research article.
Stay tuned.
Follow us on Instagram @realjonfleetwood & Twitter/X @JonMFleetwood.
If you value this reporting, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
For advertising & sponsorship opportunities reaching 300,000+ monthly viewers, contact us by clicking below.
While it would take an act of Congress to shut down the FBI President Trump can shut down the CIA yesterday if he wanted too and I do not understand why he would not want to do this ASAP. The CIA is a proven enemy to our country.
Baric made a “No See Um” sequence for the “No See Um” Fauci and CIA.