Overview
- Sen. Rand Paul posted a searchable online “Reading Room” of internal CBP, FBI and related records on Monday to support his Senate Homeland Security probe and said the database will be updated as the investigation continues.
- The files show Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center flagged Peter Daszak as a high person of interest and planned to question him about a February 2021 trip to China, his Wuhan Institute of Virology contacts, and whether he carried or collected biological samples.
- Three days before Daszak’s planned arrival in February 2021, the documents record an instruction from the FBI’s New York Field Office requesting that CBP not stop or inspect him, and the planned interview did not occur.
- The release includes flight itineraries, draft interrogation questions, internal emails and notes that say the NIH sought WIV type‑specimens, cell phone data and explanations of Daszak’s work for genetic analysis and oversight purposes.
- The records emphasize Daszak’s more than 15 years of collaboration with the Wuhan lab and his role as principal investigator on NIH‑funded bat coronavirus research, with documents asserting some funding supported gain‑of‑function work; responses from the FBI, NIH and Daszak‑linked groups are being sought and the material will play into upcoming Senate testimony, including that of Anthony Fauci.