Rand Paul, Republican Senator from Kentucky, has released a new batch of documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing that U.S. officials intercepted undeclared biological materials tied to a U.S.-China coronavirus research network as early as November 2018. According to the records, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport seized three vials concealed in paper towels and wax film from a courier. The source was identified as Yusen Zhou from China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS).

The documents, which include a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report, focus on a network centered around University of Minnesota virologist Fang Li. Paul suggested the interception was likely an effort to avoid international tensions and regulatory scrutiny amid growing concerns about the virus.

Additionally, Slack messages released by Paul appear to show that authors of a key COVID-19 origin paper privately expressed doubts about their findings. Paul has criticized what he describes as "misdirection, conspiracy," and a "cover-up" that misled the public about the virus's origins. He also alleges that Anthony Fauci funded gain-of-function research leading up to the pandemic and coerced intelligence analysts, including the CIA, to alter their initial findings regarding the COVID-19 lab leak origin.

The revelations come amid ongoing tensions between the United States and China, with Chinese police patrolling the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2021 noted in the documents.

Sources