FBI seizes Fauci's phones, computers after major breakthrough in COVID origins investigation

FBI Director Kash Patel has confirmed that the FBI has seized Dr. Anthony Fauci's communications equipment as part of a growing investigation into the former NIH chief's actions during the pandemic.

“We had a major breakthrough in the Fauci case this week,” Patel told podcaster Joe Rogan on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that aired Friday , explaining that the FBI had secured phones Fauci used early in the pandemic.

Patel revealed that the seizure is part of an ongoing federal investigation into Fauci's handling of COVID-19 policy, funding of gain-of-function research and alleged efforts to suppress dissenting scientific opinions.

“They've been looking for phones and devices that he used when he was with Trump [the first Trump administration] during COVID, and no one had found them until two days ago.”

“Anyone who listens to us should not immediately conclude that everything is there,” he added. “Maybe it was deleted, maybe not, but at least we found it and now we can at least tell people that we looked for it, because it is in the public interest.”

President Trump and his allies have long accused Fauci of misleading the public about the handling of the pandemic, concealing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and causing millions of deaths.

Former President Biden granted Fauci an unprecedented preemptive pardon for his crimes before Trump took office in January, part of an extensive effort to shield Fauci from prosecution.

Senator Rand Paul had previously called for Fauci to be jailed over the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

Senator Paul and others allege that Fauci played a role in the outbreak through laboratory research in China and accuse Fauci of causing “between 10 [million] and 20 million” deaths from the pandemic.