FBI’s Bongino Says Agency Probing COVID-19 Origin Cover-Up as New Strain Drives Cases

The probe comes as the World Health Organization said a new variant of COVID-19 is driving up cases in some parts of the world.

The J. Edgar Hoover building, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters, is seen in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The FBI is investigating the alleged cover-up of the origins of COVID-19, the agency’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, said on May 29, as a new strain of the virus has started to circulate in some parts of the world.

“As we read and process reports of a new COVID strain emerging, I want you to know that we are actively investigating, in multiple field offices, the cover-up of the origin of the COVID virus, along with associated matters requiring our attention,” Bongino wrote in a post on social media platform X. “You deserve answers.”

Bongino did not state which field offices are probing the origins of the virus or which individuals are involved in the alleged cover-up. The FBI has not issued an official statement on the investigation.

The Epoch Times has contacted the FBI for further comment.

In April, the Trump administration changed a White House COVID-19 page to say that the virus likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, in 2019.

The page also criticizes former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, who stepped down as chief medical adviser under the Biden administration in 2022, and other individuals it says repeatedly sought to discredit the lab leak theory.

President Joe Biden on Jan. 20 issued preemptive pardons for Fauci and other individuals. Biden said at the time that the pardons should not be viewed as confirmation that any of the recipients did anything wrong.

The Epoch Times has contacted Fauci for comment.

Bongino’s comments come as the World Health Organization (WHO) said a new variant of COVID-19, identified by researchers as NB.1.8.1, has been driving up cases in parts of the world and is currently spreading in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific regions—including China—and the Mediterranean.

As of mid-May, the new variant accounted for 10.7 percent of global sequences reported, the WHO said in a May 28 update.

WHO Monitoring New Variant

Airport screening in the United States has detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia, and New York, according to officials.

A CDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times on May 25 that while NB.1.8.1 has been detected in the United States, there are “fewer than 20 sequences in the U.S. baseline surveillance data to date.”

“It has not met the threshold for inclusion in the COVID Data Tracker dashboard,” the spokesperson said. “We monitor all SARS-CoV-2 sequences, and if it increases in proportion, it will appear on the Data Tracker dashboard.”

The WHO last week designated NB.1.8.1—a descendant lineage of XDV.1.5.1—a “variant under monitoring” with “increasing proportions globally.” The WHO said it considers the public health risk low at the global level.

The organization added that currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective for the new variant against symptomatic and severe disease.

“Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,” it said.

Another variant of COVID-19 called LP.8.1 is currently the dominant version in the United States and globally, according to the WHO.

In its May 28 update, the WHO said global COVID-19 activity has also been increasing since mid-February 2025, with the test positivity rate reaching 11 percent, levels it said have not been observed since July 2024.

“Recent increases in SARS-CoV-2 activity are broadly consistent with levels observed during the same period last year, however, there still lacks a clear seasonality in SARS-CoV-2 circulation, and surveillance is limited,” the WHO said. “Continued monitoring is essential.”

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on May 27 that he had removed COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.