Gabbard’s Biolab Clip Ignites Row Over Ukraine Intel

Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing Director of National Intelligence, used her Friday release of a video clip to cite “new evidence” of U.S.-funded bio labs in “over 30 countries,” including in Ukraine. Her claims that U.S. officials lied and that Russian attacks pos

For the third day in a row, the language in Washington about Ukraine’s bio labs didn’t sound like policy—it sounded like a battlefield.

On Friday. outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a social-media clip in which she said she was “releasing new evidence” of “long-standing U.S. Government funding of more than 120 bio labs in over 30 countries.” She then tied that funding to the Russia-Ukraine war. saying those labs “include labs in places like Ukraine. ” which she argued “could be at risk of compromise due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.”.

Gabbard added a second layer to the accusation. She said the intelligence community had “previously warned that a U.S.-funded bio lab in Ukraine likely housed dangerous pathogens and remained vulnerable to long-standing threats of Russian attack. seizure. or damage.” She framed the issue not as a limited technical concern but as something she said American officials concealed from the public.

In the same clip, Gabbard claimed that “politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci. and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people” about the existence of U.S.-funded and supported biolabs. She also said they “threatened those who attempted to expose the truth.”.

The reaction was immediate and split along familiar lines. MAGA supporters largely praised Gabbard, while national security experts and others accused her of echoing Russian messaging.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in the account Gabbard’s critics point to, had cited Ukraine biolabs as a reason for his invasion of Ukraine. He also claimed the invasion was necessary in part to remove the biolabs, which he said make chemical weapons, from the country.

Christopher Miller—identified in the material as The Financial Times’s chief correspondent in Ukraine—shared the clip and delivered a blunt rebuke. “Before she departs. Gabbard uses her platform and access to intelligence to perpetuate one of her and Russia’s favorite conspiracy theories. disingenuously twisting facts. deliberately misinforming the public and delivering a gift to the Kremlin. ” Miller wrote in a June 12. 2026 post.

Democrats and others used a similar framing: that Ukraine biolabs were not hidden, that the dispute is a re-run of earlier claims, and that the controversy is being weaponized at a moment when U.S. officials are warning about Russian disinformation.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) replied to Gabbard on June 12, 2026. “As far as I can tell, Tulsi’s big ‘secret biolab’ bombshell is recycled Kremlin propaganda. These labs were never secret.” Levin said the U.S. spent decades funding biosafety and disease-surveillance work abroad under Nunn-Lugar. and he pointed to what he described as transparency mechanisms. saying “the facility lists [were] posted publicly by the State Department and our own embassy in Kyiv.”.

Levin also argued that Russia manufactured the theme itself. “Russia invented the ‘secret bioweapons’ spin in 2022 to help justify invading Ukraine. ” he wrote. adding that “our own intelligence flagged it as disinformation.” He then accused Gabbard of repeating it now. “Now Tulsi is laundering that exact line, while conveniently forgetting the first Trump administration funded this same research. Nothing was hidden and the only thing being manufactured here is the coverup. Tulsi, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Levin concluded.

Shashank Joshi, described here as The Economist’s Washington bureau chief, weighed in with a shorter critique: “‘Including in Ukraine.’ Conspiracy theory masquerading as intelligence.”

The dispute also pulled in arguments from biological weapons experts and those focused on the history of U.S. work tied to former Soviet sites. Josh Segal. described as a noted expert on biological weapons. told the New York Post that he was “really confused as to why the DNI released something giving new life to a misleading narrative the entire intel community has known for decades to be a Russian trope and that the Trump administration worked hard to crush in its first term.”.

Segal added a specific counterpoint to Gabbard’s characterization. saying. “Their labs are not now and were never secret. and do zero questionable work.” He also described what he said the cooperation involved: “Cooperation with the US started as a highly publicized effort to convert former Soviet research facilities that may have been connected to the USSR’s covert BW program and involved Russian participation until a decade ago.”.

Segal pointed to a tangible outcome he said came from that conversion program, saying it “was also responsible for destroying 12 tons of weaponized anthrax the Russians abandoned on Resurrection Island in the Aral Sea.”

Meanwhile, some MAGA figures argued Gabbard’s clip exposes what they believe was long-running government distortion. Laura Loomer. a MAGA influencer. wrote that “Russia is playing the GOP like a fiddle right now” and said it was “crazy to see members of Congress entertain this biolab propaganda while knowing Russia has been offering to supply Iran with NUKES to kill Americans.” Loomer also attacked what she called coverage and backlash from the same side. saying “ODNI is being praised by Russian media today. The same Russian media that spreads lies that Trump killed Charlie Kirk and lies that Trump is a pedophile. Disgraceful. Zero self awareness,” in her June 12, 2026 post.

Some of Gabbard’s supporters on the far right treated the clip as a vindication of earlier claims. A post from Kareem Rifai on June 12, 2026 said, “Tulsi Gabbard revives her DNI account to try and fearmonger against Ukraine. Her one and only agenda has been to serve Russia whenever possible, and it’s always been this obvious.”.

Other responses were even more supportive. Senator Rand Paul posted, “Thank you @DNIGabbard for your herculean efforts to flip the deep state. You are a hero for restoring some transparency and good faith that our government needs.” Rachel Campos-Duffy wrote. “The conspiracy theories were always just spoiler alerts. Keep dropping truth bombs until your last second there. I wish you weren’t leaving, Tulsi. You will be missed, my dear friend.”.

DC_Draino framed the moment as a shift from rumor to confirmation: “It used to be a ‘conspiracy theory’ about biolabs in Ukraine. They would fact check our posts and write nasty articles about anyone exposing them. Now the US Government has confirmed they existed. The conspiracy theorists keep being proven right.” Erika Kirk also praised Gabbard, writing, “Thank you Tulsi for exposing their lies!. It’s moments like this that should serve as a reminder why we worked so hard to win in 2024.”.

Even those praising Gabbard connected the dispute to broader party and media fights. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote: “The evidence Tulsi released today proves that Mitt Romney is a neocon shill who should not be trusted in the GOP. Isn’t it interesting the entire Democrat party (and uniparty shills like Romney) and the media and intel community tried to paint @DNIGabbard as a Russian asset?…”.

The clip also drew reaction from outside U.S. politics. Prominent Russian pro-democracy activist Garry Kasparov replied to Gabbard with the line, “Loyal to the end. To Putin.”

One thread ran through many replies, even when they disagreed about the facts: the fear that Ukraine’s bio lab debate isn’t only about science. It’s about power—who gets to define what counts as evidence, what counts as secrecy, and how quickly messaging is absorbed in both Washington and Moscow.

Gabbard’s Friday release placed the outgoing DNI at the center of that fight by saying she was showing “new evidence” of a long-running U.S. program that she says includes Ukraine. while critics insisted that the basic premise has been publicly discussed and that Russia’s broader narrative has been flagged as disinformation before.

As the arguments rolled through social media—praise from some MAGA figures. condemnation from lawmakers like Mike Levin. and sharp skepticism from national security voices—the question facing U.S. viewers was no longer just what bio labs exist or where. It was what was being done with that information at this moment—by officials. by opponents. and by the people who believed they were fighting the same war. only with different truths.

Tulsi Gabbard Director of National Intelligence ODNI Ukraine biolabs Vladimir Putin disinformation Nunn-Lugar Mike Levin Christopher Miller Garry Kasparov MAGA Rand Paul Laura Loomer