IC Oversight & Authorities — 2026-05-12

DNI Gabbard Launches Investigation Into 120 US-Funded Foreign Biolabs Including 40 in Ukraine

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the New York Post on Monday that her office is reviewing more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories across more than 30 countries pursuant to President Trump's executive order on gain-of-function research. Gabbard said her team will "identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what research is being conducted." ODNI officials noted that several facilities received past funding through the Defense Department's Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and that active clinical trials at the labs are raising "significant, ethical, financial and security concerns." More than 40 of the labs under review are in Ukraine, which ODNI officials flagged as potentially at risk of compromise due to Russia's ongoing war.

Analysis
Gabbard's ODNI review consolidates oversight of a biolab network managed for decades through diffuse DoD and NIH channels with minimal accountability. The Ukraine subset carries the sharpest risk: 40-plus facilities near an active front with Russia having demonstrated prior intent to access them. CTR origins of many labs complicate the gain-of-function framing, since CTR was designed to neutralize threats rather than develop them, but ODNI's flagging of active clinical trials suggests scope drift. Reported through a single New York Post interview with no independent corroboration, the investigation may be primarily a retroactive audit validating 2022 Ukraine biolab claims the Biden administration denied. A public report within six months is uncertain, with classification of pathogen inventories creating structural barriers to disclosure.

3 sources

DNI Tulsi Gabbard Investigating 120 Foreign Biolabs Funding by US Government - The Last Refuge
DNI Tulsi Gabbard probes US funding to more than 120 biolabs abroad - New York Post (via AOL)
DNI Gabbard confirms she is investigating more than 120 US-funded biolabs around the world, and specifically mentions 40 in UKRAINE - Pravda USA