Jim Thomas wrote in a June 14 Newsmax article:
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Friday declassified intelligence records that her office said document longstanding U.S. taxpayer funding for more than 120 biological research laboratories in over 30 countries.
The list includes facilities in Ukraine that the intelligence community has warned remain vulnerable to seizure or attack amid the ongoing war with Russia.
The release, made days before Gabbard’s scheduled departure from the post on June 30, consisted of partially redacted slides identifying lab locations, research functions, and biosafety concerns.
Thomas failed to mention that Gabbard has been accused of spreading Russian disinformation about biolabs in Ukraine. Thomas further wrote about one of those labs:
One declassified assessment singled out the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in Kharkiv, citing the presence of dangerous pathogens, deficiencies in handling Brucella bacteria, and historical ties to Soviet-era biological research.
Pathogens referenced in the materials included anthrax, Ebola, and swine fever.
Thomas eventually got around to acknowleding that Ukraine has denied any claim of military use:
The Defense Department and other agencies have long supported overseas disease research, and Russia has for years accused Washington of running biological weapons programs at such facilities, claims the State Department in 2023 called part of a disinformation campaign tied to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv pushed back the following day.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington said cooperation with the United States had been aimed “exclusively at strengthening the capabilities of the public health system, epidemiological surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, biosafety, and biosecurity,” and called the work “ordinary civilian activities” unrelated to military objectives.
Thomas waited until the final paragraph of the article to acknowledge that there are questions about Gabbard’s disclosure:
The timing of Gabbard’s release, just before her exit from the ODNI, has drawn questions about its purpose, and outside observers have noted the declassified material does not clearly establish facts beyond what was already public.
Still, Thomas failed to acknowledge that Gabbard has been accused of spreading Russian disinformation about Ukrainian biolabs.