FBI director touts 'breakthrough' in bureau's investigation into Fauci by recovering his phones

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed in a podcast that aired Friday that the bureau has had a "breakthrough" in its investigation into former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci by recovering phones he allegedly used in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Patel warned Americans not to rush to assumptions about what would be recovered from the phones, and did not specify what had been found, but the discovery is a key part of the ongoing investigation.

Fauci, who was one of the Biden administration's most public faces regarding COVID-19, cannot be prosecuted for any crimes related to his role in the federal government during the pandemic, but the Trump administration has accused Fauci of misleading the government on its handling of the pandemic.

“We just had a great breakthrough this week on Fauci,” Patel told podcaster Joe Rogan in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience." “They had always been looking for phones and devices he used while he was back in Trump one [the first Trump administration] during COVID, and nobody had found it until two days ago. 

“Everybody listening to us shouldn’t jump to the conclusion [that] everything’s in there,” he continued. “Maybe it’s deleted, maybe it’s not, but at least we found it, and at least now we can tell people that we have been looking because it is of public importance.”

Fauci has long denied any wrongdoing related to the pandemic, maintaining that he always followed the best science available and did not try to hide the origins of the virus.

“We think that there was definite foul play, but my opinion is irrelevant,” Patel said. “It only matters what I can show the American people and prove. That’s what we’re working on [but] that’s why I don’t run out there and say ‘Look, we’re gonna get this guy, we’re 100 percent gonna get him.'"

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.