Newly released federal records indicate that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was gearing up to stop and question disease researcher Peter Daszak at John F. Kennedy International Airport in early February 2021, but an internal message says the FBI’s New York field office asked agents not to detain him. The packet, released this week as part of Sen. Rand Paul’s oversight push, has reignited partisan scrutiny over how law enforcement and public health agencies coordinated in the pandemic’s early months.
Reporting by KABB/Fox San Antonio says Paul released a batch of agency records that he argues show CBP’s National Targeting Center flagged Daszak as “an extremely high person of interest” and prepared a formal targeting event tied to a Feb. 5, 2021 arrival at JFK.
A line that stopped an inspection
The targeting packet itself contains an internal CBP note that reads, "Please be advised FBI New York requested we do not stop the subject below," according to The targeting package. The same set of records includes itineraries and agency remarks that lay out planned interview topics and operational steps. The targeting package is the primary source for that language.
What CBP had planned
According to the targeting package, the documents include proposed interview questions, flight details and a planned Tactical Terrorism Response Team exam intended to determine whether Daszak carried biological samples or certain electronic media. The records indicate CBP built a formal inspection package before the stop was ultimately rescinded.
Debarment and legal context
Daszak was later formally debarred from federal funding; an HHS notice made public in 2025 says he will be ineligible for government contracts through May 2029. That administrative action and recent criminal filings tied to pandemic-era records have kept scrutiny on communications and grants related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as reflected in reporting by The Washington Post. The HHS notice is available in congressional records and public archives. HHS’s notice is part of that record.
What the records don't say
The packet does not include an explanation for why the FBI requested that CBP stand down. A CBP disposition line in the records summarizes the outcome as "FBI requested not to stop subject. No further NTC action," leaving the motive, whether to protect an active investigation, shield confidential sources or methods, or coordinate with another unit, unrecorded in the public files. The committee’s posted packet is the source for that disposition language.
How lawmakers reacted
Paul has framed the release as part of continuing oversight and said the records will be placed in a public archive for review, while national outlets covering the document drop note that the files are now available for public scrutiny. Fox News summarized the committee’s announcement and the material made public this week.
The newly posted records are expected to be pored over by investigators and lawmakers as Congress continues to review pandemic-era decisions. News organizations have reached out to the FBI and to Daszak’s current organization for comment; beyond the documents themselves, there has been no new public explanation from the agencies involved.
