Ex-ABC News Correspondent Claims Censorship Over COVID Lab Leak Report

Terry Moran, a former ABC News correspondent, has made claims about alleged censorship on a report he led concerning the COVID lab leak theory. The incident reportedly involved significant editorial changes driven by both the network and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

During a podcast interview on “The Fifth Column,” Moran shared that, in early 2021, he explored the COVID lab leak theory. He discussed this with various scientists and officials from the Trump administration. According to Moran, the report did not make any definitive conclusions but presented the possibility that COVID leaked from a lab.

“We broke a little news that that lab had been funded by the Chinese military, despite the ‘Bat Lady’ [Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli] saying no, it hadn’t… And we kind of laid it out,” Moran stated.

However, on the day the report was set to be aired, Moran received feedback from his superiors, which included input from Fauci. Moran expressed frustration, describing the revised piece as “incomprehensible” due to numerous caveats introduced during the review process.

Moran claimed he faced rigorous scrutiny from lawyers and standards personnel at ABC. He was informed the report script had been shared with Fauci, though Moran was uncertain of the exact details.

The debate over COVID’s origins was heavily discussed in Moran’s segment that aired in June 2021. This segment featured Jamie Metzl, a member of the World Health Organization’s committee on human genome editing, among other medical experts who opposed the lab leak theory. ABC News reporters Sony Salzman and Sasha Pezenik also minimized the likelihood of a lab-origin.

Despite denouncing the “demonization” of Fauci, Moran left ABC News in 2025. He emphasized that Fauci acted as a public servant, doing his best amid the pandemic.

Neither Moran nor ABC News responded to comments requested by Fox News Digital. Fauci similarly refrained from commenting, following recent diary revelations indicating potential discrepancies in his public statements about COVID.

The controversial lab leak theory has acquired support from various U.S. government entities such as the CIA, FBI, and Department of Energy in recent years, positioning it as a likely source of the pandemic. Nevertheless, substantial debate persists among scientists centering on the “natural origin” theory.