Newly released emails show that Anthony Fauci, the leading government health official directing the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, knew in early January 2020 a significant amount of detail about research on coronaviruses conducted at the Chinese laboratory suspected to have played a role in the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Fauci has been highly scrutinized by Congress for his role in the potential cover-up of the origins of COVID-19, particularly for his criticism of the possibility of the pandemic starting with research from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has strong connections to the Chinese military.

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Information previously obtained by the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic showed that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by Fauci at the time, had funded the organization EcoHealth Alliance, which supported coronavirus research projects at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. According to an email between Fauci and one of his top aides, Greg Folkers, EcoHealth "has for years been among the biggest players in coronavirus work."

Newly revealed communication between Folkers and Fauci obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by U.S. Right to Know showed that the NIAID funded a variety of EcoHealth Alliance projects conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology since 2015.

Folkers informed Fauci on Jan. 27, 2020, that NIAID indirectly funded the discovery of 52 novel SARS coronaviruses, the species of which the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a part.

Other research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology included the sampling of over 10,000 bats and 2,000 unspecified mammalian species, the discovery of Swine Acute Diarrheal Syndrome Virus, and the discovery of the closest relative to the novel coronavirus.

The email also highlights research conducted by coronavirologist Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina that found some of these novel viruses could bind to human lung, heart, and blood vessel cells.

A spokesperson from the House Oversight's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said that the findings are troubling when coupled with existing knowledge on the Wuhan Institute of Virology's capacity to conduct gain-of-function research, which makes viruses either more transmissible or deadly via lab experimentation.

In the Jan. 27 email, Folkers does not mention gain-of-function research, but he does explain that the Wuhan Institute of Virology utilized "humanized mouse models" and that the novel coronaviruses caused SARS-like disease in these genetically modified mice.

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"Dr. Fauci’s involvement in downplaying the lab-leak theory continues to raise more questions and concerns regarding his actions. Americans deserve to hear answers from Dr. Fauci himself," the subcommittee spokesperson said.

The spokesperson for the Democratic members of the subcommittee did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.