Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran has alleged that ABC overhauled his report on the COVID lab leak theory after submitting it to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Moran shared this claim during an interview with “The Fifth Column” podcast, expressing his frustration at what he perceived as censorship by the Disney-owned network.
Moran said he noted early 2021 discussions among credible individuals online about the possibility of COVID leaking from a lab. With permission from ABC’s “Nightline,” he pursued a story on the theory. The piece involved interviews with various scientists and Trump administration officials without presenting conclusive claims.
“We broke a little news that the lab had been funded by the Chinese military, despite the ‘Bat Lady’ denying this… My own feeling leaned towards a natural cause, but I was open to the lab leak theory. It’s probably not engineered as a ‘Frankenvirus,'” Moran stated.
Moran explained that on the day the report was set to air, it came back to him in such a heavily edited form that it became incomprehensible. He expressed his anger and frustration in the editing booth just before airing.
“Are these lawyers?” asked podcast co-host Michael Moynihan, to which Moran replied, “Lawyers, standards, and Fauci.” Moran recalled that the report had been shared with Fauci before airing, although he wasn’t sure if the details were true.
The report, aired in June 2021, highlighted debates over COVID’s origins. Moran’s interviews included Jamie Metzl, an advocate for the lab leak theory, but most experts featured dismissed this idea. ABC News medical unit producer Sony Salzman and investigative reporter Sasha Pezenik also expressed skepticism about the theory.
Despite having left the network in 2025, Moran criticized the demonization of Fauci, considering him a public servant doing his best. Requests for further comments from Moran, Fauci, or ABC News were not answered.
Fauci’s recently published diary, brought to light by Senator Rand Paul, highlighted contradictions between his public statements and private thoughts on COVID, including interactions with media figures like CNN’s Jake Tapper and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
Senate Republicans have recently acted against Fauci, voting to hold him in contempt of Congress and making a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. The lab leak theory is now accepted by several government agencies as the possible origin of COVID, though the debate over its natural origins persists in the scientific community.
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