University of North Carolina Withholds 5,205 COVID Files as Lawmakers Quietly Review Baric-Linked Work

The timing—and the secrecy—raise serious questions.

This article originally appeared on Jon Fleetwood’s Substack and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Jon Fleetwood

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is withholding 5,205 coronavirus research documents tied to Dr. Ralph Baric under a “proprietary research” exemption while simultaneously transferring records to a state legislative committee that is legally exempt from public disclosure requirements.

Dr. Baric is a central figure in pre-pandemic coronavirus research that included proposed spike protein engineering under the DEFUSE program—specifically the insertion of a furin cleavage site, optimization of spike binding to human ACE2 receptors, and construction of SARS-like viral backbones with novel spike features—all three of which later appeared simultaneously in the purportedly wild SARS-CoV-2 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baric was one of the only scientists in the world with the know-how, technological access, and government funding to design, assemble, and experimentally test engineered SARS-related coronaviruses using reverse-genetics systems prior to the pandemic.

He patented how to make chimeric coronavirus spike proteins the year before the pandemic.

A recent document released by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) confirms the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were consulting Ralph Baric about coronavirus engineering years before COVID-19.

Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, the CIA, and Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) have asserted that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely the result of lab-engineered pathogen manipulation.

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Summary of Developments

• The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that UNC is not required to release 5,205 withheld documents related to Baric’s research, according to a report from The News & Observer, a regional daily newspaper based in Raleigh.

• The documents were withheld under a state-law exemption for “proprietary research information.”

• At the same time, UNC has been providing records to the North Carolina General Assembly as part of a separate inquiry.

• The legislative body receiving the documents is exempt from public records law, meaning the materials may never be made public.

The Court Ruling

The appeals court affirmed a lower court decision allowing UNC to withhold records requested by U.S. Right to Know, an investigative group examining the origins of COVID-19.

Key points from the ruling:

• UNC produced over 130,000 pages of records.

• 5,205 documents were withheld.

• The court accepted UNC’s argument that the records qualify as “proprietary information.”

• The court clarified that, under North Carolina law, proprietary information extends beyond trade secrets and includes information in which the owner has a “protectable interest.”

The ruling does not assess the content of the withheld documents.

It only affirms UNC’s legal authority to withhold them.

Scope of the Withheld Records

According to legislative correspondence and reporting, the records sought include:

• All records requested by U.S. Right to Know covering 2020–2024

• All documents previously provided to members of Congress concerning:

  • Baric

  • The Baric Lab

  • SARS-CoV-2

  • The Wuhan Institute of Virology

• Communications between Baric-connected accounts and:

  • Wuhan Institute of Virology

  • EcoHealth Alliance

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

• Date range: 2018–2021

It remains unclear whether the 5,205 withheld documents overlap with those provided to lawmakers.

Legislative Inquiry & Record Transfer

In June 2025, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall directed UNC to deliver records related to Baric’s research to staff of the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations (“Gov Ops”).

Key facts:

• Gov Ops is explicitly exempt from public records law.

• The commission determines if and when investigative materials are made public.

• Not all Gov Ops inquiries result in hearings or public findings.

• Speaker Hall confirmed his staff received “a ton of documents.”

• Hall stated that staff may have spoken directly with Baric.

• No timeline for public disclosure has been provided.

UNC has stated that communications between Gov Ops staff and university employees are confidential under state law.

Public Transparency Status

At present:

• The public cannot access the 5,205 withheld documents.

• There is no mechanism requiring Gov Ops to release records it receives.

• There is no confirmation that the legislature received the same documents withheld from the public.

• There is no announced hearing, report, or finding tied to the inquiry.

UNC maintains it has complied with the law and emphasizes its release of more than 130,000 pages of material.

Current Status

• Legal avenues for public access to the withheld UNC documents have narrowed.

• A parallel legislative review is ongoing but opaque.

• Thousands of pandemic-relevant research records remain non-public.

• Oversight is said to exist, but public verification does not.

No conclusions about misconduct have been made by the courts or the legislature.

No conclusions about origins have been resolved by international bodies.

The records remain withheld.

Copyright 2026 Jon Fleetwood

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