New reporting casts doubt on Fauci’s insistence that no US money went to “gain-of-function” research — where scientists manipulate viruses, often making them more transmittable, to study their effects and develop treatments.
Records acquired by The Intercept detail grants that the US government’s scientific agencies gave to an outfit called EcoHealth Alliance, which funneled some of that money to research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. One clause in the contract says that “prior to altering mutant viruses,” the NIAID needed a “detailed description” of the proposed changes. Work on coronaviruses “must be submitted to NIAID for review and approval.”
In May, Fauci insisted that the US “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Perhaps he defines “gain-of-function” so narrowly that altering mutant viruses doesn’t count, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) certainly doesn’t, tweeting, “Surprise, surprise — Fauci lied again.”
Fauci’s ties with Wuhan lab associates have left him compromised again and again. After the COVID outbreak, Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth, scrambled to get scientists — including Fauci — to publicly denounce the idea that the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab. Daszak’s efforts paid off when Facebook and other social networks censored any allegation against the lab as “false.”
Eventually, the lab-leak theory became too likely to ignore — but at that point, months later, China had destroyed most of the evidence and dodged international disgrace.
Fauci has been an impediment to knowing the true story of COVID-19. It’s obvious he’s prioritized funding and research over accountability.
more at nypost.com
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