Back in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the origins of the virus were hotly debated. The narrative being pushed at the time was that the virus started at a Wuhan wet market and jumped to humans, and anyone who dared to suggest it may have been due to a leak from a prominent coronavirus research lab that just so happened to be located in the same city was treated with disdain – even though there was never any evidence ruling the possibility out.
Now, however, we know a lot more about what did and did not happen back then, and it has recently come to light that Dr. Anthony Fauci played a role in downplaying the lab leak theory through a series of newly released correspondences between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head and Dr. Peter Daszak.
Daszak was a lead member of the group of scientists who penned a statement to the medical journal The Lancet in March 2020 saying they “strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”
They did this without any evidence ruling the theory out, and their letter influenced much of the media coverage of the lab leak theory throughout the bulk of the pandemic so far.
Daszak funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that involved modifying the spike proteins on SARS viruses in a way that made them more infectious, so it’s pretty clear why he wouldn’t want anyone pointing fingers at the lab.
However, it now appears that officials within the U.S. government colluded with Daszak and other backers of the lab to keep the possibility that this is exactly what happened under wraps. Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance was given funding for its research by the Fauci-led NIAID, but Fauci has denied under oath having any knowledge of gain of function research being funded by his agency at the lab.
Fauci told Congress in May that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) "has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."
Documents obtained by The Intercept in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit showed “unequivocally” that grants from the NIH were indeed used for funding controversial gain of function research at the Wuhan lab, despite Fauci’s denials.
Moreover, in emails released by a different FOIA request, Daszak wrote to Fauci: “just wanted to say a personal thank you on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19 from a bat-to-human spillover. Your comments are brave, and coming from your trusted voice, will help dispel the myths being spun around the virus origin.”
Interestingly, significant portions of the email were redacted.
Many have criticized Fauci for this exchange and his other rhetoric against the lab leak theory. At the very least, as a scientist, he should have known that there is and never was enough evidence to rule out that it originated in the lab. This has raised serious questions about the government’s transparency when it comes to investigations into the nature of the pandemic.
Researcher calls for formal FBI investigation
Former State Department COVID-19 investigator Dr. David Asher recently spoke to Fox News about documents released by private research group DRASTIC contradicting claims made by Fauci and the Chinese Communist Party about the research being done at the Wuhan lab.
The documents revealed a plan to develop a coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, that is more infectious and transmissible among humans to be released in bat caves to infect bats, who could then be used to test vaccines.
"The fact is that the Wuhan Institute – with EcoHealth Alliance as their US partner – were applying for funding to do gain of function research, explicitly to endow a bat-borne Coronavirus related to SARS with a furin cleavage site so it could essentially kill humans.”
The Pentagon’s research and development arm ultimately declined to directly fund the research due to “weapons of mass destruction concerns,” but the documents nevertheless expose the type of research that was being done inside the Wuhan lab and how this contradicts with what Fauci has said about their work.
Asher has called for a formal investigation by the FBI into what he believes is a criminal cover-up, saying: "The fact that the U.S. Government has any relationship still to the Wuhan Institute is criminal in my mind."
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