Two top Republicans in the House of Representatives are requesting briefings on the U.S.s’ funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Republican Reps. James Comer of Kentucky and Jim Jordan of Ohio submitted letters, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller, to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Kristian Anderson, an immunology and microbiology professor at Scripps Research Translational Institute.
Fauci has repeatedly testified to Congress that the U.S. government has not funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where proponents of the lab-leak theory believe COVID-19 escaped from. WIV received thousands of U.S. taxpayer dollars via a NIAID sub-grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a medical non-profit.
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul accused Fauci of lying about the definition gain-of-function research, and submitted a criminal referral to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation.
“NIAID funded gain-of-function research at the WIV and this research did not go through the proper oversight. It is unclear why you would continue to testify otherwise. We therefore ask you again to please clarify what you meant when you said twice under oath⎯'[t]he NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the [WIV],'” Comer and Jordan wrote in the letter. (RELATED: US Grant To Wuhan Lab To Enhance Bat-Based Coronaviruses Was Never Scrutinized By HHS Review Board)
Anderson told Fauci on Jan. 31, 2020, that “some of the [virus’] features (potentially) look engineered.” However, by Feb. 4, 2020, he changed his mind, calling the idea that the virus was “somehow engineered with intent” a “crackpot theory.”
Comer and Jordan request that Anderson explained what he and Fauci discussed during a Feb. 1 phone call “or what science came to light that caused such a dramatic change in your own hypothesis as to the engineering of COVID-19.”
“Dr. Fauci’s sworn congressional testimony about taxpayer-funded, dangerous research at the Wuhan lab appears to contradict the facts. Additionally, email trails show that in a matter of days Dr. Andersen dropped his assertion that COVID-19 appeared to be engineered after having a call with Dr. Fauci. It’s imperative we hear directly from Fauci and Andersen about gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan lab and the possibility the virus may have been engineered. Americans deserve to know the whole truth. If these allegations are true, government leaders must be held accountable for spreading any misinformation to the public,” Comer told the Daily Caller.
Read the letters here:
Letter to Fauci Re. Testimony by Michael Ginsberg on Scribd
Letter to Andersen Re. COVID Origin Final by Michael Ginsberg on Scribd
