The University of North Carolina is asking a judge to block the release of documents related to the research of Dr. Ralph Baric, a pioneer in the world of dangerous gain-of-function virus research.
UNC is being sued by U.S. Right To Know, a nonprofit watchdog that works to expose wrongdoing by corporations and governments in the healthcare space, for documents related to Baric’s research while working at the university. While some documents have been turned over during the course of the coronavirus pandemic, UNC filed a motion to dismiss late last week seeking to prevent the release of some documents being sought by USRTK.
We are suing to compel the University of North Carolina to hand over Ralph Baric documents possibly related to the origins of Covid-19: https://t.co/H4BtZMiJto
Here is @UNC‘s reply brief to try to block further release of documents: https://t.co/4vkYIlT5ni pic.twitter.com/IkUozqluD7
— Gary Ruskin (@garyruskin) March 13, 2023
USRTK opted to sue after UNC refused to turn over certain documents sought via public records requests, citing a research exception under the Public Records Act. The organization has filed 13 public records requests on the work done by Ralph Baric, Toni Baric and Lishan Su. The university failed to turn over any documents after a February mediation session.
“The University of North Carolina, as an institution of higher learning, should help the public to learn everything that can be learned about the pandemic and its origins, and not try to obscure or bury such lessons,” Gary Ruskin, executive director of USRTK, told the Daily Caller. “We don’t really know why UNC is trying to keep these Baric documents secret, even though there is worldwide interest in them. We do know that Ralph Baric was a close collaborator with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. We also know that Baric was on the DARPA DEFUSE proposal, which in retrospect reads something like a how-to guide for creating SARS-CoV-2.”
Baric is a notable figure in the world of microbiology for developing a groundbreaking method of inserting new genetic code into pathogens without leaving any evidence, and using it to make coronaviruses more dangerous as part of research projects.
He’s collaborated throughout his career with Peter Daszak and Dr. Shi Zhengli, China’s infamous “bat woman” researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Daszak is the head of EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that funneled taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the WIV for gain-of-function research.
Proponents of the lab leak theory of COVID-19 origin believe that gain-of-function research at the WIV, the type of work Baric engages in, led to the release of the virus from the Wuhan lab and kickstarted the pandemic. (RELATED: Not Just China: The US Government, Universities Are Hiding Evidence On The Origin Of COVID-19, Experts Allege)
Emails unearthed previously by USRTK from Dr. Anthony Fauci reveal that Fauci had scheduled a meeting with Baric in the early weeks of the pandemic, during which they apparently discussed pandemic outbreaks and genetically modified viruses.