Wuhan lab documents show Fauci a ‘liar’ about research: criticism

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Critics have accused Dr Anthony Fauci of lying after recently released documents appear to contradict his claims that the National Institutes of Health did not fund gain-of-function research at the Chinese laboratory in Wuhan.

The documents, obtained by The Intercept via a Freedom of Information Act request, detail the work of the EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that channeled federal grants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for research into bat coronavirus.

The collection of documents contains an unprecedented grant proposal that EcoHealth Alliance has filed with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Fauci.

The proposal was for a project titled Understanding the Risk of Emergence of the Coronavirus from Bats, which involved screening thousands of bat samples, as well as people who have worked with live animals, for novel coronaviruses. indicated the media.

The $ 3.1 million grant was awarded for a five-year period between 2014 and 2019. After funding was renewed in 2019, it was suspended by the Trump administration in April 2020.

The grant paid $ 599,000 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research.

Fauci has repeatedly insisted that the NIH’s funding for the Wuhan laboratory does not constitute a search for office gain. Hector Retamal / AFP via Getty Images

The proposal recognized the risks of such research, saying: Fieldwork involves the highest risk of exposure to SARS or other CoVs, while working in caves with a high density of bats and the potential for inhalation of fecal dust.

Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, said the documents made it clear that Fauci had “lied” about gain-of-function research.

“The documents make it clear that claims by NIH Director Francis Collins and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci that the NIH has not supported research into gain of function or potential amelioration of pandemic pathogens at WIV are bogus, “he tweeted.

The proposal was for a project titled Understanding the Risk of Emerging Bat Coronavirus, which involved screening thousands of bat samples.FeatureChina via AP Images

Documents show that the 2014 and 2019 NIH grants to EcoHealth with subcontracts to WIV funded research on gain of function as defined in federal policies in effect in 2014-2017 and potential improvement in pandemic pathogens. as defined in federal policies in effect in 2017-present.

Fauci has repeatedly insisted that NIH’s funding for the Wuhan laboratory does not constitute a search for job gain.

Funding for NIH’s work at the Wuhan lab has come under increasing scrutiny amid the pandemic, with Republican senators like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Tom Cotton of Arkansas accusing Fauci of lying about whether the money had been used for gain of function research.

Fauci clashed with Paul at a Senate hearing in July after the Kentucky senator asked the infectious disease expert about an earlier testimony he gave in which he denied research into the gain of function funded by NIH.

Paul, citing two academic papers from the Wuhan institute, accused Fauci of obscuring the truth by not admitting that the lab was involved in gain-of-office research.

Fauci with Peter Dazsak, President of EcoHealth Alliance.EcoHealth Alliance

Fauci told the hearing that the research had been repeatedly evaluated by qualified people who found that it did not fall within the definition of job gain.

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