In May 2021 former NIAID head Dr. Anthony Fauci went around and around and around with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in a Senate hearing about whether the U.S. was or had been funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Despite tough questioning, Fauci maintained that NIH had not been participating in or funding GOF research and that Sen. Paul was completely wrong. Nobody with a basic understanding of the English language and scientific terminology believed Fauci even at that time, but now we have testimony in the Congressional Record from the NIH’s Principal Deputy Director that the United States in fact funded GOF research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth Alliance, at least until the pandemic started.
Just so we’ve all got it top-of-mind, here is what Sen. Paul asked Fauci:
“For years, Dr. Ralph Baric, a virologist in the US, has been collaborating with Dr. Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create super-viruses. This gain-of-function research has been funded by the NIH. The collaboration between the US and the Wuhan Virology Institute continues. Doctors Baric and Shi worked together to insert bat virus spike protein into the backbone of the deadly SARS virus and then use this man-made super-virus to infect human airway cells….
“Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?”
Fauci’s initial response:
Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Sen. Paul then attempted to pin Fauci down on a few things (that we now have documentation to prove); here are his assorted comments:
Dr. Baric does not do gain-of-function research, and if it is, it’s according to the guidelines and it is being conducted in North Carolina, not in China.
Well, it is not. If you look at the grant and you look at the progress reports, it is not gain of function, despite the fact that people tweet that, they write about it-
Obviously, as our Scott Hounsell wrote at the time:
Dr. Fauci’s Testimony to Rand Paul on ‘Gain-of-Function’ Research Was Filled With, Well, Lies
During this week’s hearing, Rep. Debbie Lesko asked NIH Principal Deputy Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak whether NIH funded GOF research at Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth Alliance, and Tabak responded:
“It depends on your definition of gain-of-function research. If you’re speaking about the generic term, yes, we did.”
In Lesko’s full questioning, Tabak engaged in a lot of bureaucrat speak and at least one instance of, well, what sure looks like a complete whopper.
Tabak said:
“[T]his is research — the generic term [gain-of-function], is research that goes on in many, many labs around the country. It is not regulated. And the reason it’s not regulated is it poses no threat or harm to anybody.”
That’s just flat-out false. We reported on the potential harms, recognized by multiple governments over the years, in 2021. There are regulations, because it does pose threats to humanity. Virologist Dr. Richard Ebright called out Fauci and Tabak on Twitter:
It’s great to know the truth regarding this funding, but there’s a lot more truth that needs to be known and a lot of consequences that need to be dealt.
Watch all of Lesko’s questioning of Tabak.
