Fauci played fast and loose with the facts on gain-of-function research at Wuhan

By LINDA BOYLE

Almost three years to the day that Dr. Anthony Fauci vehemently responded to Sen. Rand Paul and said there was no gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the National Institutes of Health Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak admitted such research occurred at Wuhan and that we paid for it. 

Tabak went on to say this was “generic’ gain-of-function research, much like what is done in many labs across the country.  That “generic’ kind is not regulated, as it does not cause a threat to mankind.

In hearing this response, Dr. Bryce Nickels, a professor of genetics at Rutgers University and co-founder of the pandemic oversight group “Biosafety Now,” told the Washington Post, “Tabak was engaging in the usual obfuscation and semantic manipulation that is so frustrating and pointless.”

Nickels said, “The NIH bigwig was resisting accountability for risky research that can create pathogens of pandemic potential.” 

Kind of like the definition of “is” in the Clinton years. And clearly worded in such a way to avoid any wrongdoing by our government.  

Common sense tells us it was not a coincidence that Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China, right next to the Wuhan lab where gain of function research was ongoing. And the research they were conducting was on bat coronaviruses to make them more infectious to humans.   

Our government knew of this research yet held to the fabrication that it was the wet lab and the U.S. had nothing to do with this research. Just recently, the Department of Health and Human Services cited EcoHealth, “for a series of reporting lapses on the research, and for not adequately monitoring the Wuhan institute’s compliance with the terms of a National Institutes of Health grant that partly funded the work.” 

In the history concerning grants for this research to Wuhan, the NIH grant was canceled in the Spring of 2020 amid disputes over the origin of Covid-19. But the NIH eventually gave back some of that funding to EcoHealth in 2023.  

Just this week, HHS finally suspended this research funding to EcoHealth with a proposed debarment for up to three years. But it can be extended depending on the circumstances. EcoHealth has three active NIH grants totaling  $2.6 million from last year, according to the New York Times, to fund studies in southeast Asia and potentially more studies on bat coronaviruses, So no surprise that Peter Daszak denies this and states EcoHealth will dispute all charges.  

As for Wuhan, it has been barred by HSS in July of 2023 from obtaining federal grants for 10 years. 

It is interesting that this proposed debarment happened just two days before Tabak testified before Congress.  It is also fascinating that the government stated they did nothing wrong—it is EcoHealth that failed to follow appropriate safeguards.  Another no surprise here.  

In an October 2021 letter to Congress, Tabak stated NIH funding had occurred for “limited experiments” at Wuhan that tested whether “spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.”  

Tabak didn’t call this gain-of-function research but did state EcoHealth “failed to report” the research had modified SARS viruses to make them 10,000 times more infectious thus violating the terms of the grant.

And the NIH still gave EcoHealth funding back in 2023 — only now with the House Oversight Committee investigating, the NIH decided to suspend funding for the same reason it cited in 2021.   

You can’t make this stuff up. And the government will parse with the best of them. The government is not accountable for anything by its standards. 

The big question still remains. Did our government use our tax money to fund the gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology which resulted in millions of worldwide deaths?

Keep digging Congress.  Keep digging.   

Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance.