Senator Rand Paul confronted Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing him of funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan and changing the definition on the NIH website to avoid responsibility.
The confrontation highlighted the controversy surrounding the EcoHealth Alliance’s research and its connection to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Paul emphasized the potential risks and accused Fauci of redefining gain-of-function to evade accountability. (Trending: Clintons Scramble To Delete Embarrassing Photo, But Were Too Slow)
“I don’t expect you today to admit that you approved of NIH funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan, but your repeated denials have worn thin and a majority of Americans frankly, don’t believe you,” began Sen. Rand Paul.
“Even the NIH now admits that EcoHealth Alliance (the non-profit that collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment) did perform experiments in Wuhan that created viruses not found in nature that actually did gain in lethality. The facts are clear: The NIH did fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, despite your protestations,” he continued.
According to The Intercept, EcoHealth Alliance, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment participated in gain-of-function research, “intentionally making viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them … grant money for the controversial experiment came from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is headed by Anthony Fauci.”
“Your persistent denials, though, are not simply a stain on your reputation, but are a clear and present danger to the country and to the world,” said Sen. Paul.
“Will you today, finally take some responsibility for funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan?” Paul asked Fauci.
Fauci said, “Senator, with all due respect, I disagree with so many of the things that you said. First of all, gain-of-function is a very nebulous term; we have spent, not us, but outside bodies, a considerable amount of effort to give a more precise definition to the type of research that is of concern that might lead to a dangerous situation. You are aware of that; that is called P3CO.”
“We’re aware that you deleted gain-of-function from the NIH website,” interrupted Sen. Paul.
“Well, I can get back to that in a moment if we have time, but let’s get back to the operating framework and guiderails of which we operate under,” said Fauci.
“And you have ignored them. the guidelines are very, very clear: that you have to be dealing with a pathogen that clearly is shown and very likely to be highly transmissible in an uncontrollable way in humans and to have a high degree of morbidity and mortality and that you do experiments to enhance that, hence the word EPPP: enhanced pathogens potential pandemic,” said Sen. Paul.
Fauci defended the NIH’s guidelines and definitions, leading to a heated exchange about the nature of the research and the responsibility for potential lab leaks.
“So what you’re doing is defining away gain-of-function; you’re simply saying it doesn’t exist cause you changed the definition on the NIH website,” charged the Kentucky Republican.
“This is terrible, and you’re completely trying to escape the idea that we should do something about trying to prevent a pandemic from leaking from a lab. The preponderance of evidence now points toward this coming from a lab, and what you’ve done is change the definition on your website to try to cover your a** basically. That’s what you’ve done; you’ve changed the website to have a new definition that doesn’t include the risky research that’s going on. Until you admit that it’s risky, we’re not gonna get anywhere. You have to admit that this research was risky. The NIH has now rebuked them. Your own agency has rebuked them. But the thing is you’re still unwilling to admit that they gained in function when they say that became sicker; they gained in lethality. It’s a new virus,” explained Paul.
“That’s not gain-of-function?” he asked Fauci.
Fauci replied, “According to the definition that’s currently operable … the current definition was done over a two to three-year period by outside bodies, including the NSABB, two conferences by the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine on December 2014, March 2016. We commissioned external risk-benefit assessment, and then on January of 2017, the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House issued the current policy.”
Sen, Paul said, “And coincidentally, the definition appeared on the same day that the NIH said that yes, there was a gain-of-function in Wuhan; the same day the definition appeared; the new definition to try to define away what’s going on in Wuhan. Until you accept it, we’re not going to get responsibility; we’re not going to get anywhere close to trying to prevent another lab leak of this dangerous sort of experiment.”
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