The National Institute of Health has admitted that gain of function research was funded at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, meaning that Dr. Fauci lied in his heated exchanges with Senator Rand Paul. Fauci repeatedly told Congress that it was not possible that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was carrying out the sorts of research which might have started the coronavirus outbreak with funding from the United States.
NIH contradicts Fauci
Senator Paul was, understandably, very pleased with himself after the news emerged. A letter sent by the NIH to Republican Representative James Comer contradicted what Fauci adamantly told Congress on previous occasions.
Without explicitly saying “gain of function,” which would effectively call Fauci a liar, the letter describes exactly what is generally understood by the term.
The Wuhan lab was testing the extent to which natural coronaviruses in bats could be transmitted to humans. That sounds familiar.
The letter is more of a confirmation than a brand new revelation. It was already known that Fauci was being dishonest under oath and relying on semantic arguments to deny that the NIH had funded gain of function research.
Fauci and the NIH knew that gain of function research was taking place in Wuhan in violation of the terms of their grant. The doctor dodged the issue in his testimony.
EcoHealth, the same nonprofit through which the NIH provided this grant, has been very eager to argue that the idea of a lab leak causing the pandemic is entirely unreasonable.
“I told you so” doesn’t even begin to cover it here: https://t.co/9JFn85I24i
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 21, 2021
Obfuscation at least
In fact, the lab leak theory seems to have more supporting evidence than ever. The fact that it was ever denied so vigorously by so many people raises questions about what other information might still emerge.
This news does not prove that the Wuhan Institute of Virology caused the outbreak; intelligence analyses have all agreed that identifying the true source with any confidence is likely impossible at this point unless China decides to make a confession.
The letter does prove that Fauci was being very dishonest in his notorious exchange with Rand Paul. The doctor can apparently lie with a great deal of confidence.
Still, he is unlikely to face any consequences for this. Like a true bureaucrat, Fauci can simply change the meaning of terms to weasel his way out of the situation and claim that he never technically lied.
Given that much of the defense established by Fauci already depended on absolute trust in what China admitted, it was always a pretty questionable stance.
At the very least, the doctor should apologize to Rand Paul for being patronizing and dishonest towards a sitting Senator and a fellow physician.
