There is a good reason Dr. Anthony Fauci has required a pardon since 2014. It was the year Fauci’s NIAID awarded the grant to Eco-Health Alliance, and some of it went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study bat coronaviruses. There was a great deal of discussion about funding “gain-of-function,” and it was temporarily banned. He knew it was gain-of-function and repeatedly lied under oath about it, probably because he would have to admit the lab leak theory was the most viable one. At least that is what his diary suggests.
He not only knew it was gain-of-function, but there was a great deal of discussion about the dangers, with about half of the people involved saying it was too dangerous with too little evidence to prove it was worthwhile.
It was so risky around SARS that it was temporarily banned.
In 2014, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—led by agencies including Dr. Anthony Fauci’s NIAID—awarded a grant to EcoHealth Alliance, which sub-granted funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study bat coronaviruses. Critics and congressional investigators allege this action funded risky “gain-of-function” research during a federal funding pause, leading to accusations that Dr. Fauci later misled Congress about the nature of those studies. Dr. Fauci has consistently denied these allegations, maintaining that the research did not cross the threshold of gain-of-function of concern and was not related to the genesis of COVID-19.
It was definitely gain-of-function. The grant was for gain-of-function. Judicial Watch obtained 221 pages of NIH records including grants that benefited the Wuhan lab. There is more here.
The 2014 NIH Grant and Moratorium
The NIH awarded a multi-year grant titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” to EcoHealth Alliance in 2014. A portion of these funds went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for field research and coronavirus surveillance.
Later in 2014, the U.S. government under Barack Obama enacted a temporary funding moratorium on gain-of-function experiments. The moratorium involved specific respiratory pathogens like SARS and MERS.
The Core Allegations
Critics argue the work performed under the 2014 grant framework involved enhancing coronavirus transmissibility or virulence and violated the spirit or letter of biosecurity constraints.
Senator Rand Paul and other lawmakers asserted that Dr. Fauci’s denials to Congress regarding NIH funding of gain-of-function research in Wuhan were untruthful.
The Exoneration That Is Coming
Read the NIH report about the ban and all the breaches before the pandemic. Then Fauci sent funds to EcoHealth, which funded Wuhan. Out of sight, out of mind. They knew Wuhan was not a top security situation, and Fauci knew where the money was going. They were very worried about malign actors and then sent money to our enemies in China. Wuhan is under the control of the Red Army.
After the ban was lifted, it was under very tough security guidelines that China was never going to follow.
Now, Fauci faces legal peril over the criminal referral regarding his taking the Fifth. There isn’t a lot of case law on it, but most experts believe Fauci will prevail. He still has liability for the State and local complaints, and is probably entitled to take the Fifth. Because he accused Sen. Paul of revenge, they probably should have offered immunity and didn’t. At least they might have gotten some answers, though I doubt it.
Dr. Fauci, 85, is not going to jail for this. Yes, he appears to have done some bad things, but are they illegal?
Without the pardon, they could have gotten him for perjury. Still, Dr. Collins, Birx, and others don’t have a pardon, but did they lie under oath?
