Elon Musk demanded the prosecution of Dr. Anthony Fauci after a National Institutes of Health official confessed that U.S. taxpayer funds were used for risky gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. The alarming admission by the top NIH bureaucrat directly contradicts sworn testimony that Fauci made when questioned by Congress.
On Thursday, acting NIH Director and current Principal Deputy Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak was questioned during a hearing by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The hearing had a mission to compel Tabak to “explain numerous inconsistencies between the public and private testimonies of NIH employees and EcoHealth President, Dr. Peter Daszak.”
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) asked Tabak about the NIH’s role in risky gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through the Manhattan-based EcoHealth Alliance – the nonprofit organization that was involved in controversial coronavirus experiments.
Lesko inquired, “Dr. Tabak, did NIH fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth?”
Tabak replied, “It depends on your definition of gain-of-function research. If you’re speaking about the generic term, yes, we did.”
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic declared, “Dr. Tabak offered substantial evidence that Dr. Daszak purposefully misled both the NIH and the Select Subcommittee about EcoHealth’s efforts to comply with grant procedures.”
Did the NIH Fund Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan? 🤔 @SenRandPaul pic.twitter.com/arlId1Vfcj
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 16, 2024
Tabak’s response also contradicts Fauci’s repeated claims that there was no gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab funded by the NIH.
As Blaze News previously reported, Fauci clashed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during a fiery confrontation before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in May 2021.
Paul asked Fauci, “Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?”
Fauci answered, “Sen. Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely, entirely and completely incorrect. The NIH has not ever, and does not now, fund ‘gain of function research’ in the Wuhan Institute.”
In July 2021, Paul pressed Fauci about the NIH using taxpayer money to fund gain-of-research experiments at the Wuhan lab.
Paul asked, “Dr. Fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to retract your statement of May 11, where you claimed that the NIH never funded gain-of-function research?”
Fauci replied, “Sen. Paul, I have never lied before the Congress. And I do not retract that statement.”
Fauci, now 83, then attacked Paul by saying, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, quite frankly.”
On Wednesday, Paul told Newsmax, “So, you have this bureaucrat Anthony Fauci in charge of the money spigot who is not really a researcher in this, but saying adamantly that it wasn’t gain-of-function. Why does he say that? Because he wants to escape responsibility for having funded research and for having made the terrible decision to fund research that led to a pandemic that killed millions of people.”
Dr. Paul Questions Dr. Fauci on Wuhan Lab and Gain of Function Research – May 11, 2021
On Friday, Elon Musk wrote on the X social media platform: “Prosecute/Fauci.”
U.S. Code Section 1621 states that anyone who “willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true” is guilty of perjury and shall be fined or imprisoned up to five years, or both. The statute of limitations for perjury is five years from the time the statement was made.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines gain-of-function research as:
Studies, or research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease, help define the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, thereby enabling assessment of the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents, informing public health and preparedness efforts, and furthering medical countermeasure development.
In October 2014, the Obama administration halted all federal funding for risky gain-of-function studies.
Former President Barack Obama’s White House announced a “pause” to “assess the potential risks and benefits associated with a subset of life sciences research known as ‘gain-of-function’ studies.”
The NIH announced in December 2017 – when Donald Trump was president – that it was lifting the funding pause on gain-of-function experiments.
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I support Fauci being prosecuted
Agreed!
Agreed!