As the coronavirus pandemic did its devastating dance around the globe in early 2020, there were some rather valid concerns being expressed regarding the origins of the viral scourge and just how truthful China was being about it.
There were two factors that raised suspicion: First that the initial outbreak of the disease occurred within close proximity to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a lab that specialized in bat-borne coronavirus strains. Secondly, China’s complete and undeniable refusal to provide the rest of the world with an accurate description of the severity of the issue.
For many, the idea that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak was completely plausible, but many within our own government worked hard to prove otherwise…including Dr. Anthony Fauci, as it turns out.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House medical advisor, reportedly commissioned and approved of a paper steering the narrative on the origins of the coronavirus — ultimately attempting to discredit the lab leak theory — prompting outrage from Republicans, calling to hold him accountable.
A March 5 memo sent to members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic reveals that Fauci, along with “at least eleven other scientists” participated in a conference call on February 1, 2020, where they were told that the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, may have leaked from a lab.
Conveniently, three days later, “four participants of the conference call authored a paper entitled ‘The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2’ (Proximal Origin) and sent a draft to Drs. Fauci and Collins,” per the memo.
“Prior to final publication in Nature Medicine, the paper was sent to Dr. Fauci for editing and approval,” the memo notes, explaining that Fauci used the paper two months later in an attempt to publicly dismiss the lab leak theory.
So, what exactly happened?
According to the memo:
“New evidence released by the Select Subcommittee today suggests that Dr. Fauci ‘prompted”’the drafting of a publication that would ‘disprove’ the lab leak theory, the authors of this paper skewed available evidence to achieve that goal, and Dr. Jeremy Farrar went uncredited despite significant involvement.”
Fauci would even go on to cite this study from the White House podium.
The news has given credence to complaints from lawmakers that suggested Fauci wasn’t being completely forthcoming in his assessment of the lab-leak theory; an idea that has gained far more credibility in recent weeks.
