The House Select Subcommittee is investigating taxpayer-funded bat coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, with EcoHealth Alliance receiving millions from the US government. Testimonies from key figures like Ralph Baric and Peter Daszak reveal concerns about biosafety protocols, gain-of-function research, and potential lab origins of COVID-19. Recommendations include suspension of EcoHealth Alliance and criminal investigation. Both Republicans and Democrats criticize Daszak for misrepresentations. The hearing highlights bipartisan calls for accountability and transparency in virology research.
Research group used U.S. funds for dangerous virus experiments in China lab https://t.co/yVm3WaMT0Y https://t.co/AsdEEybKU5
Baric talking about working with George Gao on a new MERS backbone for a reverse genetic system. Seems relevant to our preprint https://t.co/TYcSv7Edhm https://t.co/mmzAD03RzU
Research group used U.S. funds for dangerous virus experiments in China lab https://t.co/CJYr3z9fCt https://t.co/jigIvlvCZb
Dr. Daszak faced hostile questioning from both Republicans and Democrats over his role in federally funded virus work done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which many say may have played a role in sparking the deadly global pandemic. https://t.co/vcmK69hFTQ
Headline: “Republicans Step Up Attacks on Scientist at Heart of Lab Leak Theory” But in the article Mueller writes “Republicans and Democrats alike hammered Dr. Daszak on Wednesday for what they described as a long list of misrepresentations and evasions.” Yes, the headline is… https://t.co/OxUYRkCVK3 https://t.co/b6msQyVEEZ
The American people deserve to know what really happened in Wuhan leading up to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Daszak was unwilling to provide straightforward answers about what really happened. But that won’t deter us. We will uncover the truth and hold those hiding it… https://t.co/Gu9oSSpCAd
Top Scientist Says Lab Origin for COVID-19 Possible https://t.co/6mYKNWQIfd
Exactly! At the @COVIDSelect hearing yesterday, Dazsak repeated his mantra several times that "EcoHealth's work is critical to preventing the next pandemic" and yet, not only did EcoHealth fail to prevent the SARS2 pandemic — that started on the doorstep on their key collaborator… https://t.co/rVmP8pIwka https://t.co/z6S6NLIUg7
The @nytimes article on the US House @COVIDSelect committee #COVID19 origins hearing yesterday with Peter Daszak is profoundly and inappropriately misleading. The title suggests that only the Republican committee members pilloried Daszak when it was both the Republicans AND…
5 Takeaways From Peter Daszak’s Testimony On U.S.-Funded Coronavirus Research https://t.co/H7XmKszooI
Objectively, ydays @COVIDSelect hearing was not a “Republican” attack It was a watershed moment where GOP & Dems united to sharply criticize & probe EcoHealth’s reckless research in Wuhan that likely caused COVID & demanded reforms @benjmueller & NYT are knowingly printing lies https://t.co/zcwXghCy3S
Hi @richardhorton1 editor-in-chief of @TheLancet, Your friend Daszak testified under oath that when he condemned "conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin" he only meant theories about HIV and snake DNA. Will you retract the fraudulent letter?
A heated hearing produced no new evidence that Peter Daszak or his nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance, were implicated in the Covid outbreak. https://t.co/4fNUQIYIvd
Ralph Baric's interview with @covidselect reveals he was on the Feb 1, 2020 phone call with Farrar, Fauci, Collins and the Proximal Origin authors. Did he reveal his plans from 2018 with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to put furin cleavage sites into SARS-like viruses?… https://t.co/j6S0gqL5tL
1/8 In early 2020 UNEP commissioned me to explore COVID-19 origin. Initially I thought: "I'm wrong" [I've long been on record as sceptical of a fresh pandemic other than HIV, except maybe 1957 flu scale]; I assumed Holmes, Farrar, Daszak etc were correct. H/v, by circa Sept 2020
3 Acts: Scientist wonders why SarbeCoVs don't have an FCS. Scientist proposes adding an FCS to a SarbeCoV at the S1/S2 junction First known SarbeCoV with an FCS (at the S1/S2 junction) starts a pandemic near a partner lab on that proposal H/T @MonaRahalkar @harishseshadri2 https://t.co/FXL1Pf1UB7 https://t.co/rvcSkr5xu7
🚨 OMG Ralph Baric just confirmed everything I and others have been saying about DEFUSE for years! Including validation with live full length viruses. Moreover, he mentions feline coronavirus as the rationale for studying FCSes! And SARS2 looks the final product of his… https://t.co/mHqXkep1f3 https://t.co/HWW7zZrjgc
Controversial virus-hunting scientist skewered at US COVID-origins hearing It is terrible how good science on important global problems, by good researchers like @PeterDaszak, is misused by politicians. The alternative is no progress on important issues. https://t.co/VWCVe89xCc
1/ Baric on DEFUSE: "We were fundamentally interested in why sarbecoviruses didn't have a furin cleavage site" (P 193-194) 🙂This "fundamental" question turned out to have an amazingly simple answer... @ydeigin @mitch_benzine https://t.co/RI2cis2bG9
Even by the "Republicans pounce" standards of IC stenographer Benjamin Mueller, this is a new low. Daszak *admitted* he had no clue what viruses the Wuhan lab had or has. That's the opposite of his original story. Lying is evidence of a cover up and evidence of his complicity. https://t.co/egCn7hOltA
How can this be an attack on Science, when Daszak says that he doesn’t know exactly what goes on in WIV, hasn’t actually seen the databases, and has no access to the samples. He just believes on what they say, and this is not Science. He wanted to get big grants and show off! https://t.co/a609aGIBgF
Lone American on WHO team probing Covid in China denies research caused pandemic https://t.co/O301LegiCk
House lawmakers on both sides grill head of nonprofit that worked with Chinese virologists | Science | AAAS https://t.co/2UZaQMS8zS
.@RepBradWenstrup is looking ahead to the next steps of @COVIDSelect's investigation of taxpayer-funded research in Wuhan, China. | @jameslynch32 https://t.co/Nbj80PF5m6
For years, we have been asking why Fauci gave a new grant to Daszak when he was concerned with "sloppy" work at overseas labs. If our foremost expert doesn't know whether WIV and the CCP hid or deleted viruses, who would? I have been trying for over a year to get the records… https://t.co/6AOwtGzhc8
'Not A Responsible Steward Of The American People’s Tax Dollars': Bipartisan Committee Blasts Daszak On Covid Origins https://t.co/ErQRkFPJU9
Among the recommendations: "Bridge the academia-industry gap to ensure greater access and enhanced collaboration for scholars and students so they can participate fully in frontier #research and address key issues when they first arise rather than when it is too late." #ethics https://t.co/4zlP5dkEjs
In 2015, Ralph S. Baric and Shi Zhengli collaborated on research involving the creation of a chimeric virus from different coronaviruses that could infect human cells, highlighting the potential risks posed by naturally occurring bat coronaviruses. Despite acknowledging the…
The Fall Guy @nataliegwinters tells Steve Bannon about EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak and that organization's poor administration of taxpayer money. "It is revealed today in a hearing that he is still in contact, as recent as yesterday, with one of Anthony Fauci's top… https://t.co/LiXqKMODv9
House Select Subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup: "We've come to the conclusion in a bipartisan fashion that….Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance should no longer receive one penny for any type of research" https://t.co/AWmz8ItTkL
Brand new testimony from a researcher who’s worked with the Wuhan lab previously confirms that Fauci and other “experts” misled the public about coronavirus research in the early days of the pandemic https://t.co/2sjPTyLE6O
NEW from me @NRO: I caught up with @COVIDSelect chairman Wenstrup to get his reaction to Peter Daszak’s testimony today and preview the next steps of the subcommittee’s investigation. Read all about it here: https://t.co/7oeCE0Vrxt https://t.co/T6P6iELlvd
US government sent money to Wuhan Covid lab despite knowing the Chinese army was using the facility to make bioweapons, disgraced researcher Peter Daszak suggests https://t.co/qUzpJw3GpQ https://t.co/kv5AZYzqHI
We are one step closer to the certainty that Covid originated from a Chinese lab, carrying out gain-of-function virus research semi-legally funded by the US and then criminally covered up by eminent US and UK scientists (in collaboration with China) who deliberately misled the… https://t.co/feY6FC22eX
"'Daszak’s testimony was a parade of perjury,' Ebright told The Post. 'A litany of lies. One knowing, willful, brazen—and provable—lie after another.' "'It is imperative that EcoHealth Alliance be referred for debarment and that Daszak be referred for prosecution,' he said." https://t.co/dgmaEYcHET https://t.co/Z277wkfNSd
"Republicans…are asking the administration to immediately debar…EcoHealth Alliance, and to refer the case to law enforcement. Democrats…said that documents and testimonies 'raise reasonable questions' about the organization receiving any future taxpayer funding." https://t.co/UCFfXZuAcE
"'Your responses here are unsatisfactory,' ranking member Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) told Daszak after roughly three hours of testimony. 'You are explaining things to your convenience to avoid consequences.'" https://t.co/UaWkkJDyFz
As he left the committee room and got on the elevator I asked Daszak repeatedly why he never asked his longtime colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology for more recent sequences. Daszak hung his head and refused to answer. https://t.co/nzirWvzg1O
COVID Oversight Committee calls for EcoHealth President to be disbarred, not receive US funding The Select Subcommittee released a report that alleges EchoHealth used taxpayer dollars to fund gain-of-function research. Read more ⬇️ https://t.co/J2oNdGd6vY
This being the case, why did Daszak try so hard to suppress the Lab Leak theory (rather than call for a WIV audit) ? https://t.co/ic6dPFtxse
In his @COVIDSelect testimony, Peter Daszak said the last time (before Covid) EcoHealth got the “data dump” from WIV containing its SARS-like sequences was in the fall of 2018. So whatever new SARS-like sequences WIV came across in 2019, EcoHealth would not know about them. https://t.co/YyIzKGq5a4
Daszak convinced the WHO's Investigative Team that they didn't need to examine the Wuhan Institute of Virology's database of viral sequences - which was suddenly taken offline September 12, 2019. The deleted database, which has never been publicly recovered, contained more than… https://t.co/SvhpGtdjsp
Lawmakers are recommending a criminal investigation into the nonprofit organization responsible for bat coronavirus research taking place in Wuhan, China. | @jameslynch32 https://t.co/UQU3JebURK
NEW: Wuhan Lab Colluder Peter Daszak Still Has 'Thousands' of Samples in Chinese Facilities. https://t.co/uOajuqEmwh
U.S. group used federal funds for dangerous virus research in China, House report says https://t.co/LbplGAFHhW
In Covid hearing, lawmakers look to bar funds for virus researchers https://t.co/elfKpFZb72
Woah, Peter Daszak admits here that the FBI questioned him and that they talked about coronavirus coming from China BEFORE the COVID-19 outbreak. They need to dig into that line of questioning more. https://t.co/oxLsLUWbCx
Will these crimes ever be punished? “This was the real conspiracy. Many of the elite scientists seeking to discredit the lab-leak theory knew all along it was the most credible explanation.” The Lie of the Century: The Origin of COVID-19 https://t.co/ZvWUuqj03f
Peter Daszak & Anthony Fauci organized a fake letter with the intention of labeling the lab leak a “conspiracy theory” because it made them & their profession look bad The media ate it up & Daszak & Fauci have spent the past few years lying about it. Outstanding work, as always https://t.co/IN67TIVi57
Closing remarks by @RepBradWenstrup from today's @COVIDSelect hearing "This is an organization that shows leadership committed to protecting taxpayer funds or conducting research in an appropriate manner as set in the terms of the grant" Debar EcoHeath Alliance! https://t.co/cH7zZrIwNo
It was a livestreamed self-immolation. Watch Live: House Oversight Committee Hearing On Covid Origins With Dr. Peter Daszak Of EcoHealth Alliance https://t.co/wrYRlemTnu
#MustRead: A recent conference co-hosted by Knowledge Transfer Ireland (@KTIconnect) highlighted the importance to boost research partnerships between industry and academia. https://t.co/M4so02IJPm
Despite Dr. Daszak's semantics, several things have been made clear: Dr. Daszak falsely represented pertinent information to get his grant reinstated and has not properly cooperated with Congressional oversight. Based on Dr. Daszak testimony and the Select Subcommittee’s… https://t.co/quC2RornOX
My story @NRO published yesterday was just cited during Peter Daszak's testimony before @COVIDSelect today. EcoHealth told me they're not actively partnering with any entities in China, and Daszak affirmed this statement https://t.co/1MQGRiU2Xx
Daszak - when I wrote the letter dismissing lab origin as a conspiracy, I meant theories abt HIV inserts and snake DNA but I didn't mention those theories because Lancet has word count limit 🤣😭🤦♀️
A hearing on the origins of the pandemic. And the use of taxpayer dollars for risky experiments. My live report: https://t.co/725ObdeGof
🚩 Rep. James Comer Grills Dr. Peter Daszak on His Involvement with the U.S. Intelligence Agencies, Reminding Him He Is Under Oath "Do you have a standing relationship with any agency in the intelligence community?...Have you ever been an informant for any U.S. intelligence… https://t.co/TN1FzFqzle
Watch Peter Daszak Get Told to His Face That He Should Never Receive Taxpayer Funding Again DASZAK: “Of course, we should receive federal work.” REP JOHN JOYCE: “I feel that you at EcoHealth are not responsible stewards of the taxpayer dollars that have been shared for you. And… https://t.co/XfCVamZfH3
"it's possible they've hidden some viruses from us" Peter Daszak on the WIV (May 1, 2024)
Peter daszak tells congress he didn’t rubbish all lab leak theories. https://t.co/PEvM9VrxFx
Your hard-earned tax dollars funded dangerous gain-of-function research. It’s paramount you know the REAL dangers behind this research and how it contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s exactly why we’re looking into it today at the @COVIDSelect hearing. https://t.co/ptDWf3OJjf
Watch Rep. Morgan Griffith EXPLODE Over Peter Daszak’s BIG Lie About Natural Spillover Events “You changed... the likelihood of bat coronavirus spillover into humans, from ‘very rare’ in early 2020... to possibly over a million spillovers annually... by late 2021.” “You don't… https://t.co/YXo2JDEVYd
A recent conference co-hosted by @DeptEnterprise and @KTIconnect highlighted the importance of boosting research partnerships between industry and academia. Find out more @siliconrepublic: https://t.co/rUtq56wofT https://t.co/CLt8WUxH6k
Baric told congressional investigators that he believes it’s far more likely that SARS-CoV-2 spilled over naturally from animals to humans, given the sheer abundance of viruses in nature. But he also said in his testimony that he disagrees with the most widely promulgated… https://t.co/w19pxMbnlV
Rep. Brad Wenstrup Grills Peter Daszak in Heated Exchange Daszak confirms that in 2018 he submitted an application for a project named Diffuse. Ralph Baric from the University of NC and Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Institute of Virology were collaborators. Daszak admitted a… https://t.co/OYu7mV4laT
Why we can never trust virologists again: Ralph Baric is the top coronavirus expert in the world, he runs a lab with 40-50 people, he receives millions each year in federal grants, and is on advisory boards of private companies. All this, and yet he stayed silent for 4+ years. https://t.co/tm0MZp60Xp
Peter Daszak admits he contacted the CIA, FBI, and DIA. Daszak continues that he does not have a relationship nor has he been an informant for the intelligence community.
Very interesting turn in today's COVID Select Committee w/ Peter Daszak testifying. Democrats are FINALLY going after Daszak for his lies. He's being questioned about dishonest statement in The Lancet. Info here 👇https://t.co/DOszrhVfMI
Daszak is getting it from both Rs and Ds today And he is not coming off well Things have changed
Ralph Baric to Peter Daszak, May 2021: “don’t insult my intelligence by trying to feed me this load of BS.” Sounds like how many of us feel. https://t.co/vVQATFaBfZ
Glad to hear that Ralph Baric agrees with so many of us “conspiracy theorists” that SARS-CoV-2 was already well established in the human population by December 2019. This is crucial for origins BUT ALSO for understanding why lockdowns could never put covid back in its box.
🚨 NOW - Rep. Brad Wenstrup Says Recently Released Emails Show Dr. Peter Daszak Still Has 15,000 Samples 'In Freezers in Wuhan' "Yesterday Dr. Morens produced 30,000 pages of emails. Emails from his Gmail account which he said he had used to avoid FOIA. So this investigation… https://t.co/6B2gn82aft
Additional recommendation: "Evaluate whether the United States needs a single, unified regulatory scheme governing gain-of-function and dual use research, regardless of funding source." https://t.co/CV2ekc3zGf
Additional recommendation: "Impose increased transparency requirements for high-risk virology research involving potential pandemic pathogens" https://t.co/CV2ekc3zGf
Recommendation 3: "The Department of Justice should evaluate if Dr. Daszak violated any federal laws, including but limited to violations of…18 U.S.C. 1001…or… 31 U.S.C. 3729-3733." https://t.co/CV2ekc3zGf
Today @COVIDSelect will hear directly from Dr. Peter Daszak about one of the most significant betrayals of public trust in our lifetimes - taxpayer dollars going to the Wuhan Lab for gain of function research. TUNE IN as we expose the dangerous games the NIH was playing with…
Recommendation 1: "The National Institutes of Health must recommend, and the Department of Health and Human Services must initiate suspension and debarment proceedings against EcoHealth Alliance, Inc." https://t.co/CV2ekc3zGf
Finding: "EcoHealth violated its grant terms and conditions by failing to report a potentially dangerous experiment conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology. " https://t.co/CV2ekc3zGf
I will keep fighting with the @COVIDSelect to hold these bad actors like Peter Daszak accountable! Using taxpayer dollars to help our greatest adversary China develop a dangerous pathogen that killed Americans, destroyed our economy, and robbed us of our personal freedoms is…
If you still believe that COVID-19 originated at the Huanan Seafood Market, that puts you at odds with the world’s top coronavirus scientist Ralph Baric. He also calls #WIV’s biosafety practices “BS”. Fascinating article by @KatherineEban ! #lableak #OriginOfCovid https://t.co/ehy7z2uutF
"Baric told investigators that the experiment in dispute,…which…created a chimeric virus that made lab mice sicker, was 'absolutely' gain-of-function research: 'You can’t argue with that.' He also said…the experiment's results should have triggered regulatory review." https://t.co/DxuCYbR7bI https://t.co/J5UXleiQdD
Watch Live: Peter Daszak Testifies Days After Whistleblower Documents Expose More About Dangerous Wuhan Research https://t.co/HssJEcWqaQ
Ralph Baric, the UNC scientist who worked with Wuhan’s top coronavirus researcher, told congressional investigators that he has long worried about biosafety protocols inside China. Read the latest from @KatherineEban: https://t.co/kKdOTEIhGy
Why has Baric deprived the world of his knowledge & insights all these yrs, which contradict key claims by zoonosis proponents, while quietly watching his scientific colleagues shamelessly hoodwink the global community and antagonize those searching for the truth? #OriginOfCovid https://t.co/b6SuUpEXFx
The COVID origin cover-up: Ralph Baric's silence Ralph Baric wrote this email in 2021, but never shared these opinions publicly until he was forced to. https://t.co/z28771Z62U
Key figure connected to Dr. Fauci in COVID-19 origins investigation Peter Daszak to be grilled by Republicans for role in gain of function research at Wuhan Institute of Virology https://t.co/V5SR061fI4 https://t.co/2mnYYWPyYI
Ralph Baric: - Lab origin?: “You can't rule that out... You just can't." - Says Wuhan lab had insufficient biosafety - Says Worobey papers don’t prove market as origin — too late: "Clearly, the market was a conduit for expansion. Is that where it started? I don't think so." https://t.co/BQMSkRIiSB https://t.co/YyU2zJuNKH
Exclusive: for my latest in @VanityFair, I reviewed closed-door testimony that University of North Carolina coronavirologist Ralph Baric gave to @COVIDSelect in January. https://t.co/ySF5LddozG /1
🧵Exclusive: @KatherineEban's article on Baric's testimony includes several noteworthy (and self-serving) statements from Baric and confirms the committee is poised to recommend debarment of EcoHealth Alliance. (1/n) https://t.co/aS3k7rhfvL
EcoHealth Alliance president to testify on COVID origins, Wuhan lab taxpayer-funded research https://t.co/Ggnk38tUhP
The nonprofit group behind taxpayer-funded bat coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, continues to receive millions of dollars from the US government. | @jameslynch32 https://t.co/VRsT1tUdJf