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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) again confronted Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate Health Committee hearing Thursday, demanding the NIAID director acknowledge the NIH funded gain-of-function research or resign.
“Dr. Fauci, I don’t expect you today to admit that you approved of NIH funding for a gain of function research in Wuhan, but your repeated denials have worn thin,” Paul told Fauci, adding, “and a majority of Americans frankly don’t believe you.”
“The facts are clear. The NIH did fund gain of function research in Wuhan despite your protestations.”
“You can deny it all you want,” Paul said, “but even the Chinese authors of the paper in their paper admit that viruses not found in nature were created and yes they gained in infectivity.”
“What we are saying that this was a risky type of research — gain-of-function research — it was risky to share this with the Chinese and that Covid may have been created from a not yet revealed virus,” Paul told Fauci.
“We don’t anticipate that the Chinese are going to reveal the virus if Covid came from their lab. You know that, and yet you continue to mislead. You continue to support NIH funding going to Wuhan. You continue to say you trust the Chinese scientists. You appear to have learned nothing from this pandemic.”
“Will you today finally take some responsibility for funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan?” Paul asked.
Far from accepting accountability, Fauci shot back, “He is egregiously incorrect in what he says.”
Fauci about Senator Paul: "He is egregiously incorrect in what he says."
Senator Paul: "History will figure that out on its own." pic.twitter.com/jeY2HKsIaB
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 4, 2021
“Senator, with all due respect, I disagree with so many of the things that you’ve said,” Fauci replied. “First of all, gain of function is a very nebulous term. We have spent — not us, but outside bodies — a considerable amount of effort to give a more precise definition to the type of research that is of concern that might lead to a dangerous situation. You are aware of that. That is called P3CO.”
At this point, Paul interjected, warning Fauci, “We are aware that you deleted ‘gain of function’ from the NIH website.”
“Let’s get back to the operating framework and guardrails which we operate under. And you have ignored them,” Fauci deflected. “The guidelines are very very clear that you have to be dealing with a pathogen that clearly is shown, and very likely to be highly transmissible and uncontrollable in humans, and to have a high degree of morbidity and mortality, and that you do experiments to enhance that, hence the word ePPP — enhanced potential pandemic pathogen.”
Paul picked up, “So, when EcoHealth Alliance took the virus SHC014 and combined it with WIV1 and caused a recombinant virus that doesn’t exist in nature and it made mice sicker — mice that had humanized cells — you’re saying that that’s not gain-of-function research?”
“According to the framework and guidelines —“ Fauci attempts to reply before Sen. Paul interrupts, “So what you’re doing is defining away gain of function. You’re simply saying it doesn’t exist because you changed the definition on the NIH website.”
“This is terrible,” Paul says, “and you’re completely trying to escape the idea that we should do something about trying to prevent a pandemic from leaking from a lab. The preponderance of evidence now points to this coming from a lab. And what you’ve done is changed the definition on your website to try to cover your ass, basically.”
“You have to admit that this research was risky. The NIH has now rebuked them — your own agency has rebuked them. The thing is that you’re still unwilling to admit that they gained in function when they say they became sicker. They gained in lethality. It’s a new virus. That’s not gain of function?”
Again the slippery Fauci evades with a technicality about the definition of gain-of-function research.
“According to the definition that is currently operable — you know senator, let’s make it clear for the people who are listening. The current definition was done over a two to three year period by outside bodies, including the NSABB [National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity], two conferences by the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine on December 2014, March 2016. We commissioned external risk-benefit assessment, and then on January of 2017, the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House issued the current policy. I haven’t changed any definition.”
Paul responded that Fauci should be willing to accept responsibility for the major oversight, and if not he should resign.
“Until you accept it, until you accept responsibility, we’re not going to get anywhere close to trying to prevent another lab leak of this dangerous sort of experiment. You won’t admit that it’s dangerous, and for that lack of judgment, I think it’s time that you resign.”
The hearing comes as a top NIH official admitted last month that the agency funded “gain-of-function” research in Wuhan, and that the Peter Daszak-led EcoHealth Alliance “failed to report” its research into chimeric bat coronaviruses which could leap from animals to humans.
The exchange marks the fifth time Sen. Paul has taken Fauci to task over the agency’s denials during a Senate hearing.