Scientists, NIH, and COVID-19
“Powerful cabal of scientists from within NIH helped draft anti lab-leak narrative.”
That headline about the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was the headline that Co-Conspirator 1, generally believed to be EcoHealth Alliance’s former
President Dr. Peter Daszak, feared would happen related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
EcoHealth Alliance is the company that got a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study bat coronaviruses. EcoHealth then gave some of the money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China to study bat coronaviruses.
Now, we know they feared the headline because it was at least in part true!
While every man is entitled to his defense in court, former senior adviser at NIAID, Dr. David Morens, was recently indicted for the concealment of documents that were supposed to be kept under the Federal Records Act and/or available under the Freedom of Information Act.
Allegations include Morens editing, making suggestions and in part ghost-writing articles to lead the world into believing COVID-19 came from nature, not from a lab leak. In my opinion, this was done in an attempt to help EcoHealth deflect criticism of its involvement with WIV.
So perhaps, it was not a cabal of leading scientists inside the National Institutes of Health (NIH). But there was at least one scientist within NIH, and others outside of NIH, who were involved. You can’t have a conspiracy with just one person.
In the 118th Congress, I served as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee as well as one of the lead Energy and Commerce Committee members involved with the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
During this time, I grilled key figures involved with coronavirus lab research in Wuhan.
Daszak was one of the officials I questioned in an official hearing.
When I pressed Daszak on EcoHealth’s reports, he lied to me! It was evident that he was not being completely transparent with Congress.
Shortly after that, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) formally debarred Daszak and EcoHealth!
I believe that my findings and investigations helped influence this HHS decision.
Now, the jury is out for Morens. Not only did Morens serve as a senior adviser to former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, but he also worked closely with Daszak.
Emails show that Morens claimed he was a conduit between Fauci and Daszak.
In the indictment, Morens is listed as working with Co-Conspirator 1, who is generally presumed to be Daszak.
According to the indictment, behind the scenes, Morens worked with Daszak to restore a terminated federal grant and advise how to combat the theory that COVID-19 resulted from a lab leak.
To maintain the secrecy of their sensitive conversations, Morens used his own personal gmail account! He instructed Daszak to send all email replies to Morens’ personal email.
Morens’ personal gmail was used to disclose non-public information and evade or delay compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests.
Federal records that Morens created, transferred and exchanged on his personal email seemingly included those concerning my oversight work of NIH and its grants related to COVID-19.
The private email also helped Morens “back-channel” information to Senior NIAID Official 1.
Who is Senior NIAID Official 1?
It is generally assumed to be Dr. Fauci.
If you dig deeper, the emails are even more alarming.
In one, Morens asks Daszak:
“…do I get a kickback?? Too much [expletive] money. Do you deserve it all? Let’s discuss…”
Daszak responded:
“of course there’s a kickback.”
Were these comments in jest? Perhaps.
Let me be clear. Bribery is not a listed charge in the Morens indictment.
Or maybe, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is dangling this email in front of Morens to persuade him to testify against Senior NIAID Official 1, who is generally presumed to be Fauci.
I do not know.
What I do know is that concealing information from Congress is a crime.
Additionally, encouraging people to tell Congress that COVID-19 was from a wet market in Wuhan, even when it was likely that the virus’ origins traced back to WIV thanks to research funded by the American taxpayer, is unconscionable!
Again, everyone is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
While these texts and emails are damning, it is for a jury to decide if the indictments hold water.
But it is enough information to say the above headline was at least partly true.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/.
