I saw this on Dr. Richard Ebright’s Twitter feed:
Ebright is a chemical biologist at Rutgers. He’s been saying for months now that Fauci lied to Congress about the NIH funding GOFR in Wuhan.
The letter he’s highlighting here is from Lawrence Tabak, the “Principal Deputy Director” of the NIH, and was sent to US Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee.
I want to go through this letter line-by-line because it is utterly ridiculous. It honestly reads like a 5 year old trying to explain to his parents that he totally didn’t track mud through the house and ruin the nice rug–it totally wasn’t him, he swears.
Let’s begin:
“It is important to state at the outset that published genomic data demonstrate that the bat coronaviruses studied under the NIH grant to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. and sub award to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) are not and could not have become SARS-COV-2.”
Sir, let me begin this letter by just casually mentioning that we TOTALLY didn’t create Covid-19.
I don’t know who did, but it absolutely wasn’t us.
It must have been someone else who was genetically manipulating bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But I swear it wasn’t us.
“This progress report was submitted to NIH in August 2021 in response to NIH’s compliance enforcement efforts.”
Oh, really? It’s not because Congress is breathing down your neck? The “compliance efforts” have nothing to do with that at all?
“It includes data from a research project conducted during the 2018-19 grant period using bat coronavirus genome sequences already existing in nature.”
“NIH compliance efforts” in August 2021 regarding a grant from 2018-19. Why the delay?
And we have yet another denial: “bat coronaviruses genome sequences already existing in nature.”
Three paragraphs into the letter and they’ve already twice denied that they created Covid.
“The limited experiment described in the final progress report provided by EcoHealth Alliance was testing if spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.”
So we have an on-record admission here that the NIH, through EcoHealth Alliance, was trying to make spike proteins from bat coronaviruses infect humanized mice.
Gain of function research. Right there.
“In this limited experiment,”
LIMITED, so unbelievably limited, bro. I swear it was the most limited experiment like ever, dude. This experiment was so limited it would make your head spin. Just the most limited shit of all time, man.
IT WAS LIMITED, OKAY?
“mice infected with the SHC014 WIV1 bat coronavirus became sicker than those infected with the with the WIV1 bat coronavirus. As sometimes occurs in science, this was an unexpected result of the research, as opposed to something that the researchers set out to do.”
I’m going to assume here that SHC014 WIV1 is the genetically altered virus.
Then note the patronizing tone in the next sentence: “As sometimes occurs in science,”
You see, Congressman, we SCIENTISTS, who do SCIENCE and wear WHITE LAB COATS and frequently ADJUST OUR SPECTACLES, and who have been known to peer through MICROSCOPES, and who from time to time exclaim ‘EUREKA!’–during the course of our RESEARCH, we do occasionally produce unexpected results. Such is the nature of SCIENCE; it’s really quite elementary, my dear Watson. Be a sport and fetch some tea, would you, old chap?
If I’m the Congressman reading this letter, I’m pissed. This Tabak guy is a total prick.
“this was an unexpected result of the research, as opposed to something that the researchers set out to do. Regardless, the viruses being studied under this grant were genetically very distant from SARS-COV-2.”
A third denial.
Gee, for a group of people who totally aren’t responsible for creating Covid, the NIH seem awfully concerned about anyone getting the crazy idea that they created Covid.
Barista: “Hi sir, welcome to Starbucks, what can I get you today?”
Lawrence Tabak: “IT WAS AN UNEXPECTED RESULT, OKAY? THE BAT VIRUS RESEARCH WE FUNDED IN WUHAN COULD NOT HAVE TURNED INTO COVID! YOU HEAR ME? IT’S NOT POSSIBLE!”
There’s a famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” It refers to how guilty people often issue the most vehement denials. Reading this letter reminded me of that famous line.
Last month I wrote about Fauci’s testimony before Congress and how he kept repeating that same thing: “it’s genetically impossible for this to have become Covid.” “Genetically very distant.”
He said it so much it started to feel like a Talking Point™ as opposed to an actual argument–like he was coached to say that by his legal team or something. And now you have Tabak saying the same thing.
“The research plan was reviewed by NIH in advance of funding, and NIH determined that it did not to fit [sic. Is this guy even editing his letters to Congress? A fucking typo? Are you serious?] the definition of research involving enhanced pathogens of pandemic potential (ePPP) because these bat coronaviruses had not been shown to infect humans.”
Look at the careful wording here, though, minus the typo: “it did not fit the definition of researching involving ePPP because these bat coronaviruses had not been shown to infect humans.”
But that’s not the argument people like Rand Paul are making. Rand Paul is saying that this research altered and thereby enabled the bat coronaviruses to infect humans, not that the NIH was funding studies of bat coronaviruses that already could infect humans.
In other words, they did not begin by studying ePPP–they created one. He says as much in this exact same letter: the genetically modified coronaviruses were able to infect humanized mice.
“However, out of an abundance of caution and as an additional layer of oversight…”
Yeah, right. He’s trying to say the NIH is simply being transparent here out of kindness and goodness of its own heart. Hey man, we’re just really committed to oversight and transparency! That’s all we’re tryin’ to do here brotha!
Which is why they’re releasing information in 2021 about work done in 2018-19. Hashtag TRANSPARENCY.
Now let’s move on to the part where the NIH tries to throw EcoHealth under the bus:
It’s all EcoHealth’s fault! They did it! Those bastards!
The NIH is just as upset with EcoHealth as Rand Paul is, I’m sure.
They’re so mad at EcoHealth for not reporting this to them. They had no idea any of this was happening, and they’re Just As Shocked As We Are to learn about it.
Now comes yet another denial that the NIH had anything to do with Covid:
See? They’re decades removed from Covid evolutionarily. Decades!
It’s all just a big coincidence that Covid originated in the same place in China as the NIH was funding gain of function research on bat Coronaviruses. Just a huge coincidence, man.
“EXPERTS AGREE”
Anytime you see someone cite an EXPERT, that’s your cue to shut up and quit asking questions.
EXPERTS!
It’s supposed to be a conversation-ender.
EXPERTS! Your argument is null and void.
Which experts? Can we hear from them?
EXPERTS, DAMNIT!
And then look at this at the end: “Well you see, humans and chimpanzees have 96% similar DNA, but they diverged evolutionarily 6 million years ago!”
Right, because viruses and chimpanzees evolve at the same speed. Yeah, totally makes sense.
Even though we know Covid morphed into the Delta Variant in under a year (and probably way less than that because it was caused by the vaccines, but you’re not allowed to say that).
Look, I get that 96% DNA similarity is actually not as significant as people think it is. There can still be vast differences caused by that remaining 4% difference in DNA.
I saw this post on Reddit explaining how human DNA is 60% identical to bananas:
But at the same time, this is all just a diversion.
They want us arguing about this crap instead of the fact that this letter proves Fauci was lying when he said the NIH wasn’t funding gain of function research in Wuhan.
And so why would we trust the list the NIH gave us of the viruses the NIH was funding experiments on? We have no reason to believe that list is exhaustive, because we have no reason to trust these people at all.
“But it’s in a letter to Congress!”
And? Fauci has already lied before Congress. Why wouldn’t the NIH lie to Congress again?
These people created the Coronavirus. They’re responsible for it. Of course they’re going to lie and obfuscate and misdirect as much as possible to save their own asses.
I thought this was a good summary of the letter:
They’re not even really admitting it, either. They’re trying to throw EcoHealth Alliance under the bus.
If you go to Ebright’s post on Twitter and start scrolling through the replies, you’ll see so many people who are in denial over this. “I don’t see gain of function mentioned….” and stuff like that.
These people are desperately clinging to the belief that our government isn’t thoroughly corrupted. They don’t want to believe Fauci is behind coronavirus. They don’t want to believe Fauci is a terrible person and a criminal with the blood of millions on his hands.
What did Orwell call it? Protective stupidity.
And the last part is how the government always gets let off the hook when it’s caught in a lie: “Well you can’t prove intent!”
That’s the government’s go-to excuse to cover their asses in moments like this.
And idiots out there believe it, too.
It’s because they want to believe it.
Just because the phrase “gain-of-function research” is not used in Tabak’s letter doesn’t mean the letter was not an admission of guilt.
“The limited experiment described in the final progress report provided by EcoHealth Alliance was testing if spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.”
Gain.
Of.
Function.
Research.