Former Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a moment of utmost importance, appeared before the House Oversight Committee to address the pressing issue of the COVID-19 virus origins and the alleged attempts to conceal the truth. Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) rigorously questioned Dr. Fauci on the matter, seeking clarity on why those under his leadership seemed to be suppressing the lab leak theory.
Rep. Lesko, in her diligent pursuit of the truth, asked a pointed question about the National Institute of Health (NIH) funding. She inquired if the NIH had indeed funded 'the potentially dangerous enhanced potential pandemic pathogens gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.'
Dr. Fauci replied that he "would not characterize it the way you did. The National Institute of Health, through a sub-award to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, funded research on the surveillance of, and the possibility of, emerging infections. I would not characterize it as dangerous gain of function research."
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However, Rep. Lesko cited testimony from Dr. Lawrence Tabak, former Deputy Director of the NIH, who said the Wuhan facility failed to turn over data from its research and experiments, and EcoHealth Alliance provided its reports late. "How can you definitely say that the NIH did not fund the dangerous gain of function research?" she asked.
Fauci reiterated that the Potential Pandemic Pathogens Care and Oversight (P3CO) committee system did not include the viruses studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology under its regulatory definition, only for Lesko to ask how they knew that if the NIH could not access data from the facility.
Lesko, in her quest for transparency, presented what she claimed to be emails from health officials who served under Fauci. These emails allegedly discussed ways to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, raising concerns about the transparency of the process. She also highlighted a February 2020 video conference where Fauci and others discussed the lab leak theory, followed by the suppression of a paper named Proximal Origin that supported the theory.
The doctor said he did not speak against the lab leak theory on someone else's orders or edit the paper to obstruct it.
"So you said about four or five things, Congressman, that were just not true," said Fauci.
"Well, we have the emails to prove it," Lesko snapped back.
