Dr. Anthony Fauci was questioned for seven hours regarding his recommendations while serving as the chief White House medical advisor during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
?DR. FAUCI DAY 1 TAKEAWAYS?
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
Today, @COVIDSelect questioned Dr. Anthony Fauci for seven hours about his role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Fauci's testimony uncovered drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems.
Key highlights?
The committee posted the “key highlights” from the Monday meetings, noting, “Dr. Fauci’s testimony uncovered drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems.”
The committee noted, “Dr. Fauci claimed he “did not recall” pertinent COVID-19 information or conversations more than 100 times.”
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
Dr. Fauci profusely defended his previous testimony where he stated @NIH does not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.
Today, he repeatedly played semantics with the definition of gain-of-function in an attempt to avoid conceding that NIH funded this dangerous research.
The next post pointed out that “Dr. Fauci profusely defended his previous testimony where he stated @NIH does not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.”
It then noted, “Today, he repeatedly played semantics with the definition of gain-of-function in an attempt to avoid conceding that NIH funded this dangerous research.”
The committee also wrote, “Dr. Fauci testified that he signed off on every foreign and domestic NIAID grant without reviewing the proposals.”
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
Today, he backtracked by arguing he should not have stated that as “fact.”
Fauci was then accused of backtracking over his 2020 email statement allegedly confirming he knew that “dangerous gain-of-function research” was being conducted in Wuhan, China.
He was also accused of being unable to prove that American laboratories being operated in foreign countries have proper oversight.
Clearly, the American people and the United States government are operating with completely different expectations about the responsibilities of our public health leaders and the accountability of our public health agencies.
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 9, 2024
More accountability coming soon!
The subcommittee stated, “Clearly, the American people and the United States government are operating with completely different expectations about the responsibilities of our public health leaders and the accountability of our public health agencies.”
They vowed, “More accountability coming soon!”
The origins of the COVID-19 virus are still being debated, and The House Oversight Committee is investigating where it originated to hold anyone responsible accountable and prevent future similar incidents.
The House Oversight Committee noted, “Mounting evidence points to the virus originating from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).”
“EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantee, awarded taxpayer funds to the WIV to conduct gain of function research on bat coronaviruses – research that may have started the pandemic,” they added.
The committee has accused Dr. Fauci of colluding with top health officials “to downplay the lab leak theory for their preferred narrative of natural origin.”
Gain-of-function is research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease, help define the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, thereby enabling assessment of the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents, informing public health and preparedness efforts, and furthering medical countermeasure development, according to the Public Health Emergency website.
According to The Hill, this issue has drawn opposition across party lines.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) claimed, “A lot of our GOP colleagues have failed to recognize the operative, regulatory definition [of] gain-of-function that was instituted in 2017 was operative at the time the COVID pandemic came along.”
But Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) stated, “One thing that’s been most interesting is a new definition that we’ve heard and Dr. Fauci refers to this as his operational definition of gain-of-function,” via The Hill
“And I don’t know that every scientist that deals with this type of viral research, understands his definition of operational … definition of gain-of-function,” he added.
He concluded after the first day of questioning that there were “some tremendous flaws in our system.”
The Lancet reported that gain-of-function research was banned in 2014 for its risky practices, but the ban was lifted in 2017.
Ethical concerns have continued to surround the experimental process. Republican lawmakers proposed a ban on gain-of-function research in September of 2023, via the Wisconsin Examiner.
