Newly released emails between a top colleague of Dr. Anthony Fauci and the president of a non-governmental organization being funded to conduct coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, have raised questions about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emails revealed that the group had over 700 identified but un-sequenced coronaviruses in its lab when its government grant was first pulled in 2020.
On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul highlighted a series of email exchanges between Fauci’s top adviser, Dr. David Morens, and EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak that showed concerns about losing government funding. An April 2020 email from Morens alleged that Fauci was “fully aware” and “involved in some sort of damage control,” possibly to help keep EcoHealth from losing its federal grant.
The emails also revealed that EcoHealth had more than 15,000 samples at the lab in Wuhan. Fauci continued to publicly push to discredit theories of a potential lab leak that could have initiated COVID-19 as this information was relayed from EcoHealth.
Paul said the new email revelations are important because they add more context between Fauci and EcoHealth’s public message “shaping” about its gain-of-function research and their private concerns. He raised concerns about the possibility that COVID-19 or a similar virus could have originated from the lab.
It is unclear whether Morens is still employed with NIH, and EcoHealth has denied any allegations of inappropriate communication with NIH or being part of a cover-up. The Select Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup has subpoenaed Morens for additional correspondence related to COVID-19 from his personal Gmail account, alleging he used the private account to evade FOIA laws.
Morens has agreed to testify in front of the select subcommittee at a public hearing later this year. The NIH, EcoHealth, Fauci, Daszak, and Morens did not respond to requests for comment.
The revelations from these emails have sparked further debate and investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of key figures like Fauci and EcoHealth in the research conducted in Wuhan.
