Senator Tom Cotton Demands Anthony Fauci Be “Investigated And Prosecuted” Over “Gain-of-Function” Research In Wuhan

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Both Dr. Anthony Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins repeatedly insisted they took no part in funding “gain-of-function” research in Wuhan, however, on Wednesday Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright tweeted a copy of a letter authored by NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak and dated October 20, 2021 that appears to suggest otherwise. File photo: Grandbrothers, Shutter Stock, licensed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), a long-time critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci, has renewed his calls for the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to be “investigated and prosecuted” after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a letter that appears to confirm NIH had funded “gain-of-function” research in Wuhan.

Both Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins have repeatedly insisted that their organizations took no part in funding “gain-of-function” research – which genetically alters organisms to enhance pathogenesis, transmissibility, or host range – in Wuhan that may have resulted in the creation of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 and its variants.

However, on Wednesday Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright tweeted a copy of a letter authored by NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak and dated October 20, 2021.

NIAID, the part of the NIH headed by Fauci, awarded a $3.4 million grant in 2014 to New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, which conducts research on viruses that jump from species to species. In his letter, Tabak points out that the grant to EcoHealth was subsequently sub-granted to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to fund bat coronavirus research which could be considered “gain-of-function,” although Tabak stopped short of using that specific term.

“NIH corrects untruthful assertions by NIH Director Collins and NIAID Director Fauci that NIH had not funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan,” Ebright tweeted. “NIH states that EcoHealth Alliance violated Terms and Conditions of NIH grant AI110964.”

Ebright’s tweet was shared by Senator Cotton, who captioned it by accusing Dr. Fauci of lying all along, and demanded that he be held accountable to law enforcement.

“Fauci knew,” Cotton tweeted. “He should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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