White coaches 'get all the credit': Ex-NBA player says black coaches get the worst teams when they begin their careers, then get replaced

White coaches 'get all the credit': Ex-NBA player says black coaches get the worst teams when they begin their careers, then get replaced



Retired NBA champion Stephen Jackson defended a coach who was recently fired by the Phoenix Suns, saying the team will likely hire a white coach to "get all the credit," and described the practice as all too common in the NBA.

Jackson appeared on the Paper Route podcast and discussed the firing of Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams. Jackson, who won an NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003, defended Williams, saying that he was fired too soon after coaching the Suns for four seasons.

"You bring this team together at the end of the year, I don't care if you have [Kevin Durant] or not," Jackson said. "I said if they lose, they were going to give this team another year ... give this team another year to kind of have a whole season and training camp together to see if they can pull it off," he continued.

However, Jackson then described what he felt was an ongoing trend in which black coaches are hired to coach less talented teams when they begin their coaching careers, only to be fired and replaced by a white coach when the team turns the corner.

"I didn't think they were going to get rid of the coach, I think he was the right coach for the job. But you know how they do. When teams come together like this they're quick to go and find a white coach and just throw him in that position so he can get all the credit," Jackson explained.

"I don't care, yeah I said it, they do it too much. Every time a black coach come into the league he gets the worst team in the league to start his career off," the former player claimed. "A situation like this they always find a white coach, just like they did with Steve Nash in Brooklyn. Throw him in a spot where the team is already basically together."

Nash was fired after just over two seasons in Brooklyn when he failed to win a championship.


\u201cStephen Jackson thinks racism is the reason why the Monty Williams was fired in Phoenix\n\nThe Suns\u2019 no. 1 target to fill the vacancy? Ty Lue, a black head coach \ud83d\ude02 \n\u201d
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@Gary Sheffield Jr.) 1684199352

Subsequent reports seemed to contradict Jackson's analysis, with rumors swirling that two of the team's stars had a hand in the coach's dismissal.

"36 unbothered," Suns player Devin Booker wrote on Twitter. Fans and analysts took this reference to mean that Booker was referring to himself and teammate Kevin Durant. Durant wears number 35 and Booker number 1, together making "36."

Longtime analyst Colin Cowherd also responded to the reports, saying that it makes Durant look bad.

"Stephen Jackson is one of those people that makes a living asking his audience that hates the country what he should think," sports writer and commentator Gary Sheffield Jr. told TheBlaze.

Sheffield also pointed out that the Phoenix Suns' number one target to fill the vacant coaching position is "Ty Lue, a black head coach."

Jackson became a prominent voice during the George Floyd protests and riots in 2020. He was a friend of Floyd's, telling Marie Claire that they "just had a bond. We became tight."

Due to a comparable resemblance, Jackson even often referred to Floyd as his "twin."

“I’m here because they’re not going to demean the character of George Floyd, my twin,” the Washington Post reported him saying in 2020.

“A lot of times the police, when they do things they know that’s wrong, the first they do is try to cover it up and bring up your background to make it seem like the bulls*** that they did was worth it. When was murder ever worth it? But if it’s a black man, it’s approved," Jackson said.

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Sen. John Kennedy tells those who hate police to 'call a crackhead' when they're in trouble



In a campaign ad, Republican Sen. John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana, a lawmaker known for having a way with words, told people who hate the police to "call a crackhead" when they find themselves in trouble.

"Violent crime is surging in Louisiana. Woke leaders blame the police. I blame the criminals," Kennedy said in the video. "Look if you hate cops just because they're cops, the next time you get in trouble, call a crackhead."

\u201cI know the difference between criminals and their innocent victims.\u201d
— John Neely Kennedy (@John Neely Kennedy) 1664546700

Kennedy, who entered office in 2017, is currently running for reelection.

Gary Chambers, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana, said in a video that Kennedy's comments were "racist as hell," and tweeted that the senator is "a walking dog whistle."

\u201cI saw @SenJohnKennedy dropped a crime ad. He spends more time dropping one liners than actually doing his job. He\u2019s a walking dog whistle, and I won\u2019t let it slide. \n\nHelp me send him home. We can take out the \ud83d\uddd1\ufe0f Nov. 8th. Share and Donate for #MoreOfUs\u201d
— Gary Chambers (@Gary Chambers) 1664581201

Chambers could be seen smoking marijuana in one of his own campaign ads.

Kennedy declared in another ad that "Arlington National Cemetery contains 400,000 reasons why you should stand your ass up for the national anthem."

"For all those Washington insider elite bedwetters whose feelings I hurt, here's some free advice: Go buy yourself an emotional support pony, because I'm not gonna shut up. And one more thing, always be yourself, unless you suck," Kennedy said in another campaign ad.

In August, the Biden administration announced a plan to cancel massive amounts of federal student loan debt — last month during an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Kennedy said that, "we already had a plan to repay student debt. It's called a job. And it was workin' just fine." The senator also said that "President Biden is inflation's best friend," and that "Inflation loves President Biden like the devil loves sin."

"Your aunt's Facebook page has more credibility with the American people than President Biden does when it comes to the economy," Kennedy said during the media appearance, adding that he believes "voters are gonna go medieval on him."

Poll: Plurality of Hispanic voters support Republican governors sending illegal immigrants to liberal states and cities



A recent Morning Consult / Politico national tracking poll indicated that a significant percentage of ethnically-Hispanic American voters think Republican governors' relocation of illegal aliens to Democrat-controlled cities is appropriate. This may prove to be another sign that a significant voting bloc, which CNN senior political analyst John Avlon suggested has been "taken for granted," is growing increasingly alienated by Democrat policies.

One of the questions posed in the poll, published on Tuesday, was: "Would you consider Republican governors sending migrants to liberal U.S. states and cities to be [appropriate / inappropriate / don't know / no opinion]?"

41% of Hispanic respondents said it was appropriate and 35% answered it was inappropriate. An additional 25% noted they were either unsure or didn't have an opinion.

The six-point rate of change between Hispanics in favor and those against was more pronounced than in the broadest category of registered voters, where 42% were in favor and 41% were opposed.

Pollsters asked the question again, but framed it in moral terms. 33% of Hispanics deemed it moral, whereas 39% stated it was immoral.

Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona have bused and flown thousands of illegal aliens to sanctuary cities and Democratic locales, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Martha's Vineyard.

\u201cMinutes ago, a bus of migrants sent from Texas arrived outside the Naval Observatory in Washington DC. We\u2019re told they\u2019re from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Men, women, children - even newborns. This is the second bus to arrive outside of the VP\u2019s residence this week. @NBCNews\u201d
— Gary Grumbach (@Gary Grumbach) 1663413084

Concerning the initiative, DeSantis' communications director Taryn Fenske told Fox News Digital that "States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as 'sanctuary states' and support for the Biden Administration's open border policies."

Abbott likewise has endeavored to confront liberal states and cities with the fallout of the policies for which they have advocated. "The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years," he said on September 15.

He said of his decision to send illegals to the sanctuary city of Chicago, "To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities ... as an additional drop-off location."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection have encountered over 2,150,639 illegals at the southern border so far this year, which have flooded into U.S. border regions, placing a strain on resources and depressing wages.

Hispanic voters and Democrat immigration policies

Recent trends have hinted at attitudes in the Hispanic community that might diminish the surprise that a plurality of Hispanics would agree that the relocation of illegals was appropriate.

A survey commissioned by Texas Latino Conservatives and released on August 11, 2022, revealed that 61% of Hispanics were bothered by the current direction of the Democrat Party. 28% of those not yet Republicans shared this same bother.

57% of those surveyed suggested they favored tougher border security measures "to stop illegal migrants from crossing." 27% said they favored allowing more illegals into the U.S. to seek asylum.

Although reportedly winning 65% of the Hispanic vote in 2020, Biden's approval rating amongst the demographic now sits at 51%.

Alienation and shift

In 2020, there was significant shift of Hispanic voters towards the Republican Party as well as a 30% increase in Hispanic voter participation (i.e., from 2016).

In the last presidential election, former President Donald Trump won 46% of the Hispanic vote in Florida and 41% in Texas. Nationally, he won 32% of the Hispanic vote, a four-point increase over his take in 2016.

CNN reported earlier this year that there are 16 counties in Texas where the super-majority of the electorate is Hispanic. In the county with the highest percentage of Hispanics, Biden won by 5 points. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was up by 60 points. That's a 55-point slide.

It is not just a matter of Democrats performing worse with Hispanics. Republicans are faring better.

Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores (Texas) flipped a historically Democrat-held and heavily Hispanic region in June. Upon winning by eight points, she stated, "For over 100 years, we have been taken for granted ... I will show you what real representation looks like."

Cassy Garcia, who formerly served as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's Deputy State Director, is presently running for Congress. She recently told Fox News Digital that "Democrats are running scared right now."

Garcia noted she had spoken to Democrats who've told her that they are abandoning the Democrat Party and voting Republican because it shares their values.

It's not just the votes of former supporters the Democrats may lose out on. 52% of Hispanic voters identified as independents in 2021.

This summer, pundit Van Jones highlighted the shift and the potential: "Democrats don't see this coming, we overreact to the cultural moves, under-react to the economic appeal and you're seeing a pay-off for MAGA."

It is worth noting that the Hispanic voting bloc is hardly ideologically or ethnically uniform.

According to a recent Axios-Ipsos poll, 58.2% of Cubans think it is more important to secure U.S. borders and help citizens than to "help immigrants escape poverty ... in their home countries. By way of contrast, only 18.5% of Central American voters prioritize the former, while 73.4% of them prioritize the latter.

Another 50 illegal immigrants arrive near DC home of Kamala Harris; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sends 3 more buses of migrants to NYC



On Saturday morning, another bus carrying illegal immigrants arrived near the Washington, D.C., residence of Vice President Kamala Harris. This is in addition to the two buses of migrants that were dropped off outside the Naval Observatory in the nation's capital on Thursday.

NBC News reporter Gary Grumbach shared a video of the illegal immigrants arriving near the D.C. home of Harris around 7 a.m. on Saturday. Grumbach wrote on Twitter, "We're told they’re from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Men, women, children – even newborns."

\u201cMinutes ago, a bus of migrants sent from Texas arrived outside the Naval Observatory in Washington DC. We\u2019re told they\u2019re from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Men, women, children - even newborns. This is the second bus to arrive outside of the VP\u2019s residence this week. @NBCNews\u201d
— Gary Grumbach (@Gary Grumbach) 1663413084

On Thursday morning, two busloads containing more than 100 migrants were sent from Texas to the vice president's home. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent the migrants to Harris because she recently promised that the U.S. southern border is "secure."

Illegal immigrant encounters at the border exceeded 2 million this fiscal year – the most ever.

Abbott said on Thursday, "The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years."

He then tore into Harris over the border crisis, "Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure.’ Texas will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C. until President Biden and Border Czar Harris step up and do their jobs to secure the border."

Abbott also sent three buses of illegal immigrants to New York City on Saturday morning, according to Fox News. Abbott sent migrants to the Big Apple because it is a self-declared sanctuary city.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the relocation of illegal immigrants has caused the city's social services to near their "breaking point."

"In the last few months, we have experienced an unprecedented surge of asylum seekers arriving from the southern border," Adams said on Wednesday. "In this new and unforeseen reality, where we expect thousands more to arrive every week going forward, the city’s system is nearing its breaking point. As a result, the city’s prior practices, which never contemplated the bussing of thousands of people into New York City, must be reassessed."

Abbott said 10,000 migrants have been transported to sanctuary cities since the spring, adding that the move has provided "much-needed relief to Texas' overwhelmed border communities."

On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Harris told Vice News that the relocation of migrants are "political stunts."

Harris said of Abbott and DeSantis, "I think it is the height of irresponsibility… frankly, a dereliction of duty, when you are an elected leader, to play those kinds of games with human life."

Fauci and other top scientists had another secret COVID-19 origins call, records reveal



A group of the world's top virologists held secretive private discussions in February 2020 on "all theories" of the origins of COVID-19 days after they began drafting an influential article that would attempt to debunk the lab-leak theory, newly reported emails reveal.

The group was led by Wellcome Trust Director Jeremy Farrar and University of Sydney virologist Edward Holmes. Members of these discussions included then-National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins and the U.S. government's top pandemic spokesman, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

A Freedom of Information Act request by U.S. Right to Know reveals that their discussions on the pandemic's origins continued on Feb. 7, 2020, three days after an article purporting to show the virus "is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus" was drafted and a week after a previously reported conference call on Feb. 1.

“Eddie Holmes and a small group have been looking extensively at the origins and evolution of n-CoV including all theories,” Farrar wrote to National Academy of Medicine President Victor Dzau on Feb. 8, 2020, using an abbreviation for "novel coronavirus" in reference to the emerging SARS-Cov-2 virus.

“This is the latest summary, written as part of a series of [teleconference] discussions we set up and included [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci] and [National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins] as well as a small group from USA, UK, Europe and Australia,” Farrar wrote.

The records obtained by U.S. Right to Know included six pages of notes from the Feb. 7 discussion, but the material is fully redacted.

\u201cHere\u2019s the email from @JeremyFarrar to @VictorDzau and @edwardcholmes with the Feb. 2020 summary of the virologists\u2019 conclave with Tony Fauci and Francis Collins on the origins of Covid-19. All six pages of the summary are redacted. https://t.co/BXTg7XAEUB\u201d
— Gary Ruskin (@Gary Ruskin) 1654174531

The newly unearthed records reveal that scientists continued to consider the lab-leak origins theory of COVID-19 in private while working to dismiss the theory in public. But exactly what they discussed remains unknown, hidden behind redacted records and repeated refusals to comment.

There are two competing theories of the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The first is that the virus has natural origins — that it was carried by an animal host and evolved to be contagious among human beings. This is the view widely accepted by most scientists.

The second theory is that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese lab that studies coronaviruses, may have genetically manipulated one of their virus samples, creating SARS-CoV-2, and somehow that engineered virus leaked from the lab. This theory was maligned as a crackpot conspiracy theory by most public health officials.

Neither hypothesis of the pandemic's origins has been definitively proven or ruled out. An intelligence review by President Joe Biden's administration determined the theories were "equally plausible" and that the lab-leak hypothesis was "a credible line of inquiry."

In previously reported email chains, Farrar, Fauci, and other public health officials were shown to have discussed the possibility that the Wuhan coronavirus was "engineered." But after holding private conference calls on the matter, many of those involved waged a vigorous public campaign to discredit the lab-leak theory, apparently with no outstanding scientific reasons for doing so.

That public campaign began with a Feb. 19, 2020, statement signed by Farrar and other top health and medical professionals that strongly condemned "conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin". It continued with various public statements from Fauci and others that the lab-leak theory was a "conspiracy," which led social media companies to censor any discussion of the possible lab origins of COVID-19.

Perhaps the most significant blow to the credibility of the lab-leak theory came on March 17, 2020, with the publication of a letter titled, "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2." This letter sought to definitively squash the idea that COVID-19 came from a laboratory setting. "We do not believe any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible," the authors wrote, words that were seized by the national media and used to attack President Donald Trump because he had made statements supportive of the lab-leak theory.

Yet just one month before the "proximal origins" letter was published, three of its five authors had privately concluded that aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were "inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory" and that "some of the features (potentially) look engineered." Their opinion was revealed in a Feb. 1 email to Fauci, first published by BuzzFeed News.

A subsequent Feb. 4 email from Farrar to Fauci and Collins revealed he was split "50-50" between the natural origins and lab-leak theories and that Holmes was "60-40" in favor of the lab origin.

Emails transcribed by Republican staff on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform show that on the same day Farrar sent a draft of the "proximal origins" paper with Fauci.

Farrar, Fauci, and the rest have stated that while they were initially open to all theories of the virus' origins, their change of opinion and embrace of the natural origins theory reflected the weight of scientific evidence.

However, there is a potential conflict of interest in how Fauci and Collins shaped the narrative that the lab-leak theory of COVID-19's origins was a "conspiracy theory." The nonprofit group EcoHealth Alliance had received federal grants from Fauci's agency to study coronaviruses and had sub-awarded nearly $600,000 to the Wuhan lab in the years preceding the pandemic.

Whether the Wuhan lab used that grant money to conduct risky gain-of-function research to create new artificially enhanced viruses is a hotly contested claim, with Fauci and others denying it and Republican lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accusing them of lying.

The truth is likely redacted.

Dem Senate candidate Gary Chambers accuses GOP Sen. Tim Scott of supporting 'racist political ideology against his own people for a 'seat at the table''



Gary Chambers, a Democrat seeking election to serve as a U.S. Senator from the state of Louisiana, has declared that Republican Sen. Tim Scott's vote against confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court "is a disgrace."

"There are 3 Black men in the U.S. Senate, 1 of them, Tim Scott voted no on confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. There is always one of us, who thinks they know better than the rest of us Black folks. His no vote is a disgrace. Yea I said it," Chambers tweeted.

"Votes from Scott consistently show he will chose racist political ideology against his own people for a 'seat at the table,'" Chambers said in another tweet.

South Carolina is ranked 41 of all states, in the bottom 10 over all. \n\nTim Scott and Lindsey Graham equally contribute to that ranking in the bottom. \n\nVotes from Scott consistently show he will chose racist political ideology against his own people for a \u201cseat at the table.\u201d
— Gary Chambers (@Gary Chambers) 1649355596

The Senate confirmed Jackson in a 53-47 vote on Thursday, and Scott was one of the 47 GOP lawmakers who voted against confirmation. Scott, who in June, 2021, voted against confirming Jackson to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, issued a statement this week noting that he would vote against confirming Jackson to the high court. Jackson is slated to fill Justice Stephen Breyer's seat later this year after he retires.

Earlier this year, Chambers released a campaign ad that featured footage of him smoking marijuana. "Most of the people police are arresting aren't dealers, but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me," Chambers said in a voiceover during the video.

The candidate later released an ad in which he burned a Confederate flag and claimed that "remnants of the Confederacy remain" throughout the American south.

My first campaign ad, \u201837 Seconds.\u2019 #JustLikeMe\n\nI hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.pic.twitter.com/G0qKvmUGKD
— Gary Chambers (@Gary Chambers) 1642510936

Left-wing MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid attacked Scott in a tweet on Tuesday. "He let @LindseyGrahamSC & the sheriffs dog-walk him and destroy police reform after pretending to work on it and now he'll go along with Lindsey's barking-dog racism against Judge Jackson because: he's Tim Scott," Reid wrote.

All accuracy here. Not surprised by anything @SenatorTimScott does. He let @LindseyGrahamSC & the sheriffs dog-walk him and destroy police reform after pretending to work on it and now he'll go along with Lindsey's barking-dog racism against Judge Jackson because: he's Tim Scott.https://twitter.com/DarrellPMWest/status/1511344974306103296\u00a0\u2026
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649174384

Scott responded to Reid's remarks during an interview on Fox News.

"What is so offensive about what Joy is saying is that a black man cannot think for himself. I have to follow somebody else. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Scott said.

"There are millions of Americans who happen to be black, who want to think for themselves, who will think for themselves, but the power of the liberal elite wants to attack us like vicious dogs because they do not want anyone standing up" against "what they are doing, leading our country in the wrong direction," Scott said.

Senator Tim Scott Responds to Backlash Against His Opposition to Ketanji Brown Jackson Nomination www.youtube.com

Forget the Un-Vaxxed, It’s Apparently Time to Fear the UN-BOOSTED | Guest: Gary Franchi | 12/7/21

Forget the Un-Vaxxed, It’s Apparently Time to Fear the UN-BOOSTED | Guest: Gary Franchi | 12/7/21

Records show top US biosafety expert urged counterpart in Wuhan to answer crucial questions on COVID-19 origins



A top American biosafety expert with close ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology urged Chinese scientists in early 2020 to begin an "investigation" into whether COVID-19 could have been leaked from the institute, emails reveal.

Emails published by the nonprofit investigative group U.S. Right to Know show that Dr. James LeDuc, a professor and former director of Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, encouraged his Chinese colleagues to be transparent and prepare to answer questions about their work to address speculation that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from the Wuhan lab.

LeDuc is a renowned expert on biosafety with years of experience operating a biosafety level 4 laboratory — the highest safety level designation, reserved for labs that work with the most dangerous pathogens, like the Ebola or Marburg viruses. His lab in Galveston has worked with China since at least 2013, when construction on the Wuhan lab began, and he has made several trips to Wuhan to train staff since at least 1986. LeDuc's Galveston lab also hosted two Chinese post-doctoral students, who were trained to work safely in BSL-4 facilities and who returned to China to work in the Wuhan lab.

In early 2020, after the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was traced to a seafood market in Wuhan, China, many speculated that the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology and its coronavirus research may have been connected to the origins of the virus.

In a Feb. 9, 2020, email to Wuhan Institute Professor Yuan Zhiming, previously the director of the WIV BSL-4 laboratory, LeDuc asked the Chinese scientist to "aggressively address these rumors and presumably false accusations quickly and provide definitive, honest information to counter misinformation."

“If there are weaknesses in your program, now is the time to admit them and get them corrected. I trust that you will take my suggestions in the spirit of one friend trying to help another during a very difficult time,” he wrote.

2/9/20 email from @utmbhealth James Le Duc to Wuhan Institute of Virology's Yuan Zhiming calling for an "Investigation into the possibility that the nCoV was the result of a release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology" \nhttps://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Le-Duc_Yuan_Email-and-Investigation-List.pdf\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/tGEeQ36vof
— Gary Ruskin (@Gary Ruskin) 1638478013

LeDuc and Yuan are colleagues who in 2018 co-authored an article in Science magazine that urged the construction of new maximum biocontainment laboratories to fight dangerous diseases. In the article, they discussed their "partnership" and wrote that they had "engaged in short- and long-term personnel exchanges focused on biosafety training, building operations and maintenance, and collaborative scientific investigations in biocontainment."

In his email to Yuan, LeDuc posed a series of questions he believed the Wuhan Institute of Virology needed to answer as part of an investigation into whether COVID-19 was "the result of a release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (main campus or new BSL3/BSL4 facilities)."

"Where is coronavirus research conducted? What level of biocontainment?" was one question.

"What are the coronaviruses in your possession that are most closely related to nCoV [novel coronaviruses] based on genetic sequences and are able to replicate in culture?" was another.

"Is anyone on your team conducting gain of function studies, recombination studies or any other studies that may have resulted in the creation of the nCoV ?" asked a third.

These and many other questions asked by LeDuc in Feb. 2020 about the possibility that COVID-19 was engineered or found in nature, collected by the lab, and then accidentally released were not answered and remain unanswered today.

LeDuc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

World Health Organization-led investigations into COVID-19's origins have been stonewalled by China, and a U.S. intelligence report on the origins of the virus presented by President Joe Biden in August was inconclusive because of a lack of transparency from the Chinese government.

China has even frustrated U.S. Right to Know's attempts at an independent investigation. So have American universities and federal agencies.

LeDuc's emails were obtained by the group with a public records request through the Texas Public Information Act that was made on July 3, 2020. The University of Texas Medical Branch did not produce the requested documents until Nov. 23, 2021, more than 16 months later. USRTK said a second TPIA request filed with the university system on Sept. 23, 2020, also remains unanswered 14 months later.

On Nov. 15, 2021, UTMB sent a letter to the Texas attorney general's office asking to withhold certain requested documents because of outside "third parties" that objected to their release.

"We have notified the affected third parties of the request and sent notice to advise them of their opportunity to object to the release of their documents (TAB 4). The third parties have not agreed to the release of the information at issue," the letter states.

The state-run @utmbhealth in Texas is asking AG @KenPaxtonTX's office to withhold documents related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology because outside "third-parties" object. One of those third parties is a top Wuhan lab official. #txlege #transparencyhttps://twitter.com/garyruskin/status/1460680541930360836\u00a0\u2026
— Jay Root (@Jay Root) 1637098199

One of the "third parties" listed is none other than Dr. Yuan Zhiming, who now works for the state-controlled Chinese Academy of Sciences in addition to his association with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Gary Ruskin, the executive director for U.S. Right to Know, called the interference from the Wuhan institute "outrageous."

"It is outrageous that the Wuhan Institute of Virology should be allowed to block the release of documents under the Texas Public Information Act related to the origins of #COVID19," he tweeted on Nov. 16.

It is outrageous that the Wuhan Institute of Virology should be allowed to block the release of documents under the Texas Public Information Act related to the origins of #COVID19. Why is @utsystem abetting the WIV in choking off transparency? https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/University-of-Texas-letter-111521.pdf\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/garyruskin/status/1460680783253807104\u00a0\u2026
— Gary Ruskin (@Gary Ruskin) 1637088527

"Why is @utsystem abetting the WIV in choking off transparency?" he asked.

In an email to TheBlaze, Ruskin said, "It's been quite a challenge to pry information about the origins of Covid-19 out of the clenched fingers of various federal agencies and universities across the world."

He noted that USRTK has filed eight FOIA lawsuits to force various government agencies to hand over documents and said "more are probably coming."


Biden names John Kerry to be 'climate envoy' for National Security Council. Environmental groups cheer.



Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday designated former Secretary of State John Kerry to be the "climate envoy" in a Biden-Harris administration. Biden's transition team pledged to elevate the position to the National Security Council, a move that pleased climate activists and progressive groups.

Kerry will be Biden's Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, guiding the federal government's climate policies. The Biden campaign introduced a $2 trillion climate plan that called for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Presumably, Kerry will be responsible for coordinating multiple federal agencies to implement policies to achieve that goal. His role will not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

"This marks the first time that the NSC will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect's commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue," the Biden transition team said in a statement.

"America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is," Kerry tweeted after the announcement. "I'm proud to partner with the President-elect, our allies, and the young leaders of the climate movement to take on this crisis as the President's Climate Envoy."

Biden's transition team touted Kerry's foreign policy experience in a news release, noting his influential role in crafting the Paris climate accord.

"Secretary Kerry elevated environmental challenges as diplomatic priorities, from oceans to hydrofluorocarbons. He was a key architect of the Paris Climate Accord, and signed the historic agreement to reduce carbon emissions with his granddaughter on his lap," Biden's team said.

Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris climate agreement on his first day as president, reversing one of President Donald Trump's most significant policy accomplishments.

Progressive activists praised the announcement as evidence of Biden's seriousness when it comes to climate issues.

"This is that signal we have been looking for," Nat Keohane, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, told the Washington Examiner. "It'd be hard to think of a better person for this role or a clearer signal that the U.S. will reengage on climate globally and make it a central aspect of all parts of foreign policy and national security policy. Kerry brings weight, gravitas, and experience."

"Excellent news," tweeted Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund. "[John Kerry] is one of the world's most effective climate champions, both in the U.S. and abroad. He is the ideal person to restore U.S. global climate leadership."

Environmental activist group Greenpeace praised Kerry's appointment as a "good first step" and a "positive sign for Biden's intention to integrate climate leadership into every facet of the administration."

The Sunrise Movement, another activist group, called Kerry's appointment an "encouraging sign."

In statements, Greenpeace calls John Kerry’s appointment as special Presidential Envoy on Climate a “good first ste… https://t.co/BQHjmviaLN
— Gary Grumbach (@Gary Grumbach)1606158396.0

Kerry's appointment was announced alongside several other nominees and appointees for key national security roles in a Biden-Harris administration, including former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the nominee to be the next secretary of state.