Pentagon makes horrifying admission about its funding of Chinese gain-of-function experiments



The year millions of people were killed worldwide by a virus likely engineered in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese scientists in Beijing began toying with a more deadly coronavirus variant called GX_P2V that killed humanized mice 100% of the time, largely with late-stage brain infections. While not formally linked, the study referenced parallel work executed by Wuhan Institute of Virology scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli.

In March, Chinese researchers at the Hebei Medical University revealed they had created a mutant version of the virus vesicular stomaitis, known to infect cattle, by giving it a protein from the Ebola virus. The hamster test subjects infected with the recombinant virus suffered weight loss, ulcerated eyes, inflammation, multi-organ failure, and then all died.

Apparently, the Pentagon has no idea to what extent it has bankrolled these kinds of potentially ruinous experiments in communist China.

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General released a partially redacted report Tuesday detailing the results of its efforts to track down the money the Pentagon has invested helping the communist Chinese enhance deadly pathogens.

The report made clear it was referring to gain-of-function experiments, referencing a definition published in the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, which states, "The term 'gain-of-function' means 'to enhance a function by genetic manipulation' or 'to add a new function' and applies to much research involving genetic recombination and genetic manipulation."

The DOD Office of Inspector General sought specifically to track the amount of federal funds given either directly or indirectly by the Pentagon to:

  • the communist regime itself;
  • the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other organizations administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences;
  • Peter Daszak's scandal-plagued and debarred EcoHealth Alliance, whose gain-of-function subcontractor was among the likely patients zero;
  • the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences; and
  • any other related lab in the Asian nation.

Of special concern was whether and where funds were spent on "research or experiments that could have reasonably resulted in the enhancement of any coronavirus, influenza, Nipah, Ebola, or other pathogen of pandemic potential or chimeric versions of such a virus or pathogen."

The conclusions of the report were damning.

The Pentagon has admitted that it has no idea to what extent it has funded the creation of deadly viruses in an adversarial nation it has identified as its "top pacing challenge" — a country whose overall biorisk management score is less than stellar.

The report noted at the outset that Army officials had identified 12 relevant research programs and that for "seven awards, a prime awardee provided funds to a subawardee or contracting research organization in China or other foreign countries for research related to potential enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential."

The Inspector General's Office could also account for over $54 million given to EcoHealth Alliance for 13 projects executed from 2014 through 2023 but suggested that none of this funding went to China or its affiliates for gain-of-function research.

After accounting for the top of the Pentagon funding iceberg, the report indicated what lies below the surface is wholly "unknown."

Why is the answer to this question not 'zero dollars'?

Citing "significant challenges in searching for awards" due to "limitations in the DOD's systems used to track contracts and grants," the Inspector General's Office concluded, "The full extent of DOD funds provided to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential is unknown."

The report noted that when it came to funding Chinese gain-of-function experiments, the DOD neither used "a budget line item or any other consistent indicator, such as assistant listing codes, that makes databases of grants, contracts, and other transaction agreements easily searchable or reviewable" nor tracked "funding at the level of detail necessary" to make accurate determinations.

Apparently, the Government Accountability Office reached a comparable conclusion in a 2022 report.

Similarly troubling was the Office of the Inspector General's admission that found it impossible "to identify a single source that encompasses all pathogens of pandemic potential." In other words, the Pentagon does not appear to have an accessible authoritative list detailing just how many deadly diseases it has funded the creation of in China.

Despite the acknowledgement the Pentagon hasn't tracked its spending on the manufacture of killer viruses in China, DOD officials reassured the Inspector General's Office that "DOD organizations did not actively participate in or knowingly fund research or experiments that could have reasonably resulted in the enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential from 2014 through 2023."

The report was not well received.

Molecular biologist Dr. Richard H. Ebright of Rutgers University wrote, "Your tax dollars on fire."

Stanford University epidemiologist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya tweeted, "The Biden DOD has lost track of how much money it has given to Chinese laboratories for 'enhancing' pathogens. Why is the answer to this question not 'zero dollars'?"

"Deadly coverup. Deadly incompetence," wrote Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson. "What's the difference? But this 'I dunno' may as well translate as: we (YOU) paid for the creation of covid."

Blaze News columnist Auron MacIntyre responded, "US agencies can track and censor your social media posts about the pandemic but can't track how much they spent to manufacture it."

"It wasn't the Pangolin," wrote Mike Benz, executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online. "It was the Pentagon."

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'NIAID cannot be trusted': Fauci's agency planned to make monkeypox more deadly, says congressional report



The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Anthony Fauci funded deadly gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the likely epicenter of the pandemic. Although millions of Americans died from COVID-19, the NIAID apparently did not learn its lesson.

According to congressional investigators, the NIAID received approval to execute radical gain-of-function experiments on MPXV, the virus that causes monkeypox.

Monkeypox is endemic in various African regions but made a global play in April 2022. The New England Journal of Medicine indicated on the basis of diagnoses in 16 countries that 98% of the persons infected with the virus were homosexual.

Those infected with monkeypox often experience a painful rash that can look like pimples or blisters, respiratory problems, exhaustion, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and chills. Like COVID-19, monkeypox can be spread via respiratory droplets, through "direct contact with a rash or sores of someone who has the virus," and through "contact with clothing, bedding, and other items used by a person" with the virus.

While it's unclear what nightmarish symptoms a lab-engineered version of monkeypox could produce, it's clear that some of Fauci's people were eager to find out.

Over the past two years, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — which has jurisdiction over public health agencies — has been looking into a particular research project that was "planned and/or conducted" at the NIAID prior to Fauci's retirement.

Committee members were alerted to the experiment by a Sept. 15, 2022, interview in Science magazine, in which Dr. Bernard Moss, a NIAID pox virologist, revealed that his team was working on endowing a West African variant of monkeypox responsible for the global outbreak at the time, "clade 2," with genes from a far more deadly variant, "clade 1."

Whereas clade 2 has roughly a 1% mortality rate, clade 2 reportedly has a mortality rate ranging from 10%-15%.

Congressional investigators noted that Moss' admission troubled some of his peers.

Epidemiologist Thomas Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the magazine the following month that if a more powerful version of the outbreak strain ever escaped the NIAID lab, it could trigger an "epidemic with substantially more lethality."

The committee noted in an interim staff report Tuesday, "If the experiment transferred genes from clade IIb MPXV — which caused the 2022-2023 mpox epidemic — into clade I virus, the resulting chimeric virus could have a reproductive number (R₀) of 1.10 to 2.40 coupled with a case fatality rate of 10 – 15 percent in the unvaccinated."

According to the interim report, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the NIAID "repeatedly obstructed and misled" the committee about the experiment referenced by Moss in Science.

'NIAID cannot be trusted to oversee its own research of pathogens responsibly.'

Whereas HHS and the NIH denied that that the experiment(s) had been proposed, planned, approved, or conducted, the committee noted that internal NIH documents "show this experiment was formally proposed and received approval before the NIH's Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) on June 30, 2015."

HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Melanie Egorin confirmed in a March 19 letter to the committee that the experiment was greenlit.

The committee has been unable to confirm whether or not the dangerous experiment actually took place but indicated there was a window of time between June 2015 and May 2023 when researchers could have done so.

In the first three years, there were reportedly no requirements imposed on the experiment. In 2018, scientists were asked only to notify the NIH's IBC when getting ready to make clade 2 more potent.

Science indicated that at the very least, part of the experiment was conducted. Researchers moved genes from clade 2 to clade 1.

"The deliberate, prolonged effort to deceive the Committee is unacceptable and potentially criminal," said the interim report. "HHS, the NIH, and NIAID continue to insist the GOFROC experiment transferring material from clade I into clade II was never conducted, despite being approved for a period of over eight years. However, HHS has repeatedly refuse to produce any documents to corroborate this claim."

The report suggested that the refusal to cough up evidence might suggest "that the information not produced was unfavorable" and that the HHS is effectively lying.

Despite painting HHS as obstructionist, the report emphasized that the "NIAID is the agency that bears the most responsibility for misleading the Committee."

The primary conclusion drawn at this point in the investigation is that NIAID cannot be trusted to oversee its own research of pathogens responsibly. It cannot be trusted to determine whether an experiment on a potential pandemic pathogen or enhanced potential pandemic pathogen poses unacceptable biosafety risk or a serious public health threat. Lastly, NIAID cannot be trusted to honestly communicate with Congress and the public about controversial GOFROC experiments.

Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said of the report, "In order to start rebuilding trust in our government health agency guidance, agencies like the NIH must be honest and transparent with Congress and the American people."

"This report demonstrates a disturbing lack of judgment and accountability from HHS, the NIH, and particularly, NIAID. It is unacceptable and demonstrates the clear need for reform," added Rodgers.

Justin Goodman, senior vice president of the White Coat Waste Project — a watchdog that helped expose EcoHealth Alliance's and Fauci's ties to the gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — told Blaze News, "These treacherous monkeypox gain-of-function experiments are the latest example of Fauci's rampant waste, fraud, and abuse and disregard for taxpayers and lawmakers."

"Even though Fauci is gone from government, his atrocious animal testing legacy is alive and well, and we're working with Republicans and Democrats to cut NIH's reckless spending," continued Goodman. "The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness."

An HHS spokesman said in a statement, "The committee is looking for an issue where there isn't one. HHS and its divisions, including NIH, follow strict biosafety measures as our scientists work to better understand and protect the public from infectious diseases — like mpox."

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NIH, NIAID officials repeatedly expressed concern about 'gain-of-function' experiments being conducted at Wuhan lab: Emails



Officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) expressed concern about "gain-of-function" experiments at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2016, according to newly-surfaced government emails.

Watchdog group Judicial Watch obtained 1,651 pages of records from the NIH through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Emails show that NIH officials warned that EcoHealth Alliance could be conducting “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan lab, and there was reportedly an FBI "inquiry" into the concerns.

In an email dated May 22, 2020, Ashley Sanders – a senior investigations officer in the NIH Division of Program Integrity – emailed David A. Miller – an FBI agent from the Newark Field Office. While most of the email is redacted, the subject line includes: "Grant Questions – FBI Inquiry," and a reference to NIH grant award R01AI110964 – “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.”

There were also worries about gain-of-function research at the Wuhan laboratory by officials at the NIAID – which has been led by Dr. Anthony Fauci since 1984.

NIAID program officer Erik Stemmy replied to an email regarding EcoHealth's failure to file a progress report on its bat coronavirus research, "They have proposed work for the next year of the award that may be subject to the gain-of-function funding pause."

Stemmy and NIH chief grants management officer Jenny Greer sent a letter to EcoHealth Alliance chief of staff Aleksei Chmura on May 28, 2016, warning that the NIH grant for the Wuhan bat coronavirus research could be paused.

"Based upon information in the most recent progress report, NIAID has determined that the above referenced grant may include Gain of Function (GoF) research that is subject to the U.S. Government funding pause," the letter states, adding that the violation comes from EcoHealth "testing predictions of CoV inter-species transmission."

In an email to NIH officials dated June 15, 2016, Stemmy notes that the grant awarded to Peter Daszack – the president of EcoHealth Alliance – "may have GoF [gain-of-function] and I’ve been in touch with the GMS [Grants Management Specialist] for a while now.”

In an email dated August 3, 2021, Chmura details EcoHealth research that could be construed as gain-of-function experiments:

To analyze which viruses were a potential public health risk, we managed to cultivate three strains of SARSr-CoVs from bat feces… We used the genetic codes of some of the other viruses we found in bats and inserted spike protein genes of those viruses (the proteins that attach to cells) into the cultured viruses. By doing this experiment we showed that other viruses may also be able to infect human cells, and were able to do this safely without the need to culture large amounts of virus…. This work proves that there is a clear and present danger for future emergence of novel SARS-like viruses in people.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines gain-of-function research as:

Studies, or 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.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has consistently and repeatedly denied that there were gain-of-function experiments conducted by EcoHealth – even during congressional testimony when he notably clashed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)