Rand Paul Accuses Fauci of Lying About NIH Funding for Wuhan Lab
Fauci Denied Funding in Senate Hearing
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of lying to Congress about whether the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. In a May 2021 Senate hearing, Fauci stated that the NIH has "not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan." However, Paul released documents that he says show that the NIH did provide funding to the Wuhan lab through a third party.
Fauci's Defense
Fauci has defended his statements, saying that the research that the NIH funded was not gain-of-function research. Gain-of-function research is a type of research that makes pathogens more transmissible or deadly. Fauci has said that the research that the NIH funded was aimed at understanding how viruses evolve and how to develop vaccines and treatments for them.
Ongoing Investigation
The issue of whether the NIH funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab is still under investigation. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is currently investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is expected to release a report on its findings later this year.
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