Leading Virologist Who Dismissed Lab-Leak Theory Wanted to Avoid ‘Sh*t Show’ of Blaming CCP, Messages Show

During a Tuesday House Oversight Committee hearing, Representative James Comer (R., Ky.) confronted a leading virologist with internal messages which suggest that the preeminent scientific paper used to justify hostility to the lab-leak theory was influenced by political considerations.

Dr. Kristian Andersen — a Danish virologist who co-authored a highly influential paper published in March 2020 that argued the lab-leak theory was not “plausible” — appeared before Comer’s committee Tuesday to address allegations that Dr. Anthony Fauci and his NIH colleagues improperly influenced the paper’s findings.

After denying that his findings were influenced by political considerations, such as the desire not to alienate the Chinese Communist Party, Andersen was confronted with a slack exchange he had with a colleague shortly before the paper was published. The exchange, which House Republicans obtained as part of an investigation into Covid’s origins, seems to suggest political dynamics were taken into consideration before “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” was published.

“[G]iven the sh** show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release, my feeling is we should say that given there is no evidence of a specifically engineered virus, we cannot possibly distinguish between natural evolution and escape so we are content with ascribing it to [a] natural process,” Andersen’s colleague, Dr. Andrew Rambaut, wrote to a group of virologists over Slack in February 2020.

“Yup, I totally agree that that’s a very reasonable conclusion. Although I hate when politics is injected into science – but it’s impossible not to, especially given the circumstances,” Andersen replied.

“You are the one with the preferred political narrative. You said right there,” Comer told Andersen after reading the exchange aloud.

Rambaut, a British evolutionary virologist who also co-authored the “Proximal Origins” paper, refused to appear at Tuesday’s hearing. Fellow co-author Edward Holmes, an Australian virologist, also refused to appear.

In March, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic revealed that Fauci directed and approved the publication of the “Proximal Origins” paper.

“New evidence released by the Select Subcommittee today suggests that Dr. Fauci ‘prompted’ the drafting of a publication that would ‘disprove’ the lab leak theory, the authors of this paper skewed available evidence to achieve that goal, and Dr. Jeremy Farrar went uncredited despite significant involvement,” a memo released by the committee read.

Emails from Andersen to the medical journal Nature, obtained by House Republicans, indicate that Fauci had “prompted” the paper’s drafting with the aim to “disprove” the lab-leak theory.

“There has been a lot of speculation, fear-mongering, and conspiracies put forward in this space. [This paper was] Prompted by Jeremy Farrah [sic], Tony Fauci, and Francis Collins,” Andersen wrote.

Asked by Representative Comer whether he continued to support the research paper, Andersen reiterated his backing, though he denied that Fauci prompted the paper’s drafting or influenced its contents.

“It has been alleged that our paper was initiated and orchestrated by Dr. Anthony Fauci to disprove, dismiss, and cover-up a lab origin of SARS-CoV-2 as directed at a February 1, 2020 conference call (organized and convened by Dr. Jeremy Farrar),” Andersen said in a prepared statement.

“It has also been suggested that a $8.9 million federal ‘WARN-ID’ grant awarded in 2020 to myself and colleagues from five different countries was a quid-pro-quo we received for changing our conclusions about the likely origin of SARS-CoV-2.”

“Let me categorically say that these allegations are absurd and false.”

Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio) released a report ahead of Tuesday’s hearings alleging the paper was a “Cover-Up.”

The report cites a February 1, 2020 meeting during which Andersen and fellow virologists told Fauci that they believed Covid bore the genetic markings of lab manipulation. Just four days after that meeting, the virologists presented Fauci with a draft paper which poured cold water on the lab-leak theory — a reversal the report attributes to interference by Fauci and then-NIH director Dr. Francis Collins.

“On January 31, 2020, Dr. Fauci prompted Proximal Origin, which’s goal was to ‘disprove’ the lab leak theory to avoid blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic. Proximal Origin employed fatally flawed science to achieve its goal. And, finally, Dr. Collins and Dr. Fauci used Proximal Origin to attempt to kill the lab leak theory.”

“This is the anatomy of a cover-up,” the report argues.

During the hearing, Comer also cited an email in which Collins tells Fauci and their colleagues that they need to push back on the lab-leak “conspiracy theory.”

“I share your view that a swift convening of experts in a confidence-inspiring framework (WHO seems really the only option) is needed, or the voices of the conspiracy [i.e. the lab-leak theory] will quickly dominate, doing great potential harm to science and international harmony,” the February 2020 email reads.

“I think you have preferred political narratives backward, sir,” Comer asserted.