{"id":543841,"date":"2021-05-28T08:05:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T12:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=543841"},"modified":"2021-05-28T08:19:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T12:19:41","slug":"sen-johnson-presses-fauci-to-explain-seemingly-shifting-position-on-ccp-virus-origin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-johnson-presses-fauci-to-explain-seemingly-shifting-position-on-ccp-virus-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Johnson Presses Fauci to Explain Seemingly Shifting Position on CCP Virus Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-johnson-presses-fauci-to-explain-seemingly-shifting-position-on-ccp-virus-origin%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=543841&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) has called on White House adviser Dr. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-anthony-fauci\">Anthony Fauci<\/a> to explain\u00a0why his statements over the last year on the origin of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/giving-the-right-name-to-the-virus-causing-a-worldwide-pandemic-2_3277200.html\">CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus<\/a> appear to have shifted.<\/p>\n<p>In a May 27 letter (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ronjohnson.senate.gov\/services\/files\/42FCBE21-6F2E-415E-B44C-EAFA70E95455\">pdf<\/a>), Johnson wrote that Fauci\u2019s level of confidence in the theory that the virus made a natural jump to humans appears to have dropped, and called on the\u00a0director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to explain the rationale for this shift by June 10.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ambiguity of your recent statements about the virus\u2019 origins raises questions regarding your assertion from a year ago when you confidently stated that the virus could not have been manipulated and that it occurred naturally,\u201d Johnson wrote, referring to the alternate theory that the virus had leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3723125\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3723125\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/EpochTimes_510A0092-2-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"ron johnson\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript>Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) during a Senate Homeland Security Committee in Washington on July 30, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In May 2020, Fauci largely dismissed the lab leak theory, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/article\/anthony-fauci-no-scientific-evidence-the-coronavirus-was-made-in-a-chinese-lab-cvd\">telling\u00a0National Geographic<\/a>, \u201cIf you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what\u2019s out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Fauci said he\u2019s\u00a0no longer certain that\u00a0the CCP virus developed naturally, and called for an open investigation into the origins of the virus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not convinced about that. I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,\u201d Fauci said at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poynter.org\/united-facts-of-america-a-festival-of-fact-checking\/#1617292338605-0c765c01-ab81\">fact-checking symposium<\/a> on May 11.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCertainly, the people who investigated it say it likely was the emergence from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could have been something else, and we need to find that out. That\u2019s the reason why I said I\u2019m perfectly in favor of any investigation that looks into the origin of the virus,\u201d Fauci added.<\/p>\n<p>Days later, Fauci told CBS senior White House correspondent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/weijia\/status\/1396913345815617539?s=20\">Weijia Jiang<\/a> that\u00a0his opinion about the origins of the virus have not changed, in that he continues to believe that it is \u201chighly likely\u201d that it developed naturally before jumping from animal to human, but that he backs a thorough investigation since no one is 100 percent sure about the virus\u2019 natural origin.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson wrote that he finds Fauci\u2019s\u00a0initial high level of confidence in rejecting a potential laboratory origin \u201cperplexing, given that public reports highlighted safety concerns at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV),\u201d the lab at the heart of the virus origin controversy.<\/p>\n<p>In April, the Washington Post reported on two 2018 State Department cables where U.S. diplomats expressed concerns about the safety of the Wuhan laboratory, Johnson noted, adding that it remains unclear whether Fauci knew about the safety concerns at the WIV when he made his May 2020 statement on the virus\u2019 origins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be troubling if you were not aware of those concerns, given that taxpayer money went to the laboratory through a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant,\u201d Johnson wrote, referring to a $600,000 grant that Fauci <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/fauci-says-it-would-have-been-a-dereliction-of-our-duty-not-to-work-with-china-on-coronavirus-research_3831474.html\">recently confirmed<\/a> had been channeled to the Wuhan facility for research into\u00a0how the virus might jump from animals to humans.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson asked Fauci to explain what evidence he relied on in asserting in May 2020 that the virus likely emerged naturally rather than from a lab. He also called on Fauci to explain what evidence led him to his \u201clowering your confidence\u201d in the natural origin theory and what information and data he relied on in concluding that the virus\u2019s origins should be thoroughly investigated.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times reached out to NIAID with a request for comment on Johnson\u2019s letter, but did not receive a reply by publication time.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as Republican lawmakers have intensified their calls for Dr. Anthony <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/republicans-call-for-fauci-to-be-fired-over-wuhan-lab-controversy_3833262.html\">Fauci to be fired<\/a>\u00a0after he defended the flow of $600,000 from the\u00a0National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the Wuhan facility.<\/p>\n<p>Fauci said in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?512007-1\/drs-collins-fauci-testify-national-institute-health-2022-budget-request\">testimony before<\/a>\u00a0the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health &amp; Human Services on May 25 that\u00a0it would\u2019ve been\u00a0\u201calmost a dereliction of our duty\u201d for the NIH not to collaborate with Chinese scientists to study how the virus might jump from animals to humans.<\/p>\n<p>He insisted\u00a0that the NIH didn\u2019t fund so-called gain-of-function research, which he defined as \u201ctaking a virus that could infect humans and making it either more transmissible and\/or pathogenic to humans,\u201d at the Wuhan lab, claiming that the purpose of the $600,000 grant \u201cwas to study the animal-human interface, to do surveillance, and to determine if these bat viruses were even capable of transmitting infection to humans.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3781785\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3781785 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/fauci-with-gray-mask-1200x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"fauci\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript>National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci testifies to a House panel in Washington on April 15, 2021. (Amr Alfiky\/Pool\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fauci was further pressed about the matter during a Senate hearing on May 26, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) questioning Fauci\u2019s faith in the Wuhan lab\u2019s scientists, whom Fauci called \u201cvery respectable\u201d just one day prior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know they didn\u2019t lie to you and use the money for gain-of-function research anyway?\u201d Kennedy asked Fauci.<\/p>\n<p>Fauci acknowledged he couldn\u2019t be certain whether the money was used against its intended purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Following Fauci\u2019s remarks, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) called for his removal. In an appearance on \u201cFox and Friends\u201d on May 27, Davidson accused Fauci of providing \u201ccover for China\u201d amid Beijing\u2019s resistance to a transparent probe into the origins of the outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Another Republican lawmaker who has called for Fauci\u2019s dismissal, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GReschenthaler\/status\/1397924001419124737?s=20\">told \u201cFox and Friends\u201d<\/a> on May 27 that he believes Fauci \u201cis either grossly incompetent or he\u2019s been lying to the American people,\u201d and that he \u201cshould be fired or resign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Wuhan facility, home of China\u2019s first P4 lab\u2014a class of laboratory with the highest level of biosecurity where research on the world\u2019s most dangerous diseases are conducted\u2014has been in the spotlight amid concerns that the CCP virus may have originated there, rather than by making a natural jump from bats to humans.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3802533\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3802533 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1210149337-1200x675-1.jpg\" alt=\"CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/noscript>An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on April 17, 2020. (Hector Retamal\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee argued in a May 19 report (<a href=\"https:\/\/republicans-intelligence.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/covid-19_and_the_wuhan_institute_of_virology_19_may_2021.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) that it\u2019s more likely the virus escaped from the lab.<\/p>\n<p>The CCP has denied any link between the virus\u2019s origin and the Wuhan lab and has pushed a \u201cnatural zoonotic\u201d hypothesis\u2014that the virus was transmitted to humans from an animal host. However, Beijing has so far failed to identify the original animal species that allegedly passed the virus on to humans.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3617491\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3617491 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1211369223.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A staff member wearing a face shield walks through a bus station in Wuhan in central China\u2019s Hubei province on April 30, 2020. (STR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/who-report-blames-animals-instead-of-wuhan-lab-leak-for-ccp-virus-outbreak-questions-unanswered_3755465.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a>\u00a0from the World Health Organization (WHO) published in March stated that the CCP virus likely spread to people through an unknown animal, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus\u00a0said the mission to study the origin of the virus didn\u2019t adequately analyze other theories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs far as WHO is concerned, all hypotheses remain on the table \u2026 We have not yet found the source of the virus,\u201d\u00a0Ghebreyesus said.<\/p>\n<p>On May 25, the United States <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us-calls-for-new-probe-into-ccp-virus-origins-amid-mounting-attention-on-lab-leak-theory_3830993.html\">urged<\/a> the WHO to launch a fresh probe into the source of the CCP virus, highlighting the need for transparency.<\/p>\n<p>More than a dozen nations, including the United States and the\u00a0European Union, have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/mkt_app\/us-13-nations-question-the-integrity-of-who-china-study-on-ccp-virus-origin_3755652.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raised concerns<\/a>\u00a0about the phase one WHO study into the origin of the virus, pointing to the report\u2019s significant delay and China\u2019s refusal to share crucial raw data.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden announced on May 26 that he has ordered a closer intelligence review of what he characterized as two equally plausible scenarios of the origins of the CCP virus\u2014one natural, the other a lab leak.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lily Zhou contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) has called on White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to explain\u00a0why his statements over the last year on the origin of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2313363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/EpochTimes_510A0092-2-600x400-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Sen. Johnson Presses Fauci to Explain Seemingly Shifting Position on CCP Virus Origin","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/EpochTimes_510A0092-2-600x400-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Sen. 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