{"id":548674,"date":"2021-06-01T17:35:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548674"},"modified":"2021-06-01T17:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:35:42","slug":"us-researcher-with-ties-to-wuhan-lab-personally-thanked-fauci-in-april-2020-for-dispelling-lab-leak-theory-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-researcher-with-ties-to-wuhan-lab-personally-thanked-fauci-in-april-2020-for-dispelling-lab-leak-theory-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"US Researcher With Ties To Wuhan Lab Personally Thanked Fauci In April 2020 For Dispelling Lab Leak Theory \u2018Myths\u2019"},"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\">38<\/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%2Fus-researcher-with-ties-to-wuhan-lab-personally-thanked-fauci-in-april-2020-for-dispelling-lab-leak-theory-myths%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=548674&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/fauci-testimony-scaled-e1622579213452.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak personally thanked Dr. Anthony Fauci in April 2020 for throwing water on the COVID-19 lab leak theory during a White House press briefing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The email was part of a 3,200-page batch of Fauci\u2019s emails obtained by BuzzFeed News through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A large portion of Daszak\u2019s email to Fauci was redacted with a FOIA exemption indicating the text could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The leader of a nonprofit group with close ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology personally thanked Dr. Anthony Fauci in April 2020 for publicly rejecting the notion that the lab could be connected to the release of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak\u2019s April 18, 2020, email to Fauci was part of a 3,200-page batch of Fauci\u2019s emails obtained by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/nataliebettendorf\/fauci-emails-covid-response\">BuzzFeed News<\/a> on Tuesday through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. A large portion of Daszak\u2019s email to Fauci was redacted with a FOIA exemption indicating the text could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Daszak personally thanked Fauci in the email for the bravery he exhibited during a White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=brbArpX8t6I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press briefing<\/a> the day prior when he said the novel coronavirus exhibits features that are \u201ctotally consistent\u201d with an animal to human origin and that don\u2019t point to lab manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>Fauci\u2019s comments were framed at the time by media outlets such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/fauci-throws-cold-water-conspiracy-theory-coronavirus-escaped-chinese-lab-2020-4\">Business Insider<\/a>\u00a0as a rejection of the lab leak \u201cconspiracy theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just wanted to say a personal thankyou on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19 from a bat-to-human spillover, not a lab release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology,\u201d Daszak wrote to Fauci.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom my perspective, your comments are brave, and coming from your trusted voice, will help dispel the myths being spun around the virus\u2019 origins,\u201d Daszak added.<\/p>\n<p>The email was first highlighted by reporter Sarah Westwood.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"11.163434903047\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Peter Daszak, who was deeply involved both in Wuhan coronavirus research &#038; in misleading the public about the likelihood of a lab leak, thanked Fauci for helping \u201cdispel the myths\u201d around COVID origins and blamed Fox News for targeting his grant. From the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JasonLeopold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JasonLeopold<\/a> FOIA batch <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LgloFVaFZX\">pic.twitter.com\/LgloFVaFZX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahcwestwood\/status\/1399798441992204298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2021<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Fauci responded to Daszak the following day thanking him for his message of encouragement, the email shows.<\/p>\n<p>Fauci altered his position on the lab leak theory in May, telling <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/23\/anthony-fauci-lab-leak-covid-19-coronavirus\/\">PolitiFact\u2019s<\/a> Katie Sanders that he was \u201cnot convinced\u201d that COVID-19 developed naturally.<\/p>\n<p>EcoHealth Alliance did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>EcoHealth Alliance, under Daszak\u2019s leadership, funneled $600,000 in taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the pandemic to conduct risky experiments on bat-based coronaviruses, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) research grant with EcoHealth, which involved payments to the Wuhan lab, described gain-of-function research. However,\u00a0 NIAID, which is led by Fauci, declined to flag the grant for independent review by a Department of Health and Human Services oversight board that was formed in late 2017 to critically evaluate gain-of-function research grants.<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/\">(RELATED: US Grant To Wuhan Lab To Enhance Bat-Based Coronaviruses Was Never Scrutinized By HHS Review Board, NIH Says)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Daszak played a key role at the onset of the pandemic in suppressing debate about the possibility that the Wuhan Institute of Virology could be connected to the COVID-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Daszak <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/01\/18\/peter-daszak-lancet-statment-protect-chinese-scientists\/\">orchestrated<\/a> a statement published in The Lancet medical journal in February 2020 prior to any serious research on the origins of COVID-19 condemning \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d that suggest the virus doesn\u2019t have a natural origin. Daszak later admitted through a spokesman that he organized the statement to protect Chinese scientists from online criticism.<\/p>\n<p>Daszak was also the only U.S. citizen allowed to participate in the World Health Organization\u2019s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in China in January and February. The WHO did not even ask to see deleted Wuhan Institute of Virology databases containing information on at least 16,000 virus samples it had studied prior to the pandemic because Daszak said he <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/03\/10\/who-investigators-wuhan-lab-database-peter-daszak\/\">personally vouched<\/a> for the lab. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/03\/29\/peter-daszak-wuhan-coronavirus-60-minutes\/\">(RELATED: \u2018What Else Can We Do?\u2019: Scientist On WHO\u2019s Wuhan Team Says They Had To Rely On Assurances From China About Virus Origins)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Daszak then said U.S. intelligence on the Wuhan Institute of Virology shouldn\u2019t be trusted after he and his WHO colleagues <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/02\/10\/peter-daszak-us-intelligence-coronavirus-origins\/\">concluded<\/a> it was highly unlikely COVID-19 leaked from the lab.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous media outlets have published stories within the past two weeks confirming the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/27\/lab-leak-theory-credible-8-facts-wuhan-covid-19-coronavirus\/\">legitimacy<\/a> of the COVID-19 lab leak theory after denigrating the hypothesis as a baseless conspiracy for the first year of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak personally thanked Dr. Anthony Fauci in April 2020 for throwing water on the COVID-19 lab leak theory during a White House press briefing. The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278830,"comment_status":"close","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\/06\/fauci-testimony-scaled-e1622579213452.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"US Researcher With Ties To Wuhan Lab Personally Thanked Fauci In April 2020 For Dispelling Lab Leak Theory \u2018Myths\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/fauci-testimony-scaled-e1622579213452.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"US Researcher With Ties To Wuhan Lab Personally Thanked Fauci In April 2020 For Dispelling Lab Leak Theory \u2018Myths\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}