For the first time since he left the federal government, Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before Congress about his work on the COVID-19 virus.
And a watchdog group that has literally dogged Fauci for years over his funding of dubious animal research, especially on canines, does not want the public to forget Fauci’s legacy.
On Monday, the Whitecoat Waste Project, or WCW, which monitors government grant spending on scientific research, noted that it would circle a rolling billboard outside the Capitol while Fauci is grilled for his response to COVID.
Related: WCW Spotlights Biden’s Efforts To Renege On Trump’s Pledge To Quit Animal Testing At EPA
The billboard appeared on the back of a truck. Its ad depicted Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as Uncle Sam, along with the caption: “I want you to pay the Wuhan animal lab. Fauci’s NIH shipped your tax money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Many conservatives, and some federal agencies, believe the lab is the source of the virus that killed more than 1.1 million Americans and more than 7 million people globally.
The group also featured a link to a website, WuhanAnimalLab.org, where users could send a letter to Congress demanding that he be held accountable for animal research there.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for gain of function experiments that waste money, torture animals, and create frankenviruses that can be used as bioweapons or cause pandemics,” the website says. “Dr. Anthony Fauci owes the American people an apology for funding the Wuhan lab. Fauci’s wasteful spending almost certainly caused a lab leak and COVID.”
The New York Post reported on Monday that the Government Accountability Office released a report in June that found Fauci’s agency had sent more than $2 million to Chinese research institutions between 2014 and 2019, even though serious safety concerns existed.
Read: Report: Another Fauci-Funded Experiment Subjected Dogs To Swarms Of Biting Flies And Then Death
The lion’s share of that, $1.4 million, went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
In a statement, WCW Senior Vice President Justin Goodman told the Tampa Free Press, “As the group that first exposed and cut Fauci’s foolish funding for dangerous animal experiments in Wuhan that likely caused COVID, we’ve been working for years to have him taken to task for abusing his authority to violate a federal gain-of-function funding ban, conspiring to cover it up, and repeatedly lying to Congress about it.”
“Anthony Fauci is the poster child for waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, and taxpayers deserve answers and accountability for his role in recklessly bankrolling and running interference for an adversary’s animal lab that probably prompted a pandemic using U.S. taxpayers’ money.”
The Post reported on Monday that Fauci and former NIH Director Francis Collins have denied in sworn testimony to Congress that the agency paid for gain-of-function research at the WIV.
After Fauci sat for the first half of 14 hours of scheduled testimony before the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, lawmakers did not seem impressed.
Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican, told reporters that he was “surprised” by “how much he doesn’t recall” of the origins of the pandemic, according to the Post.
Read: Congressmembers From Both Sides Drew Kudos From WCW On Efforts To Defund NIH Dog Tests
Wenstrup also noted that Fauci provided a “new definition” of “operational” gain-of-function research, one that most scientists likely would not recognize.
On X, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, another committee member, noted, “Dr. Fauci wrote about the risks of gain-of-function in order to create vaccines to cure the viruses these experiments would create: ‘The benefits’ would ‘outweigh the risks.’” Dr. Fauci operates as a medical tyrant forcing his vaccines on the world.”
“His belief system is to create a vaccine/pandemic experiment, mandate a vaccine be developed from it, and have the American taxpayers foot the bill,” the Georgia Republican added. “I think I can speak for many Americans when I say Dr. Fauci belongs in jail!”
She pointed out that Fauci wrote the article about the risk-versus-benefit calculus 2012.
“Does he still believe the benefits outweigh the risks? Today, he said he wants to see a stronger WHO and UN to oversee labs around the world. So clearly he wants to see gain-of-function and the creation of experimental vaccines continue,” Greene said.
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