(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, said Tuesday that he’s uncovered evidence that government officials from 15 federal agencies knew as early as 2018 of risky coronavirus experiments conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
In an article published on Fox News,Paul said members of these 15 agencies were briefed in early 2018 on what was called the “DEFUSE” project, which was proposed by the EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in order to create a virus like COVID-19.
Paul explained that DEFUSE was presented to the 15 agencies at an event hosted by DARPA, where potential applicants presented proposals to agency representatives. During this event Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance pitched the DEFUSE project, which sought federal funds to “manipulate known viruses with spike proteins of novel viral strains,” Paul said.
Officials involved in DEFUSE (that we know so far) include Daszak, University of North Carolina scientist Ralph Baric and researcher Ian Lipkin.
“At least 15 federal agencies knew from the beginning of the pandemic that EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology were seeking federal funding in 2018 to create a virus genetically very similar if not identical to COVID-19,” Paul said Tuesday in a press release.
“Disturbingly, not one of these 15 agencies spoke up to warn us that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had been pitching this research.”
Similarly, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was both briefed about the desire to create the virus and listed as a participant in the initial DEFUSE pitch, while under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In addition, Fauci’s Rocky Mountain Lab was a partner along with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the proposal. The Rocky Mountain Lab was revealed last November to have conducted experiments on bats infected with coronaviruses in 2018.
As a result of the secrecy of the government secrecy, DEFUSE remained unknown until Marine Lt. Col. Joseph Murphy blew the whistle in 2021.
In January of 2022, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI, requested information from the Department of Defense as a result of details about the project disclosed by Lt. Col. (then Major) Murphy while he was working at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Following these findings, Sen. Paul sent letters to the fifteen agencies in question requesting further information.
