According to an article published by The Intercept on July 12, 2023, U.S. House Republicans investigating the origin of COVID-19 accidentally released a collection of new documents that provide insight into the discussions among scientists who authored a significant paper in February and March of 2020. This paper, known as “The Proximal Origin of Sars-Cov-2,” was published on March 17, 2020, in the journal Nature Medicine and was widely cited by the media as evidence that the virus emerged naturally and crossed species. However, the House Subcommittee on the origin of COVID-19 released a report on July 11, 2023, claiming that the authors of the paper presented a misleading conclusion to the public while privately believing that the virus had escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). On the same day, the subcommittee held a hearing on the “Proximal Origin” paper and questioned two of the scientists involved in its creation, Robert Garry, Ph.D., of Tulane University, and Kristian Andersen, Ph.D., of Scripps.
The Intercept explains that more information than intended was revealed due to the metadata in the PDF of the report, which showed that the report was initially drafted as a Word document and then converted to PDF. By using available tools, The Intercept was able to extract complete images from the PDF. However, the original subcommittee report has since been taken down.
On February 1, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-director of the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Dr. Francis Collins, then-director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), held a conference call with 11 scientists to discuss COVID-19. During the call, Drs. Fauci and Collins were made aware of the possibility that COVID-19 may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and that the virus appeared to be the result of genetic engineering. However, a first draft of the “Proximal Origin” paper had already been written later that day, and on February 4, Fauci received a copy for editing and approval. The authors of the paper have claimed that new information changed their initial inclination towards a lab escape theory, but evidence from Slack messages and emails shows that their initial belief persisted.
The main issue highlighted in a Slack exchange between Andersen and Andrew Rambaut of the University of Edinburgh is the likelihood of accidental escape from a lab, which is not a fringe theory. RaTG13, a virus found in a Chinese mine in 2013 and stored at the WIV, is referenced in the exchange. Rambaut suggests moving away from considering coincidences and admits that without irrefutable evidence, it will not be possible to prove a lab escape. Andersen agrees with Rambaut but still believes that COVID was not caused by zoonotic transfer.
The article also raises questions about the involvement of Fauci and Collins in influencing the conclusions presented in the “Proximal Origin” paper. In an email exchange, suspicions of genetic engineering and bioweapons research were discussed, with Fauci being mentioned as one of the individuals who should tackle the theory head-on. Fauci and Collins attempted to quash the lab leak hypothesis, and an investigation is underway into whether they used private emails to cover up their actions.
Furthermore, an email from Eddie Holmes, another author of the “Proximal Origins” paper, suggests that pressure was applied during the submission process. Messages from officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate that they were inquiring about the status of the paper, contradicting claims of a hands-off approach.
Andersen’s reply to the journal Nature also reveals that dismissing the lab leak theory was impossible from the beginning based on the available data. The Intercept suggests that this contradicts the claims made in the “Proximal Origin” paper that a lab-based scenario was implausible.
In summary, the released documents shed light on the deliberations among scientists involved in authoring the “Proximal Origin” paper, raising questions about their public conclusions, potential pressures, and the involvement of Dr. Anthony Fauci and other government officials. The accidental release of the documents has sparked further scrutiny of the origins of COVID-19.