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You can be removed, actually you're not allowed to speak.

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Take your Starbucks with you.

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Mr. Garcia, Mr. Raskin, you're out of line.

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Your times have expired.

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I now recognize Dr. Jackson from Texas for five minutes of questions.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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Dr. Fauci, I have to say I, as so many Americans, am deeply disappointed in your actions during a critical time in our nation's history

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while you were in key leadership roles as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease

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and as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden.

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Put quite simply, you failed miserably in my opinion.

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Based on all we have learned during the pandemic and all that we have since learned through this committee's work,

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I believe your failures stem from both an effort of self-preservation manifested by a series of lies and cover-up,

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and by a total failure of leadership.

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It was obvious to everyone that you and your organization, NIH, had a lot to lose if the American people were to discover

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that COVID-19 was most likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China,

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and that you via EcoHealth Alliance and Peter Daszak actually funded this research,

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and that this lab was actively and recklessly conducting gain-of-function research.

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As such, you did everything in your power to deflect and cover up this possibility.

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You even recruited others to help you in this effort.

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Fortunately, this cost our country and the world valuable time, time that may have led to answers regarding the origin,

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may have blunted the spread, and would have almost certainly saved lives.

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While I think most of us have known all along what I just described,

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what I have been appalled to discover through sworn testimony to this committee

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is the level at which you and those that worked for you went to cover up the obvious.

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Just a few examples, and I know these have been touched on, but they're important for everyone to hear.

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Dr. Lawrence Tabak, former acting director of NIH, testified that under the generic definition

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that NIH did, in fact, fund gain-of-function research.

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This was based on a definition that was initially used by NIH

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and a definition that was abandoned and removed from the website in October of 2021

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and replaced by a new, much more detailed definition with a much higher bar that you have since conveniently used

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to define gain-of-function testing and to deny what Dr. Tabak has since confirmed.

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He also said that EcoHealth Alliance failed to properly and promptly report that their research violated the terms of the grant,

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something that went completely unaddressed under your watch.

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Dr. Morans, your senior advisor, who you have tried today to distance yourself from,

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but whose large volume of emails clearly demonstrate that you had a very close and personal relationship with,

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and who reported to you directly, has openly bragged about how he subverted FOIA requests.

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I remind you that the law requires you and your former organization to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.

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It is not optional.

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If you or your employees or your organization that you oversaw were systemically avoiding transparency

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and illegally hiding or destroying documents that rightfully belong to the American people,

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then you should be criminally charged and they should as well.

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In addition, Dr. Gregory Folkers, your chief of staff, also engaged in illegal practices

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in which he crafted messages using symbols instead of letters to avoid FOIA exposure.

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In an email, April 2020, from Dr. Morans to Peter Daszak, he says,

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quote, there are things I can't say.

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Well, I wonder what he couldn't say.

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He also went on to say, quote, except Tony is aware and I have learned there are ongoing efforts within NIH

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to steer through this with minimal damage to you, Peter, and colleagues and to NIH and NAID, end quote.

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And then a few days later, he said, quote, I have reason to believe that there are already efforts going on to protect you, end quote.

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In February of 2021, Dr. Morans wrote to Boston University scientist Gerald Kirsch saying, quote, I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I'm FOIA'd, but before the search starts.

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So I think we are all safe, end quote.

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Dr. Fauci, I want to know what you're being protected from and what you needed to be safe from.

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I'm going to go on because I have a little time here.

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He went on to say, quote, plus I deleted most of the earlier emails after sending to Gmail.

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Once again, illegal and an actual crime.

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Dr. Morans noted in another email to Dr. Kirsch saying, quote, I learned the tricks of the I learned the tricks last year from an old friend, Marge Moore, who heads our FOIA office and also hates FOIA's, end quote.

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It is absolutely amazing to me that Dr. Morans and Marge Moore still have jobs and her taxpayers are still paying their salaries.

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Dr. Morans wrote to Dr. Daszak in April of 2021, quote, P.S.

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I forgot to say there is no worry about FOIA's.

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I can either send stuff to Tony on his private email or hand it to him to work or at his house.

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He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble, end quote.

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Apparently, you neglected to surround yourself with equally smart individuals.

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Dr. Morans wrote to another collaborator, Peter Hotitz, in June 2021 at Baylor College of Medicine that he had deleted all his emails related to COVID origin when, quote, the shit hit the fan, end quote.

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He said, quote, I feel pretty sure Tony were too.

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The best way to avoid FOIA hassles is to delete all emails when you learn the subject is pretty sensitive.

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In October 2021, Dr. Morans wrote to Peter Daszak, quote, Peter, from Tony's numerous recent comments to me and from what Francis has been vocal about over the past five years, we are trying to protect you.

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And they are protecting their own reputations as well, end quote.

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I'll just jump ahead.

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The American people can rest assured that we are going to continue to pursue answers and we continue to push for full accountability from you and your colleagues despite continuing efforts to try to cover this up.

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Dr. Fauci, history will not be kind to you and you will be known as the man who put his personal interest before the interest of the American people, the very people that you were supposed to be protecting.

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Your actions along with several others we have had before this committee have completely eroded America's trust in our public health system and the agency that you represented for half a century.

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With that, I yield back.

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The gentleman's time is expiring now.