Early in the pandemic, a top scientist sent Dr. Anthony Fauci an email suggesting the coronavirus may have been engineered. The next day, this scientist was on a call with Fauci and other top doctors. Days later, he called the suggestion that the coronavirus may have been engineered a “crackpot” theory.
What was said on that call to make a scientist change his mind so quickly? That’s what two top House Republicans are now wondering, Fox News reported. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) or the House Judiciary Committee and James Comer (R-KY) of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to Kristian Andersen, the scientist whose opinion changed so quickly. Andersen, a virologist at Scripps Research Institute in California, wrote to Fauci on January 31, 2020: “The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered.” He added that he and several other scientists “all find the genome inconsistent with evolutionary theory.”
Andersen also noted at the time that his team needed more time to research the virus.
The next night, Jordan and Comer wrote, Andersen and other international virologists joined a conference call with Fauci.
“The American public does not know what happened on this call, as all emails pertaining to the content of the discussion have been redacted. But we do know what happened after,” the congressmen wrote.
On February 4, 2020, Andersen sent an email to Dr. Peter Daszak, CEO of EcoHealth Alliance, Inc., an organization the congressmen note received millions in taxpayer grants thanks to Fauci. The email said: “The main crackpot theories going around at the moment relate to this virus being somehow engineered . . . and that is demonstrably not the case.”
Jordan and Comer wrote:
In three days, with no explanation as to why, you flipped your perspective entirely and began calling a theory you lent credence to only days earlier a “crackpot theory.” It would appear the primary intervening event was the February 1 conference call with Dr. Fauci. We are very interested in understanding what happened on that call or what science came to light that caused such a dramatic change in your own hypothesis as to the engineering of COVID-19. Therefore, we request a staff level briefing as soon as possible but no later than August 5, 2021.
After Andersen’s email was first revealed in June 2021, he deactivated his Twitter account, Fox News previously reported.
While it is not uncommon for scientists to change their viewpoints, the abrupt nature of Andersen’s change is what concerns Jordan and Comer. Andersen had his own evidence that, he thought in January 2020, lent credence to the theory that the virus was engineered. After speaking with Fauci, he disavowed that theory. Jordan and Comer are simply asking to see the same evidence Andersen saw that changed his mind, as questions about the origins of the coronavirus are now being considered.