WASHINGTON—Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) pressed Dr. Anthony Fauci to explain the discrepancy in his sworn congressional testimony about taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

“House Republicans remain concerned about the origins of COVID-19, including the increasing possibility it originated and subsequently leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China,” wrote Ranking Members Comer and Jordan. “Using your own definition, it appears the National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research at the WIV.”

In a 2012 video, Dr. Fauci stated at a medical conference that gain-of-function research includes reverse genetics. In 2014, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. a grant to study bat coronaviruses, allowing the nonprofit to test coronavirus transmission by using reverse genetics. EcoHealth Alliance then awarded taxpayer funds to WIV. However, in May 2021, Dr. Fauci testified under oath that the “NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research” at the WIV, appearing to contradict his earlier comments.

In their letter to Dr. Fauci, Ranking Members Comer and Jordan call on him to confirm the authenticity of his comments made in the 2012 video, verify the accuracy of the 2014 EcoHealth Alliance grant description, and explain the apparent discrepancy in his recent congressional testimony.

To view the letter, click here.