Wenstrup Issues Key Takeaways from Interview with Dr. Francis Collins

WASHINGTON — Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) released key takeaways after the Select Subcommittee’s seven-hour transcribed interview with Dr. Francis Collins, the former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During COVID-19, Dr. Collins led the NIH’s pandemic response and notably served as Dr. Anthony Fauci’s “boss.”

Key takeaways from Dr. Francis Collins’s transcribed interview:

• Dr. Collins agreed with Dr. Fauci that the “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation promoted by federal health officials was likely not based on any science or data.

• Dr. Collins reaffirmed his previous statements attacking the Great Barrington Declaration — a publication that encouraged protection of the vulnerable and limited restriction on young and healthy Americans.
  • In an email to Dr. Fauci in 2020, Dr. Collins stated that a “quick and devastating published takedown” of the Great Barrington Declaration was necessary.

• Dr. Collins minced words over the definition of gain-of-function research in an effort to hide the NIH’s involvement in funding the dangerous research in Wuhan.
  • This wordplay mimics Dr. Fauci’s profuse defense of his previous Congressional testimony where he claimed the NIH did not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

• Dr. Collins agreed with Dr. Fauci’s concession that the COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory.

• Dr. Collins acknowledged that Dr. Fauci invited him to attend the infamous February 1, 2020 conference call that prompted the “Proximal Origin” publication.
  • This testimony directly contradicts Dr. Fauci’s previous statements and raises further concerns about the U.S. government’s role in suppressing and vilifying the lab-leak hypothesis.

On January 8 and 9, the Select Subcommittee conducted a 14-hour transcribed interview with Dr. Fauci to discuss his influential role during the pandemic. Dr. Fauci’s testimony uncovered drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems. He claimed to “not recall” important COVID-19 information more than 100 times and revealed that the “6 feet apart” social distancing guidance “sort of just appeared.”

Read more about Day 1 (here) and Day 2 (here) of Dr. Fauci’s transcribed interview.

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