By Casey Harper (The Center Square)

A Republican-led Congressional committee says a scientist and top advisor to Anthony Fauci used his personal email to hide evidence related to the origins of COVID-19.

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the National Emerging Infectious Disease Institute asking for more information about these communications.

“The Select Subcommittee is now aware of potential further attempts by Dr. [David] Morens to subvert public transparency,” the letter said. “Specifically, the Select Subcommittee has been made aware of alleged communications between Dr. Morens and you regarding EcoHealth Alliance.

“These communications included emails from Dr. [David] Morens’ personal Gmail account to you and Dr. Peter Daszak of EcoHealth,” the letter adds.

Critics say the use of a personal email account allowed Morens to avoid having his emails obtained by official records requests.

At least some of the email exchanges, handed over by a whistleblower, were with Dr. Peter Daszak, who leads EcoHealth, the controversial research group accused of having a role in the creation of COVID-19.

The federal government has denied the claim that partially taxpayer-funded EcoHealth had a role in COVID’s origin.

EcoHealth is a U.S. nonprofit research company that used taxpayer-funded grants to carry out coronavirus research.

Federal records show that EcoHealth was conducting coronavirus research involving bats in China when the pandemic broke out.

As The Center Square previously reported, a federal grant database reports that the same group has received millions in taxpayer funds from the federal government over the past decade to research coronaviruses that originate in animals and in some cases can transfer to humans.

A highly disputed part of the inquiry is whether EcoHealth Alliance’s research involved making coronaviruses more dangerous to humans.

As lawmakers have dug into the issue, they have raised more questions.

“In today’s letter to Dr. Keusch and Boston University, Chairman Wenstrup is requesting the production of any documents and communication related to correspondence with Dr. Morens, Dr. Daszak, and other individuals and entities with knowledge of and access to COVID-19 origins material,” Wenstrup’s office said. “This letter continues our investigation into the potential cover-up of COVID-19 origins information by America’s public health authorities.”

EcoHealth released a statement after initial reports of these emails rebuffing many of the claims and releasing what it says are the original emails in question in a news release.

“These reports do not show the full text of the emails in question, but allege that they are part of a cover up, or represent inappropriate communications,” the group said in a statement. “Contrary to the news reports, they show clearly that EcoHealth Alliance was appropriately communicating with senior staff at the NIH, or who formerly worked at NIH, to try to identify ways to reinstate a grant that had been terminated unexpectedly and arbitrarily, then suspended with onerous conditions. The grant was subsequently reinstated by NIH, and EcoHealth Alliance is currently working under this grant to conduct critical scientific research to prevent future pandemics.”

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in particular has been outpoken on this issue, stating that more than a dozen federal agencies were aware that federally funded research was being done on coronaviruses in China to make them more dangerous.

“Newly obtained documents confirm yet again Fauci lied about COVID. Fauci’s NIH lab was a partner with Wuhan on a proposal to engineer a highly transmissible coronavirus in 2018,” Paul wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “But he wasn’t alone, 15 government agencies knew about it and said nothing. Americans deserve answers.”

Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.