Carrie Wolinetz, former Chief of Staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), claimed Thursday that the so-called “lab leak theory” was not censored during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the Senate Homeland Security hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Wolinetz about her involvement in censoring online discussions about the theory, which proposed the virus escaped from a Chinese lab. Hawley asked whether she regrets not opposing censorship efforts from her boss, former NIH Director Francis Collins, or from Anthony Fauci.
“Do you regret your role in helping censor millions of Americans who were kicked off social media, who were disciplined at work for saying ‘maybe a lab was involved?’” Hawley asked.
“I do not believe I ever had the role that you are describing,” Wolinetz said.
Hawley asked directly, “Do you regret not opposing the censorship?”
“I don’t believe censorship took place, sir,” Wolinetz responded.
Due to Wolinetz’s denial of censorship efforts, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who introduced legislation to create a board overseeing federal funding for high-risk life sciences research and ensuring agency accountability, stated that Wolinetz would not be considered for a position in the proposed independent entity within the Executive Branch.
The FBI and Energy Department have stated there’s strong evidence supporting the plausibility of the lab leak theory.
Despite Wolinetz’s denial, several instances indicate censorship did, in fact, occur.
Facebook censored reports related to the lab leak theory, labeling it a “false claim.” The Biden White House requested Facebook to suppress what they termed “disinformation,” including requests for them to censor private WhatsApp messages, as revealed in a series of emails released in 2023 during the discovery phase of the free speech case Missouri v. Biden.
Since Elon Musk’s release of the “Twitter Files,” it was exposed that Twitter (now X) significantly expanded its practice of accepting content moderation requests from the intelligence community, the State Department, and various federal and state agencies during the pandemic.
Along with social media giants, the government colluded to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, blacklist prominent conservative voices, and shadowban conservative content. Additionally, the files revealed both the Trump and Biden administrations pressured Twitter to moderate pandemic-related content according to their preferences.
Records obtained by House Republicans indicate that former Fauci adviser David Morens downplayed the lab leak theory to the media at Fauci’s behest.
The documents also “suggest that you may have used your personal e-mail to avoid transparency and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), potentially intentionally deleted federal records,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, wrote in a letter to Morens.
