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.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Wolinetz about her role in banning online conversations about the idea that the virus allegedly escaped from a Chinese laboratory during the Senate Homeland Security reading. Hawley inquired whether she regrets no objecting to repression efforts from Anthony Fauci or her employer, former NIH Director Francis Collins.
Do you dread supporting the censorship of millions of Americans who were disciplined at work for posting “maybe a test was involved”? Hawley asked.
” I do not believe I ever had the responsibility that you are describing”, Wolinetz said.
Hawley asked immediately,” Do you dread no opposing the censoring”?
” I do n’t believe censorship took place, sir”, Wolinetz responded.
According to Wolinetz’s neglect of censorship efforts, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who , introduced , regulations to create a committee overseeing federal funding for high-risk life sciences study and ensuring company accountability,  , stated , that Wolinetz would not be considered for a position in the proposed separate entity within the Executive Branch.
There is solid evidence to back up the claim that the lab leak theory is plausible, according to the FBI and the Energy Department.
Despite Wolinetz’s neglect, numerous instances indicate repression did, in fact, occur.
Twitter censored information about the lab leak idea, labeling it a “false claim” in the process. As revealed in a series of messages released in 2023 during the discovery stage of the free speech event Missouri v. Biden, the Biden White House requested Social to control what they termed “disinformation,” including requests for them to judge personal WhatsApp messages.
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.
The government collaborated with social media giants to control the Hunter Biden laptop story, website prominent liberal voices, and shadowban traditional content. Additionally, the files revealed both the Trump and Biden administrations pressured Twitter to moderate pandemic-related content according to their preferences.
House Republicans ‘ records show that David Morens, a former Fauci adviser, undertook the media’s request to downplay the lab leak theory.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, wrote in a letter to Morens that the documents” 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.”
Arianna Villarreal is a summer intern at The Federalist.
