New Wuhan-Covid Docs!



[INSIDE JW]

YouTube Censors Judicial Watch Video on Election Integrity and Biden
Corruption --Locks Watchdog Out of Account for Seven Days

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You, dear supporter, and Judicial Watch have again been victimized
by Big Tech censorship.

YouTube censored our video
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about Biden corruption and election integrity issues in the 2020
election. The video, titled “Impeach? Biden Corruption Threatens
National Security,” was falsely determined to be “election
misinformation” and removed by YouTube, and our YouTube account was
suspended for a week. (Judicial Watch continues to post its video
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content on its Rumble channel
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We are America’s largest nonpartisan government watchdog group, and
the latest YouTube attack limited our ability to share our educational
videos and other educational content with nearly half-million YouTube
subscribers.

Judicial Watch is also the nation’s leading election integrity
organization, and we have testified
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to Congress on
the issue. Most recently we filed a lawsuit that stopped an extreme
gerrymander
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by Democrats in Maryland. We also successfully pursued federal
litigation in multiple states to clean up millions of dirty names from
voter registration lists.

YouTube previously deleted a Judicial Watch video at the request
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of California government officials, according to documents we
uncovered last year. I was also banned
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by the Chinese communist-controlled Tik-Tok earlier this year. (Our
friends at the Heritage Foundation were also censored by YouTube this
week.)
YouTube censored
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us to help advance a partisan and leftist agenda on election and other
issues. Just in time for another election season, Big Tech, with the
direct encouragement of President Joe Biden, is escalating the corrupt
‘Great Suppression’ of conservative and government critics online.
Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech is welcome, but Big Tech
remains an enemy of the First Amendment.

JUDICIAL WATCH BOOK _A REPUBLIC UNDER ASSAULT_ GOES ON SALE IN
PAPERBACK ON MAY 17

Our _New York Times_ bestseller book, _A Republic Under Assault, The
Left’s Ongoing Attack on American Freedom_, will be available for
sale in paperback on May 17. The paperback edition features a new
introduction that takes on the current DC corruption crisis:

Here is the truth: The Biden administration is corrupt but weak. His
party barely controls Congress. President Biden has a personal
corruption problem, has obvious health challenges, must manage
internal warfare between his party’s corrupt corporate wing and its
rising Communists, and his moral claim on the presidency is rejected
by a massive number of voters.
This is our third _New York Times_ bestselling book. The first two,
_The Corruption Chronicles_
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and _Clean House_
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revealed what Judicial Watch uncovered in our battles against Obama
secrecy. _A Republic Under Assault_ is a hard-hitting, fast-paced look
at how the Radical Left and the Deep State tried to destroy the Trump
presidency.

The Left spent years targeting President Donald J. Trump--but anyone
who believes in the U.S. Constitution, believes the United States must
have clearly defined and protected borders, believes in the need for a
strong military, believes in the value of hard work and faith, and
believes in the rule of law and American exceptionalism could be next.

This book reveals many secrets that the government and corrupt media
tried to cover up. Readers will learn how the Left continues to
assault our Republic on every front – from undermining election
integrity, to illegal spying on Americans, to suppressing free speech,
to destroying our borders and the rule of law.”

_A Republic Under Assault_ debuted at #14 on the _New York Times’s_
combined print and eBook list and spent two consecutive weeks on the_
NYT’s_ Hardcover Nonfiction list. The book also spent three
consecutive weeks in the top three of _Publishers Weekly’s_
Hardcover Nonfiction list and two weeks in the top five of _USA
Today’s_ list. Additionally, the book spent three consecutive weeks
in the top three of the _Wall Street Journal’s_ combine print/eBook
nonfiction list and three consecutive weeks in the top three of the
_WSJ’s_ hardcover nonfiction list.

Sean Hannity, #1 _New York Times_ bestselling author of _Live Free or
Die_, said this: “When it comes to fighting for the American
people’s ‘right to know,’ no one holds a candle to Tom Fitton
and his team at Judicial Watch. _A Republic Under Assault_ lays bare
the condemning facts Judicial Watch continues to expose about
‘Obamagate,’ the Deep State’s seditious coup to bring down
Donald Trump, and much more. This is must-reading for every American
who wants to save our nation.”

TEXAS RESEARCHER WARNED WUHAN LAB OF COVID INVESTIGATION BY CONGRESS

In a major development, Judicial Watch obtained 412 pages
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of records revealing that Dr. James W. Le Duc
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then-director
of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas
Medical Branch (UTMB), warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan
Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the covid issue
by Congress. These startling documents show that China had partners
here in the United States willing to go to bat for them on the Wuhan
lab controversy.

The documents show Le Duc praising the Wuhan researchers and Chinese
officials for their transparency and handling of the COVID-19
outbreak, and, in April 2021, Le Duc accepting a request to be on the
Biosafety Advisory Committee of Westlake University in Hangzhou,
China. The Galveston National Laboratory
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is one of the largest active
biocontainment facilities on a U.S. academic campus.

We received the records in response to our January 20, 2020, Texas
Public Information Act (PIA) request to the University of Texas
Medical Branch that asked for:
All emails, email chains, text messages, email attachments, calendar
invitations, and calendar invitation attachments by James W. LeDuc,
Director, Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical
Branch, to and from domains ending in nih.gov
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or .cn
(the Peoples Republic of China Government Domain) containing any of
the following terms and parameters:

* Wuhan within 10 words of coronavirus OR covid* OR SARS-CoV-2;
* Wuhan within 10 words of mcl OR lab* OR institute;
* Wuhan within 10 words of virology OR virus OR disease*;
* Wuhan within 10 words of biocontainment;
* Wuhan within 10 words of safety OR scien* OR breach;
* Peter within 10 words of Daszak.

The records include an email
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dated April 16, 2020, with the subject line “Rubio” from David
Franz, former Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases, who informs Le Duc, “I heard from someone in
government this evening that Senator Rubio is starting to push for an
investigation regarding Wuhan lab. Just found it on the web at Forbes
by Kenneth Repoza. Title of article is ‘eight senators call for
investigation into coronavirus origins.’”
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Le Duc then forwards the email to Dr. Shi Zhengli, a top Chinese
virologist
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known for her work with coronavirus at the Wuhan Institute of
Virology, requesting a phone conversation “soon” about the
email.
On April 18, 2020, Zhengli rejects Dr. De Luc’s request: “Due to
the complicated situation, I don't think it's a right time to
communicate by the call. What I can tell you is that this virus is not
a leaky [sic] from our lab or any other labs. It's a shame to make
this scientific question so complicated.”

Le Duc responds:

I understand completely and I certainly do not wish to compromise you
personally or your research activities. Given our long history of
collaborations between the GNL Galveston National Laboratory and the
WIV (Wuhan Institute of Virology), I have been approached repeatedly
for details on our work. Attached is a draft summary that I will be
providing to the leadership of our University of Texas system and
likely to Congressional committees that are being formed now
The draft attachment was not included in the documents we received.

In an email
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dated April 20, 2020, Le Duc informs Zhengli and the Director of the
Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory at the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Dr. Yuan Zhiming
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that he
is concerned that the Wuhan lab would continue to be the focus of
investigation:

I’m afraid that this discussion will continue for some time
regarding where early coronavirus work was being done, the role, if
any, of the Wuhan CDC in research on bat-associated coronaviruses, and
exactly when scientists at WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology] first
became aware of the new coronavirus and had possession of specimens in
the WIV and where was that work done (level of biocontainment).
A February 9, 2020, email
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from Le Duc prepares Zhiming with questions that may arise in an
investigation of the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Le Duc warns that
questions about the virus originating from the Wuhan Institute of
Virology initially came only from social media, but had recently
expanded to “alternate information sources,” “senior
officials” and “reputable newspapers” all linking the opening of
the ABSL 4 facility at the as the source of the virus outbreak.

I just think that we need to aggressively address these rumors and
presumably false accusations quickly and provide definitive, honest
information to counter misinformation. If there are weaknesses in your
program, now is the time to admit them and get them corrected.

I trust that you will take my suggestions in the spirit of one friend
trying to help another during a very difficult time.

Questions Le Duc attached for Zhiming to help prepare include:
Where is coronavirus research conducted?

* What level of biocontainment?
* How many different laboratories actually handle live virus?
* Where are coronavirus stocks stored?
* Is there an inventory record of each isolate of each coronavirus
kept? If so, are there any discrepancies between the record and actual
current inventory number (i.e., is there evidence to suggest that
virus stocks may have been stolen or used without proper record?)

Virus Stocks

* What are the coronaviruses in your possession that are most
closely related to nCoV [novel coronaviruses] based on genetic
sequences and are able to replicate in culture?
* Is anyone on your team conducting gain of function studies,
recombination studies or any other studies that may have resulted in
the creation of the nCoV?

Personnel

* How many people have access to the coronavirus stocks and
laboratory?
* Senior investigators? Junior investigators? Technical support
staff? Post-docs? Students? Animal handlers? Janitors and other
cleaning staff? Building support personnel? Others?Does the Institute
have an occupational health clinic where employees and students can go
to seek medical care? If so, was there any indication of unusual
illness similar to that seen for nCoV among Institute staff?
* Does a serum bank exist for staff and students working on
infectious agents? If yes, could a current serum and the most recent
banked sera be serologically tested for antibody to nCoV in an effort
to document seroconversion?

Geography

* Where and when were the first Wuhan (or Hubei Province) residents
infected with the nCoV first identified (hospital or clinic name/date
of earliest cases)?
* Do staff members of the Institute reside in the district serviced
by this (these) hospital/clinic(s)?
* Do staff members of the Wuhan Institute of Virology frequent the
sea food/live market first associated with the nCoV outbreak?
* Did any staff member visit the market in the weeks prior to it
being closed? If so, how many staff frequent the market? How often
would they visit the market during the period of interest?

In an April 26, 2021, email
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Ting Yuan from the Center for Infectious Disease Research
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at Westlake University in China writes to Le Duc regarding an official
appointment as “a member of Biosafety Advisory Committee” and asks
for his input “while we are building our BSL-3 labs.” Later that
day, Le Duc accepts the offer.

In an email
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dated May 6, 2019, Le Duc thanks Gale Bernabe, National Institutes of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) regional program officer for
Global Research for East/South Asia and Pacific, for taking his call
to discuss “possible funding sources for collaborative work with
China.”

Le Duc informs Bernabe about a proposal to begin work in Wuhan later
in the year.

We have already submitted a proposal and if successful we would begin
work in Wuhan later this year. My goal is to Identify a similar
funding mechanism that would allow the US side partners to receive
similar support for these collaborations. Our vision is that the work
will be conducted in true collaboration with some undertaken in the US
and some in Wuhan by investigators that are in frequent contact and
visiting each other frequently
Le Duc attaches two documents titled: “Wuhan National Biosafety
Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences Advanced Customer Cultivation
Project Call Announcement” and “Wuhan National Biosafety
Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences Advanced Customer Cultivation
Project Application Form.”

On November 25, 2019, Le Duc emails
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Zhiming, commenting on a draft manuscript titled, “China's First
Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) Laboratory for Fighting Infectious
Disease.”

Le Duc informs Zhiming that his paper was “nicely written”
concerning biocontainment labs in China, however, the paper should be
expanded “to let readers know that security is an important aspect
of your program.”

In an email
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dated January 16, 2020, Le Duc congratulates Dr. George F. Gao
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director-general of
the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), on
his leadership and China’s response to COVID-19. Le Duc includes two
articles of interest and further states:

As you might expect, we are following the evolving story on nCoV from
Wuhan very closely and we are eager to get an isolate for antiviral
testing. Dr Tseng's
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lab
here in the GNL [Galveston National Laboratory] has developed a
transgenic mouse model for SARS that is very useful and we are anxious
to see if it can be used for the nCoV [novel coronavirus] as well.
In an email
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dated January 21, 2020, Le Duc attached a draft of his _Houston
Chronicle_ op-ed
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advising the following people that it had been “slightly
modified:”

* Benjamin Rusek, National Academy of Sciences
* Dave Franz, Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases (Retired)
* Dr. Yuan Zhiming
* Dr. George F. Gao
* Mifang F Liang, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
* Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, Associate Chief Research Officer, Galveston
National Laboratory, UTMB

In an email
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dated March 20, 2020, Le Duc thanks Zhiming for his “heroic efforts
to control the epidemic in Wuhan. Your success is an inspiration to
all of us as we work to halt transmission here in the USA and in other
countries.”

Le Duc informs Zhiming that the U.S. was at the start of the
“explosion of cases in our region and over the next few weeks we
would see very high numbers of cases requiring hospitalizations and
ICU support,” and suggests that “it would be excellent if we could
identify areas for collaborations.”

In an April 29, 2020, email
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NIAID Associate Director for International Research Affairs Gray
Handley informs Le Duc of an inquiry from U.S. Embassy in Beijing,
“asking what was the official name of your DoD supported training
program and some other background information. ... Also, can you
assure these responses to their questions are accurate?”

To the question: “Did this training take place in the U.S., China,
or in both countries?” Handley writes that since 2013 the Galveston
National Laboratory was “part of the NIH Biodefense Laboratory
Network [and] provided laboratory safety and security training for
high-level biocontainment facilities in China, including the Wuhan
Institute of Virology.”

To the question: “Is this relationship still ongoing?” Handley
writes: “This relationship has been facilitated since 2015 through
an ongoing dialogue and regular collaboration meetings cosponsored by
the Chinese Academies of Science and the U.S. National Academies of
Science, Engineering and Medicine with cooperation from the Chinese
CDC and others.”

Le Duc responds to Handley: “The title for both projects was
National Biocontainment Training Center.

The Center was supported by two separate awards: W81XWH-09-2-0053
covering the period [May 22, 2009, to December 21, 2014], and
W81XWH-11-2-0148 covering the period [July 2011 to July 2016].”

In an email
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dated February 20, 2021, Zhiming responds to a “Happy New Year”
note from Le Duc:

During the last year, we all experienced the hardest time, fighting
against the virus, fighting against the rumors. The lab operated
smoothly [and] efficiently, providing a crucial platform for pathogen
identification, animal modeling, antiviral drug screening and vaccine
development, and we are very proud of the role and achievements of the
laboratory. Here, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and
your colleagues for your assistance for the safety and secure
operation of the lab.

I really hope you could come back here after the epidemic, and we
could share our understanding on lab management and infectious disease
control.
Previously, through FOIA requests and lawsuits, we have uncovered a
substantial amount of information surrounding COVID-19, including
communications of Anthony Fauci and other U.S. officials, as well as
biosafety issues here in the United States. Our findings include:

* April 2022: Records from the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP)
reveal safety lapses
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and violations at U.S. biosafety laboratories that conduct research on
dangerous agents and toxins.
* May 2022: HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and
related data for the COVID-19 vaccines show a key component of the
vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs),
were found outside the injection site
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mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals,
eight to 48 hours after injection.
* March 2022: HHS records include emails
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between National Institutes of Health (NIH) then-Director Francis
Collins
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and Anthony
Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID), about hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19.
* March 2022: HHS records show the State Department and NIAID knew
immediately in January 2020 that China was withholding COVID data
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which was
hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.
* December 2021: HHS records include a grant application for
research involving the coronavirus that appears to describe “gain of
function
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research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses,
attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically
manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
* August 2021: HHS records include an “urgent for Dr. Fauci
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email chain,
citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth
Alliance
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The government emails
also report that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked
closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for
Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help
“raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from
China on important international counsels as high-level commitment
from China.”
* July 2021: NIAID records reveal that it gave nine China-related
grants
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to
EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was
the NIH’s top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records
also include an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking
an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of
airtight suits and indoor surfaces.
* June 2021: HHS records reveal that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277
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was given to the
Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
* March 2021: HHS records show that NIH officials tailored
confidentiality forms
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to China’s terms
and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an unreleased,
“strictly confidential” COVID-19 epidemiological analysis in
January 2020.
* October 2020: Fauci emails
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include his approval of
a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel
coronavirus.

Until next week,





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