You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Rudy Giuliani Slammed Dr. Fauci Over His Agency's $3.7 Million Grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology
2020-04-27
[Red State] Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke to John Catsimatidis on his radio show "The Cats Roundtable" on Sunday morning.

Rudy Giuliani criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), for his involvement in the agency’s grant of $3.7 million to the "EcoHealth Alliance to study the risk of future coronavirus (CoV) emergence from wildlife using in-depth field investigations across the human-wildlife interface in China in wet markets."

About ten days ago, Fox News’ Bret Baier reported the stunning news that officials have "increasingly high confidence" the COVID-19 pandemic originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Level 4 biological testing lab located in Wuhan, China.

Baier told Sean Hannity that his sources believe the virus was accidentally transferred from a bat to an intern working at the lab (patient zero) who unknowingly began spreading the virus into the population of Wuhan.

Here’s what Rudy had to say about the grant:
Posted by:Besoeker

#9  Fauci? Gates here. About that HCQ....
Posted by: Clem   2020-04-27 23:38  

#8  Upshot of #2 is Fauci was "just following orders." Got it.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-04-27 15:15  

#7   The way (SBIR/STTR)'s work

Thank you for explaining, 3dc. I am somewhat less annoyed with Dr. Fauci over this now.
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-04-27 12:41  

#6  St. Fauci. If you question him, the haters will be on you like fleas.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-04-27 09:19  

#5  Mr. Duff's paper reads well, B.
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-04-27 07:05  

#4  Again, due to the suspected origins of the financial piece, I doubt this story has legs. If anything comes of it, you'll undoubtedly begin hearing references or defaults to... 'research knowledge gaps.'

Posted by: Besoeker   2020-04-27 06:54  

#3  Finally catching up with Fauci? Thanks, Besoeker.
Posted by: Clem   2020-04-27 06:39  

#2  The funding level sounds like an STTR grant.
Like these STTR/SBIR ones

The way (SBIR/STTR)'s work is the Primary Investigator (PI) proposes an idea and if it is selected the PI runs with it. Now if the PI is in a US University and does work on the University property the University GRABS %60 to %80 of the grant for use fees of their property. This means if the PI has someplace else to do it that can't GRAB is grant and charges a lot less money for USE fees (rent) it's in the PI's interest to do so. Wuhan wouldn't be able to grab the grant so a PI with a good connection to the Wuhan lab could make his money go much much further!

Now as to the grants/monies themselves. Government agencies are required to spend %2 to %4 (depending on agency) of their budget on these research grants. They really don't fit in their agency game plans and most agencies hate them. Seriously! So they really don't pay too much attention where they are done or what for.

This is why I think it's a stupid waste of money! Most of these (ALL) grants would never pass a corporate Return on Investment test and don't really generate useful research that is needed. They are merely a hidden subsidy to university administrations with the PI groups actual expenditure on R&D seen as the negative by the universities.

So if the STTR was done in Wuhan the university that PI was associated with would be upset they didn't get the hidden subsidy.

Now for DOD SBIR/STTR grants it's even crazier. A major needs to get promoted so he doesn't get cut. There are 3 main ways for a major to get promoted. 1) Excel in actual combat. 2) Take part in a UN (or like) peacekeeping effort 3) Develop a new weapon (even if it doesn't fit any military plan or need)
Reason #3 is behind most military SBIR/STTR grants.
Posted by: 3dc   2020-04-27 06:02  

#1  This story will likely not gain much altitude in the media or anywhere else. I hope and pray there is absolutely no basis of fact to this Gordon Duff story.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-04-27 00:31  

00:00