NIH Officials Exerted ‘Undue Influence’ in Downplaying COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory: House Report

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), holds up a model of the coronavirus as he testifies before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee looking into the budget estimates for the NIH and the state of medical research on Capitol Hill on May 26, 2021. Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP

Officials with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) exerted “undue influence” in downplaying the theory that COVID-19 was the result of a lab leak, according to a report released on July 11 by the Republican majority on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The lengthy report (pdf) is the result of the select subcommittee’s viewing more than 8,000 pages of documents, including email and Slack communications from former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, and World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Scientist Jeremy Farrar, among other top scientists.