In the early days of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci often dismissed the theory that the coronavirus came from a biological lab in China. He testified last week his reluctance was out of fear that speculation about the virus origins would "increase tensions" with China.
Fauci’s comments came during a seven-hour deposition at the center of a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana against the Biden administration. Fauci stated throughout the deposition that he was troubled by "wild speculation and allegations" that the Chinese government either deliberately or accidentally leaked the virus from a biological lab in Wuhan. He also said he was "afraid" that "blaming the Chinese" for the outbreak would "increase tensions and reduce cooperation" with Beijing to prevent future pandemics.
"There was no evidence of that at the time, and that's what I was concerned about," said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci’s reluctance to entertain the lab leak hypothesis may have slowed the United States government’s efforts to investigate the origins of the pandemic. A growing body of evidence points to a lab leak as the most likely explanation for the outbreak. Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report in October that said an accidental leak from the Wuhan lab was the "most likely" cause of the pandemic.
