Thread by @KatherineEban

BREAKING: my months-long @VanityFair investigation on #COVID19 origins is live. Interviews w/ over 40 people, review of hundreds of pgs. of U.S. gov't docs. incl. internal memos, meeting minutes, email correspondence, found.... vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/t… /1

Conflicts of interest, in part from large US gov't grants supporting controversial virology research, known as "gain-of-function," hampered U.S. gov't investigation into #COVID19 origins, and legit. questions on #LabLeak hypothesis, at every step. /2

In a 12/9/20 @StateDept meeting, officials say they were explicitly told by colleagues not to explore Wuhan Institute of Virology’s gain-of-function research, because it would bring unwelcome att'n to U.S. gov't funding of it. /3

In internal memo, Thomas DiNanno, then acting ass't secretary of @StateDept Arms Control, Verification, Compliance bureau documented his team was "warned...“not to pursue an investigation into the origin of COVID-19” because it would “‘open a can of worms’ if it continued.” /4

Four former State Dep't officials told @VanityFair they were repeatedly advised not to open a "Pandora's box." DiNanno said: “smelled like a cover-up, and I wasn’t going to be part of it.” /5

How much U.S. taxpayer $$ went to Wuhan Institute of Virology? On her CV, a lead researcher Shi Zhengli listed U.S. gov't support of more than $1.2 million over 5 years: $665,000 from @NIH; $559,500 from @USAID. /6

Former @CDCgov director @redfield_dr got death threats from fellow scientists after telling CNN he believed #COVID19 had lab origin. “I was threatened and ostracized because I proposed another hypothesis,” Redfield told @VanityFair. /7

Personal note: reporting this story has been like an Escher drawing. Each time I thought I'd gotten to top of the staircase, it turned again. Had to peel away conspiracy theories/racist insinuations from legit. concerns, of which there are many. /8

Many experts, quoted and unquoted, gave me valuable input. Grateful to time spent by @mlipsitch @R_H_Ebright @jbloom_lab @Ayjchan @K_G_Andersen @DavidRelman @gdemaneuf @JamieMetzl @StevenQuay @canardbruno @DecrolyE Dr. James LeDuc & more. /9

An amazing @VanityFair crew worked countless hours to land this story.🙏to my fabulous editor @mike_hogan, tireless fact checkers Brendan Barr & Dale Brauner, @lili_pike for terrific reporting & impeccable Chinese translation, @radhikajones for green light & more. /10

Lastly, if you're reading this thread, and have real info re. COVID origins, Wuhan Institute of Virology, etc., please DM me for Signal. /End