Thread by @gdemaneuf

Important insights.

Jeffrey Sachs basically had to get rid of Daszak and anybody linked to him after he refused to disclose to him the WIV grants he was involved with.

Jeffrey had to learn about them via FOIA'd documents and via the DEFUSE leak. Very unpleasant experience.

https://twitter.com/JamieMetzl/status/1450226664064131083

“I said there was no way he could be task force chair or on the commission if he didn’t share those.”

"The other 11 people on the task force refused to remove Daszak from their ranks, but agreed to make Keusch their chair instead."

So basically he first asked Daszak to step down from any work on the origins and keep working on the epidemiology side first.

That backfired for the other Task Force members, when the details of "Understanding Risk of Zoonotic Virus Emergence in EID Hotspots of Southeast Asia” was released following FOIA by The Intercept.

Keusch and three other task force members were listed as co-investigators.

There is no excuse for not being transparent.

Keusch, who was made chair after Daszak had to step back a bit (not yet removed), objects.

But if - as he says - the grant was not an issue and should not have affected Daszak suitability, why did Daszak refuse to disclose it?

Seriously, Keusch should find some better excuses.

@threadreaderapp compile