DNI Gabbard Reveals Evidence of U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Global Biolab Program | Hacker News Reader

DNI Gabbard Reveals Evidence of U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Global Biolab Program

dni.gov

32 pointsbookofjoe36 comments

I don't understand what we're supposed to be seeing here. The "new evidence" is four slides, one of which is titled "Ukraine Labs: Web of Connections to U.S. BW Defense Industry" but just has a list of logos that have nothing to do with the defense industry. The rest of the slides are related to the US funding research into dangerous diseases, which is not a secret and seems like a good thing to be doing. It also notes that Ukrainian labs are vulnerable to attacks from Russia, which seems pretty obvious.

The text of the press release also seems to have very little to do with the linked evidence.

far right and niche far left - in classic horseshoe theory form - have contingencies looking for literature on this specific thing

Specifically clandestine labs focused on bioweapons and gain of function research

The conspiracy (by definition of obscurity and secrecy, not to discredit the crusade) is that it rationalizes Putin’s actions to add a check against something that the west is too captured to do

They’ll be eating this stuff up

Gabbard is not far-left. Even when she was a Democrat she was rubbing elbows with Hindu nationalists and Steve Bannon.

you're misunderstanding if you think the appointee's affiliation is relevant

she had one job to a niche of people and catered to it

Well you're the one who brought it up...

She released this information (which had already been disclosed elsewhere) on her way out the door, so I would not assume that this release was wanted or approved by the Trump administration.

> one of which is titled "Ukraine Labs: Web of Connections to U.S. BW Defense Industry" but just has a list of logos that have nothing to do with the defense industry

The US defence industry is a very large institution with a lot of connections that aren't immediately obvious or well advertised - like the intelligence services and the major tech companies. It seems quite reasonable to take the slide at face value that these companies do in fact have things to do with the biological arm of the US defence industry.

Notice how they are focusing on Ukraine in this announcement trying to bolster Putin's propaganda narrative for invading Ukraine. This administration hates Zelensky because of some secret server that he wouldn't hand over with some kind of Hunter Biden evidence that they are willing to help Russia destroy a country and enslave it. Tulsi is a moron...along with the rest of the administration. It is all bullshit...

Just Gabbard trying to push forward Russian propaganda. We have Ukrainian super soldiers being bred in US biolabs, or we can have Ukraine using black magic to fight invasion.

The biolab conspiracy is so old, that nobody even cares.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-media-accuse-ukraine-using-...

que the Russia made her do it shills...

Bombshell - every country have biolabs. Where do you think that human fluids tests and various biopsies of tissues are being done?

Hmm. Gabbard is on the way out. Something tells me that perhaps her bosses may not be so happy about this disclosure.

Her real boss is probably thrilled.

Who is that?

The whole "biolab" thing is pretty common Russian propaganda [1]. Unsurprising to hear Gabbard parroting it yet again.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_bioweapons_conspiracy_...

Victoria Nuland linked the Ukraine labs to bio weapons during a Senate hearing, in response to a question by Rubio.

Rubio: “Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?”

Nuland: “Ukraine has biological research facilities...”

https://www.c-span.org/clip/senate-committee/senator-rubio-q...

Why would you mention the labs in connection to a question specifically about bio weapons?

From your own link:

During her testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland answers a question from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) about whether or not Ukraine has chemical or biological weapons. She replies, "Ukraine has biological research facilities, which, in fact, we are now quite concerned...Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of." She then refutes allegations from Russia that Ukrainians are plotting to use biological weapons, and says that if such an attack happens in Ukraine, "there is no doubt in my mind" it would be caused by Russian forces. --- And yes I also watched the video and it's accurate.

> Why would you mention the labs in connection to a question specifically about bio weapons?

Which situation do you think looks worse, admitting to having biological research facilities (unrelated to weaponry), or having Russians invade, take over one of said research facilities, and run with whatever story they want to justify their war?

is it really that big of a jump to connect gain of function research and bioweaponry? to be fair the world genuinely believes covid spontaneously manifested directly next to a US funded covid research site, so perhaps the gap is really that wide.

edit: clarifying that russia can still use the truth as a propaganda weapon via selective omission (in this case focusing on ukraine)

> is it really that big of a jump to connect gain of function research and bioweaponry?

Have you seen any evidence for the bio-weaponry claim?

> to be fair the world genuinely believes COVID spontaneously manifested directly next to a US funded COVID research site, so perhaps the gap is really that wide.

You would need more evidence than proximity to prove that.

my initial claim is a conceptual link, there is absolutely nothing stopping a virus research facility from being steered in any particular direction by its funding sources. my second claim is a deduction - if a virus were to evolve anywhere on earth, what are the odds that it were to have evolved directly next to a facility specifically designed to engineer that virus? my personal answer to that question leads me not to require evidence here, terrible method of argument but it is what I believe

Maybe not, but let’s hope this gets the attention it deserves and these black programs get shut down and anyone who lied about them in their testimony to Congress get what they deserve, CEOs or otherwise.

It's no huge secret that most large, modern countries are researching vaccines for these dangerous diseases. There are quite a few of these labs on U.S. soil as well last I checked. I don't get what the scandal is supposed to be about, other than ensuring the labs remain safe during the war?

yoink, just adding it to the data hoarding collection

>120 biolabs in over 30 countries

And yet the only ones listed in detail are the ones in Ukraine, huh.

Such bullshit coming from a Russian assets. This is the lady who spoke fondly of Assad, Putin, etc. This entire administration is filled with complete morons and inept people who are in positions that are well beyond their abilities. 3 more years of these morons are surely going to destroy the country. Clown show for morons....

"Gain-of-function research (GoF research or GoFR) is medical research that genetically alters an organism in a way that may enhance the biological functions of gene products. This may include an altered pathogenesis, transmissibility, or host range, i.e., the types of hosts that a microorganism can infect. This research is intended to reveal targets to better predict emerging infectious diseases and to develop vaccines and therapeutics." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gain-of-function_research)

Well vaccines are all fake, right? And we don't care about making people better, right? So clearly these labs must be terrible. Why would we want to fund more people in doing science? I mean really, what has science ever done for us?

"Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration's national security team lied to the American people about the existence of U.S.-funded and supported biolabs"

Wait. Wasn't Trump the president right before Biden? So, what was it, they opened 160 labs in 4 years? Or was Trump just clueless when they existed when he was in office?

Also, great dig on Fauci. Working as a physician, scientist, immunologist, and Director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, definitely doesn't qualify him as a health professional.

> what has science ever done for us?

Only given us the means to destroy ourselves and ruin our planet.

Gain-of-function has no demonstrated health benefit (and if you believe COVID was serial passage of a SARS variant in humanized mice, per the EcoHealth grant proposal, significant negative effect).

Facui is a bureaucrat associated with a number of scandals — and has little demonstrated competence as a medical professional. Being an administrator in a healthcare agency doesn’t make you an expert on medicine.

The problem with ragging on a famous dude is all of the documentation that disproves a half-hearted insult (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci#Career) I know you're not gonna read the page. But it says he not only practiced as a healthcare professional for years, he's also widely known in the medical community for making multiple scientific breakthroughs in medicine. He is, in fact, an expert in medicine.

The idea that gain-of-function has no demonstrated benefit is the same as saying there's no demonstrated benefit to going to the moon or mars. Science is not a business. It does not need to show you a YOY return. It's done in order to discover new information, which may have a benefit, or may not.

But in fact, Gain-of-fuction has already given us real scientific discoveries that have improved health outcomes. There are multiple of them documented here (https://web.archive.org/web/20241207202814/https://pmc.ncbi....) and a simple Google search outlines more.

Now, here's the really interesting thing. In 2014, Obama put a moratorium on Gain-of-function (https://www.science.org/content/article/us-halts-funding-new...). Then, in 2017, Trump lifted the moratorium and continued Gain-of-function funding (https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/dual-use-research/feds-lift-gain-...). So Trump's cronies are actually complaining about the program that their predecessors started up.

Two things to remember. First Tulsi Gabbard has significant Russia connections. She’s also a member of a prolific cult. She’s been protective of Russia for quite some time.

Second, the USSR had biolabs in Ukraine. Ukraine was a central hub for all their bio R&D. When the USSR collapsed these bio labs lost their funding. These bio labs contained many different pathogens and bio-weapons.

It was in the US and the worlds best interest to fund them and wind them down safely and securely.

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