Staff Reports
The swamp is fighting back harder than ever. Just when it seemed that America might finally cut loose the toxic ties to the reckless virology experiments that helped spark the COVID nightmare, the Biden-era bureaucracy pulls a fast one. The very man who revived a 1918 flu virus from a frozen corpse—a grotesque example of dangerous “gain-of-function” research—is now running the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the agency once overseen by Anthony Fauci. His appointment is a slap in the face to every American who wanted science to serve public safety, not risky experiments that flirt with disaster.
Jeffrey Taubenberger isn’t just some quiet scientist. He’s a lifelong defender of gain-of-function virology—the kind of research that tinkers with viruses to make them deadlier or more contagious. This is exactly the kind of reckless science President Trump’s administration moved to stop. Yet here we are, with Taubenberger suddenly in charge of a $6.6 billion federal agency, right as the White House claims it wants to clamp down on this exact kind of work. It’s the classic Washington double talk: say one thing, do the exact opposite.
.@SecKennedy tells the story of how America came to fund Gain-of-Function research in Wuhan: "In all of the history of Gain-of-Function research, we cannot point to a single good thing that has come of it." pic.twitter.com/D3mgDNYRyP
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 5, 2025
What’s worse, just days after Taubenberger took over, the government announced a half-billion-dollar investment into a vaccine platform that he co-invented. The potential for conflicts of interest here is staggering. Taxpayer dollars are funneled into a project where the lead scientist might personally profit if it succeeds. Meanwhile, so-called “firewalls” that are supposed to prevent cozy backroom deals remain sketchy at best. The stench of insider dealing and unchecked bureaucratic power reeks of the same elite corruption that turned America’s health agencies into globalist playgrounds.
This appointment also signals to hostile foreign powers that dangerous gain-of-function research has America’s blessing. It sends the message that reviving ancient, sometimes extinct viruses—stuff so deadly it wiped out tens of millions in 1918—is not only acceptable but applauded. That “archaeovirology” nonsense belongs in history books, not modern-day labs with taxpayer funding. The arrogance of these elites, continuing with this lunacy after the world witnessed a global pandemic likely linked to lab experiments, is utterly reckless and unforgivable.
Despite the executive order aimed at banning dangerous gain-of-function research, this move exposes how little real change is happening inside America’s largest health agencies. Trusting Biden’s team to “drain the swamp” is like trusting wolves to guard the henhouse. When your leaders still promote and protect the very science that most likely set the pandemic in motion, who’s left to stand up for the American people? Taubenberger’s elevation screams one thing loud and clear: Washington’s old guard remains firmly in control, and the taxpayer isn’t in charge of their own government’s safety anymore.
Is it any wonder Americans have lost faith in big government science? With characters like Taubenberger running the show, we can expect more cover-ups, more reckless experiments, and more taxpayer dollars lining the pockets of a privileged few. If this is the new “renegade” leadership, it’s clear the swamp isn’t draining—it’s doubling down. How long before the next lab disaster breaks loose? And how many more excuses will these elites feed us before we demand real accountability?
