New documents show US officials knew China was withholding data, trained Wuhan Institute scientists

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FIRST ON FOX: A legal watchdog organization has released 90 pages of communication records between the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Wuhan Institute of Virology on the subject of grants to the now-infamous laboratory.

Judicial Watch obtained the records, first obtained by Fox News Digital, via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The emails draw attention to records between the State Department and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), run by Dr. Anthony Fauci, that suggest U.S. officials were aware of the Chinese Communist Party withholding key information on the coronavirus before the pandemic outbreak.

"These FOIA documents show that Fauci’s agency has been hiding information on China’s failure to provide essential data on COVID-19," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News Digital. "The slow-rolling and stonewalling by Fauci’s agency on China, gain of function, and its COVID response generally is pure obstruction."

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In a Jan. 7, 2020 email sent from the American Embassy in Beijing titled "PRC Response to Pneumonia Cases Shows Increased Transparency Over Past Outbreaks, but Gaps in Epidemiological Data Remain," officials express concern that a lack of "basic epidemiologic information" was hindering risk assessment and strategic cooperation for scientists outside China.

"While [People's Republic of China (PRC)] health officials have released timely and open general information about the outbreak, a lack of epidemiological data, including an ‘epi curve’ (a summary of dates of onset of the illness), characteristics of infected individuals and other basic epidemiological information hinders better risk assessment and response by public health officials," the email stated. 

"Authorities have also not released information on how they are defining a ‘case.’ Given these gaps in detailed information to-date, and lack of a final confirmed pathogen, the risk to the United States and global health is difficult to assess at this time.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Dec. 1, 2021.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"The flow of official PRC information on this outbreak is limited to that coming from the Wuhan Health Commission and National Health Commission," the email adds. "China CDC is referring queries to the three official notices issued to-date by the Wuhan Health Commission."

The coronavirus outbreak was first documented in December 2019.

The records also show U.S. officials were working with great care with Chinese counterparts to improve and support the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab where the outbreak eventually took place.

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One cable from the American Embassy in Beijing boasts China's "considerable interest" in the Global Virome Project and international cooperation aimed at advancing worldwide research of viruses in nature, stating, "China has expressed considerable interest in becoming a leader of this nascent global effort by contributing to collaborative academic papers, hosting symposia, participating in international activities and by proposing its own associated China Virome Project."

"While the GVP will have to navigate complex issues concerning sharing of specimens and data across national borders, China's interest in the Global Virome Project, represents a positive indication that health cooperation, safeguarding global health security and advancing innovation in science remain priorities for China and presents new ground for potential U.S.-China collaboration," the cable added.

Peter Daszak and Thea Fischer, members of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19, sit in a car arriving at Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Feb. 3, 2021.  (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)

Additionally, an April 2018 cable shows NIH-supported experts directly assisted lab technicians from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in training on lab management and maintenance. 

"In addition to French assistance, experts from the NIH-supported P4 lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have trained Wuhan lab technicians in lab management and maintenance…" the cable states. "The Wuhan institute plans to invite scientists from the Galveston lab to do research in Wuhan's lab. One Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher trained for two years at the Galveston lab, and the institute also sent one scientist to U.S. CDC headquarters in Atlanta for six months' work on influenza."

The NIH did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the new documents. 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says COVID-19 vaccine booster shots provide 90% protection against hospitalization.

NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told PBS last week that while there is "substantial waning" for symptomatically recognizable disease, for severe disease at four to five months there is still about a 78% overall protection rate against hospitalization.

Fox News' Julia Musto contributed to this report.