Transcript segment

Baric Transcribed Interview (Redacted), p.50 · baric_ti:utt:00381

Date: 2026-04-10 09:00 (day precision)
Type: transcript segment · interview
recipient: Christina Salazar, Harry Kazenoff, David T. Lambeth III, William Henderson, Clark Ervin, Jake Greenberg
speaker: Ralph S. Baric
Topics: EcoHealth Alliance funding and grants Gates Foundation involvement

I don't know what was in this grant. My guess is that USAID paid for surveillance work that picked up samples that ultimately were used with, you know, in terms of sequence discovery and that sort of thing that we used, and they wanted to acknowledge the fact that the discovery portion of the grant, that that contributed to the discovery portion of the grant. But again, this is not my grant, and it's not in the RO1 that they had with Daszak and Shi were not my grant, so I don't know the intricacies of what was in each and why they felt it was appropriate.

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2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open

Not that I know of.
2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open

Okay. Was it an attempt conceal the USAID funding?
2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open

I don't know why I would have any interest in doing that.
2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open

Okay. Was that the only USAID -- I mean, part of this is it's hard for us to understand, too, because it seems like there are different funding streams that all contribute, for very different work, and, you know, I don't know if you're familiar with my boss's questions to Samantha Power on this, but he asked her if USAID funding had ever -- let's see, I have it here. I don't want to misstate it -- I mean, he said, "Does USAID fund gain-of-function research? We have no evidence that USAID has funded gain-of-function research, and we certainly have not authorized gain-of-function research." Then Senator Paul talked about the paper, and her response was that she just said, unequivocally, that USAID has not authorized gain-of-function research. Do you agree with DC.Scheduling@LexitasLegal.com her statement?
2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric

I don't know what was in this grant. My guess is that USAID paid for surveillance work that picked up samples that ultimately were used with, you know, in terms of sequence discovery and that sort of thing that we used, and they wanted to acknowledge the fact that the discovery portion of the grant, that that contributed to the discovery portion of the grant. But again, this is not my grant, and it's not in the RO1 that they had with Daszak and Shi were not my grant, so I don't know the intricacies of what was in each and why they felt it was appropriate.
2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open

In the paper there is a section that makes it clear that the work was done prior to the pause. Is that right?
2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open

Prior to what?
2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open

Prior to the pause.
2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open

Yes, that's correct.

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