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Slack / Private Message Drop, pp.680-681 · slack_pm:msg:07134

Page text: p.680, p.681 · original PDF

Date
2021-04-05 20:02 (hour precision)
Type
chat message · slack
recipient
Kristian G. Andersen, Robert F. Garry, Andrew Rambaut
speaker
Edward C. Holmes
Topics
Natural origin / zoonotic spillover

Recipients on this medium are inferred from channel membership, not per-message addressing.

"The other bigger market owned by the family that owns Huanan is interesting. I've been out there three times now. There are security guards at the office doors and all over the market. I was able to get in once and speak with a fewvendors who had moved there from Huanan, but they didn't want to say much since I'm American. Had you ever heard about the Huanan owner at all? He's basically known as a "respected thug" or "big brother" and has a lot of friends in high places in Wuhan. I've been investigating the 60 or so companies his family owns.The parents of the first known case went to a wet market, but so far I've not seen the name of this place mentioned. There were of course a bunch of other cases around that time that weren't counted because they were never tested, but likely Covid. Daszak mentioned this place in a couple interviews, but apparently they weren't told the name...*Soplease keep this to yourself for now.* He is/was a major, major gambler. I've got court documents from a case inAustralia where he tried to sue a casino there since he lost so much several years back.My big question now is whether he has ties to some of these Laos/Myanmar/Cambodia border zones where there'sso much gambling and other illicit activity, including heavy wildlife trafficking. Know anyone expert in the activities inthose zones?If it was pangolins infected by bats, there are lots of these little "holding pens" on the pangolin underground railroadin China, often mixed in with other wildlife breeding. Was at one in Guangdong a couple years back where they had some, but apparently had just moved them a week or so before we got there. Everyone around that we spoke with knew they kept pangolins there.

Extracted statements

Rule-extracted, not adjudicated. The grade says what may be done with each one; read the document above before relying on any of them.

StatementGradeAttributionStance
"The other bigger market owned by the family that owns Huanan is interesting. quoted / not their view quoted_external inside quotation marks asserts
I was able to get in once and speak with a fewvendors who had moved there from Huanan, but they didn't want to say much since I'm American. quoted / not their view quoted_external inside quotation marks asserts
Had you ever heard about the Huanan owner at all? quoted / not their view quoted_external inside quotation marks questions
Know anyone expert in the activities inthose zones?If it was pangolins infected by bats, there are lots of these little "holding pens" on the pangolin underground railroadin China, often mixed in with other wildlife breeding. quoted / not their view quoted_external inside quotation marks questions
Everyone around that we spoke with knew they kept pangolins there. own voice, substantive speaker_own asserts

In context

A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.

  1. 2021-04-05 20:02 Edward C. Holmes open
    Hoping to get some journos to dig into this.
  2. 2021-04-05 20:02 Kristian G. Andersen open
    Yeah, that's what we need - also, anonymous interviews with people who might have been at the market in November/December.
  3. 2021-04-05 20:02 Edward C. Holmes open
    Totally. The whole WIV thing is a distraction from the real story.
  4. 2021-04-05 20:02 Edward C. Holmes open
    More confidential stuff from this journo. All very curious:
  5. 2021-04-05 20:02 Edward C. Holmes
    "The other bigger market owned by the family that owns Huanan is interesting. I've been out there three times now. There are security guards at the office doors and all over the market. I was able to get in once and speak with a fewvendors who had moved there from Huanan, but they didn't want to say much since I'm American. Had you ever heard about the Huanan owner at all? He's basically known as a "respected thug" or "big brother" and has a lot of friends in high places in Wuhan. I've been investigating the 60 or so companies his family owns.The parents of the first known case went to a wet market, but so far I've not seen the name of this place mentioned. There were of course a bunch of other cases around that time that weren't counted because they were never tested, but likely Covid. Daszak mentioned this place in a couple interviews, but apparently they weren't told the name...*Soplease keep this to yourself for now.* He is/was a major, major gambler. I've got court documents from a case inAustralia where he tried to sue a casino there since he lost so much several years back.My big question now is whether he has ties to some of these Laos/Myanmar/Cambodia border zones where there'sso much gambling and other illicit activity, including heavy wildlife trafficking. Know anyone expert in the activities inthose zones?If it was pangolins infected by bats, there are lots of these little "holding pens" on the pangolin underground railroadin China, often mixed in with other wildlife breeding. Was at one in Guangdong a couple years back where they had some, but apparently had just moved them a week or so before we got there. Everyone around that we spoke with knew they kept pangolins there.

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