Congratulations on "fueling the anti-vax movement," Paul!
The thing I love most about the 'reporting' around these issues is the fact that no one ever brings up how your article has one of the highest Altmetric scores of all time [Top 2 out of 20.6 million].
You're one of the very best journalists I've encountered these days. really solid reporting, real information, always spot on. Thank you for the work you do!
Jun 21, 2022·edited Jun 21, 2022Liked by Paul D. Thacker
I think DARPA's response is just one huge CYA! They are all scrambling to distance themselves as much as possible from "lab leak" connections or the fact that these hugely bloated agencies have failed miserably at due diligence. All roads lead back to Fauci.
As we know vaccines are safe and effective by virtue of belonging to the class of vaccines! Remarkably, it seems that the Johnson government has rejected the Labour amendment to include “health misinformation” on the On-line Harms Act (now being protested Full Fact).
DARPAs response does not make sense. As far as I can tell Peter Daszak is not affiliated with UC Davis as faculty or staff. Was he faculty then? I also saw his name show up here as well “ Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a partner in the PREDICT consortium” [1]. Therefore, they would have to pay him as a subcontractor or a Co-PI. Among the many hits on the UC Davis website we see articles like this stating, “The paper’s authors come from leading institutions of the initiative. Lead author is USAID Director Dennis Carroll. Co-authors, in addition to Mazet, include Peter Daszak from EcoHealth Alliance...”[2]
Not sure I understand your point. UC Davis is running a large program. People being funded under a university program don't need to be faculty members of that university.
It’s not clear to me how he is staff. At least in the past when I wrote proposals people were either employed with the university and could be interchanged as staff even if specific names were listed. Those who were not directly employed by the university would either be payed through a grant as a Co-Principal Investigator or a subcontractor. People can be employed through a research institute of the university and still hold a position with another company; however, that is unclear to me with Daszak. Maybe he lists this connection on his CV but it would be good to understand this mechanism; otherwise, they are lending the cover to DARPAs response.
Another way to think about this is as follows:
“Would DARPA consider a proposal by Peter Daszak’s ECO Health while he is employed by UC Davis and being paid by another DARPA grant?”
I'm still not understanding this. The UC Davis researcher at the top of the email, who seems to be in charge, is Jonna Mazet. She started a large program at Davis called One Health that receives multiple lines of funding for pandemic preparedness. https://ohi.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/people/jonna-mazet
Is she paying Peter Daszak as an employee of UC Davis or as a subcontractor?
His LOE (level of effort) is the same but his compensation went up 24%.
Compensation as an employee or as a subcontractor (consultant?).
If he is a subcontractor DARPA would have had to specifically approve paying Peter. As staff he is interchangeable and can be denied as knowingly being funded by DARPA. Getting access to the original proposal would spell all this out in terms of roles and responsibilities.
“Peter is the EHA institutional lead for the USAID PREDICT Project, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecohealth.”
That probably makes him a Co-PI. Therefore those funds from DARPA most likely have him tagged on that new grant. Unless somehow this leadership team role has him connected as an employee of UC Davis, what a racket. Note who is below him on the list.
24% pay increase for Peter Daszak. For what reason, I wonder?
I also noticed that because of a "medical condition", Peter Daszak also has permission from NIH/NIAID to travel in business class. Because of this, air travel for one trip to Asia for Daszak costs something like $10,000.
By comparison, almost no other government funded researchers or employees ever travel in business class.
Great digging! FYI, the NIH grant to EcoH was technically paused, not cancelled. They cancelled it at first in 2020, but probably because they were on shaky ground legally, quickly reinstated the grant, and officially paused it until EcoH could meet certain conditions—like getting info from WIV-which EcoH says will be impossible. Then, as you note, Fauci turned around and gave EcoH another big grant summer of 2020, basically giving Trump the bird. DOD also kicked off a big new grant to them around the same time. Lots of govt groups wanted to keep funding these guys, always curious why…
One thought on DARPA’s answer: “nor indirectly as a subcontractor” is pretty specific. Little word gymnastics, maybe? Is a subawardee the same as a subcontractor? Maybe ask em, “At any time was EcoH or any of its employees a recipient of DARPA funds, directly or indirectly?” Thanks again for digging!
Well, DOD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) doesn’t deny funding EcoHealth. They’ve given them $38.6 million since FY2008, recently funding the group out of the “weapons of mass destruction” DTRA account. DOD, as a whole, has given $42.9 million to EcoH over the same time period. Bats didn’t used to be weapons of mass destruction, until COVID-19… (Source: type “EcoHealth Alliance” as keyword into award search at www.usaspending.gov)
Congrats on being shortlisted, well deserved!
Congratulations on "fueling the anti-vax movement," Paul!
The thing I love most about the 'reporting' around these issues is the fact that no one ever brings up how your article has one of the highest Altmetric scores of all time [Top 2 out of 20.6 million].
That article surpassed the top score for the year prior, 2020, within 2 weeks. And that top 2020 score was for the Proximal Origins paper. : )
Keep up the good work, Paul!
Thanks & great news on the short list.
You're one of the very best journalists I've encountered these days. really solid reporting, real information, always spot on. Thank you for the work you do!
Thanks! Please keep reading.
I think DARPA's response is just one huge CYA! They are all scrambling to distance themselves as much as possible from "lab leak" connections or the fact that these hugely bloated agencies have failed miserably at due diligence. All roads lead back to Fauci.
Great interview Paul, you came across really well. Anti journalism reporters, that's a new one.
Your message really resonates with me, hopefully more people will start to listen.
Congratulations Paul - oh those bad anti-vax people!
https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3099/rr-5
As we know vaccines are safe and effective by virtue of belonging to the class of vaccines! Remarkably, it seems that the Johnson government has rejected the Labour amendment to include “health misinformation” on the On-line Harms Act (now being protested Full Fact).
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/20/big-tech-censorship-website-full-fact-lobbies-mps-to-include-health-misinformation-in-online-safety-bill/
If you get the award it will be the biggest sea-change in history.
DARPAs response does not make sense. As far as I can tell Peter Daszak is not affiliated with UC Davis as faculty or staff. Was he faculty then? I also saw his name show up here as well “ Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a partner in the PREDICT consortium” [1]. Therefore, they would have to pay him as a subcontractor or a Co-PI. Among the many hits on the UC Davis website we see articles like this stating, “The paper’s authors come from leading institutions of the initiative. Lead author is USAID Director Dennis Carroll. Co-authors, in addition to Mazet, include Peter Daszak from EcoHealth Alliance...”[2]
1. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-awarded-100-million-lead-program-predict-and-prevent-pandemic-threats
2. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/ambitious-global-virome-project-could-mark-end-pandemic-era-2
Not sure I understand your point. UC Davis is running a large program. People being funded under a university program don't need to be faculty members of that university.
It’s not clear to me how he is staff. At least in the past when I wrote proposals people were either employed with the university and could be interchanged as staff even if specific names were listed. Those who were not directly employed by the university would either be payed through a grant as a Co-Principal Investigator or a subcontractor. People can be employed through a research institute of the university and still hold a position with another company; however, that is unclear to me with Daszak. Maybe he lists this connection on his CV but it would be good to understand this mechanism; otherwise, they are lending the cover to DARPAs response.
Another way to think about this is as follows:
“Would DARPA consider a proposal by Peter Daszak’s ECO Health while he is employed by UC Davis and being paid by another DARPA grant?”
I'm still not understanding this. The UC Davis researcher at the top of the email, who seems to be in charge, is Jonna Mazet. She started a large program at Davis called One Health that receives multiple lines of funding for pandemic preparedness. https://ohi.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/people/jonna-mazet
Is she paying Peter Daszak as an employee of UC Davis or as a subcontractor?
His LOE (level of effort) is the same but his compensation went up 24%.
Compensation as an employee or as a subcontractor (consultant?).
If he is a subcontractor DARPA would have had to specifically approve paying Peter. As staff he is interchangeable and can be denied as knowingly being funded by DARPA. Getting access to the original proposal would spell all this out in terms of roles and responsibilities.
Here is how we connect Peter Daszak to PREDICT.
“Peter is the EHA institutional lead for the USAID PREDICT Project, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecohealth.”
That probably makes him a Co-PI. Therefore those funds from DARPA most likely have him tagged on that new grant. Unless somehow this leadership team role has him connected as an employee of UC Davis, what a racket. Note who is below him on the list.
https://www.globalviromeproject.org/leadership-team
More evidence that cognitive dissonance is forcing us into a reality paradox, where truth does not matter.
24% pay increase for Peter Daszak. For what reason, I wonder?
I also noticed that because of a "medical condition", Peter Daszak also has permission from NIH/NIAID to travel in business class. Because of this, air travel for one trip to Asia for Daszak costs something like $10,000.
By comparison, almost no other government funded researchers or employees ever travel in business class.
Great digging! FYI, the NIH grant to EcoH was technically paused, not cancelled. They cancelled it at first in 2020, but probably because they were on shaky ground legally, quickly reinstated the grant, and officially paused it until EcoH could meet certain conditions—like getting info from WIV-which EcoH says will be impossible. Then, as you note, Fauci turned around and gave EcoH another big grant summer of 2020, basically giving Trump the bird. DOD also kicked off a big new grant to them around the same time. Lots of govt groups wanted to keep funding these guys, always curious why…
One thought on DARPA’s answer: “nor indirectly as a subcontractor” is pretty specific. Little word gymnastics, maybe? Is a subawardee the same as a subcontractor? Maybe ask em, “At any time was EcoH or any of its employees a recipient of DARPA funds, directly or indirectly?” Thanks again for digging!
I don't understand DARPA's response. That's all I can say.
Well, DOD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) doesn’t deny funding EcoHealth. They’ve given them $38.6 million since FY2008, recently funding the group out of the “weapons of mass destruction” DTRA account. DOD, as a whole, has given $42.9 million to EcoH over the same time period. Bats didn’t used to be weapons of mass destruction, until COVID-19… (Source: type “EcoHealth Alliance” as keyword into award search at www.usaspending.gov)