Senator Rand Paul has formally requested Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to provide all files related to the Pentagon’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) that funded pathogen research in China. This request follows a damning Defense Department report revealing the agency lost track of millions of taxpayer dollars sent to China.

A prominent Republican, Paul is demanding the Pentagon explain why it attempted to conceal the allocation of taxpayer dollars for risky virus research in China. The Defense Department’s inability to account for these funds has raised significant concerns about national security and governmental oversight.

A new report from the Defense Department has exposed a startling lack of accountability, with millions of taxpayer dollars sent to China for pathogen research being untraceable. This revelation has prompted Senator Paul to seek clarity from Secretary Austin on the exact usage and oversight of these funds.

“It is unacceptable that DoD cannot account for the full extent of taxpayer funding it has spent on pandemic pathogen research at Chinese research laboratories,” Paul wrote to Austin. The senator has been investigating the origins of COVID-19 for years and is now scrutinizing the Pentagon’s role in funding virus research abroad.

Senator Paul has long been a vocal critic of former White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, particularly regarding Fauci’s handling of COVID-19 and related research policies. Paul’s current focus extends to examining the Pentagon’s involvement in financing potentially dangerous research in China, which includes activities similar to those conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“This lack of oversight represents a significant gap in our national security and undermines public trust in the DoD,” Paul emphasized. His scrutiny includes the Pentagon’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and their funding of pathogen research.

Senator Paul has previously highlighted issues of transparency and accountability within government health agencies. He has accused Dr. Fauci of obfuscating the origins of COVID-19 and called for his prosecution over alleged dishonesty regarding gain-of-function research funding.

“The most important information is the NIH deliberation over what is, what is not gain-of-function,” Paul told DailyMail.com. He argues that these documents will reveal whether Fauci lied to Congress about overseeing the dangerous research method, a claim Fauci has consistently denied.

The revelation of the Pentagon’s financial mismanagement and Senator Paul’s ongoing investigation underline the broader issues of trust and transparency within U.S. public health and defense institutions. Paul asserts that public health officials have lost credibility, appearing more as advocates for pharmaceutical interests rather than objective scientists.

“We have public health officials that appear to be more salesmen for Big Pharma than they do objective scientists, and that still is a problem,” Paul stated. He believes this has led to increased public distrust in government statements and actions.

As Paul continues his quest for transparency, the outcome of this investigation could have far-reaching implications for U.S. policies on foreign research funding and the overall trust in governmental oversight.

Toxic chemicals released during fires following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio last year spread to 16 states and likely Canada, according to a study released Wednesday.

The pollution, some of which came from the burning of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, spread over 540,000 square miles, showing clearly that “the impacts of the fire were larger in scale and scope than the initial predictions,” the authors of the study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found.

Lead author David Gay, coordinator of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, said that he was very surprised by the way the chemicals had spread. “I didn’t expect to see an impact this far out,” he told The Washington Post.

Gay said the results did not mean “death and destruction,” as concentrations were low on an absolute scale—”not melting steel or eating paint off buildings”—but that they were still “very extreme” compared to normal, with measurements higher than recorded in the previous ten years.

“I think we should be concerned,” Juliane Beier, an expert on vinyl chloride effects who didn’t take part in the study, told the Post, citing the possibility of long-term environmental impacts on communities.

A Norfolk Southern train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio, a village near the Pennsylvania border and the Appalachian foothills, on February 3, 2023. Dozens of train cars derailed, at least 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials, some of which caught fire after the accident and burned for days. Fearing a large-scale explosion, authorities drained the vinyl chloride from five cars into a trench and set it alight in a controlled burn.

A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official later said that the controlled burn went against EPA rules; the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said the deliberate burning was unnecessary.

The local impact of the fires was felt acutely in the month after the accident—a “potent chemical odor hung in the air for weeks,” according to The Guardian, and people reported nausea, rashes, and headaches.

The new study helps explain the wider environmental impact. The researchers looked at inorganic compound samples in rain and snow at 260 sites. The highest levels of chloride were found in northern Pennsylvania and near the Canada-New York border, which was downwind from the accident.

The authors also found “exceptionally high” pH levels in rain as far away as northern Maine. They did not look at organic compounds such as dioxin or PFAS, which likely also spread following the accident, The Guardian reported. The elevated inorganic chemical levels dropped two to three weeks after the accident.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in damages following two settlements reached in recent months. In April, the company reached a $600 million deal with class action plaintiffs living within 20 miles of the derailment site. That deal won’t be finalized until the residents officially agree. In May, the company reached a separate $310 million settlement with the federal government. The company has said that it has already spent $107 million on community support and removed the impacted soil.

Norfolk Southern makes billions in profits every year, and the company gave its CEO a 37% pay hike last year, drawing widespread criticism. The company also spent $2.3 million on federal lobbying last year, according to OpenSecrets data reported by Roll Call.

Link to study

Recently obtained internal documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during litigation between America First Legal (AFL) and the Biden Administration reveal contentious discussions within the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group.” These documents, part of AFL’s #DeepStateDiaries series, uncover the group’s consideration of Trump supporters as potential domestic extremists.

The documents, released in phases, highlight discussions within the DHS intelligence group about expanding DHS’s influence in local communities under seemingly benign initiatives. AFL’s earlier release focused on proposals suggesting increased reporting from teachers and parents regarding their children, sparking concerns about privacy and civil liberties.

Today’s release centers on criteria used by the Biden Administration to identify potential domestic violent extremists. According to the documents, individuals who support former President Trump, have military backgrounds, or espouse religious beliefs are flagged as having “indicators of extremists and terrorism.” The Brennan-Clapper committee within DHS reportedly emphasized these factors as grounds for heightened surveillance and monitoring.

The documents further assert that a significant portion of the domestic terrorism threat originates from supporters of the former president, highlighting a shift in the perceived sources of security risks.

These revelations have raised considerable debate about the potential implications for civil liberties and constitutional rights, prompting calls for transparency and oversight in DHS practices related to domestic extremism.

As AFL continues to release additional documents, the ongoing scrutiny and discourse around these issues are likely to intensify, shaping future discussions on national security and civil liberties in the United States.

For further updates and detailed information on the released documents, visit America First Legal’s website.