You guys know me well enough by now to know that I believe if you have nothing to hide, you turn it all over and let your detractors get egg on their faces.
So, I cannot help but wonder what the National Institutes of Health is hiding.
In an FOIA request, the agency turned over documents virtually completely blacked out.
What Are They Hiding?
So, let me ask you a question…
If you wanted to end misinformation, you put out the right information and make it available to as many people as possible, right?
Yet, hiding the information is exactly the reason the NIH says it is battling misinformation.
I wish this was a joke, but it’s not.
NIH FOIA officer Gorka Garcia-Malene stated, “Exemption 6 mandates the withholding of information that if disclosed ‘would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’ 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6). Exemption 6 was applied here due to the heightened public scrutiny with anything remotely related to COVID-19.”
He continued that the documents needed to be heavily redacted “because of the amount of misinformation surrounding the pandemic and its origins.
“If released, this type of information could be used by the public to send threatening and harassing messages.”
Independent journalist Paul Thacker did not buy into the logic…
Seriously, NIH is arguing in court that because there is so much misinformation about how the pandemic began, they can’t release facts that might clear up misinformation about how the pandemic began https://t.co/Nfk6bEedLA /6
— Paul D. Thacker (@thackerpd) July 26, 2022
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) knows something is up and he cannot wait to get his hands on this information.
He stated, “NIH has repeatedly disregarded its responsibilities under FOIA and the American people’s right to agency records.
“For almost two years, public interest groups and media organizations have been forced to engage in protracted litigation to obtain documents related to NIH’s involvement in COVID-19.
“The records NIH has produced have been heavily redacted.
“Of particular concern is NIH’s recent admission in Court that the agency is withholding portions of emails between employees because they ‘could be used out of context to serve and amplify the already prevalent misinformation regarding the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.’
“This suggests NIH is censoring the information it releases to the public about the origins of the pandemic.'”
Boy is it going to be fun when the GOP takes back control of Congress.
Source: The Blaze
