Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) in a July 6 letter questioned Dr. James LeDuc, former director of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), about the ties between UTMB and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
Roy’s letter, which was exclusively obtained by The Epoch Times, accuses LeDuc of violating both federal and Texas state law in an agreement he signed with the WIV.
“I am writing today to seek answers to questions raised in the wake of University of Texas Medical Branch documents released under the Texas Public Information Act to the U.S. Right to Know nonprofit organization,” Roy wrote. “The documents raise important questions regarding your involvement in agreements and compromising connections with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.”
Roy said that one document signed between UTMB and the WIV “is particularly concerning.”
That document, a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU), contained a so-called “memory-hole” provision.
“The confidentiality obligation shall be applicable throughout the duration of the MoU and after it has been terminated,” the provision read. “The party is entitled to ask the other to destroy and/or return the secret files, materials and equipment without any backups.”
Roy continued: “The federal government has awarded over $2.5 billion in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plus hundreds of millions in grants and contracts from other federal agencies to UTMB. It is concerning that any public institution receiving federal government funding would enter into a cooperation agreement with an entity controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
“Further,” Roy added, “though UTMB may not be alone, it raises serious concerns that a prominent recipient of federal taxpayer dollars would enter into an agreement with any foreign entity—but especially an adversary—with such a glaring ‘memory hole’ provision that authorizes research materials and files to be destroyed upon request.
By Joseph Lord
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