Files obtained by U.S. Right to Know show that the Wuhan Lab has a “memorandum of understanding” with its U.S. partner, Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, to destroy “secret files, materials and equipment” upon request by Wuhan.
The Houston Chronicle said Dr. James Le Duc, director of the Galveston lab, “signed the nine-page memorandum of understanding, which lays out the terms of collaborative efforts with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in 2017. The two research labs, which study some of the most dangerous pathogens in the world, have had a relationship since 2013 and announced a formal cooperative agreement in 2018.”
While the university denies ever actually destroying records connected to the Wuhan Lab, “Lawyers say the memo’s broad language raises legal questions about UTMB’s record-keeping methods, though the university denies destroying any records as part of the agreement,” the Chronicle said.
Curiously, in 2009 Le Duc supported a bill that would have made it more difficult for entities like U.S. Right to Know to file Freedom of Information Act and other open records requests of his lab. The hotly contested bill raced through a state Senate committee on three readings, but only after rules for the third reading were suspended. The bill didn’t make it to the full Senate, however, so it died without actually progressing to the full Senate.
SOURCES:
Houston Chronicle April 21, 2022
Texas Observer May 15, 2009
Texas.gov May 2009
KHOU 11 October 22, 2009