The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is demanding answers from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for recent comments attributed to someone alleged to be the company’s director of Research and Development about how the COVID-19 virus and its variants may be manipulated to developing new vaccines within a laboratory setting.
“At a time when institutional trust in the pharmaceutical industry is at an all-time low, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus demands that Pfizer Inc. inform the people of Wyoming of the legitimacy of the claims in the video captured by Project Veritas,” says the letter addressed to Albert Bourla, chief executive officer and chairman of Pfizer.
‘Directed Evolution’
The Freedom Caucus also wants details about the status of Jordon Walker’s employment with Pfizer – the person in the video – and the role “directed evolution” research has played in the development of any Pfizer products.
Directed evolution is a method used in protein engineering that mimics the process of natural selection to steer proteins or nucleic acids toward a user-defined goal.
The source of these inquiries was an undercover video put out by Project Veritas on Jan. 25 claiming that Walker admitted the COVID-19 virus and its variants may be manipulated through directed evolution. Although Walker said the company was considering implementing this process, he never said it was actually happening.
Walker also mentioned that if the company moves forward with these purported plans, it would use monkeys to conduct mutation experiments, “Which I suspect is the way that the virus started in Wuhan (China).”
Nothing Confirmed
Since 2020, the U.S. government has held contracts worth several billions of dollars with Pfizer for the production of vaccines.
In the video, Walker said the company can preemptively create an effective vaccine to benefit from financially.
In a Jan. 27 statement, Pfizmer said the research was being done to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine and the antiviral medication Paxlovid against new COVID variants.
Pfizer did not confirm or deny Walker works for them.
Project Veritas is a conservative group known for recording undercover videos. It has been accused of putting together heavily edited videos to target subjects, which are usually either Democrats or journalists, but not always.
In December, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus announced its partnership with the State Freedom Caucus Network, a Washingto, D.C.-based privately funded organization.
Signing the Freedom Caucus letter, which was dated Friday, were 22 members of the Wyoming House, including 14 freshman representatives.
Medical Animosity
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing negative sentiment expressed by conservative lawmakers against the medical industry.
Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, made a reference to the “medical cartel” in one discussion Monday on the House floor, while Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, last week called the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention’s stance that wearing face masks prevents the spread of the virus is a “lie” and a “fantasy.”
Both legislators signed the Freedom Caucus letter.
On Sunday, Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, who also signed the Freedom Caucus letter, sent an email to a few constituents saying she has received numerous emails about Pfizer’s “gain-of-function” research program and pledged to never accept any campaign donations from pharmaceutical companies.
“We are living in perilous times,” she wrote. “Feel free to share this email or the letter with Park County constituents.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gain-of-function is “research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease.”
Directed evolution is defined as “the laboratory process by which biological entities with desired traits are created through iterative rounds of genetic diversification and library screening or selection.”
Walker’s comments were more aligned with directed evolution.
Calling Out Pfizer Recipients
In her email, Rodriguez-Williams also linked to a Conservative Review story listing state representatives who have received campaign donations from medical groups such as the Pfizer Political Action Committee.
Even though the story listed representatives who received money from the Wyoming Hospital Association and the Wyoming Medical PAC, Rodriguez-Williams clarified to Cowboy State Daily she only took issue with those who had received money from Pfizer.
She’s said she’s concerned, “given the climate with COVID over the last two years and everything that’s transpired with the Veritas report.”
