Tag Archive for: Covid-19

Scientist Tied To Wuhan Lab Now Using Taxpayer Cash To Do Bat Ebola Experiments In America, Watchdog Finds

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A group of scientists tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) are now using taxpayer cash to import bats and perform Ebola experiments in the U.S., the Daily Caller has learned.

According to a Daily Mail report, a new lab, funded by U.S. taxpayers, is being built in Colorado that will import bats from around the world to experiment on dangerous diseases. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) granted Colorado State University (CSU) $6.7 million to build a new bat lab in partnership with EcoHealth Alliance (EHA). This is despite House and Senate Republicans calling on the NIH to terminate federal funding to EcoHealth, which has for years funneled taxpayer money to the WIV.

The Caller has also learned that in late September 2023, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) gave CSU and EHA another $1.7M towards the establishment of the CSU breeding facility and construction of the bat lab.

Greg Ebel, a CSU virologist and project leader for the bat research facility said in July: “This isn’t a bat COVID lab. It’s not a bioweapons lab. We’re not working with Ebola or Nipah virus or any of these things. I’m not interested in losing my job or going to jail or interested in doing research that’s going to carry home pathogens to my wife or my child. Those kinds of things are beyond ridiculous.”

However, the project description for the September 2023 NIH grant for the CSU/EHA bat lab states the bat lab would be used specifically to study those pathogens. The grant was uncovered by White Coat Waste Project (WCW), a taxpayer watchdog organization, and shared first with the Daily Caller.

“We will capture horseshoe bats and Indian flying foxes, respective reservoir hosts of Nipah virus and SARS-related coronaviruses, in Bangladesh where they will be quarantined and provided veterinary care as they adapt to captivity. Bats will be shipped to CSU to establish the breeding colonies as a resource for investigators who study these viruses… Finally, we will perform experimental infection studies of Nipah virus, SARS-CoV-2 and the SARS-related coronavirus, RaTG13,” the description states.

Another document obtained by WCW from a 2022 CSU Board of Governors meeting shows that CSU will be doing Ebola experiments on these bats in conjunction with NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Lab.

READ THE PDF HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

Click here to read the Daily Caller Obtained Benefits of the Project.

The new project has lawmakers who have called to prohibit federal funding to EHA concerned.

“The world just lived through a once-in-a-century pandemic, likely caused by a lab leak involving risky research on bat coronaviruses, funded in part by NIH. Instead of pausing to reflect on this, NIH continues sponsoring similar experiments on bat coronaviruses—with some of the same mad scientists who collaborated with China’s Wuhan Institute — right here in America! You would have to be blind as a bat to think this is a good idea. NIH needs to take a timeout from funding these batty studies before history repeats itself,” Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst told the Caller.

In 2022, Ernst introduced legislation that would prohibit federal funding to EcoHealth Alliance. The bill stipulates that “[n]o funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law may be made available for any purpose to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc, including any subsidiaries and related organizations that are directly controlled by EcoHealth Alliance, Inc.”

“Experts agree that COVID was caused by Dr. Fauci’s bat coronavirus experiments in Wuhan and we can’t let the NIH ramp up this risky and unnecessary animal research on our shores. I’m leading efforts to make sure Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars aren’t flowing to EcoHealth Alliance and gain-of-function research that can lead to a pandemic or be exploited for a bioterrorist attack,” Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube told the Caller.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as a director of NIAID, has repeatedly testified to Congress that the U.S. government has not funded gain-of-function research at the WIV, from which proponents of the lab-leak theory believe COVID-19 escaped. The WIV received U.S. taxpayer dollars via a NIAID sub-grant to EcoHealth Alliance.

EHA provided $600,000 in the form of NIH subgrants to the Wuhan lab between 2014 and 2019 to study bat-based coronaviruses.

“After what we exposed in Wuhan, giving the disgraced EcoHealth Alliance and its cronies millions more of our tax money to traffic infected wild bats from Asia to US animal labs for dangerous virus experiments is a recipe for disaster.  We first uncovered how EcoHealth and Fauci shipped tax dollars to the Wuhan lab for reckless bat virus-hunting and gain-of-function experiments that violated federal policy and that the FBI and others believe caused COVID.  Now, we’ve documented how boneheaded bureaucrats at the NIH, Pentagon and other federal agencies are bankrolling another EcoHealth bat lab that risks prompting a pandemic right here at home,” Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President of the White Coat Waste Project told the Caller.

“We’re working with Congress right now to curtail wasteful government spending on virus-hunting and animal experiments by EcoHealth and others that can cause lab leaks and create bioweapons. The solution is simple. Stop the money. Stop the madness,” Goodman added.

The Caller contacted NIH and NIAID about the lab and plans for experiments to which they did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLES:

‘Misled The American Public’ — House Republicans Press Fauci Over Gain-Of-Function Research

House, Senate Republicans Demand Agencies Terminate Grant Funding To EcoHealth

As Lab Leak Theory Leaves The Realm Of Fringe Conspiracy, Republicans Consider Next Steps

Sen. Joni Ernst Introduces Legislation To Prohibit Federal Funding To EcoHealth Alliance

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

CIA Gave Financial Rewards To Six Analysts Who Covered Up Lab Leak Investigation, Whistleblower Alleges

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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave six analysts financial rewards for changing their position on the lab leak coronavirus origin theory, according to whistleblower testimony released by House investigators.

The House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic wrote letters Tuesday to CIA Director William Burns and former CIA Chief Operating Officer Andrew Makridis outlining whistleblower testimony accusing the CIA of giving monetary incentives to six agents on its Covid Discovery Team to change their position on the lab leak hypothesis. According to the lawmakers, the whistleblower is a “multi-decade, senior-level, current Agency officer.”

“According to the whistleblower, the Agency assigned seven officers to a COVID Discovery Team (Team). The Team consisted of multi-disciplinary and experienced officers with significant scientific expertise. According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the Team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” the letter to Burns reads.

“The whistleblower further contends that to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position,” the letter adds.

House investigators are requesting Burns turn over all documents and communications related to the Covid Team and the origins of the coronavirus, including its correspondence with relevant federal agencies and the team’s pay history. Burns has until Sept. 26, 2023 to respond to the subcommittee’s request. Likewise, the subcommittee is asking Makridis to participate in a transcribed interview on Sept. 26 because of the “central role” he played in forming the Covid Team.

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic published a report in July accusing former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci of orchestrating a campaign to discredit the lab leak theory at the beginning of the covid pandemic. Assessments from the FBI and Department of Energy have concluded covid most likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China where coronaviruses were being researched.

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fauci-Influenced Covid-19 Paper To ‘Disprove’ Lab Leak Theory Faces Growing Calls For Retraction

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Largest organization of OB-GYNs in America accepted $11 million from HHS to promote COVID-19 vaccines to PREGNANT WOMEN

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Demons.

Largest organization of OB-GYNs in America accepted $11 million from HHS to promote COVID-19 vaccines to PREGNANT WOMEN

Largest organization of OB-GYNs in America accepted $11 million from HHS to promote COVID-19 vaccines to PREGNANT WOMEN

By Arsenio Toledo, CDC News, August 23, 2023:

Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests reveal that the main professional organization of obstetricians and gynecologists (OB-GYNs) in the United States accepted over $11 million in taxpayer money to promote the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines and claim that they are safe for pregnant women and their unborn children.

This is according to fetal-maternal medicine specialist Dr. James Thorp, who conducted an investigation into the massive damage the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines are doing to women, especially to those who are pregnant and their unborn children.

In an interview with COVID-19 vaccine expert and Big Pharma critic Dr. Naomi Wolf, Thorp laid out how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created what he called a “covenant of death” with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) – the largest professional organization for OB-GYNs in the United States and the rest of the Americas – in exchange for $11 million.

“What’s in this covenant of death? … They took well over $11 million. They signed the covenant with death, and they’re not allowed to deviate one iota from the lethal narrative of HHS. If they do, they will be liable for paying back every single penny, which they’ve already pocketed,” said Thorp.

Thorp and Wolf noted that the contract uncovered by the FOIA requests provided for the return of the money to the HHS if ACOG did not adhere to the government’s “‘safe and effective’ for pregnant women and new moms script presented to them” by the federal government.

He added that ACOG is not the only professional medical association to have accepted money from the government. Other recipients of government funding in exchange for promoting the COVID-19 vaccines include the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

“[These organizations], to this day, are the evil organizations that perpetrated this crime on the world,” said Thorp.

“Doctors who treat the most vulnerable population in the world – pregnant women and their unborn babies – have been and are coerced to lie by organizations that oversee these doctors, that were paid to lie,” remarked Wolf. “At least one primary goal, of all this madness and evil of the past three years, whatever brand you chose, was to ruin women’s menses and to damage human reproduction at a global level. Team Pfizer or Team Moderna? A distinction without a difference.” (Related: If your doctor told you to get “vaccinated” for COVID, they were BRIBED, evidence shows.)

$13 billion in funding redirected to “influencers” to promote COVID-19 vaccines

In addition to the approximately $11 million provided by the government to ACOG, Thorp noted that his FOIA investigations – launched with the help of his wife, attorney Maggie Thorp – revealed that $13 billion in taxpayer money went to fund “influencers” to promote the mRNA vaccines.

Most of this $13 billion went to a variety of individuals and organizations. Notable are the organizations like ACOG that focus on medicine for pregnant women, such as the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the main medical certification board for practicing obstetricians and gynecologists in the U.S. and Canada, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, an NGO.

According to Thorp, there are about 300 major organizations and influencers – including religious institutions like synagogues and churches – that accepted money from the HHS and the CDC in a “psyops campaign … to convince the United States and the entire world that this deadly shot was safe, effective and necessary in the most vulnerable population – pregnant women.”

Read full article.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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DATA ANALYSIS: Increase in miscarriages and stillbirths directly linked to COVID-19 vaccines.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Watch My Interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that YouTube Removed

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After deciding to release my full podcast interview with Presidential Candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., YouTube decided that the discussed topics didn’t fit within their allowable content.

YouTube removed my podcast interview with RFK Jr. due to COVID-19 “misinformation.”

This is not the first time I’ve been censored by a major platform and I’m sure it will not be the last. Not only do I fight to proclaim the suppressed stories around the world, but I try to use my very existence to keep accountable those in power with every move they make as it affects the freedoms that we strive to keep within our grasp.

Thanks to Elon Musk, you can still watch the full RFK Jr. episode on Twitter.

In addition to this interview, I have also published another episode with a former prison inmate who was recently released and tells the horrors she has had to endure – not because of her confinement! See that trailer here.

I also just finished another podcast interview with someone whom I admire and appreciate very much for his hard work in the journalistic world and the sacrifices he’s made to get the truth to the public! This interview will be published soon and will also be available exclusively to my paid subscribers.

Thank you for your support to this mission!

James O’Keefe

O’Keefe Media Group

Subscribe here and start enjoying new content!

SOURCE DOCUMENT: 5 March 1946 – Anglo-American Intelligence Agreement

RELATED VIDEO: “IF AMERICA FAILS .. there’s nowhere else to go”

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EDITORS NOTE: This O’Keffe Media Group column and video is republished with permission. All rights reserved. © 2023 O’Keefe Media Group

Public Health Tyrants Need to Be Quarantined

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I’m going to keep pounding away at the fact our public health authorities were wrong about everything regarding COVID.  I’m doing so because they assumed an awful lot of power over our lives and ultimately proved to be destructive.  This should never be allowed to happen again.

They were wrong about masks.  A review of 78 studies shows there is no evidence masks are effective in a pandemic.  There is also no evidence removal of mask mandates caused COVID deaths to go up.  In fact, in Kansas, counties with a mask mandate experienced significantly higher case fatality rates than counties that did not.  So, masks not only did not help, they hurt.  But what did the public health industrial complex do?  Suppress the truth, that’s what.

Public health authorities were wrong about the lab leak theory.  It remains a perfectly good theory, now found credible by the Energy Department and the FBI.  But what did Fauci do?   Government records show he dismissed the lab leak hypothesis as a “conspiracy theory”, gave government grants to proponents of the theory to shut them up, and commissioned a report to publicly discredit the theory.  Fauci rules?  I don’t think so.  CNN and Facebook helped Fauci cover up the truth.

Public health officials were wrong about ivermectin.  The aggregate of studies continues to weigh in favor of ivermectin’s efficacy in COVID cases on mortality and lesser questions.  But public officials deliberately trashed ivermectin – calling it just a ‘horse de-wormer’ – and conspired to keep it from being prescribed.  A group of doctors is now suing to hold officials at the FDA and HHS accountable for their actions.  I hope all the hospitals that threw doctors out for prescribing or advocating for the use of ivermectin get sued, too.

The public health industrial complex was also wrong about the impact of COVID on kids, falsely claiming it was a leading cause of death among young people.  Accidents, drug overdoses, and drownings were far more prevalent.  The truth is only one out of a 100,000 kids and teens died from COVID.  The numbers were never high enough to justify school lockdowns and the self-inflicted ravages of learning loss from closing school doors are now common knowledge.

Public health authorities were also wrong about natural immunity, falsely claiming COVID vaccine immunity was better, as late as in March in congressional testimony.  Fauci is in this story, too, meeting in secret with other U.S. health officials, to get their story straight about how natural immunity was no good despite the scientific evidence showing it was.  Their effort was ultimately futile, though, because evidence keeps piling up that natural immunity is better.

Evidence is also piling up the vaccines were not very effective.  A recent study shows the immune system gets tired and doesn’t produce much of a response after a third dose.  Another study shows the effect of bivalent boosters wears off after two months.  These studies are in addition to the pile of other studies I mentioned in previous commentaries casting doubt on COVID vaccine efficacy.

So many lies, so many cover-ups.  We deserve better from our government officials and politicians.  They’re supposed to be working for us, not lording over us.  I, for one, will never trust them again.  But the Moral of the Story is we need to put up more of a fight when public health authorities and politicians try to steal our liberty for no good reason.  One of the very first things I read about pandemic legal theory is that public health authorities have to make their case in court before taking emergency measures.  That never happened.  They were never put to their proof under oath and cross-examination.  Let’s make sure a full examination of their argument happens the next time these political animals go off the rails.

©2023 Christopher Wright. All rights reserved.

Visit The Daily Skirmish and Watch Eagle Headline News – 7:30am ET Weekdays

RELATED VIDEO: Katherine Watt: In Her Own Words

Rep. Massie, Judiciary Committee Launch Probe Into Reports Biden Admin Pressured FDA Over COVID Booster Approval

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Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie sent letters Monday to senior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine officials, letting them know the House Judiciary Committee will be investigating allegations the Biden administration interfered in the FDA’s authorization and licensure of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Daily Caller first obtained the letters to Dr. Marion Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause, both of whom resigned following President Joe Biden’s announcement in August 2021 calling for adults to receive a COVID-19 booster shot, which Massie says “put undue pressure on FDA health officials to quickly authorize the vaccinations.”

Gruber serves as the Vice President of Public Health and Regulatory Science at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Philip Krause sits on the Board of Directors of Mesoblast, Inc. Gruber had been with the FDA for 32 years and Krause had worked at the agency for over a decade.

In the letters, Massie calls for records and materials relating to: 1. The FDA’s review, authorization, approval and/or promotion of all COVID-19 vaccines and boosters; 2. The departure of Dr. Marion Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause from the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR); and 3. The identities of current or former employees who worked in the FDA’s OVRR for the period of Jan. 1, 2020, to the present.

“The Committee on the Judiciary is investigating allegations that the Biden Administration interfered in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization and licensure of the COVID-19 vaccines,” Massie wrote in the letter to the FDA.

“Dr. Gruber and Dr. Krause reportedly felt that the White House was getting ahead of the FDA on booster shots and disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) involvement in FDA decisions. You replaced Dr. Gruber as acting director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR). Accordingly, we believe that you possess information relating to this matter, and we request your assistance with our inquiry,” he added.

READ THE LETTERS HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

“Congress has an obligation to examine these facts to understand the sufficiency of existing federal statutes and to assess the Executive Branch’s execution of these statutes. Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction to conduct oversight of matters concerning ‘civil liberties’ and ‘administrative practice and procedures’ to inform potential legislative reforms,” Massie added.

The Caller contacted the FDA, Mesoblast, Inc. and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative about the letters, to which they did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

RELATED TWEET:

RELATED ARTICLE: Two Top Vaccine Officials Resign From FDA Amid Political Pressure From Biden Administration

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Chip Roy To Introduce Legislation To Eliminate Fauci’s NIAID

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Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Rep. Chip Roy will introduce legislation Thursday that would eliminate the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the bill, which is titled the NIH Reform Act. The bill would specifically replace the NIAID with three separate national research institutes that would be led by directors subject to Senate confirmation and limited to no more than two 5-year terms.

The three new institutes would be the National Institute of Allergic Diseases, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Immunologic Diseases. The directors of each new institute would be appointed by the president, subject to Senate confirmation, and limited to no more than two 5-year terms.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past few years, but one lesson in particular is that no one person should be deemed ‘dictator-in-chief.’ No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans,” Paul told the Daily Caller before introducing the legislation.

“To ensure that ineffective, unscientific lockdowns and mandates are never foisted on the American people ever again, I’ve introduced this bill to eliminate Dr. Anthony Fauci’s previous position as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and divide the role into three separate new institutes. This will create accountability and oversight into a taxpayer funded position that has largely abused its power and has been responsible for many failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

READ THE LEGISLATION HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

“From the earliest days of the pandemic, unaccountable public health bureaucracies proved themselves far more adept at ruining lives than saving them. Never again should a single individual, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, wield unchecked power and influence over the lives of the American people. Breaking up Dr. Fauci’s taxpayer funded bully pulpit into three separate agencies — and requiring Senate confirmation for all their future directors — is one of many actions necessary to allow the American people to hold public health agencies accountable,” Roy, who introduced an identical House version of the bill, said in a statement.

The legislation is currently cosponsored by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Indiana Sen. Mike Braun and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

 

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent.

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EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rand Paul Demands NIH Preserve All Documents, Communications In Fauci’s Possession

Rand Paul Introduces Legislation To Repeal Federal Mask Mandate For Public Transportation

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

House Unanimously Votes To Declassify COVID-19 Intelligence

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The House of Representatives unanimously voted Friday to declassify intelligence detailing the emergence of COVID-19.

All 215 present Republicans and all 204 present Democrats voted to pass Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation, which previously passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The White House has not signaled whether or not President Joe Biden will sign the bill, but it passed both chambers by more than the two-thirds support necessary to override a presidential veto.

“Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the country with almost every household feeling its effects. The United States death toll from this virus has surpassed one million people. Although concrete data is hard to lock down, millions of people are suffering from the long-term effects directly attributed to this virus. It is becoming increasingly clear that school-aged children face hurdles because of long-term school closures. The American people need to know all the aspects, including how this virus was created and specifically, whether it was a natural occurrence of the result of a lab-related event,” House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner of Ohio said in a floor speech.

The U.S. intelligence community is split on whether or not COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Department of Energy recently concluded with “low confidence” that the virus emerged from WIV, joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its assessment. The FBI views a lab leak with “moderate confidence,” while four other intelligence agencies view natural spillover as the virus’ likely origin. Two agencies are undecided.

The Chinese embassy reached out to Hawley’s office Wednesday to object to his bill, asserting that its only purpose is to “politicize and stigmatize China.”

“The move by the U.S. Congress just shows that the U.S. is going further and further down the wrong path of political manipulation. The so-called traceability report by the U.S. intelligence agency is an attempt to ‘presume guilt’ on China. It is an attempt to shift the blame from its own failure to fight the epidemic to China,” government attorney Li Xiang wrote.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

House Votes To End COVID-19 Emergency

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The House of Representatives voted Tuesday along party lines to end the COVID-19 emergency, though the legislation is likely dead on arrival in the Senate.

All 220 voting Republicans supported the Pandemic is Over Act, ending the emergency, and all 210 voting Democrats opposed it. The White House has said that President Joe Biden will allow the public health emergency to expire in May, but that ending it via an act of Congress could eliminate pandemic-era programs like Title 42, student loan forgiveness, and a Medicaid expansion.

President Joe Biden said in September 2022 that the COVID-19 pandemic is “over,” but that “we’re still doing a lot of work on it.” The Biden administration has renewed the public health emergency twice since the president made the claim.

“This action is long overdue. This week we are voting on several bills designed to do what we all in America have known for some time, that the emergency declaration should be gone away,” Republican Florida Rep. Kat Cammack said in a floor speech. “Why would the president declare that the pandemic is over but not rescind the emergency declaration? In fact, many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem more concerned with keeping the public health emergency in place rather than addressing the problems we are now being faced with.”

Despite keeping the public health emergency in place, the Biden administration has attempted to end Title 42, the Trump administration order that allows federal officials to more rapidly deport illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court temporarily ordered the Biden administration to maintain the policy, and will hear oral arguments in the full case in February.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

RELATED TWEET:

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Biden Regime Extends “Covid National Emergency” and “Public Health Emergency” To May 11

NIH gave EcoHealth Alliance money for risky coronavirus research without proper oversight, watchdog finds

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NIH Records Reveal FBI Inquiry of Wuhan Grant Records Show ‘Gain-of-Function’ Concerns about Wuhan Lab Going Back to 2016

Fauci Agency COVID Emails Detail Discussions about Wuhan Institute; Describe Gates Foundation Placement of Chinese Representatives on ‘Important International Counsels’

Rep. Murphy, House Republicans Call On Biden To End COVID Public Health Emergency

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Republicans Renew Push To Ban Research That May Have Caused COVID-19

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Republican senators, led by Roger Marshall of Kansas, are reintroducing legislation banning the federal government from funding gain-of-function research.

Proponents argue that gain-of-function research, which is intended to make a virus more transmissible or deadly, can help scientists predict and prevent future pandemics. Chinese scientists were conducting the research on bat-based coronaviruses in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where many speculate COVID-19 emerged from. U.S. taxpayer dollars were sent to the lab via a Department of Health and Human Services sub-grant, and many members of Congress believe that the federal government should reinstate a ban on funding the practice.

Marshall’s bill prohibits the federal government from giving funds to any “institutions of higher education, or other research institutes, that are conducting gain-of-function research.” President Barack Obama banned the federal government from funding gain-of-function research in 2014, but President Donald Trump lifted the ban in 2017.

Marshall introduced similar legislation in October 2021.

Read the bill here:

Marshall GoF Bill by Michael Ginsberg on Scribd

“For the past few years, a select group of individuals at NIH and other federal agencies have undermined congressional oversight instead of being transparent or accountable to the American people,” Marshall said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “This has hampered our ability to get to the bottom of the COVID-19 outbreak and gain a full understanding of how much taxpayers are subsidizing these dangerous activities. This new GAO report further bolsters the need to address NIH’s failure in executing its oversight responsibilities of federally-funded research. Until the oversight process is reformed and adequate guidelines are in place to protect all of us from dangerous outbreaks, we must not allow this research to continue.”

WIV has received more than $600,000 in taxpayer dollars via a sub-grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to the non-profit group EcoHealth Alliance. NIAID distributed the funds to EcoHealth at the same time as Obama’s ban on gain-of-function research, although then-agency head Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that the moratorium was not violated.

Congressional Republicans have pledged to investigate federal grant disbursement, as well as the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Minority reports issued in the 117th Congress by Republicans in both the House and the Senate found that the virus is likely to have leaked from WIV, although the reports emphasized that congressional investigators could not be certain of COVID-19’s origins. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, now the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, accused intelligence officials in December of stonewalling a committee investigation.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

U.S. Coast Guard Apparently Had Pre-Written Denials For Vaccine Exemption Requests, Docs Show

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  • Coast Guard documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation appear to show canned justifications commanders can cut and paste into vaccine exemption requests, experts told the DCNF.
  • Existence of the statements suggests the Coast Guard may have violated requirements to consider the unique circumstances surrounding each request, experts said.
  • “It is very easy for a commander to have a closed mind when there is a pre-written language presented to them in draft form,” Dwight Stirling, former military attorney and founder of the Center for Law and Military Policy, explained to the DCNF.

The Coast Guard had pre-written justifications for denying COVID-19 vaccine exemption requests, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Justifications in the document differ according to the position each Coast Guard member requesting an exemption occupied and where he or she was stationed, but each of the 30 listed follows a similar pattern of highlighting the operational requirements for each position and explaining why vaccination is necessary. The DCNF could not determine exactly how those in charge of deciding exemption cases applied each justification to individual requests, but the document indicates they failed to consider the unique circumstances of each applicant, a violation of Coast Guard policy and U.S. law, experts told the DCNF.

“All the commander needs to do is sign the memo and the matter is finished,” Dwight Stirling, former military attorney and founder of the Center for Law and Military Policy, explained to the DCNF.

Coast Guard policy aimed at protecting First Amendment rights requires leaders to individually review each vaccine exemption request, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act says armed forces must demonstrate a “compelling interest” in overruling religious accommodations.

Mike Rose, general counsel for Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, said he could not confirm whether the document was used to help the Coast Guard violate policy. However, he agreed that it appears to contain pre-written statements “designed to be applied automatically to each individual Coast Guardsmen based on the nature of their assignment.”

“I also considered that you are assigned to an operational billet,” reads one of the justifications, directed at a cook aboard CGC Angela McShan. “Your duties as the senior Culinary Specialist requires frequent interactions with the entire crew in smaller, enclosed spaces that do not afford the opportunity to consistently social distance in accordance with the Center for Disease Control’s recommended guidelines.”

The document contains a separate section labeled “COVID-19 and Other Requests” with responses to multiple religious exemptions related to the COVID-19 vaccine listed below.

The first response addresses Coast Guard members’ request to be exempt from all future vaccines developed from mRNA or viral vector technology, which are used in the top COVID-19 vaccines.

“The Coast Guard cannot predict which vaccines in the future will be mandated and of those which will be developed with mRNA or viral vector technology. Therefore, because of the broad nature of your request, it is denied,” the document reads, with “it is denied” in boldface type.

The document also contains language for commanders denying religious exemptions to any COVID-19 vaccine: “I am the adjudication authority for religious accommodation requests pursuant to reference (d),” it reads.

“I have carefully reviewed your request in accordance with references (d)-(f). Your request is denied,” it concludes, also with the final sentence in boldface.

The document does not contain any language that would seem to approve an exemption request.

Of 1,350 religious accommodation requests received since the mandate came into effect in August 2021, the Coast Guard approved 12, along with eight permanent medical exemptions, a Coast Guard spokesperson told the DCNF.

“Giving commanders suggested reasons to consider that might justify denying an exemption from the vaccine in an individual case might not be wrong and could be justifiable legal advice,” Rose told the DCNF. “What would be wrong and impermissible would be to deny an exemption without regard to the individual circumstances and to use the pre canned statements to justify those denials.”

Military lawyers often cut and paste from memos or briefs, Stirling explained.

“While we don’t know whether the Coast Guard commanders pre-judged the exemption cases before them, it would not be shocking to learn that they did so,” he said. “From my experience, it is very easy for a commander to have a closed mind when there is a pre-written language presented to them in draft form.”

House Oversight Committee Republicans confirmed the document’s authenticity, saying they had obtained a similar document, but did not respond to further questioning about its contents. The document’s metadata says it was created in August 2022.

The Coast Guard fell under scrutiny after an investigation by members of the Oversight Republicans found that the Coast Guard used a computer-based tool, consisting of drop-down menus with premade answers for sections of the appeal response form, to issue mass denials of religious accommodations, Fox News first reported.

However, lawmakers alleged that the Coast Guard deliberately stood up the exemption request review system “to reach predetermined conclusions with the goal of rejecting applications” in a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan.

“Every request received individualized review and analysis in accordance with law and Coast Guard policy,” a Coast Guard spokesperson told the DCNF.

The Department of Defense (DOD) officially nullified the military vaccine mandate Tuesday; while the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security, it has followed DOD guidance related to COVID-19.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Court Decides Air Force ‘Wrongly’ Dismisses Religious Exemption Requests From Unvaxxed Airmen

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

After Coast Guard Academy ‘Excommunicated’ Cadets For Refusing Vaccine, Pleas For Reinstatement Go Unanswered

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  • The Coast Guard Academy has not reinstated seven Coast Guard cadets discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine after the academy denied religious exemption requests, representatives of the cadets told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • The cadets hoped a new law nixing the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate would allow them to re-join.
  • “They are the only cadets that are getting screwed,” retired Coast Guard Vice Adm. William Dean Lee told the DCNF.

Seven Coast Guard cadets booted in September after commanders denied their vaccine exemption appeals were not reinstated after a last ditch effort to allow them to start the new semester, which began Wednesday, representatives of the cadets told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The cadets hoped that law overturning the Department of Defense (DOD) COVID-19 vaccine mandate would persuade the Academy to permit the cadets, already behind by one semester, to re-join with their cohort, one of the cadets involved and advocates for the group told the DCNF. Among the military schools, the Coast Guard Academy, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in peacetime, is the only one to have officially dismissed unvaccinated cadets, the advocates said.

“I sent a letter to the Coast Guard Academy superintendent asking him to use his administrative powers to have us go back in since the [National Defense Authorization Act] was signed by the president and the mandate should be lifted soon,” Sophia Galdamez, one of the seven discharged, told the DCNF.

“However, all he responded with is that it’s out of his control, and you don’t have authority over that decision. And for me and my family to have a happy holidays,” she added.

Although operating under DHS authority, the Coast Guard went along with the mandate after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced it in August 2021 as the FDA officially approved the first COVID-19 vaccines for use. Congress’ defense bill for 2023, signed into law on Dec. 23, overturned the service-wide vaccine mandate.

Despite being a semester behind the other cadets in their cohort, the seven could still achieve their commissions if the Coast Guard allowed them to rejoin, retired Coast Guard Vice Adm. William Dean Lee, who, along with retired Rear Adm. Peter J. Brown, is lobbying to have the cadets reinstated, told the DCNF. Cadet processing began Wednesday, while classes are slated to begin on Jan. 9.

After initially refusing the vaccine on the grounds of religious belief in the fall of 2021, “I was immediately treated differently than all my other classmates that were vaccinated,” Galdamez told the DCNF. “I was bullied by my command and administrators, faculty at the academy.”

Administrators confined her behind a plexiglass barrier at the back of the classroom, she told the DCNF. One teacher pulled her aside to commend her performance as a student, but said her unvaccinated status would impede academic progress, Galdamez said.

She and her fellow unvaccinated cadets submitted requests for religious exemptions, which authorities are required to review on an individual basis.

Citing the government’s “compelling interest in mission accomplishment,” the force’s time sensitive role in emergency response and high rate of interaction with the general public, Coast Guard adjudicator Capt. Eugenio S. Anzano shot down Galdamez’s exemption request in a letter, dated March 4, 2022, that was shared with the DCNF.

“I do not question the sincerity of your religious belief or whether vaccine requirements substantially burden your religious practice. The Coast Guard reserves the opportunity to make these determinations, but I do not need to address them here to resolve your request,” Anzano wrote.

When the Coast Guard denied Galdamez’s request, she appealed, but the answer remained firm. The Coast Guard struck down Galdamez’ appeal on May 2, according to a copy of the response letter shared with the DCNF.

Days after reporting to campus for the fall semester on Aug. 15, the cadets were called into the office and told they had 24 hours to pack and leave campus, Galdamez said, a statement echoed by Michael Rose, a pro-bono legal counsel for several of the cadets, according to The Day newspaper. Two of the cadets did not have homes to which to return.

The cadets were formally discharged on Sept. 23, according to Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, where Rose serves as general counsel.

“I sent letters to the academy, senators have written letters on [sic] the cadets’ behalf. And so far we have heard nothing regarding our reinstatement or if I’d be able to finish my degree and commissions,” Galdamez told the DCNF Wednesday.

Academy superintendent Rear Adm. William Kelley acknowledged receipt of Galdamez’ letter and wished her a “good holiday season” but did not indicate future action in an email dated Dec. 22 that was shared with the DCNF.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wrote to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan pressing for the servicemembers’ reinstatement, according to a Dec. 22 letter the senator’s office shared with the DCNF.

Galdamez is one of thousands of servicemembers who remain in limbo as the DOD develops new guidance on COVID-19 vaccination, while lawsuits challenging the legality of the mandate and whether military leaders appropriately considered exemption requests continue to make their way through court.

The Air Force and Navy and Marine Corps have been placed under an temporary injunction against discharging unvaccinated troops, while the Army has paused separations.

“They are the only cadets that are getting screwed,” Lee told the DCNF.

The National Defense Authorization Act gave DOD a 30 day period to develop new COVID-19 guidance but stopped short of calling for reinstatement or restitution to the roughly 8,400 already discharged for refusing to receive the vaccine.

“The Coast Guard, in coordination with the Department of Defense, is evaluating policies with respect to previously separated members, including cadets,” a spokesperson for the Coast Guard told the DCNF.

“I think it’s important to let the service members back in, and for the service members to accept going back in, because this mandate and then the subsequent denial and basically excommunication of all these service members was getting rid of a good group of people … enlisted and officers alike that display true leadership qualities that are needed in our military at the moment,” Galdamez said to the DCNF.

The Coast Guard Academy did not return a phone call from the DCNF.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Coast Guard Illegally Denied Hundreds Of Vaccine Exemptions, Attorneys Say

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Finally Backing Down’: Border Patrol Lifts Vaccine Mandate For Personnel

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  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has lifted its vaccine mandate, according to a memorandum exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • “CBP is halting the COVID-19 screening program, and employees may choose to withdraw their pending reasonable accommodation requests for screening exemption,” an internal CBP memorandum stated.
  • Several agents who fought for vaccine exemptions are both happy and frustrated over the new decision, they told the DCNF.
  • “Management is finally backing down because this is a fight that they’re not going to win. I think this is a huge win for people that didn’t get the vaccine. It’s almost like a relief,” one Border Patrol agent said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ended the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its personnel, according to a memorandum exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“CBP is halting the COVID-19 screening program, and employees may choose to withdraw their pending reasonable accommodation requests for screening exemption,” an internal CBP memorandum stated. National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd confirmed to the DCNF that both the vaccine mandate and testing requirements have been lifted.

President Joe Biden issued the mandate for all federal employees via a Sept. 9 executive order. Border agents who didn’t get vaccinated and didn’t have approved exemptions faced possible termination, two active agents and a union official previously told the DCNF.

Due to a court order, CBP paused the vaccine requirement in January in favor of Texas’ push to block the mandate.

But the latest move makes some unvaccinated agents feel like their battles against the mandate, the ostracization from their fellow agents and fears that they’d lose their jobs were all for naught, four of them, all from different sectors of the southern border, told the DCNF on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.

“It frustrates me,” one Border Patrol agent fighting the mandate with a pending appeal for a religious exemption told the DCNF.

“It boggles my mind that the agency was ready to lose maybe about half of its workforce during this crisis that we’re having right now at the border. I just didn’t understand that they were willing  to reprimand these guys or even dismiss them or fire them going through this crisis at the border,” the agent added.

CBP leadership has realized it was fighting a losing battle, a second Border Patrol agent, who requested a religious exemption, told the DCNF.

“Management is finally backing down because this is a fight that they’re not going to win. I think this is a huge win for people that didn’t get the vaccine. It’s almost like a relief,” the agent said.

“It’s a joke because we’re so worried about COVID that we’re letting in all these aliens unvaccinated, untested, we’re not doing anything for them, right? We’re not testing them when they come across. We’re not giving them the vaccine when they come across, but COVID is such a big deal,” they added.

The record surge in illegal migration in fiscal year 2022, when CBP encountered roughly 2.3 million migrants, has only made matters worse for the workforce, especially those threatened for not getting the jab.

“It doesn’t even feel like we’re the sworn agents that we were developed and made out to be … we’re the guys that are protecting the border. It’s like they don’t even care. We’re not even like people to them. At this point. It’s just a statistic,” a third agent requesting a religious accommodation said.

“It does very much feel like we’re being tossed around and like our lives don’t matter. We’re talking about people with families, with medical issues, prior medical issues, monetary issues, there are some people that live check to check, and the patrol is going to burden them with termination. That was insane. You got to be kidding. We’re at this point now.”

A fourth agent, who fought against the vaccine mandate on both religious and medical grounds, said other than one superior, they’ve not faced too much scrutiny over the fight for an exemption.

“The rest of them, they understand it’s bullshit,” the agent said.

CBP didn’t respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: CBP Chief Tries To Reassure The Rank-And-File As Agency Levels Charges Against ‘Whipgate’ Agents

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Court Orders New York City To Reinstate Unvaccinated Employees, Give Backpay

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The New York State Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that New York City cannot fire employees for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19, dealing a blow to Democratic Mayor Eric Adams’ pandemic policy.

The court ordered the city to reinstate all fired employees and grant them backpay, citing the fact that being vaccinated against COVID-19 does not stop an individual from catching or spreading the virus, and thus being vaccinated does not grant enough community-wide benefit to warrant a mandate. The health commissioner “acted beyond his authority” by issuing an indefinite vaccine mandate rather than a temporary one, according to the court.

Adams said earlier this year his administration would not bring back workers who had been fired due to being unvaccinated. Roughly 1,400 workers were ultimately let go, including a number of firefighters and police officers. Adams came under fire for not allowing an exception to the mandate for those workers after he granted one to celebrities who were competing in sports or putting on performances in the city.

“States of emergency are meant to be temporary,” the court said in its ruling. “The question presented is whether the health commissioner has the authority to enact a permanent condition of employment during a state of emergency.”

The court ultimately found that the commissioner did not have that right.

Many COVID-19 vaccine mandates were put in place based on the rationale that the vaccines could drastically reduce the chances of a person becoming infected or transmitting the virus if they were infected, so getting vaccinated was not only a benefit to the individual getting the shots, but everyone around them.

However, as more data emerged to indicate that the vaccines are only marginally effective at stopping spread, particularly against newer variants of the virus, that rationale became less convincing. The New York Supreme Court pointed this out in its decision, saying “being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19… the Petitioners should not have been terminated for choosing not to protect themselves.”

AUTHOR

DYLAN HOUSMAN

Healthcare reporter. Follow Dylan on Twitter

RELATED ARTICLE: Vaccine Mandate Protests Explode Across New York City, With Some Chanting ‘F*ck Joe Biden’

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Navy SEALs Are Fighting For Religious Exemptions To Vaccine Mandates, And The Battle Is Far From Over

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  • U.S. Navy SEALs continue fighting in the courts to obtain religious exemptions to the military’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination while the Biden administration lets exemption requests stack up, unaddressed.
  • Legal experts argue that the administration’s argument to national security no longer applies in light of changing CDC guidelines.
  • “The Constitution, federal law, and DOD regulations all protect religious liberty in the military, and our courts have repeatedly reminded us that there is no [COVID-19] exception to the Constitution,” Mike Berry, senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute that is representing the SEALs, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Some Navy SEALs’ case for religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccination trudges along in the Fifth Circuit court as defense leaders remain wedded to the Biden administration’s military vaccine mandate.

Pandemic restrictions have loosened significantly in most sectors, with federal guidelines changing to reflect the lessened threat of the virus, but the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to maintain that vaccination is critical to ensure readiness of the armed services. It will take continued litigation to convince the military to respect religious accommodation laws that would prevent thousands of service members from facing discharge or confinement to low-skill jobs, the SEALs’ attorneys told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“The law is on our side. The Constitution, federal law, and DOD regulations all protect religious liberty in the military, and our courts have repeatedly reminded us that there is no (COVID-19) exception to the Constitution,” Mike Berry, senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute that is representing the SEALs, told the DCNF.

First Liberty filed suit in November 2021 on behalf of 26 Navy SEALs and other Special Warfare personnel against the Biden administration, arguing that the mandate violates servicemembers’ right to free exercise of religion.

In January, a Texas judge, relying on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), temporarily blocked the Navy from considering vaccination status when making assignment decisions for the plaintiffs. The case reached the Supreme Court in March when the Biden administration asked the court to reverse the ruling, and the court granted a partial stay to the order.

“Generally, military members are required to follow orders, but in this case, the military has shown sheer hostility toward religious exemptions rather than using the least restrictive means possible. In its effort to be draconian, the military refused to even recognize the now proved science of natural immunity,” Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert told the DCNF.

Out of the 3,375 sailors who have requested religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine as of Aug. 24, only 46 have been approved, according to Department of Defense data. So far, the Navy has recorded 105,277 COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths.

“Did the Navy, in good faith, apply the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in these cases, or did they predetermine that they were going to deny all religious accommodations?” R. Davis Younts, an Air Force reservist and attorney representing several military members seeking religious exemptions, told the DCNF. Referring to the latter possibility, he claimed, “It’s clear that they did, and I think the facts continue to bear that out.”

The military needs to consider exemption cases individually instead of stonewalling requests or issuing blanket denials that no longer reflect the Biden administration’s own COVID-19 guidance, Younts added. The compelling interest of the military to require vaccination — that COVID-19 posed a direct threat to military readiness — no longer exists.

Sailors, soldiers and airmen, many of whom have years of highly-specified training and experience under their belts, remain in limbo while court cases play out, unable to receive promotions or continue their training, Younts explained. Thousands of service members may be dragooned out of a force that is already falling vastly short of its recruiting goals amid blatant threats of war from foreign powers.

“We’re being treated like pariahs,” he said.

The only way forward is continued litigation and “individual military members taking a stand,” Younts said, adding that any policy change among DOD leaders is unlikely.

“This is a public interest issue with significant implications … that has to make a difference,” he added.

Virginia on Tuesday joined 21 other states in filing an amicus brief, dated Aug. 29, supporting the religious liberty of Navy SEALs and other U.S. Navy members to seek vaccine exemptions. The Biden administration has asked the court to give the military “extraordinary” deference in its decision to mandate and enforce vaccination, undermining the fundamental liberties of Navy service members, according to the brief.

“Navy SEALs are some of our best and brightest, willing to sacrifice their lives to protect our freedoms. Those who have filed religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine deserve to be heard and taken seriously,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement.

The states argued that they have effectively managed COVID-19 within their borders without infringing on religious liberties, and the government should be able to do the same. They decried the administration’s “overreaching and flawed claims of legal authority.”

“The Administration’s near-blanket refusal to grant religious exemptions is not credible … its denial in this case is not entitled to deference,” the brief stated.

“The evidence strongly favors the sailors. The Navy’s own testimony indicates that their decision was based on politics. There is no military or scientific justification for their assault on religious freedoms,” Gohmert said.

However, the Supreme Court had argued that the previous injunction overstepped the judiciary’s authority by overturning an order of the Executive made in an apparent effort to safeguard national security.

“RFRA does not justify judicial intrusion into military affairs in this case. That is because the Navy has an extraordinarily compelling interest in maintaining strategic and operational control over the assignment and deployment of all Special Warfare personnel — including control over decisions about military readiness,” Justice Kavanaugh wrote in the concurring opinion.

Discharges for sailors seeking religious exemptions have been postponed pending the court case, according to the Navy. Of those who either did not seek exemptions or whose requests were denied, 1,533 have been separated with honorable characterization of service.

The Navy and the White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pentagon Ignores Biden Admin Order To Stop Testing Unvaccinated For COVID-19

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.