Think Civics
A whistleblower support group that is suing the National Institutes of Health has filed a motion objecting to a federal judge’s order in favor of the government agency, which asked for the name of a Chinese scientist to be sealed. But the name of this scientist was already made public by the NIH in 2020, and critics say the agency’s request is part of a haphazard and aggressive attempt to redact documents and hide information related to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Empower Oversight on Thursday filed a motion in federal district court objecting to an order issued by Magistrate Judge John Anderson granting the NIH’s request to have South China Agricultural University scientist Kangpeng Xiao’s name sealed, even though the agency previously disclosed Xiao’s name in a public records requests made by U.S. Right to Know in 2020 and in a records requests made by Empower Oversight later.