- The report, which supports theories repeatedly put forward by President Trump, was not peer-reviewed, Newsweek reported.
- According to multiple experts in biology and infectious disease, the paper lacks any new information while making unsubstantiated and weak claims.
- University of Bath researcher Andrew Preston warns that the current state of the pre-print report “cannot be given any credibility.”
- Speaking to the Daily Beast, Columbia University’s Dr. Angela Rasmussen noted that the report’s contents are “all circumstantial and some of it is entirely fictional.”
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of Trump administration’s Coronavirus Task Force lead members, has previously stated that the novel coronavirus was not man-made based on all available evidence, according to the National Geographic.
- The paper was authored by Dr. Li-Meng Yan and three colleagues affiliated with the Rule of Law Society.
- Funded by Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, the “Society” is not known for studies on infectious diseases.
- Wengui fled China in 2014 after an associate of his was arrested on corruption charges.
- “He has campaigned to topple the Chinese Communist Party, making a host of unverified allegations about party leaders,” the South China Morning Post reported.
- Bannon, on the other hand, was recently arrested and charged for fraud by the FBI, according to the New York Times.
- Wengui and Bannon have collaborated numerous times in efforts targeting the Chinese government and businesses, one being the news website, G News, which has published stories claiming that COVID-19 was manufactured by the Chinese military.