Covid Origins Scientist Denounces Reporting On His Messages As A “Conspiracy Theory”

The three of us and Matt Taibbi of Racket spread “conspiracy theories” and engaged in “quote mining” for our Tuesday scoop, “Top Scientists Misled Congress About Covid Origins, Newly Released Emails And Messages Show,” according to Kristian Andersen, the scientist who was the main subject of our article. The only thing his messages revealed, Andersen said, was “Scientists doing science and having private conversations.” (Andersen did not respond to our requests for comment.)
“None of this is surprising — the surprising part is that 'journalists' and others keep falling for the same bullshit,” wrote Andersen. But his emails and Slack messages show that there was nothing theoretical about his conspiracy to discredit the lab leak hypothesis. Andersen makes clear in his messages that the purpose of the “Proximal Origin” paper was to “disprove,” in his words, the lab leak hypothesis. It was a propaganda exercise, not a scientific one.
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Anderson is a liar and a fraud as a scientist

This is reason number 1001 why I will never trust the experts again. Conspiring to hide things from the public is not an acceptable answer to the public as a general rule. He deserves all the derision he's getting.