Dr. Robert Redfield, the virologist who served as CDC director during President Donald Trump’s first term, said on a recent podcast that the Covid virus was “intentionally engineered as part of a biodefense program,” and that “the US role was substantial,” citing research funded by the “National Institutes of Health, the State Department, USAID, and the Defense Department.”

He specifically attributed the probable creation of “some of the original viral lines” to a researcher at the University of North Carolina, although conceded that he couldn’t actually prove it. "Yeah, well, that’s what hearings with the power to compel evidence and testimony under threat of imprisonment are for – not a podcast. How about getting that researcher on the stand?"