A routine U.S. State Department press briefing turned into a confirmation of "Russian propaganda," as Department spokesman Ned Price refused to answer any question about U.S. bioweapons and Covid-19, confirming exactly what Russia accused the United States of doing. Russia accused the USA of working on bioweapons abroad, specifically in Ukraine. One of the most important programs mentioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense is USAID's PREDICT program. The U.S. State Department has now emphatically confirmed the alleged "Russian propaganda" by its employees ignoring a journalist's question about it in a very brazen way. **The virus created with US government money.** I made a public commitment in early 2022, claiming that Covid-19 was created with US government money. In February 2022, I made that claim in a very long article titled "Covid-19 - New Revelations: The (Pre)History of the Creation of SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic". In that article, I also went into detail about the EcoHealth Alliance, whose chief virologist, Dr. Peter Daszak, has been working with U.S. virologist Dr. Ralph Baric in Wuhan to research how to make coronaviruses transmissible from bats to humans (gain of function research). The work took place with funding from USAID's PREDICT program, the U.S. government, among others. In early August 2022, Russia also committed, as that is when the Russian Ministry of Defense officially declared that it considers Covid-19 to be a bioweapon created by the United States. In September 2022, Russia obtained a special meeting of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention, presented its findings to the States Parties, and asked the U.S. and Ukraine 20 questions, not one of which they could or would answer, even behind closed doors. The Russian Ministry of Defense published more details about this in December 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defense has also repeatedly mentioned USAID's PREDICT program, the EcoHealth Alliance, and also Metabiota, a company founded with funds from the CIA, which mainly carries out orders from the CIA and the Pentagon agency DARPA and has conducted research on Ebola in Ukraine, and in which, by the way, among others, the investment firm Rosemont Seneca of Hunter Biden, the son of US President Biden, has invested. **The absurd press conference at the U.S. State Department.** While researching another topic today, I came across the US State Department press conference of March 8, 2023, just a few days ago, where a very remarkable scene took place. First, Department spokesman Ned Price came to the podium with two senior staff members, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Bass and Paloma Adams-Allen, a senior USAID official. For half an hour everything went excellently and the journalists asked "well-behaved" questions. In the video of the press conference, starting at exactly minute 30, you can see a journalist ask a question about the PREDICT program. I have translated the passage, but I definitely recommend watching the video from minute 30 as well, because from the written translation what happened then does not come out so vividly. When the question was asked, the USAID employee wanted to leave the press conference immediately so that she would not have to answer the question. Department spokesman Price took the hint and instantly saw John Bass and Paloma Adams-Allen off, while the journalist repeated his question and asked for a response. Price then wanted to ignore the question and simply move on to the next question, but a very awkward dialogue ensued, which can also only really be understood in the video, but is only partially appreciated in the written translation. Price eventually brushed off and ignored the question and instead made a statement about Iran, then gave the floor to another journalist. And that, too, was noteworthy, because that journalist played into Price's hands and mocked the question about PREDICT, rather than following up on why senior Pentagon staff fled the press conference when asked that question and Price ignored the question. The episode confirms the Russian version that the U.S. completely dodges and refuses to answer questions about its bioweapons programs, even though it is obligated under the Biological Weapons Convention to answer those questions. Let's move on to the translation of the episode, and I urge you to also watch the exchange of words in the video of the press conference starting at minute 30. **QUESTION**: About the PREDICT program, yes? The DNI is supposed to release information from 18 agencies, including the State Department, that incriminate the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but not other information that might incriminate other institutions, including U.S. institutions. Last month, I asked about USAID's PREDICT program, which funds research into bioweapons agents through the EcoHealth Alliance. They funded this bioweapon agent discovery research, which was conducted by Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Meanwhile, USAID has not released unclassified information requested by U.S. Right To Know, a transparency group, from 2020 for three years, prompting the group to begin litigation against USAID. My question: why is USAID funding research on bioweapons agents? Specifically, why did USAID fund research on bioweapons ingredients conducted in collaboration with China, which may have caused the pandemic? Deputy Administrator ADAMS-ALLEN: Do you want to talk about that? PRICE: Sure. Thank you both, Deputy Secretary and Deputy Administrator. Deputy Administrator ADAMS-ALLEN: Yes, thank you. PRICE (to outgoing State Department staff): Thank you very much for... QUESTION: Are you going to answer the question? PRICE (to outgoing State Department staff): -- for your time. QUESTION: Talk about the PREDICT program. What is your funding level for the PREDICT program this year? Deputy Administrator ADAMS-ALLEN: I'll be happy to give you a response to that. PRICE: We can... QUESTION: Can you say at what level you are funding the program that may have caused the pandemic? PRICE: We can respond to such a specific question in writing. QUESTION: In writing? PRICE: I'm not asking about an obscure issue, Ned. I'm asking about... PRICE: We - Sam, thank you. QUESTION: ...a program that you're running, that you continue to run, that may have caused the pandemic. Can you respond to that? Can she respond? She is just leaving the room. PRICE: Sam, we fund biosecurity programs around the world. We are working with partners all over the world to prevent what we have seen over the last two years. So, there is an effort, as we mentioned, to determine the origin of COVID-19. That is an effort that is supported by the intelligence community. You heard yesterday from the leaders of our intelligence community what the current status of that investigation is. We will let them speak to those assessments. The short answer is that we do not know the origins of COVID-19. There are two main theories; our intelligence community continues to investigate this. But our priority around the world when it comes to our funding, and also when it comes to the program that you are referring to, is biosafety, Sam. I have... QUESTION: Ned, you might well know.... PRICE: Sam, we need... QUESTION: ...and you have the information, but you refuse to divulge it. Why... PRICE: Sam, I'm asking you to be respectful of your colleagues. QUESTION: I asked last month why you refused to release information to U.S. Right To Know. They made a FOIA request for documents relevant to this issue in 2020, three years ago. You are in litigation, and you want to hide that fact. You and the rest of the U.S. Government want to pin this on the Wuhan Institute of Virology alone, and you... PRICE: Sam, I would ask you to be respectful to your colleagues. QUESTION: I am being very respectful. PRICE: Indeed you are not. QUESTION: I am respectful to all people and to all who are suffering from the pandemic. Will you release the information? PRICE: Sam, as... QUESTION: Why do you continue to fund a program that may have caused the pandemic? PRICE: Sam, as I told you last time, feel free to ask those kinds of detailed questions in writing.... QUESTION: I did that last month, and I didn't get anything. PRICE: ...and we will get back to you. Let... QUESTION: You're going to get back to me? After the Senate passes a resolution that says we will release all the information on the Wuhan Institute of Virology and none of the other information. That is denial and delay. PRICE: Sam, we have to... QUESTION: This is denial and delay. And meanwhile, you're endangering the world with these programs. PRICE: Let me start with one thing at the top, and then we'll... QUESTION: And you're smiling. PRICE: Sam, because you're engaging in conspiracy theories. And this... QUESTION: This is not conspiracy. This is exactly the same rhetoric that we heard three years ago. "Oh, this can't have come from a lab; this is a conspiracy." Bullshit. Bullshit. PRICE: Okay, Sam. I... QUESTION: Release the documents. Why don't you release the documents, Ned? PRICE: I think your colleagues here, I think your colleagues want to hear and ask about things that are not conspiracy, that are in fact... QUESTION: It's absurd. It's absurd, after all we've been through, after all we've been through, and after all the government denials and delays about the origin of COVID, for you to say that... PRICE: Sam... QUESTION: ...that it's a conspiracy theory, even though I just asked -- I asked last month, "Why don't you release the documents," and you don't release the documents. And in the meantime, the DNI... PRICE: We'll take a look - as I said - at the specific question you asked, and we'll get back to you. I don't want to waste any more of your colleagues' time. QUEST. "Waste." PRICE: I have one thing at the top, and then we will turn to your questions. First, today marks 16 years since Robert "Bob" Levinson was abducted from Kish Island in Iran. The past 16 years have brought untold suffering to Bob's family, and the Iranian government has yet to account for Bob's fate. We again call on them to do so. Bob Levinson's legacy continues through the Levinson Act, which strengthens our ability to repatriate hostages and wrongfully detained U.S. citizens abroad. Last July, President Biden signed a new executive order that builds on the Levinson Act and strengthens tools to deter and stop hostage taking and unlawful detention. Iran continues to unlawfully detain citizens of other countries to use as political leverage. This practice is egregious and must end. We continue to advocate for the release of Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and Siamak Namazi from their unlawful detention in Iran. We are working tirelessly to bring them home. It is time for all three to return to their loved ones who have suffered for far too long. Matt, would you please get us started? QUEST. I was going to ask about the PREDICT program, but... (laughter) But I think we've exhausted that topic, or at least as much as you... MR PRICE: You're probably right about that, yes. https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2023/die-us-regierung-ignoriert-fragen-von-journalisten-zu-us-biowaffen-und-covid-19/