After losing Republican presidential nominee and sitting Utah Senator Mitt Romney blasted her as a “treasonous liar,” former Representative Tulsi Gabbard came roaring back demanding that he prove his accusations or apologize and resign.
Gabbard, who served as a Democrat Representative from the deep blue state of Hawaii, has made a name for herself as one of the true moderate Democrats in American politics. She is no stark conservative, mind you, but she also refuses to fall prey to the wild, left-wing swings that most other Democrat politicians indulge on a daily basis. And recently she became a target of Mitt Romney for her comments about biolabs in Ukraine.
Last week, Gabbard had posted a social media video in which she expressed her alarm over the large number of biolabs “conducting research on dangerous pathogens” being operated — with U.S. funding — in Ukraine. And she called for them to be shut down, saying, “So, in order to protect the American people – the people of Europe, the people around the world – these labs need to be shutdown immediately. And the pathogens that they hold need to be destroyed.”
There are 25+ US-funded biolabs in Ukraine which if breached would release & spread deadly pathogens to US/world. We must take action now to prevent disaster. US/Russia/Ukraine/NATO/UN/EU must implement a ceasefire now around these labs until they’re secured & pathogens destroyed pic.twitter.com/dhDTH5smIG
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 13, 2022
Gabbard worried that these pathogens could be “inadvertently or purposely breached or compromised,” causing them to spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
But Mitt Romney was aghast by Gabbard’s video. He blasted Gabbard for it calling her claims dangerous and even “treasonous.” The 2012 GOP loser jumped to his own Twitter account and said, “Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives.”
Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) March 13, 2022
Gabbard was not content to sit by and let Romney call her a tool for Putin. The former representative struck back posting a long thread to Twitter on Monday blasting Romney for offering no proof to counter the assertions in her original video.
“Mitt Romney, you have called me a ‘treasonous liar’ for stating the fact that ‘there are 25+ US-funded biolabs in Ukraine which if breached would release & spread deadly pathogens to US/world’ and therefore must be secured in order to prevent new pandemics,” tweeted Gabbard.
“Bizarrely, you claim that securing these labs (or even calling for securing these labs) is treasonous and will lead to a loss of life, when the exact opposite is obviously true. The spread of pathogens is what will cause the loss of life, not the prevention of such spread,” the former Democrat contender for the 2020 Democrat nomination for president continued.
“Senator Romney, please provide evidence that what I said is untrue and treasonous. If you cannot, you should do the honorable thing: apologize and resign from the Senate,” sh said adding, “Evidence of the existence of such biolabs, their vulnerability, and thus the need to take immediate action to secure them is beyond dispute.”
She offered the following proof:
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- State Department’s Victoria Nuland acknowledged such labs containing dangerous pathogens exist in Ukraine in her testimony to the US Senate (March 8, 2022): “Ukraine has biological research facilities which, in fact we are quite concerned that Russian troops may be seeking to gain control of. We are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach.”
- Pentagon Fact sheet (March 11, 2022) has numerous statements directly & indirectly confirming the existence of such biolabs. “The United States, through BTRP, has invested approximately $200 million in Ukraine since 2005, supporting 46 Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and diagnostic sites.”
- CBS Face the Nation (March 13, 2022) correspondent David Martin said a Pentagon official told him they’re concerned about the existence of such biolabs in Ukraine: “The concern is that the Russians will seize one of these biomedical research facilities that Ukraine has where they do research on deadly pathogens like botulism and anthrax, seize one of those facilities, weaponize the pathogen, and then blame it on Ukraine and the US, because the US has been providing support for some of the research being done in those facilities.”
- In April 2020, in refuting Russia’s accusation that U.S. is using biolabs in Ukraine to develop biological weapons, U.S. Embassy in Ukraine acknowledged there are U.S. funded labs in Ukraine working with pathogens for vaccine & other peaceful purposes. LINK
- CNN fact-check (March 10, 2022): “There are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, that much is true.”
- Furthermore, according to the DoD there are two biolabs in Ukraine that have been under Russian control for some time: “Russia illegally took possession of two Ukrainian-owned laboratories that BTRP upgraded in 2014 and continues to deny Ukrainian access to these facilities.”
Gabbad closed saying, “So, Senator Romney, you have a choice: out of pride, continue to deny the truth or admit you are wrong, apologize, and resign. Aloha. And remember that without the truth, we can be neither safe nor free.”
Here is her full Twitter thread:
Senator Romney, please provide evidence that what I said is untrue and treasonous. If you cannot, you should do the honorable thing: apologize and resign from the Senate.
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
#1. State Department’s Victoria Nuland acknowledged such labs containing dangerous pathogens exist in Ukraine in her testimony to the US Senate (March 8, 2022): “Ukraine has biological research facilities which, in fact we are quite concerned that Russian troops may be seeking…
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
#2. Pentagon Fact sheet (March 11, 2022) has numerous statements directly & indirectly confirming the existence of such biolabs. https://t.co/63DIGQSm9c
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
#3. CBS Face the Nation (March 13, 2022) correspondent David Martin said a Pentagon official told him they’re concerned about the existence of such biolabs in Ukraine: “The concern is that the Russians will seize one of these biomedical research facilities that Ukraine has…
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
#4. In April 2020, in refuting Russia’s accusation that U.S. is using biolabs in Ukraine to develop biological weapons, U.S. Embassy in Ukraine acknowledged there are U.S. funded labs in Ukraine working with pathogens for vaccine & other peaceful purposes https://t.co/oIPROY43l6
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
#6. Furthermore, according to the DoD there are two biolabs in Ukraine that have been under Russian control for some time: “Russia illegally took possession of two Ukrainian-owned laboratories that BTRP upgraded in 2014 and continues to deny Ukrainian access to these facilities.”
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) March 14, 2022
How any of that amounts to “treason” is anybody’s guess.
In any case, it appears beyond doubt that there are numerous biolabs in Ukraine, of course. It is also beyond doubt that some of them have received U.S. tax dollars. Indeed, the U.S. Defense Department recently admitted that the U.S. has sunk at least $200 million into Ukraine labs.
According to a DOD transcript, a “senior defense official” said the following:
A few key points about the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Biological Threat Reduction Program activities in Ukraine this is part of the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Through that program, we have invested approximately $200 million in Ukraine since 2005, supporting 46 Ukrainian labs, health facilities, and diagnostic sites. DOD’s CTR program began its biological work with Ukraine to eliminate the remnants of the Soviet Union’s illegal biological weapons program left in the Soviet successor states after the USSR fell. There are no DOD bioweapon labs in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world.
Despite this admission from the Pentagon, it is not clear if some or any of the biolabs in Ukraine are conducting biowarfare research.
It is also hard to ascertain whether highly dangerous pathogens are being stored in any of these labs. And that is what Tulsi Gabbard wants to know. The question is, why doesn’t Mitt Romney?
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Tags: Biolabs Commentary Mitt Romney Russia Tulsi Gabbard Ukraine
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