Commentary A sequence of events in early 2020 suggest that Dr. Anthony Fauci and a small group of scientists sought to promote the natural origins theory as a means to avoid public scrutiny of the possibility that COVID-19 had leaked from a lab. Fauci received several warnings in late Jan. 2020 that prompted him to hold a private teleconference on Feb. 1, 2020. Emails from participants show that during this teleconference, the two main presenters made clear to the teleconference group that they believed it was a real possibility that COVID-19 originated from a lab. These same presenters were simultaneously completing an article, later known as Proximal Origin, which publicly promoted the Natural Origins theory and dismissed any lab leak theories. Proximal Origin, which would prove to be highly influential, would be viewed more than half a million times and has been extensively used by Fauci and the corporate media …