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Shit, who did they think they were, Ukraine?

Illegal Chinese Bio Lab, Running Secret Covid Experiments, Found in California




Authorities in California have discovered an illegal bio lab in Fresno County that was running secret experiments on dangerous pathogens.

The unlicenced medical laboratory was found operating in a Reedley warehouse.

Investigators have found bioengineered mice and hazardous pathogens, including Covid, HIV, hepatitis, and herpes.

A joint effort between local and federal officials eventually led to the discovery of the illegal lab after a months-long investigation.

The warehouse was housing the unlawful and unpermitted laboratory filled with lab mice, medical waste, and dangerous substances.

The lab was only discovered due to a report of a garden hose attached illegally to a warehouse near the center of town, investigators revealed.

The building was supposed to be vacant.

When code enforcement officers from the city went to investigate, they discovered that it was in use and observed several code violations.

“It was pretty clear right off the bat that something was going on we didn’t have a business license for,” Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba said.

“They didn’t have any city approvals; that building was supposed to be vacant.” ...

“I’ve never seen this in my 26-year career with the County of Fresno,” said Assistant Director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health Joe Prado.

When local officials entered, they found a Chinese staff allegedly making Covid-19 test kits, plus: 900 genetically-engineered humanized mice, over 30 freezers and refrigeration units, incubators, blood, 800 different chemicals, tissue and other bodily fluid samples, thousands of vials containing unlabeled fluids, and over 20 potentially infectious bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents like: coronavirus, HIV, chlamydia, E. Coli, streptococcus pneumonia, hepatitis B and C, herpes 1 and 5, rubella, and malaria.

From what I can tell, the warehouse didn’t even rate a biosafety level at all. Based on what they found, it should have been biosafety level 4, but instead it sounds more like it was biosafety level zero, unless there’s something lower than that. This one made the other Chinese bioweapons lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, look like something so clean and germ-free you could eat a steak dinner off of it.




And, needless to say, the kinds of dangerous, infectious biological agents they found in the warehouse require special federal permits. But the biolab operation had no permits of any kind, not even a local business license. It was figuratively and literally invisible; you couldn’t even tell it was open from the outside, apart from the hose, of course.

Code inspectors returning with a warrant found workers inside the lab who identified the owner as Nevada-based Prestige Biotech, Inc., and lamely claimed the lab was being used to make covid and pregnancy test kits. Covid and pregnancy seem like an odd combination. And despite repeated attempts by state and federal officials, as far as I can tell, nobody has managed to get a straight answer or figure out who or what owns Prestige Biotech or even where its headquarters are.

"The other addresses provided for identified authorized agents were either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified," an NBC report on the story explained.

NBC’s article suggested federal investigations continue, but didn’t identify which agency was investigating what. It’s not even clear that NBC knows whether or not there’s an investigation at all.

You’d think this kind of thing would be big news these days, what with corporate media’s fascination with pandemics and infectious diseases. But, while it appears to be obsessed with “manmade” climate change, corporate media ignores manmade fires that are causing climate change. In the same way, corporate media is disinterested in manmade pandemics caused by rogue Chinese agents or even crappy biosafety conditions in secret California labs, no matter how dramatic the facts.

That’s why you have Coffee & Covid.

PRESTIGE BIOTECH INC is a Nevada Domestic Corporation filed on April 3, 2019. The company's filing status is listed as Active and its File Number is E0153542019-3.

The Registered Agent on file for this company is Barry Zhang Cpa & Associates LLC and is located at 3528 Wynn Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89103.

The company has 2 contacts on record. The contacts are Xiuqin Yao from Las Vegas NV and Zhaolin Wang from Las Vegas NV.

Company Information
Company Name: PRESTIGE BIOTECH INC
Entity Type: NEVADA DOMESTIC CORPORATION
File Number: E0153542019-3
Filing State: Nevada (NV)
Filing Status: Active
Filing Date: April 3, 2019
Company Age: 4 Years, 3 Months
Registered Agent:
Map Icon spacer Barry Zhang Cpa & Associates LLC
3528 Wynn Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89103
Report Due Date: April 30, 2024
Governing Agency: Nevada Secretary of State

Company Contacts
XIUQIN YAO
Director
Map Icon spacer 1807 W Charleston Blvd. #130
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Other
Map Icon spacer 4831 W Flamingo Rd #2222
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Other
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
President
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
President
Map Icon spacer 4831 W Flamingo Rd #2222
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
President
Map Icon spacer 1807 W Charleston Blvd. #130
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
President
Map Icon spacer 1807 W Charleston Blvd. #130
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Secretary
Map Icon spacer 1807 W Charleston Blvd. #130
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Secretary
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Secretary
Map Icon spacer 4831 W Flamingo Rd #2222
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Treasurer
Map Icon spacer 4831 W Flamingo Rd #2222
Las Vegas, NV
XIUQIN YAO
Treasurer
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV
ZHAOLIN WANG
Director
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV 89103
ZHAOLIN WANG
President
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV 89103
ZHAOLIN WANG
Secretary
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV 89103
ZHAOLIN WANG
Treasurer
Map Icon spacer 3859 S Valley View Blvd Suite 2-150
Las Vegas, NV 89103

Court documents contained email communications of city officials with Prestige BioTech’s president Xiuquin Yao. Mr. Yao stated that his company moved the assets to the Fresno warehouse after his company obtained them from a now-defunct debtor, Universal Meditech Inc.

Court documents say both companies failed to provide any licensing that allows laboratory activity, nor did they provide the necessary permits for storing and importing chemical reagents from outside the United States.

Not even an official California-based address could be found for either company. “The other addresses provided for identified authorized agents were either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified,” court documents said.

Universal Meditech

Universal Meditech Inc. Recalls Skippack Medical Lab COVID-19 Direct Antigen Rapid Tests That Are Not Authorized, Cleared, or Approved by the FDA

The FDA has identified this as a Class I recall, the most serious type of recall. Use of these devices may cause serious injuries or death.

The devices described in this recall notice are the same devices announced in the FDA safety communication Do Not Use Skippack Medical Lab SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Tests.

Our medical and biotechnology professionals leverage their expertise to develop high-performance solutions to address today’s evolving global healthcare challenges. Our Prestige Biotech subsidiary provides medical products and supplies to governments and healthcare distribution channels worldwide.

Medical Products: Our Prestige Biotech Division personal protective products, medical products, and supplies are manufactured to the highest standards of quality, specifications, and testing to meet government and industry regulatory specifications, which include EN 455, EN 374 ASTM D6319, ASTM D5250, F1671, and FDA 510K according to Point-of-Care (POC) end-user requirements. Our medical products distribution includes; government and private hospitals, medical clinics, doctors, laboratories, and industries. Our product quality, value-driven pricing, and dependable on-time delivery Our experts customize products and solutions based on the needs of every market.

Corporate Development: we have established medical products manufacturing and distribution relationships worldwide.
Our team of industry executives and specialists provide the necessary support to establish joint venture operations, alliances, and medical business development programs that deliver tangible results from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Our proprietary product development and production experience also include the licensing of intellectual property and contract product manufacturing.

International Medical Products Manufacturing, Distribution, and Strategic Partnership Development: our business and government relationships straddle the globe - we have operated successfully on every continent. Our breadth of experience and industry and government relationships offer our clients cost-effective manufacturing and distribution options worldwide.

Senior Management Team

Michael Skellern
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Skellern is a global business leader and entrepreneur with more than 45 years of executive management experience leading private and publicly-traded international companies as President, CEO, Chairman, and Board Member, in the aerospace, defense, security, maritime, and technology sectors. His experience includes mergers, acquisitions, corporate development, capital formation, global market development, and strategic advisory services to multinationals and governments.

Mike has developed, merged, acquired, and operated private and public defense, security, and commercial companies in 14 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, including organizations with more than 3,000 people. In addition, he has an extensive worldwide network of senior industry and government leaders.

Chuck Packard
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Packard is a seasoned board member, business executive, entrepreneur, and business strategist with more than 40 years of successful professional corporate development, operations and financial management spanning industries from professional sports, airlines, technology, real estate and financial services.

Mr. Packard served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board for George Argyros and The Argyros Family Interests. His business acumen contributed to the successful due diligence, acquisition, operation and disposition of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Team, AirCal to American Airlines and TicketMaster. He was instrumental in development of California Speedway and its subsequent sale to International Speedway Corporation. In addition, he was responsible for numerous real estate project acquisitions, development and property management of real estate valued in excess of $16 billion. He also served as Principal and CFO of the Argyros Fund - $3.5 billion real estate portfolio.

RADM Stephen I. Johnson (US Navy ret.)
Managing Director, Defense Programs

Steve Johnson is a business advisor, executive coach and facilitator with a passion for making a difference in the business success and personal lives of business leaders.

After graduation from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, RADM Johnson completed nuclear propulsion and submarine training and embarked on a 30 year Navy career that included service in four submarines (USS Bergall (SSN 667); USS Ethan Allen (SSBN 608) (Blue) as Engineer Officer; USS Tecumseh (SSBN 628) (Gold) as Executive Officer; and USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) as Commanding Officer.

During his tour as Commanding Officer, USS City of Corpus Christi was the most decorated submarine in the Atlantic Submarine Force. Awards included the Navy Unit Commendation, the Meritorious Unit Citation, three consecutive Battle Efficiency “E” awards, Submarine Force nominee for the Atlantic Fleet Battenburg Cup for overall operational excellence, and eleven other departmental awards for excellence in operations, communications, weapons employment, engineering, supply, and medical readiness. Subsequent to Command, RADM Johnson was selected to head Prospective Commanding Officer Training and Fleet Liaison, Naval Reactors (NAVSEA 08).

David J. Hopps MIExpE, MIoD
Managing Director, Explosives, Munitions, and Ordnance

David is a highly motivated and adaptable leader who utilises significant organisational and technical skills developed through extensive experience gained initially with the British Army and subsequently with government, commercial and non-governmental defence and security organisations in the United Kingdom and abroad.

David’s experience spans several conflict theatres, predominantly in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal field, and assignments in strategic and tactical planning and intelligence roles. He was awarded a Mention in Despatches for work undertaken as Commander of the EOD Squadron during terrorist activities in Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain. Subsequent risk management work included kidnap for ransom negotiations, counter-terrorism training in the Middle East, and for the US Department of Homeland Security.

Dennis M. Cole (ret)
Managing Director, Law Enforcement Programs

Dennis Cole has extensive senior level and tactical domestic and international law enforcement experience in the field in special operations, education and training. Dennis is a retired Chief of Police, San Diego County Sheriffs' Captain, and Commander of its Special Enforcement Detail.

He has served with PI Global (Pacific International) in various executive management capacities, including the development of Universal Guardian, a publicly traded security products, tactical services and risk mitigation company, and Shield Defense, a less-lethal weapons company.

Laboratory Jobs, Employment in Fresno, CA | Indeed.com
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Director of the Medical Laboratory. Prestige Biotech Inc. ... View all Prestige Biotech Inc jobs in Fresno, CA - Fresno jobs - Laboratory Director jobs in Fresno, CA.

11 Best Biology jobs in Fresno, CA (Hiring Now!) | SimplyHired
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Prestige Biotech Inc —Fresno, CA. Candidates are required to be pathologists or doctors, Or a PHD degree in medicine or biology in United States, and can meet the requirements...

That triggered a whole slew of agencies who invaded the lab in a series of investigatorial waves, starting with the local agencies and rapidly escalating to the CDC and the FBI. They found vials of blood, incubators, scientific freezers, dangerous chemicals, hundreds of frisky lab mice, viruses and bacteria including covid and even more exotic bugs like malaria, Hepatitis B and C, chlamydia, herpes and rubella Z — among others — and NONE of which are used in the production of covid test kits, which it turned out the State of California was paying the shady outfit to make.

One’s mind boggles with the possibilities. What was actually going into those covid tests? In my view, this story is yet another reason not to use them.

Somehow, during all that expensive and frenetic investigating, not one person associated with the lab was ever arrested, detained, questioned, had their statement taken, or even required to sign a hose violation notice. Apparently it was an unaccountable fly-by-night operation with an unlisted phone number ringing to a random live-eel wet market stall in Wuhan or something. “Herro?”

With no clear answers anywhere, the Republican House Committee on the CCP decided to get involved, and subpoena’d town officials.

This will shock you, but Politico, citing an unnamed source, said that a review of materials Reedley turned over in response to the House committee’s subpoena “has identified troubling gaps in safeguards that allowed the clandestine facility to operate with impunity, as well as serious deficiencies in the federal government’s response.”

Serious deficiencies? How could that happen. Inconceivable! By which I mean totally 100% conceivable.

In another not-so-shocking development, Committee Republicans have now established that the sketchy medical device companies that ran the clandestine facility, Universal Meditech Inc. and Prestige Biotech Inc., are tied to problematic Chinese companies and Chinese nationals. Believe it or not, these same organizations and their named officers are also implicated in major fraud investigations and other misconduct in multiple countries.

All of which somehow completely escaped notice of the State of California, which was paying the lab, handsomely, for making extremely questionable covid test kits with zero oversight. Not one visit. California never even tried the phone number. Thanks, Governor Newsom!

And, isn’t it too bad that you missed the test-kit bonanza? Had you known how little was required, maybe you could’ve gotten in on the covid test kit gold rush like all these Chinese terrorists did.

FRESNO, Calif. — Jia Bei Zhu, aka Jesse Zhu, aka Qiang He, aka David He, 62, a citizen of China who formerly resided in Clovis, was arrested today on a criminal complaint for manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices in violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and for making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

“As part of his scheme, the defendant changed his name, the names of his companies, and their locations,” U.S. Attorney Talbert said. “The disarray at the Reedley lab led to the glare of publicity he was trying to avoid, and the ensuing investigation unraveled his efforts to circumvent the requirements that are designed to ensure that medical devices are safe and effective.”

“Providing materially false information to FDA inspectors regarding medical device manufacturing and distribution impedes the agency’s ability to protect public health, especially when those false statements relate to unauthorized and misbranded COVID-19 tests. Consumers who unknowingly use these misbranded COVID tests run the risk of incorrect results about their COVID status, which can lead to further spread of the virus,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert M. Iwanicki, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize the health of U.S. consumers.”

According to court documents, between December 2020 and March 2023, Zhu and others manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 test kits, in addition to test kits for HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other conditions in the United States and China. They did so through the companies Universal Meditech Incorporated (UMI) and Prestige Biotech Incorporated (PBI), which were based in Fresno and Reedley. UMI and PBI did not obtain the required authorizations to manufacture and distribute the test kits and mislabeled some of the test kits. When questioned by FDA officials, Zhu made false statements about his identity, his ownership and control of UMI and PBI, and the activities of UMI and PBI.

According to the criminal complaint, Reedley Code Enforcement officials received a complaint regarding a warehouse in Reedley for using non-permitted plumbing that was visible from outside the warehouse. When code enforcement officials went to the warehouse the next day, they saw various types of in vitro diagnostic test kits, related manufacturing equipment, and shipping supplies.

Further investigation found that UMI first registered as a medical device manufacturer with the FDA in November 2015 in Tulare and moved to Fresno in 2018. FDA records show that its registration lapsed in 2022, and it is no longer permitted to manufacture or import any in vitro diagnostic test kits in the United States. Any test kits that the company manufactured or imported after that date are considered misbranded medical devices.

To manufacture, import, and distribute COVID-19 test kits in the United States during the pandemic, a company must have applied for, and ultimately received, an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. According to FDA records, UMI applied for an EUA for its COVID-19 test kits, but never received it due to major deficiencies in UMI’s test studies.

In November 2022, Fresno County officials notified UMI that they were going to inspect UMI’s Fresno facility to ensure everything was up to code following a fire that occurred at the facility. FDA officials then received an email from UMI’s attorney saying that the company had gone out of business and sold its assets to PBI, a company that was formed in Las Vegas, Nevada. PBI was never registered with the FDA to manufacture or import any in vitro diagnostic test kits in the United States, and never received an EUA to manufacture and distribute COVID-19 test kits. Therefore, any such test kits would be misbranded medical devices.

According to the criminal complaint, during the investigation, Zhu made several false statements to FDA officials, including that his name was Qiang “David” He; that he was hired by UMI as a COVID-19 consultant in 2021; that he was hired by PBI just a couple of weeks ago to communicate with government agencies and dispose of property at the warehouse as requested by those agencies; that he did not know anything about the manufacturing or distribution histories for UMI or PBI; and that he knew nothing about an Amazon webpage showing PBI‑branded pregnancy test kits for sale or a shipment of 47,500 pregnancy test kits from China to UMI at an address in Las Vegas.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Department of Public Health – Food and Drug Branch. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph D. Barton, Arelis M. Clemente, and Henry Z. Carbajal III are prosecuting this case.

If convicted, Zhu faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison for the misbranding of medical devices charge, and five more years in prison for the false statements charge. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

There’s been some bullish progress in the California abandoned bio-lab story. Last week ABC-13 WHAM California ran a local story headlined, “Chinese citizen arrested in California for misbranded medical devices, illegal bio lab.” Arrested was “Jesse” Zhia-Bhei Zhu, a Chinese national who back in in 2016 was ordered to pay eye-popping damages of three hundred and thirty million dollars.

The damages arose from a lawsuit against Zhu in British Columbia, for stealing technology related — and I’m being completely serious here — “to the separation of sex chromosomes from bull semen”...

Please don’t ask me what they were doing with the bull semen sex chromosomes or why it was worth so much. And don’t think too hard about how they got the semen out of those poor animals. The answers might just make you give up all hope in humanity.

According to a Vancouver Sun article at the time, the $330 million damages award was the largest civil judgment ever granted by a Canadian court. Later, in December of that year, Zhu was ordered to surrender himself to serve a six-month jail term for contempt for failing to make certain court-ordered payments.

I’m thinking that’s about when Zhu, probably viewing his Canadian prospects as dwindling, departed snowy Canada for sunny Los Angeles, later entering the lucrative covid test kit business, generously-funded by the State of California and the United States federal government, and all their dizzying array of big-dollar incentives, grants, forgivable ‘loans’, and ‘programs’ not requiring actually doing anything.

Last week the DOJ arrested Zhu, but just for selling non-EUA approved medical products (max 3 years) and lying to investigators (max 5 years). I reviewed the DOJ’s charging affidavit, and it doesn’t mention the biosafety level-five germs found in the lab or the blood or all the centrifuges and sketchy lab equipment. It really didn’t describe the lab at all, remaining tightly focused on the labeling violations and the false statements.

From the DOJ’s affidavit:

From at least December 2020 through March 2023, Zhu caused the companies to manufacture and distribute, or attempt to distribute, hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 IVD test kits across the United States, many of which were mislabeled, without obtaining an EUA from the FDA as was required. Zhu also caused the companies to import over 47,000 pregnancy IVD test kits from China and distribute, or attempt to distribute, the test kits on Amazon without being registered with the FDA as was required. Therefore, all of these IVD test kits were misbranded medical devices under the FDCA, which Zhu caused to be received, introduced, or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(a) and (c).
Moreover, when Zhu was questioned by FDA officials, and warned that making false statements to them was a federal crime, he repeatedly lied about who he was, his involvement with UMI and PBI, and the activities of the companies in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3).

Hopefully you didn’t use one of Zhu’s test kits. Who knows what was in there? (Two words: bull semen. Just saying.)

It’s worth reflecting on the fact that the only reason Zhu got caught was because lab employees left a hose running in Reedly, California, where residents are banned from using outdoor faucets on weekdays, and an alert, climate-aware citizen named “Karen” called codes enforcement.

So … How many other Zhu-like operations got away with it?

Reedley Lab Owner Tied to CCP
Zhu Part of “Military-Civil Fusion” Program, CDC Failed Miserably

By Thomas Buckley, November 15, 2023 6:23 pm

The owner of the Reedley biolab was/is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Military-Civil Fusion” program, and received millions in suspicious dollars from China while stealing American bio-technology, selling unlicensed pregnancy and COVID tests, and squirreling away thousands of vials of deadly pathogens.

So says the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party report – released today into the Reedley lab matter. The report lays out the owner’s ties to the CCP and our own CDC’s utter failure to grasp the gravity of the situation.

In fact, the CDC refused to test the vials of various pathogens – which included HIV, Dengue, and COVID – that were found in the lab and then fobbed off the City of Reedley officials who later found a refrigerator labeled “Ebola” by saying that since the fridge was then empty they could just go ahead and clean it.

That really happened.

Lab owner Jai Bei Zhu, who is going by the name David He for now, remains in county jail in Fresno, having been arrested last month by law enforcement officers from the Food and Drug Administration on federal charges of misbranding medical devices and making false statements to federal investigators.

Zhu, said his attorney Anthony Capozzi, will be pleading not guilty to any and all charges (there may be additional allegations) he will face in court tomorrow.

Zhu – who served as an executive at several “PRC government-controlled and directed companies – and his convoluted financial structures and his CCP-type “American imperialism” sentiments are on clear display throughout the report His what can only be described as being a grifter for the CCP persona would help defeat the “American aggressor and wild ambitious wolf!” he claimed.

The report shows that Zhu is intimately involved with various Chinese corporate entities that have deep ties to the CCP. The Military-Civil Fusion program, per the United States State Department, has as its goal “to enable the PRC to develop the most technologically advanced military in the world. As the name suggests, a key part of MCF is the elimination of barriers between China’s civilian research and commercial sectors, and its military and defense industrial sectors.”

And that effort involves the theft of intellectual property, of which Zhu was found to have done while operating a number of shady businesses in Canada. Zhu fled Canada after being found liable – to the tune of $330 million Canadian dollars – in civil court of having stolen cow fertilization techniques from an American company that he was working with. The technology stolen and shipped to China allows dairy farmers to select whether or not a cow will have a boy or girl calf, an invaluable ability.

According to documents found in the lab, Zhu claimed that his company was “looking to seize the opportunity to develop the operational platform for the rapid growth in the Chinese dairy industry, fulfill[ing] [PRC] Premier [and CCP Politburo Member] Wen Jiabao’s wish to ‘provide every Chinese, especially children, sufficient milk every day.’” At that time, China faced a pressing milk crisis and the PRC’s government was pursuing “policies to develop the high-yielding dairy cattle market.”

And from the report:

“In 2016, after years of litigation with XY over his IP theft, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, found Zhu guilty of “fraud on an ‘epic scale’ that ‘resulted in one of the largest awards in a Canadian court.” The court found that “Zhu, whose operations extend to China as well as Canada, plann[ed] to steal the technology to the point where XY’s market would collapse.” The IP theft directly benefited PRC state-controlled enterprises like some of Zhu’s PRC-based companies, and it also benefited IND Group’s “two head offices in China, in Beijing and Qing[d]ao.”

The report was released at a hearing/presentation led by select committee chair Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) this afternoon in DC. However, as noted by Reedley City Manage Nicole Zieba, the report received bi-partisan support, with local Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) praising the report and the actions of the city.

Costa was very concerned as to how such a lab could come to exist, saying current regulations leave “responsibility for this area vague, at least.”

Beyond venting on the incomprehensibly lackadaisical CDC – for example: “The CDC’s continuing refusal to test pathogens despite reasonable requests and the offer to pay from local officials facing a concerned populace simply does not make sense” – the report sharply criticizes the “gaps in federal pathogen (control) standards.”

“Could there be more Reedleys around the country?” asked Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA).

From the report:

“A disturbing realization is that no one knows whether there are other unknown biolabs because there is no monitoring system in place. Zhu, UMI, and other confederates at the Reedley Biolab were able to buy pathogens from accredited and respected U.S. laboratories. Zhu is a wanted fugitive in Canada and serial fraudster. UMI and its successor organizations like Prestige Biotech are little more than a corporate filing and a website. There does not appear to be any voluntary vetting of the purchase of pathogens or the equipment and materials needed to increase the lethality of pathogens. That is dangerous and requires reform.”

It remains unclear if Zhu – who has claimed he was involved in a “research project” when asked about the pathogens and other equipment found in the lab – could have been directly involved specifically in bio-weapon research. The report states that “(W)ith the exception of Ebola, the labeled pathogens (which CDC accepted at face value) are inconsistent with the operation of a bioweapons program.”

That being said, the report stressed that what was found could “pose a substantial risk to the community. A blood supply infected with HIV, for example, or immunocompromised communities like nursing homes suddenly falling ill with tuberculosis, could spark a localized panic. In addition, individuals can use even simple pathogens to great effect to harm a large population.”

Additionally, it must be noted that an expert consulted by the Globe for a previous article did warn that the materials found in the lab did not match a “research project” into the creation of virus and other “testing kits” like the ones Zhu had been selling (selling illegally after importing them from China and slapping a “Made in the USA” label on them.)

Fixing the broken – or non-existent – regulatory system that allows bad actors to act dangerously unimpeded, said Zieba, is some good that could come out of this near-miss of a terrible tragedy.

“This issue has bi-partisan support and there are legislative fixes we can create for the safety of everyone,” Zieba said. “This is not the end for us – it’s the beginning.”

The report can be found here. Note: this link is to a Fresno TV station site as the Committee itself has yet to post the report on its own website. It is expected to appear shortly, possibly along with further information on the matter. Here’s the link for the site.

Today’s presentation can be found here: https://www.c-span.org/video/?531914-1%2Freps-gallagher-mccarthy-costa-news-conference-reedley-medical-lab=

The House Committee’s report revealed some shocking new information. First, we learned that courageous code inspector Harper tried over and over to get the CDC to investigate, but the CDC refused to investigate. Federal health officials even hung-up on persistent Officer Harper multiple times. Only after the local Congressman got involved did the CDC finally agree to inspect the warehouse — and it found "at least 20 potentially infectious agents, including HIV, Tuberculosis, and the deadliest known form of Malaria."

But — and this is critical — for some inexplicable and unexplained reason, the CDC did not test any of the samples — even the ones with unknown contents or with coded labels. Later, local officials discovered a freezer labeled ‘Ebola’ — Ebola! — but still the useless CDC has refused to follow up.

Local officials also discovered bags labeled cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy (MDMA), and THC. Not quite doing justice to the case, the Committee succinctly described the CDC’s disinterest in the lab as being “baffling.” I could think of some stronger but still accurate words. “Treasonous” comes to mind.

The CDC and the Corporate Media have gullibly accepted the cover story and still describe the lab’s purpose as “creating Covid-19 test kits.” And, in fact, the lab received hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in grants from the State of California to create covid test kits. But the Select Committee’s investigators found the lab workers were actually just buying cheap “counterfeit” covid tests from China and repackaging them in the warehouse. They didn’t actually create anything. Not test kits, at least.

The report explained there was a "lack of apparent legitimate (or even profit-motivated criminal) motive in the operation of the illegal facility." So the lab’s real purpose remains unknown.

But it gets even murkier. The Select Committee discovered that Jesse Zhu/David He, the lab’s criminal operator, was "receiving unexplained payments via wire transfer" from Chinese banks. In large, round numbers. ...

The CDC’s wholesale disinterest in this filthy, super-sketchy bio-lab almost makes you think the CDC’s real purpose is something different from protecting the American public’s health, safety, and welfare. Almost as if the CDC has been captured and repurposed, or something.

But, captured by whom?

We expect the Chinese to be doing stuff like this. But not the CDC, to whom we have given our trust and treasure. Between the two, which is the greater enemy?