Response to Hasenkrug

by Carleton Clifford, PhD, retired Scientist Director RML, Hamilton

This letter is in response to an extremely well written letter published in the Bitterroot Star on April 2, 2025, by Dr. Kim Hasenkrug, retired RML employee, outlining the value of keeping the lab in the Bitterroot Valley. He cites several of the ongoing scientific studies and points out the tremendous economic value it imparts to the area.

I worked at the lab from June of 1960 to May of 1984 and concur with much of what he said. Historically, the lab made enormous contributions to the study of disease agents and contributed to the World War II effort by making vaccines and sending staff to the war zones. Workers at the Lab faced danger and according to a book on Spotted Fever by Dr. Robert Phillip, past Director of the Lab, seven people died from the diseases they were working on. These deaths were pre-antibiotics. Many others were infected with agents they were working with, but they survived. Also, at that time we lacked equipment and procedures necessary to protect ourselves from highly infectious disease agents like Q fever and Tularemia. Furthermore, we were testing ticks for disease agents from many foreign countries where deadly tickborne diseases were known to exist. 

With the large expenditure on the new high security Lab at the RML, they are probably not going to receive very significant cuts. It is one of only a few labs in the United States rated at BS-L,4. The big danger to the Lab could arise from the fact that the lab has been led for decades by three  scientists, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins and Dr. Gallo, who Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. probably have in their cross hairs and have no regard for any of them.

It is possible that all the good that could have been accomplished by Dr. Hasenkrug’s letter was lost when his message became political and maligned Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr.

He said, “President Trump has done Americans a tremendous disservice by appointing such an incompetent person as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.” 

RFK Jr. has spoken for himself by publishing two books. One, “The Real Anthony Fauci” in 2021 and “The Wuhan Cover-up” in 2023. In these two books, RFK Jr. has cited every statement that he makes, and this lets you go to his source to check everything he says. Check it out. There is another excellent book written by Rand Paul entitled “Deception, The Great Covid Cover-up” that backs up a lot of what RFK Jr. has said.

As for vaccines, RFK Jr. is not against vaccines. He is against the way many vaccines have been prepared and tested in the past. He wants them properly tested to ensure that there are no viral contaminants and not be tested in people with no advocacy. Several vaccines that were prepared using monkey cells contained SV40, a viral contaminant. This virus was present in both the Salk and Sabin vaccines at very low levels.  Sabin’s vaccine replaced the Salk vaccine because the oral vaccine was ingested and not injected, it supposedly did not cause any harm? 

Also, he cites several instances where Fauci and Big Pharma tested potential AIDS drugs and vaccines using foster children, some babies less than three days old. Many of these experiments were predominately in children of color, African American (64%), and Latinos (30%). Children with no advocacy. To see why RFK Jr. is worried about vaccines, see Chapter 7 in his book about Dr. Fauci, entitled: “Mr. Hyde: NIAID’S Barbaric and Illegal Experiments on Children” and chapter 8 entitled: “White Mischief: Dr. Fauci’s African Atrocities.” All RFK Jr.’s statements were documented. Many children died during these experiments and many others were left with severe health problems.

Further, he proves that Fauci lied when he testified before Congress, claiming that he had never supported gain of function research. Fauci approved and funded several studies by Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina and Peter Daszak, President of Echo Health Alliance in New York, where data were shared with the Chinese scientists at the Wuhan lab and the Chinese military that could have been used to create the Covid virus that infected millions of people around the world. Some of this support occurred during Obama’s ban on gain of function studies These American scientists co-authored several publications that resulted from this cooperation. RFK Jr. says that the NIH funded at least 60 scientific projects at the Wuhan lab. This is why Fauci has been such an advocate of the theory that humans got infected at the Wuhan Market. He obviously doesn’t want to get credit for supporting work with millions of dollars that could have resulted in the origin of the Covid pandemic. Congress should investigate the charges that RFK Jr. makes in his two books and if they are credible the offenders should be penalized or at least get credit for the atrocities they were part of. 

Finally, RFK Jr. is already putting forth new rules regarding the preparation and testing of vaccines and has proposed a vigorous campaign to find the cause of autism.

It is entirely possible that neither Trump nor RFK Jr. will read the Bitterroot Star and will probably not have seen the “Thank You Dr. Fauci” sign on the current RML Director’s fence. Also look at the bright side. Even if Musk and RFK Jr. close the lab, the existing buildings could provide structures for a middle school or a university.