Recollecting the encounter, Bloom said that it became “extremely contentious” after he presented his findings. Biologist Kristian Andersen, invited to the meeting by Collins, called the paper “deeply troubling” and suggested that the NIH had no ethical right to stop materials from being deleted from its databases. He further argued that there was “nothing unusual” about the genetic sequencing information anyway, and that it was “not interesting”.
Fauci was said to have interjected to object to Bloom’s use of the word “surreptitiously” to describe the deletion of the genetic sequences, suggesting that the word was “loaded” and that “the reason they’d asked for the deletions was unknown”. Andersen recommended that Bloom delete his entire article or edit it “in a way that would leave no record that this had been done”. Fauci distanced himself from the latter suggestion. Andersen told his colleague that since the paper had “already [been] submitted…it’s better if you don’t pressure him to revise it”.
Sergei Pond, another evolutionary biologist who took part in the meeting, confirmed Bloom’s account, and offered him moral support in email correspondence. “Dear Jesse, despite the guilt trip that Kristian was trying to put you on (not 100% sure why), I think what you are doing is the correct scientific approach. Report what you find and don’t worry too much about political ramifications. Just wanted to offer my moral support as you face the inevitable sh*t-storm. Hopefully I was able to communicate some of my support on the call”, Pond wrote in an email.