Sheriff Villanueva responds to Fulgent Genetics plan to sue him over his comments about sharing data with China, calling the company's claims 'false' and slamming the county for refusing to provide him with a lawyer.
Noting that Fulgent also claimed in court documents that the FBI “never even mentioned Fulgent’s name” during the November meeting, the sheriff insisted that the company was discussed.
He suggested his version of events will be vindicated when Castro-Silva and County CEO Fesia Davenport, both of whom attended the meeting with the FBI, are questioned about it in court. The two officials have so far refused to comment on the meeting beyond what was said in the county’s statement.Villanueva also displayed what he said was a redacted email from an L.A.-based FBI agent inviting the sheriff to a briefing “to discuss security concerns related to mandatory COVID-19 testing at Fulgent Genetics Laboratory.” The agent’s name was blacked out, but the title “Weapons Of Mass Destruction Coordinator” was visible.
The email provided no other details. In describing the discussion at the meeting with the FBI, the sheriff did not mention Fulgent. Here is how he described what he learned at the briefing: “[I]t’s a very big picture. It’s kind of complicated, about the bioeconomy, and the challenges that China poses in terms of trying to corner the market on bioeconomy and all the things that entails in terms of research and databases and genomes and everything that has to do with the bioeconomy.”Villanueva also displayed portions of a letter, marked confidential, that Castro-Silva sent him on Feb.