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The most valuable viral research tools—@nextstrain & CovSpectrum—are being destroyed—not only blocked from new data but now forbidden from even sharing info from the PAST. Why? Because GISAID is run dictatorially by a con man, paranoid egomaniac, & liar named Peter Bogner. 1/

I use CovSpectrum & Nextstrain every day—& I'm not the only one. Every Covid thread I've ever posted has relied largely on CovSpectrum & Nextstrain for information & visuals. These vital resources have now been stolen from us by a world-class grifter. 2/ www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/to-f...

For years scientists knew something was very, very wrong with GISAID, but the breakout story (from which much of this 🧵 is based) came 2 years ago in @science.org from @cohenjon.bsky.social & Martin Enserik. 3/ www.science.org/content/arti...

GISAID, the essential viral genetic database, is run by Peter Bogner, a guy who has served jail time for financial fraud, was sentenced to at least 8 years of probation, and seems never to have paid the $65,000 in restitution he was ordered to pay by a judge. 4/

Later Bogner conned professional ski instructor Reider Wahl out of $10,000 and his share of the profits for a documentary Bogner convinced him to do, absconding with Wahl's money, never to be seen by him again. 5/

For years, he pretended to be "Steven Meyers"—a persona Bogner invented—when communicating with scientists, manipulating them to suit his agenda. Bogner still denies this, despite the incontrovertible evidence. Blatant lying is an involuntary reflex for him. 6/

Bogner dodged two court orders to pay a ~$1-million-dollar debt to the Swiss Bioinformatics Institute by skipping town, after which the institute gave up trying to get the money owed to them—a common theme in this story. 7/

Bogner has claimed to have a business degree from a school he never attended, falsely claimed to be a "World Cup skier", lied about being a former "Time Warner executive" (among other imaginary roles), and listed different birth dates for himself on official forms. 8/

I don't think anyone even knows for sure if Peter Bogner is his real name. GISAID's finances are opaque and controlled by a lifelong con man. I leave it to the reader to deduce the likelihood that all GISAID funding is being used for its intended purpose. 9/

Bogner wields absolute power at GISAID & has arbitrarily punished researchers, blocking their access or downgrading their accounts for criticizing GISAID, despite no violation of GISAID's rules. There is no recourse or appeal against his rulings because he's accountable to no one. 10/

Bogner has lied to me in emails. I was close to never having GISAID access. I applied for access & followed up with numerous emails to GISAID/Bogner, all of which were ignored. Only after a professional virologist contacted GISAID on my behalf that was I granted access. 12/

After that virologist contacted GISAID, I got an email from Bogner/GISAID saying that I actually had been approved and granted access weeks earlier, a straight-up lie. He has told nearly identical lies to other amateur researchers I know. 13/

I understand that people fear losing GISAID access—I'm afraid of that as well—but the silence of researchers and the unwillingness to speak plainly is, in my estimation, part of the explanation for why a con artist still rules GISAID with an iron fist… 14/