After warning of the dangers of the "industrial-military complex" in his farewell speech, President Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the huge $$ associated with the federal government funding research and public policy becoming "the captive of a scientific-technological elite."
"In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government...In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity...The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."
There are lots of taxpayer dollars to be had by making sure your COVID-19 research reaches the proper conclusions. Add the media to it and the government-academic-media complex is a beast equally as dangerous to the American people as the industrial-military complex.