I think the semantics are in the word "weapons". What's the need for a weapons lab if you can just leak deadly pathogens out of a research lab?

Correct. It is a game of semantics. Just like when Rand Paul cornered Fauci on "gain of function research." Fauci ignored the entire premise of the question to argue the meaning of gain of function.

If you want to trace back this BS liberal logic, look no further than Bill Clinton's deposition re: Monica Lewinsky.

“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is. If the—if he—if ‘is’ means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. … Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.”