House GOP to resume investigation of COVID-19 origins

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• House Republicans are demanding information on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The lawmakers said that the investigation is important to “predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again.”
• The House GOP said their requests for information during the previous Congress were rejected.

Republicans in the House of Representatives are resuming their requests for information and testimony from Anthony Fauci and other officials as part of a renewed investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 12 members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will be looking into the pandemic’s origins.

This involves examining federal funding of gain-of-function research — research that enhances a virus’s ability to cause an infection to help predict pandemics and develop cures. This investigation focuses on the claim that the U.S. government possibly backed research in the lab in Wuhan, China, where the virus reportedly originated from.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), the committee chair, stated, “This investigation must begin with where and how this virus came about so that we can attempt to predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again.”

Wenstrup called out government-funded scientists and researchers for being “less than forthcoming in their knowledge and actions, including work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and potential pandemic pathogens.”

The committee, along with Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)’s Oversight and Accountability Committee, is demanding information from senior officials and the president of EcoHealth Alliance.

They are seeking phone records, communications, and official calendars from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institutes of Health that are related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and any federal grants to EcoHealth Alliance. They also request testimony from Fauci — a transcribed interview where he would be under oath. 

Fauci retired from the government last year after serving as the NIAID director for almost 40 years. He has previously said that he would willingly testify.

The committee also called for a classified briefing from law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said their previous requests for information were rejected when the GOP was in the minority. After taking back the majority, the House GOP now has the authority to issue subpoenas if necessary.

Source: The Hill