A new federal assessment suggesting a lab leak was the likely origin of COVID-19 has given new oxygen to Republican calls for further investigations.
After reading a Wall Street Journal article published over the weekend about an Energy Department conclusion that COVID-19 most likely came from a lab leak in China, Republicans felt vindicated.
“Senator Tom Cotton deserves an apology,” the Republican National Committee tweeted Monday.
Senator @TomCottonAR deserves an apology https://t.co/iRiM7RayUl
— GOP (@GOP) February 27, 2023
As early as February 2020, Cotton (R-Ark.) speculated that the virus was created in a Chinese biochemical lab, despite having no evidence to support this claim. Later, Cotton recanted his claim that the virus was a weapon. It makes no difference if you end up being right.
“Being proven right doesn’t matter. What matters is holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable so this doesn’t happen again,” Cotton tweeted.
Re. China’s lab leak, being proven right doesn’t matter.
What matters is holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable so this doesn’t happen again.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 26, 2023
You can also check out these news related to Covid-19:
- During the Lunar New Year Chinese Pray For Health, As the COVID Death Rises
- Since Lifting Restrictions China Reports Nearly 60000 COVID-19 Deaths
What did Josh Hawley Announce on the Origin of Covid-19?
On Sunday, February 26, 2023, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley announced plans to introduce legislation to declassify intelligence findings about the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. This call was echoed by other Republican senators.
The White House spent all day Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 playing down the report claiming that intelligence agencies have not found definitive proof as to whether the virus originated in a lab or in nature.
During a press briefing, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said:
There’s not been a definitive conclusion, so it’s difficult for me to say, nor should I feel like I should have to defend press reporting about a possible preliminary indication here. What the president wants is facts. He wants the whole government designed to go get those facts. And, that’s what we’re doing and we’re just not there yet,
While in the minority last year, House Republicans began looking into where the virus came from and they are now ramping up their investigation. They have sent letters to current and former Biden health officials including former NIAID director Anthony Fauci demanding information and testimony about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Additional Covid-19-related news are given below:
- New COVID Model Forecasts 1 Million Fatalities in China by 2023
- Since Lifting Restrictions China Reports Nearly 60000 COVID-19 Deaths
Who is More Responsible for the Covid-19 Pandemic?
On Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, House Republicans widened the scope of the investigation to include the Department of Energy, the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), all of which have concluded that a lab leak is most likely responsible for the pandemic.
The new report is likely to be discussed at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic which is looking into the administration’s COVID policy decisions.
However, the new report from DOE was reportedly made with low confidence and the U.S. intelligence community is divided on the conclusion that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab.
Furthermore, the origins of the pandemic have become a third rail with some equating the possibility of a lab leak with theories of a Chinese biological weapon which intelligence agencies have collectively debunked.
Many scientists believe there are valid concerns about the US response to the virus and its origins, but they say the discussion has been framed more around political posturing.
“The left spent the past 2yrs trying to censor the truth & cover up for Communist China, but the facts are undeniable,” Sen. Rick Scott tweeted.
The left spent the past 2yrs trying to censor the truth & cover up for Communist China, but the facts are undeniable.
The CCP is evil. Its virus killed millions & Xi will stop at nothing to destroy the U.S. It’s time to hold this evil regime accountable. https://t.co/dWqctQwzra
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 26, 2023
The experts are worried that the issue will remain politicized and that the lack of cooperation from China will make it more difficult to determine what actually occurred.
While last year’s omnibus funding bill did include a bipartisan pandemic response bill, it did not include a provision to establish an independent commission to investigate the government’s pandemic response and the virus’s origins.
The government is already split on the origins of COVID and the most recent assessment from the DOE doesn’t help matters. The director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Michael Osterholm said:
When somebody puts something forward with low confidence, that tells you right there that you know, the level of evidence is extremely limited, if anything at all.
Osterholm has stated that he is not shocked by the politicization, but that it is more beneficial to prepare for the next pandemic rather than analyze the past one. Do you think that if a government agency came out and said, We have low confidence conclusions that this was a spillover event that would sway anyone’s opinion?
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