{"id":1264664,"date":"2022-02-02T11:38:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T16:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1264664"},"modified":"2022-02-02T11:38:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T16:38:16","slug":"exclusive-house-oversight-republicans-demand-more-answers-from-hhs-over-grant-to-wuhan-lab-and-possible-fauci-cover-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-house-oversight-republicans-demand-more-answers-from-hhs-over-grant-to-wuhan-lab-and-possible-fauci-cover-up\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Republicans Demand More Answers from HHS Over Grant to Wuhan Lab and Possible Fauci Cover-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-house-oversight-republicans-demand-more-answers-from-hhs-over-grant-to-wuhan-lab-and-possible-fauci-cover-up%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1264664&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter Wednesday to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Lawrence Tabak and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding answers about a grant to EcoHealth Alliance, which then conferred the taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Caller first obtained the letter, led by the Ranking Member Kentucky Rep. James Comer and signed by every Republican on the committee. In it, they will be invoking the Seven Member Rule, which is a law that requires, upon a request of seven Members on the Committee on Oversight and Reform, an executive agency to \u201csubmit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans on the oversight committee made this <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/15\/james-comer-letter-anthony-fauci-francis-collins-grant-ecohealth-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">same request<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n<p>The Seven Member Rule&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/5\/2954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">passed<\/a> Congress in 1928. The seven lawmakers can be members of either party, or a combination of both, and do not require the approval of the Chair. The difference between the Seven Member Rule and a subpoena is that the right to information is codified in law and, therefore, not subject to delegation by the House.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA series of events documented in communications from February to April 2020 raise serious concerns about conflicts of interest and abuse of government resources,\u201d the Republican lawmakers said in the letter. \u201cRather than be transparent with Committee Republicans, HHS and NIH have chosen to hide, obfuscate, and shield the truth. This stonewalling is particularly troubling considering NIH\u2019s direct involvement in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the agency\u2019s policy or practice to destroy potentially pertinent documents related to grant making decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, the lawmakers grilled the former NIH director Francis Collins and National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases Director Anthony Fauci for not responding to their <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/01\/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-francis-collins-peter-daszak-wuhan-institute-of-virology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inquiries<\/a>&nbsp;regarding a 2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/07\/defense-threat-reduction-agency-ecohealth-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grant<\/a>&nbsp;awarded by the NIH to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. (EcoHealth) that was then awarded to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. They also renewed their request for all documents and communications between the NIH, WIV, and EcoHealth Alliance regarding the grant, as well as those resulting from any U.S. government-led inspection of the WIV arranged by EcoHealth Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers also again called for Fauci\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/04\/josh-hawley-calls-anthony-fauci-step-down-full-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unredacted emails<\/a>&nbsp;to be produced to the committee.<\/p>\n<p>EcoHealth&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">provided $600,000 in the form of NIH subgrants to the Wuhan lab<\/a>&nbsp;between 2014 and 2019 to study bat-based coronaviruses.&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: US Grant To Wuhan Lab To Enhance Bat-Based Coronaviruses Was Never Scrutinized By HHS Review Board, NIH Says)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ THE LETTER HERE:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View (DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) -- Letter to NIH Follow Up (2) on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/556435632\/DAILY-CALLER-OBTAINED-Letter-to-NIH-Follow-Up-2#from_embed\">(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) \u2014 \u2026<\/a> by <a title=\"View Henry Rodgers&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/527927298\/Henry-Rodgers#from_embed\">Henry Rodgers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy continuing to refuse to cooperate with our request, HHS and NIH are choosing to hide information that will help inform the origins of the ongoing pandemic, prevent future pandemics, strengthen the United States\u2019 national security posture, and restore confidence in our public health experts and infrastructure. The agencies\u2019 continued obstruction is likely to cause irreparable harm to the credibility of these institutions. By providing the requested documents and information, HHS and NIH will have the opportunity to help our country move forward in a positive, transparent direction following the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d the lawmakers added in Wednesday\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Many Republican lawmakers have called for Fauci\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/04\/josh-hawley-calls-anthony-fauci-step-down-full-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resignation<\/a>&nbsp;after thousands of his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/04\/joe-biden-very-confident-dr-anthony-fauci-emails-coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emails from the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>&nbsp;were published by The Washington Post and Buzzfeed News. The emails contained comments on wearing masks, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/02\/kristian-andersen-anthony-fauci-covid-engineered\/\">lab leak theory<\/a>&nbsp;and more. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/15\/james-comer-letter-anthony-fauci-francis-collins-grant-ecohealth-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Republicans Demand Answers From Fauci, Collins Over Grant To Wuhan Lab)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers called for the documents from the HHS and the NIH to be provided no later than Feb. 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter Wednesday to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Lawrence Tabak and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1264664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1264664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1264664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1264664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1264664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1264664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1264664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}