{"id":1987454,"date":"2023-08-01T03:21:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T07:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wenstrup-defends-coronavirus-panel-lab-leak-cover-up-investigation-from-democratic-attacks\/"},"modified":"2023-08-01T03:26:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T07:26:24","slug":"wenstrup-defends-coronavirus-panel-lab-leak-cover-up-investigation-from-democratic-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wenstrup-defends-coronavirus-panel-lab-leak-cover-up-investigation-from-democratic-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Wenstrup defends lab-leak cover-up probe against Democratic criticism."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/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%2Fwenstrup-defends-coronavirus-panel-lab-leak-cover-up-investigation-from-democratic-attacks%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=1987454&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--><h2>Subcommittee on\u2063 the\u200c Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Defends Investigation into Lab Leak Theory<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Subcommittee on \u200cthe Coronavirus Pandemic \u2064Chairman \u2064Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) defended his group&#8217;s investigation into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-cotton-responds-to-ex-cdc-chiefs-belief-that-pandemic-started-in-lab-this-was-never-a-conspiracy-theory\/\" title=\"Tom Cotton Responds To Ex-CDC Chief\u2019s Belief That Pandemic Started In Lab: \u2018This Was Never A Conspiracy Theory\u2019\">lab leak theory<\/a> of origin regarding COVID-19 against Democratic accusations that the Republicans are \u2062generating a false story, \u2064saying the panel is obligated to follow through, even if the findings \u2063cause controversy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, \u2064I feel in some ways Democrats \u2062want to sweep under the rug a lot of things that happen \u200dand just \u200bmove\u2064 forward on ideas of the future, but one \u2064of the tenets of this subcommittee is \u200cto do investigations,&#8221; Wenstrup told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview\u200d regarding the origins \u2062of\u2064 the virus. &#8220;It&#8217;s the \u2063Oversight Committee. That&#8217;s\u2063 what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Most \u200bPeople, Including Democrats, Disapprove of Appliance Energy Regulations: \u2064Poll<\/h3>\n<p>Democrats on the committee issued a report earlier\u2062 this month \u200dthat said Republicans were attempting to &#8220;manufacture the narrative&#8221;\u2062 of leadership at the National Institutes of Health\u2064 intentionally \u2063suppressing scientific debate regarding \u200bthe \u200dorigin of \u200cSARS-CoV-2,\u200c the virus that causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Wenstrup,\u2063 however,\u2063 told the Washington Examiner that <strong>&#8220;honesty is \u200bnonnegotiable,&#8221;<\/strong> even if it \u2063is inconvenient.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As\u200c we&#8217;re looking for things, it&#8217;s not within a political bent. It&#8217;s from a scientific bent that we can\u2063 hopefully [prepare] better in the future,&#8221; the chairman\u2063 said.<\/p>\n<p>The central \u2062facet\u2062 of\u200d the subcommittee&#8217;s investigation into \u2064the coronavirus&#8217;s origins has been examining\u200c the drafting\u2063 and publication of the scientific paper &#8220;The proximal\u200c origins of\u2062 SARS-CoV-2,&#8221; which was\u2062 published in Nature Medicine in March 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The paper\u200c explicitly denied \u200dthe plausibility of the virus originating in a lab. The \u2062paper has been accessed\u200d over 5.8\u2063 million times and has become\u2063 the fifth-most influential academic paper on record, having been \u2063used by prominent \u2063government\u200d officials to suppress scientific debate.<\/p>\n<p>The subcommittee subpoenaed the authors of the\u200c report, including Kristian\u2063 Andersen \u2064and Robert Garry, on June 23, \u2064requesting all instant messages between the authors of the \u200bpaper.\u200c The Republican report based \u2062upon the 8,000 pages of subpoenaed documents outlines the role of then-Director of\u200d the National Institute for Allergy\u200b and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, then-NIH Director \u200dFrancis Collins, and then-NIH ethics director Lawrence Tabak in\u2062 the\u200b drafting of the eventual publication of the paper.<\/p>\n<p>Records indicate that Andersen had \u200ba private\u2062 phone call with Fauci on Jan. 31, 2020, during \u200bwhich\u2063 Andersen raised the possibility that the virus was engineered and included the \u2063possible \u2064involvement of Chinese \u2063research \u200cat \u2063the Wuhan Institute of Virology.<\/p>\n<p>On Feb. 1, which Wenstrup told the Washington Examiner \u200cwas &#8220;a date \u2064in [Pandemic] history,&#8221; the authors of the paper\u2063 engaged in\u200b a conference call with Fauci, \u2063Collins, \u2063Tabak, \u2062and other scientists.\u200b After\u2062 this conference \u200bcall, instant\u2064 messages between\u200b the authors of\u2064 the \u200dreport demonstrate that their research was directed \u200dtoward the interests of the so-called \u201cBethesda\u2062 Boys\u201d at the NIH to suppress information regarding the possibility of a lab leak.<\/p>\n<p>Although the authors agreed via instant\u2062 message that \u2063they could not\u200d entirely rule\u2062 out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joint-who-china-report-urges-no-further-probe-into-extremely-unlikely-lab-leak-theory-u-s-officials-are-pushing-back\/\" title=\"Joint WHO-China Report Urges No Further Probe Into \u2018Extremely Unlikely\u2019 Lab Leak Theory. U.S. Officials Are Pushing Back.\">lab leak hypothesis<\/a>, they decided \u200cto deny \u200cany connection between SARS-CoV-2 \u2064and human experimentation \u2064in \u200btheir\u200c paper\u200d because of \u201cthe s*** show that would happen if \u200danyone seriously accused the Chinese of even \u2064accidental release.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The subpoenaed instant messages also revealed that\u2063 Nature Medicine\u200b initially\u2064 rejected their article because the original language \u200cof \u200cthe lab leak denial was not strong enough, prompting the authors to\u200b strengthen their conclusions in favor \u200cof\u2063 a natural-origin hypothesis in the final\u2064 published version of the paper.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic report on the information obtained from the\u2064 research team largely relies on the testimony from Andersen, \u200cGarry, \u2063and \u2062the other authors,\u2064 not referring \u2064to instant message communications between the authors that address the motivations of &#8220;The proximal origins of SARS-CoV-2&#8243;\u200d or its problems in publication.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the \u200baccusations and\u2064 content of \u200cthe Democratic report, Wenstrup highlighted that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wenstrup-defends-coronavirus-panel-lab-leak-cover-up-investigation-from-democratic-attacks\/\" title=\"Wenstrup defends lab-leak cover-up probe against Democratic criticism.\">minority report referenced party affiliation<\/a> of committee members\u2063 34 times compared \u2063to the majority report, which made no reference to\u200d political party groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We shouldn&#8217;t \u200ceven have a\u2062 political \u2064bent, and we&#8217;re just looking \u200bat \u2064what was\u2063 done so that\u2063 we as Americans in \u200da bipartisan \u200cway \u2063can have\u200d a better <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/authoritarian-new-zealand-to-pass-smoking-prohibition-law\/\" title=\"Authoritarian New Zealand to Pass Smoking Prohibition Law\">public health plan<\/a> and policy\u200d in place,\u201d the congressman said.<\/p>\n<p>One point\u200b of possible\u200c agreement between the Republicans \u2064and Democrats\u2063 on the subcommittee is \u200cthe \u200bquestionable role \u2062of the World Health\u2064 Organization in the drafting\u2062 of \u200b&#8221;The proximal origins of SARS-CoV-2&#8243; and the cover-up\u200b of \u2064the lab leak.<\/p>\n<p>Relying \u2062upon \u2064the testimony of the authors, \u2063the\u200d Democratic report outlines that\u2064 Jeremy \u2064Farrar,\u200b the WHO&#8217;s chief \u200cmedical scientist, was \u200dinstrumental in leading and organizing the Feb. 1\u200b conference call.<\/p>\n<p>Wenstrup \u200ctold the Washington Examiner that American scientists were denied spots on \u2062the WHO\u2019s first investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which was primarily led by \u200bChinese scientists.\u200c Shortly thereafter,\u200d Wenstrup received a letter \u200dfrom the Chinese ambassador saying \u2062the United States should accept the WHO-China \u2064study\u2019s conclusion that the\u2062 virus was\u200d not the result of a \u200blab \u200bleak.<\/p>\n<p>Although further investigating the role of the WHO is a priority for Wenstrup, he said the director-general of the \u200cWHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has \u2064been more cooperative with American investigations as new findings emerge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The WHO needs serious reforms, and it doesn&#8217;t\u2064 operate with the best interests \u2064of the United States\u200c in mind,&#8221; Wenstrup said. &#8220;It seems in\u200d part controlled by [Chinese Communist Party] interests, so \u200dmaybe Tedros is trying to go the other direction. And I would hope that would be the case.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite \u2063partisan \u2062differences\u2064 in the perceived \u200dimportance of the\u200b COVID-19 origins\u2063 investigation, Wenstrup said he\u200b remains optimistic about generating at least\u2062 some cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>Ranking member Raul Ruiz (D-CA) \u200dand Wenstrup have maintained cordiality\u2063 throughout the \u2062process, even continuing to go to dinner as friends during \u200dthis investigation,\u2064 according \u200bto Wenstrup.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Keep in mind that after Kevin McCarthy\u200d called\u200c me\u200d and asked me\u2064 to \u2062take this \u2064role I was\u200b honored to get,\u200c I called \u2062Dr. \u2063Ruiz and said get\u200b on this subcommittee. I said, &#8216;Matter of fact,\u2062 try to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-tom-carper-announces-bill-to-give-d-c-statehood\/\" title=\"Sen. Tom Carper announces bill to give D.C. statehood\">ranking member<\/a>,&#8217; because we&#8217;ve worked so well\u2064 together on health bills, and I\u200c consider us to\u2062 be \u200bfriends,&#8221; the Ohio Republican said.<\/p>\n<p>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE\u200b FROM\u2062 THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the difficulties,\u2062 Wenstrup told the \u200cWashington\u200b Examiner that he is committed\u200c to communicating the\u2063 truth to the \u200cpublic.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s big findings that\u2063 we are getting all\u200c the time to the \u200dsubcommittee,&#8221; \u2062he said, &#8220;and it seems like \u200dwhen we look under one rock, we find another rock. That&#8217;s our job. That&#8217;s what we want to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>to dismiss any possibility of a lab leak origin for COVID-19. However, as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, it is our duty to pursue the truth, regardless of the political implications. We must prioritize public health and uncover all potential origins to prevent future pandemics.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1987455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1987454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987454","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=1987454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1987455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1987454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1987454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1987454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}