Exclusive: The Special Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said its members “certainly suggest” that the new coronavirus infection originated from “a laboratory-related incident in Wuhan, China,” and that the Chinese Communist Party It reviewed classified State Department records that state the agency “attempted to cover up the lab breach.” ”
Committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, obtained by Fox News Digital, requesting that records be declassified to “share the truth with the American people” about the origins of the coronavirus.
FBI director says coronavirus pandemic ‘most likely’ originated in a Chinese lab
Mr. Wenstrup said the State Department recently closed the selection committee after the same documents were previously released under the Freedom of Information Act as “unclassified and highly redacted” to a nonprofit group called US Right to Know. He said he had submitted confidential documents to the organization.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at the Capitol Hill Club. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
U.S. taxpayer money flows into Chinese companies doing coronavirus research before coronavirus pandemic: GAO
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Wenstrup said confidential documents sent to the committee “certainly suggest that the novel coronavirus originated from a laboratory-related incident in Wuhan, China. “It contains highly relevant information.”
Wenstrup said the documents suggest that the Chinese Communist Party “acted to prevent, and indeed obstructed, a thorough investigation into these matters.”
Wenstrup said the document also suggests a “seamless relationship” between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the People’s Liberation Army.
Wuhan, Wuhan, Feb. 3, as members of a World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) coronavirus visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province. A security guard stands guard outside the virus research institute. 2021. (Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
“The American people have a right to see the information hidden beneath these redactions,” Wenstrup wrote. “We are writing today to urge you to take immediate steps to declassify this information so that the American public has a more complete picture of the government’s evidence regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. ”
Director of National Intelligence releases classified coronavirus origins report
Wenstrup also asked Blinken to hold a staff-level briefing on the records by May 14.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein/Pool)
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
President Biden signed the Coronavirus Origins Act of 2023 last year, which requires the government to declassify information that may have contributed to the pandemic.
US funds research to create ‘mutant viruses’ at Wuhan laboratory ahead of new coronavirus infection, records show
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report in June 2023, questioning intelligence agencies on whether the pandemic was caused by a laboratory leak or “natural exposure” of infected animals. said he had not drawn any conclusions. A view of a wet market in China.
“All agencies continue to assess that both natural and laboratory-associated origins are plausible hypotheses to explain the initial human infection,” the report said.
A red flag flies in front of the Great Hall of the People ahead of the biannual conference in Beijing, China, on March 4, 2022. The 5th session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will open on March 4th. (Photo courtesy of VCG/VCG, Getty Images)
Former intelligence chief says lab leak is ‘only explanation’ for coronavirus
The National Intelligence Council and four other intelligence agencies assessed that natural contact with wild animals was the most likely cause.
The U.S. Department of Energy and FBI have determined that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) likely originated from a laboratory breach in China.
The report said the CIA and another unnamed agency had not reached a conclusion “because either hypothesis relies on key assumptions or faces challenges from conflicting reports.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
However, “nearly all” government agencies assess that it is not “genetically engineered,” and the entire intelligence community believes that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is “not genetically engineered.” “They agree that it was not developed as a biological weapon,” the report said. said.
