Topline
Rep. Michael McCaul, the GOP head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that was briefed last week on an explosive report about Covid-19's origins, said Sunday he thinks it's "more likely than not" that the disease accidentally emerged out of a lab in China before cautioning that a "long overdue" U.S. investigation into the matter may end up inconclusive.
Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) speaks with members of the media outside of the West Wing of the White ... [+]
Key Facts
Speaking to CNN's State of the Union, McCaul called Covid-19's origin story "the worst cover up in human history," saying Chinese officials "suppressed" recently reported details that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China went to the hospital in November 2019 with Covid-like symptoms—earlier than the first-reported case in December.
Asked about President Joe Biden's request that intelligence agencies reached a definitive conclusion about Covid's origins in the next 90 days, McCaul said he's concerned it could be "very inconclusive" because Chinese officials ordered the lab to destroy virus samples to help curb biosafety risks.
McCaul cautioned the U.S. should pull its supply chains—specifically those for medical supplies and semiconductors—out of China as a punitive measure, touting a bill he introduced last June to ramp up U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, the same month he released preliminary committee findings that Chinese officials took steps to hide details about the virus from the public.
In a Sunday morning interview on Fox News, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not taking action on the matter, saying she hasn't allowed any committees to start investigations into Covid-19's origins even ater the newly reported intelligence.
On Friday, Scalise sent a letter alongside more than 200 House Republicans to Speaker Pelosi, requesting that Democrat committee chairs "immediately" start new investigations into the origins of Covid-19 and blasting them for not holding "a single hearing" despite last week's new intelligence.
"I don't know why they won't investigate the origins, but the pressure is mounting from all angles now," Scalise said Sunday, noting that even some Democrats—who were initially dismissive of the Wuhan lab leak theory—have started calling for investigations as GOP lawmakers reignite calls of punitive measures against China for the pandemic.
Key Background
Biden called on intelligence agencies Wednesday to "redouble their efforts" to reach a definitive conclusion about Covid-19's origins, noting the two leading theories are that it either spread naturally from animal to human or that it leaked from a lab. Many scientists and Democrats last year initially dismissed claims that Covid-19 originated in a Wuhan lab, but the theory quickly became a hot-button issue among conservative lawmakers casting blame onto China for the pandemic. However, there's been growing bipartisan support for new investigations into the matter this year in light of new details about Chinese officials' lack of transparency during the pandemic's early days, and tensions have come to a head after the Wall Street Journal's report last week.
Crucial Quote
"We've known for a long time this may have started in a lab in Wuhan. We were getting reports of that… yet [House Democrats] won't have an investigation on it," Scalise said Sunday. "I don't know what it's going to take, but I think a lot of this noise is starting to break through, and Speaker Pelosi is feeling the heat."
Contra
In March, the World Health Organization and China's Foreign Ministry released a report that did not reach a conclusion about the origin of the virus, but stated the possibility it leaked from a lab is “extremely unlikely" and that it was instead more likely the virus spread from bats to humans. However, after the report was released, WHO head Tedros Ghebreyesus called for a deeper investigation on the matter, saying the probe didn’t adequately assess the possibility of a lab leak.
Further Reading
Biden Says Intelligence Agencies Have ‘Coalesced Around Two Likely Scenarios’ For Origin Of Covid-19 (Forbes)
Trump: ‘I Have Very Little Doubt’ Covid Came From Wuhan Lab (Forbes)
