Republicans push for Wuhan lab investigation
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., wrote a letter to Dr. Fauci urging him to find out if the virus escaped from a lab; FOX News' Lucas Tomlinson on 'Special Report'
"Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd failed to ask guest Dr. Anthony Fauci about the origins of the coronavirus on Sunday, which some viewers considered an oversight, particularly in light of reports that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Rep. Mike Gallagher. R-Wisc., was one of the first to notice Todd's missed opportunity.
"Dr. Fauci was just on 'Meet the Press' and Chuck Todd didn’t ask him a single question about the origin of the disease and whether U.S. taxpayer dollars went to gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology," he said on Twitter.
"No one," Gallagher added, "seems to be interested in getting to the bottom" of how this pandemic started.
WUHAN 'LAB LEAK' CORONAVIRUS THEORY IN FOCUS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND ANSWERS
In Janurary, State Department investigations found that the U.S. government has reason to believe several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) became sick in autumn 2019 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, before the first public cases emerged in that community, and that the Chinese Communist Party had been involved in a cover-up. World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also called for a more extensive investigation of the lab leak theory after the WHO was reportedly stymied in their investigation.
"For more than a year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systematically prevented a transparent and thorough investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s origin, choosing instead to devote enormous resources to deceit and disinformation," the State Department wrote in their findings.
"Can someone in the American media please ask Fauci these basic questions?" Gallagher pleaded following Fauci's "Meet the Press" interview.
Rep. Gallagher is one of several lawmakers currently seeking answers about the origin of COVID-19. He recently sent a letter to Dr. Fauci, with a series of pointed questions about the U.S. relationship to the WIV. A few of those inquiries include getting to the bottom of how much U.S. government funding has gone to the WIV over time, how much of that supported gain-of-function research, and whether the U.S. government is planning to modify or reconsider scientific exchanges with Chinese entities in light of the Chinese Communist Party's cover-up of the virus, which led to worldwide carnage.
Similar efforts are taking place in the Senate, where Republicans Josh Hawley, Mo., and Mike Braun, Ind. have introduced a bill that would force the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to COVID-19 origins.
Former CDC Director Robert Redfield admitted in an interview in March that he believes the virus did escape from a Wuhan lab. CNN was among the media to dismiss his argument as evidence-free.
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"Given the stakes, we cannot afford to settle for a limited, blinkered, or politicized understanding of the origin of this terrible disease," Gallagher wrote in his letter to Dr. Fauci.
One thing that Chuck Todd did make sure to ask Fauci about, Gallagher noted in frustration, was about seasonal mask wearing.