Chinese 'Bioweapon' May Have Spilled Into the General Population, But It Gets Worse - GOP Report
Republicans serving on the House Intelligence Committee allege in a report released Wednesday that there are “indications” that COVID-19 was developed as part of bioweapons research that accidentally “spilled over” into the general population.
The minority staff report differs from the conclusion U.S. intelligence community’s assessment regarding the issue published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in October 2021.
The GOP House report says, “Based on our investigation involving a variety of public and non-public information, we conclude that there are indications that SARS-CoV-2 may have been tied to China’s biological weapons research program and spilled over to the human population during a lab-related incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).”
“The [intelligence community] has failed to adequately address this information. The Committee has not seen any indications that the Chinese military intentionally released SARS-CoV-2,” the report adds.
FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers say there are “indications” that COVID-19 could be linked to China’s biological weapons research program and “spilled over” to humans at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. https://t.co/I5Lz7Kl3ub pic.twitter.com/ryDKuy5d0O
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 15, 2022
The October 2021 intelligence community assessment concluded COVID was “probably not a biological weapon.”
“We remain skeptical of allegations that SARS-CoV-2 was a biological weapon because they are supported by scientifically invalid claims,” the report reads.
Republicans believe the intelligence community (IC) played down the possibility that COVID was connected to a bioweapons program due, in part, to input it received from outside experts, and it has not been forthcoming saying who those experts are.
“The IC has denied Congressional oversight of the analytic integrity of its Updated Assessment, particularly its heavy reliance on outside experts who may have had conflicts of interest,” GOP report says.
“The IC continues to obstruct the Committee’s oversight by engaging in a pattern of refusing to provide information about its intelligence and analyses relating to COVID-19. The IC has ignored dozens of oral and written requests from Committee Members on the subject and to date has shown no interest in fully cooperating with the Committee,” the lawmakers further state.
GOP Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, who serves on the Intelligence Committee, told Fox News that Americans deserve more transparency from the IC.
“The American people are owed answers about the origins of COVID-19. Our report states that COVID-19 may have been tied to China’s bioweapons research program and that the Intelligence Community withheld key information from the American public’s authorized elected officials, deepening public mistrust,” Wenstrup said.
“Our findings also show that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bears more responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic than what has been publicly known or transparently communicated to the American people,” he added.
“As a physician and Army veteran, I believe it is vitally important that we understand the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and strive to do everything within our power to pursue policies that will help prevent our country from being vulnerable like this in the future,” the congressman said.
Republicans concluded their report saying they don’t believe COVID’s release was part of an intentional bioweapon attack.
“The Committee has not seen any indications that the Chinese military intentionally released SARS-CoV-2.”
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