WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Republicans and Democrats on the House subcommittee investigating the coronavirus pandemic released dueling reports.
Republicans attacked the NIH director and Dr. Anthony Fauci on mandates and social distancing. Democrats say the Trump administration’s response “led to the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes,” their report says.
“We leave with different impressions of what we did or didn’t find,” said Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-California).
Investigators agree that the virus likely originated in Wuhan, China. Republicans on the committee, including Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), said they were convinced by the “lab leak” theory.
“When it came to the nature versus laboratory argument, there was far more forensic science on the laboratory side,” Wenstrup said.
The FBI and the Energy Department said they agreed. The National Intelligence Council and four other intelligence agencies said they believe the coronavirus likely jumped from an animal to a human.
Lawmakers also investigated EcoHealth Alliance, a company that received U.S. taxpayer money and conducted research at a lab in Wuhan, China.
“I don’t think we can prove this, but it was the type of research that can cause COVID and create COVID,” Wenstrup said.
Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of the EcoHealth Alliance, declined at a hearing in May.
“Absolutely not,” Daszak said when asked if the EcoHealth Alliance caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democrats and Republicans have criticized the EcoHealth Alliance for a lack of transparency. The Biden administration stopped funding for it in May. In a response posted online, the EcoHealth Alliance criticized the House investigation as politically motivated.
“Unfortunately, EcoHealth remains the primary scapegoat for this political, anti-science stance,” the statement said.
Reports from Democrats and Republicans say China’s government secrecy has made it impossible to determine the true origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
