Republicans threaten HHS subpoena for COVID-19 origin docs

A group of House Republicans have threatened subpoenas for the Department of Health and Human Services should it fail to provide lawmakers with materials on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Writing to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday, the lawmakers, led by Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, stated that they "will use this investigation to inform potential legislation to improve pandemic preparedness, strengthen grant processes and oversight, and enhance biosafety and biosecurity of laboratory and field research."

House Oversight Chairman James Comer, Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, E&C Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Morgan Griffith, and E&C Subcommittee on Health Chairman Brett Guthrie also signed the letter to Becerra.

"This letter consolidates our previous requests regarding the origins of COVID-19 and, as a further accommodation to the Department, tables some requests, adds significant topic specificity, scopes down the time frame of our previous requests, and prioritizes requests most important to the Committees. Considering these significant accommodations, we expect full and timely compliance with each request," the group wrote. "If the Department fails to meet any of the prescribed deadlines, the Committees will be forced to consider the use of the compulsory process."

"The Committees are also asking individuals potentially involved with a COVID-19 origins cover-up to appear voluntarily for transcribed interviews — most notably Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Lawrence Tabak, and Dr. Hugh Auchincloss," they stated in a press release. "If HHS does not meet the stated deadlines, the Chairs will be forced to consider the use of subpoenas to obtain the requested COVID-19 origins information."

Formerly maligned as a conspiracy theory, the belief that COVID-19 originated as the result of a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology has increasingly gained traction among both the general public and government against such as the FBI and the Department of Energy.

The lawmakers also announced the renewal of their interview requests for EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief of staff Greg Folkers, and former NIAID Associate Director for International Affairs Gary Handley.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.