Two House GOP committee chairmen have written a letter to the Director of the CIA demanding answers over allegations from a whistleblower they describe as "a multi-decade, senior-level, current [CIA] officer." Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, and Rep. Mike Turner, Chairman on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, write that this "seemingly credible source" has leveled the accusation that a strong majority of a CIA-created 'COVID Discovery Team' believed that the available evidence regarding the pandemic's origins pointed toward a leak emerging from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. The CIA whistleblower alleges that "six of the seven members of the Team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID- 19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China." Given everything we've learned on the subject, it is extremely likely that these team members were correct. But the Agency didn't render such an assessment.
Why not? Because, per this unidentified whistleblower, "the seventh member of the Team, who also happened to be the most senior, was the lone officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis" and that "to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position:"
🚨BREAKING🚨
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) September 12, 2023
New testimony from a highly credible whistleblower alleges @CIA rewarded six analysts with significant financial incentives to change their COVID-19 origins conclusion from a lab-leak to zoonosis. pic.twitter.com/KIemfi2Wgl
If it's true that CIA officials were effectively bribed with hush money to change their views on the Agency's public position on any subject -- let alone the critical question of how a deadly worldwide pandemic started -- that would be an outrageous scandal. Also, if it's true that this happened, the next, glaring question would be -- why? I have theories, but I'd like to evaluate any evidence that this actually happened first. The lawmakers listed the following requests of the CIA, in light of the whistleblower allegation:
- All documents and communications regarding the establishment of all iterations of the
COVID Discovery Teams);- All documents and communications between or among the members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Teams) regarding the origins of COVID-19;
- All documents and communications between or among members of all iterations of the
COVID Discovery Teams) and other employees or contractors of the Agency regarding the origins of COVID-19;- All documents and communications between or among members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Teams) and employees or contractors of other federal government agencies, including but not limited to the U.S. Department of State, the rederal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (to include the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases), and the U.S. Department of Energy regarding the origins of COVID-19; and
- All documents and communications regarding the pay history, to include the awarding of any trpe of financial or performance-based incentive/financial bonus to members of all
iterations of the COVID Discovery Teams).
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The chairmen reminded the CIA Director that if voluntary cooperation and transparency were not forthcoming on this matter, their work is backed by subpoena power: "Should the required information not be produced in an expeditious and satisfactory manner, you should expect the Committee, or Committees, to use its additional tools and authorities to satisfy our legislative and oversight requirements." Will the Agency cooperate? Wenstrup and Turner also fired off a missive to the former CIA Chief Operating Officer, stating that he "played a central role in its formation and eventual conclusion that the CIA was 'unable to determine' the origins of COVID-19," and requesting that he face the committee in a "voluntary interview" later this month. Will he comply?
This whistleblower is making explosive claims that -- again, if true -- would reflect extremely poorly on the 'COVID Discovery Team's' members, specifically, and the Agency broadly. Does this person have evidence backing his or her allegation? The Congressmen refer to the source as "seemingly credible." Is that based upon his or her apparent long tenure and high rank within the Agency, or based on verifiable proof that this happened? I'd like to know much more before drawing any conclusions, but I must say that in light of the apparent machinations and manipulations of Dr. Anthony Fauci on this exact same, crucial question, my curiosity and suspicion is piqued. I doubt I'm alone. On the subject of COVID 'misinformation,' I'll leave you with this:
A huge embarrassment for Newsom and the Supermajority.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) September 11, 2023
Their COVID medical censorship law has been so thoroughly condemned across the political spectrum and so roundly rejected by courts that the Legislature is repealing its own law a year after passage. pic.twitter.com/7ZChvUSfIv
And does Newsom expect to get away with this?
.@GavinNewsom kept churches closed because he doesn't go to church. He opened wineries because he owns a winery. He likes wine. He doesn't like church.
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) September 11, 2023
He kept public schools closed because his children don't go to public school. They go to private school and attended in person… https://t.co/ThzcBb4gKu
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