An increasing amount of outlets are diving deep into examining the increasingly likely theory that the Wuhan virus originated from a leak at the Wuhan lab. Vanity Fair is one of the latest in a June 3 article by Katherine Eban, "The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins."
The thoroughly researched piece, which is over 11,000 words, is cited by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in a Friday press release reacting to claims that bureaucrats in the State Department hindered an investigation into the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
A recent article in Vanity Fair reported that American officials seeking greater transparency about COVID-19’s origins were explicitly told not to investigate the Wuhan Institute Virology’s gain-of-function research, as doing so would cast unwelcome light on U.S. government funding of it, and that the more general investigation was hindered “at every step.”
The press release also includes statements from the senator:
“It is outrageous that people within our government worked to obstruct and censor the investigation into the origins of COVID-19, especially with regard to whether the virus emerged because of American-funded research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Rubio said. “Unelected bureaucrats need more oversight to ensure they are acting in the best interests of the American people. It is indefensible that, next week, the Senate will push forward with investing $200 billion into federal research and development without critical safeguards to ensure it doesn’t end up stolen or misused to catastrophic ends by Beijing, in part because of the poor judgment of bureaucrats such as these.”
As Townhall has been reporting on, the Biden administration did indeed cancel an investigation initiated under the Trump administration, and went on to launch a new one. Such a move even confused CNN in their reporting. Unfortunately, there may not be much hope for the investigation to be objective or provide answers, as the White House still thinks the WHO is worth working with.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) who has been speaking about the need for a proper investigation into origins of the virus spoke to Townhall last month to discuss his concerns that the WHO investigation had been "corrupted by the Chinese Communist Party."
Rubio highlighted further concerns to do with China in May press release. The release in question includes a video and excerpts of Rubio's statements about his amendment to the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. The amendment "would have established a counterintelligence screening process to protect the United States against China’s and other adversaries’ efforts to engage in economic espionage and misappropriate America’s intellectual property, research and development, and innovation efforts."
The amendment ultimately failed, 55-40.
Other legislation addressing concerns with China, which has involved multiple amendments--some which have failed, others which have passed--includes the Endless Frontier Act. The senator has made public his concerns with such legislation as well.