Tipsheet

Biden Health Department Accused Of Tampering With COVID Investigation

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  January 28, 2024 5:30 PM

The Biden Administration has reportedly stonewalled the investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic, causing Republicans to schedule a hearing on the matter.

This week, GOP Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, accused President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of tampering with an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. 

Wenstrup said that the HHS had spent the past year “intentionally” avoiding lawful Congressional oversight requests for documents. He said they deliberately ignored several letters, providing many excuses. 

“When we asked for important testimony, HHS seemed to purposefully mislead Select Subcommittee investigators. This pattern of avoiding accountability to the American people can not, and should not, be tolerated any longer. The Department must be held responsible for its parade of delays, excuses, and obfuscation,” Wenstrup said. 

In November 2023, the COVID subcommittee subpoenaed HHS official Melanie Egorin to appear for a closed-door deposition. In a letter addressed to Egorin, the committee criticized the HHS for slowly replying to the requests, turning over documents with significant redactions, and withholding specific material. 

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The subcommittee said the redactions included the names of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members who made threats towards scientists. 

Wenstrup recently revealed his interview with former NIH director Dr. Anthony Fauci, citing grants that NIH distributed with taxpayer dollars to Eco Health Alliance that did Gain-of-Function research in China. The Ohio congressman said there is no oversight with the research, adding that Fauci said he signs off on anything that comes across his desk.  

He further explained that the NIH had no oversight over foreign labs. Wenstrup cited Fauci, who said he wouldn’t even know how to do that. After years of denying that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak, Fauci admitted that he didn’t think it was a conspiracy theory.