Democrat Himes Backs Republican Push to Declassify Intelligence on Origins of COVID

During March 7 testimony, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s top Democrat stated that he supported a GOP-led bill that would force the Biden Administration to release details regarding possible links between the coronavirus outbreak and China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Rep. Jim Himes, a Democratic member of the House Rules Committee, spoke about the COVID-19 Origin Act at the House Rules Committee Hearing. “I plan to support this legislation, both in committee, where we will mark up a companion bill this evening and the full House later this week.”

“Determining the precise origins of a pandemic disease is challenging under the best of circumstances. But because COVID originated in China, the efforts to definitively determine its source have been even more difficult,” Himes said.

“At every juncture, the … [CCP] has obfuscated and obstructed legitimate inquiries, a deeply irresponsible approach to global public health,” He added.

The COVID-19 Origin: Exploring

“The COVID-19 Origin Act is not the bill I would have necessarily drafted on the topic, but I support it because I share the belief that the intelligence community should continue to get to the bottom of COVID’s origin,” Himes expressed gratitude for the bipartisan cooperation that led to the creation of the bill.

“And importantly, I believe that they should make as much [of it] public as they can so the American people can consider the best available information we have, as opposed to marinating and conjecture, and speculation, and conspiracy theories,” He went on.

Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Michael Cloud (Texas), Mike Gallagher(Wisconsin), Mark Green and August Pfluger both sponsored the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023.

“It’s been three years since COVID-19 upended our lives and we’re still asking basic questions about the origins of this virus. That’s unacceptable,” Gallagher claimed.

“It’s time for Congress to act and force the administration to declassify the relevant intelligence surrounding the pandemic,” He added.

FBI Says ‘Most Likely’ Began in Laboratory

Christopher Wray, FBI Director said last week on television that COVID-19 “most likely” In a China-based lab, the research was initiated.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray stated. “Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.”

The Senate passed last week a companion bill that was introduced by Senators. Josh Hawley, R-Miss. Mike Braun (RInd.).

The House Select Subcommittee for the Coronavirus Pandemic (March 8th) will host a hearing about the origins of coronavirus.

Robert Redfield, an ex-Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is set to testify.

Many Democrats are expected to support the House companion bill, which mirrors last week’s unanimously approved Senate legislation.

Many Republicans believe that COVID-19 was created in China. This has been contested by critics, who claimed the belief is racist and invalid.

“At the height of the pandemic, anyone who spoke out suggesting that COVID-19 might have come from a lab leak in China, they were denounced as a conspiracy theorist, a spreader of misinformation, they were canceled, they were shadow banned on social media platforms, their accounts were suspended, people’s reputations were damaged and destroyed,” Rep. Nicholas Langworthy, R-N.Y. spoke at the Rules Committee hearing held on March 7.

Langworthy has now completed the following: “we have the Department of Energy and the FBI both publicly reporting that their conclusions are that COVID-19 emerged as a result of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research institute in Wuhan, China, controlled by the People’s Republic of China, and ultimately, the CCP.”

Americans Deserve Answers

Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who is Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, opened the hearing by saying “the American public deserves answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic including how this virus was graded and specifically whether it was a natural occurrence or was the result of a lab related event.”

Turner explained the House Intelligence Committee. “is aware of classified information that would help inform the public as to why the FBI director has indicated that COVID-19 lab leak is not just a possibility, but approaches the idea that it’s likely the intelligence community does have more information about COVID-19 than the public has seen.”

Turner pointed out that Biden might veto the bill but Turner did not. “giving the president the understanding that he has bipartisan, bicameral support to take this action” This would enable him to refer to that support as a reason to critics.

Thomas Massie (Republican, Kentucky) is a member the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and has been vocal about COVID-19 mandates. He spoke at the hearing about the number of mainstream media outlets that covered the topic and how Democratic legislators called it the “discussion about natural immunity to this virus”. “a conspiracy theory.”

“Natural immunity is a biological fact. There’s a whole list of things that were [thought to be] conspiracy theories that finally I think everybody’s starting to acknowledge [are true],” Massie said. “For instance, masks never really did prevent COVID transmission. School closures never really slowed down the spread of this virus.”

The Wrong Hypothesis

Massie pointed out that these claims were supported by Dr. Marty Makary of Johns Hopkins University, who said last week to the House Select Subcommittee about the Coronavirus Pandemic that he had seen the doctor. “the greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the pandemic has been the United States government.”

Makary’s study has been published by Cochrane Library “Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses” Investigated the effects of intervention like hand washing and masks on COVID.

“What public health officials did is they hedged on the wrong side of the issue. They had the wrong hypothesis,” Makary stated. “And when overwhelmingly strong evidence came out time after time, 65 studies on masks, 160 studies on natural immunity. Study after study, they didn’t evolve their position. They dug in.”

Makary said it was also a “no-brainer” COVID-19 is a product of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

‘Not a Conspiracy Theory’

“Obviously, it’s not a conspiracy theory,” Massie noted after adding Makary’s quote. “We’re going to find out more about that.”

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, recalled that “there was a pretty significant amount of dismissal both by some of our other colleagues but importantly in the press” When referring to the fact that the virus was a result of a Wuhan lab leak.

Turner reminded lawmakers and the general public that it was not possible to pinpoint where COVID-19 came from.

“Obviously, our committee deals with classified information, not necessarily the public discourse that happens in the media. But you are absolutely correct, of course, that during the public discourse as to the origins of COVID, there was an extreme polarization that did occur,” Turner responded to Roy’s comments.

“But I do want to caution, the record that we’re asking to be declassified will not provide you an absolute conclusion as to the origins of COVID. There is no smoking gun in this report.”