The leak of a coronavirus that caused the deadly COVID-19 pandemic was likely accidental, Rep. Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday about a new report from the panel's Republican staff on the origins of the disease released Monday.
However, the "greatest cover-up in human history" came into play at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in late 2019, the Texas Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"I think the Chinese Communist Party was very concerned about this report coming out telling the truth and it's already been interpreted into Mandarin as well," said McCaul. "The fact of the matter is, they were playing with fire. They were genetically manipulating at the lab this gain of function that was taking place."
The report cited "ample evidence" the lab's scientists, aided by experts from the United States and China, with the use of and U.S. government funds, were working to modify coronaviruses to infect humans.
The report said it was citing new and under-reported information about safety protocols at the lab, including a July 2019 request for a $1.5 million overhaul of a hazardous waste treatment system for the facility, which was less than two years old.
"We have the CDC director and the Wuhan lab director voice concerns about the lab itself and the safety protocols not being followed," McCaul said. "In addition, in September, the lab took their database offline in the middle of the night. This would be the genetic sequencing database offline which shows they are trying to hide or cover up something they're very concerned about at that time."
Further, the Military Sports Council's Military World Games took place in October 2019, and "9000 athletes came in, many returning with flu-like symptoms," said McCaul.
"We know what happened in Wuhan and we know how many people were killed at the front end of this thing in Wuhan and know what the Chinese Communist Party did for the rest of the world," said McCaul. "For the cover-up and transmission of the virus, real costs have to be imposed."
The Chinese will never admit to their actions, said McCaul.
"The databases that were taken offline that are archived, that would be the smoking gun," the lawmaker said. "I don't think they'll ever let us have access to that ... all these roads point to the lab being the source."
He also called on Peter Daszak, president of the New York City-based EcoHealth Alliance, the person behind sending the Wuhan lab hundred of thousands of U.S. dollars, to testify before Congress.
"We need ot sanction the top researchers that are responsible for this great pandemic that has killed over 4 million people and caused $10 trillion in economic devastation," said McCaul.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress and Biden are doing "not much" to help in that effort.
"I chair the China task force," said McCaul. "They wouldn't participate. I have asked the Foreign Affairs Committee to subpoena witnesses. They don't seem to really have much of an appetite for (it). For the life of me, I don't understand why. It is very important this be bipartisan. It is an American issue. If we talk about commissions, for God's sake, with something like this, we should have a bipartisan commission to get to the bottom of it."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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