Jim Jordan, GOP will investigate Fauci over Covid origins, gain-of-function research

The statement, released on Wednesday, outlines the names of 40 individuals with whom the Committee will be requesting transcribed interviews.

Comer said that discovering the origin of the virus is vital "to providing accountability and protecting Americans in the future. Mounting evidence points to the virus originating from a leak at the Wuhan lab. EcoHealth Alliance, a US National Institutes of Health grantee, passed taxpayer funds to the Wuhan lab to conduct gain of function research on bat coronaviruses – research that may have started the pandemic. Dr. Fauci was warned early on that the virus appeared man made and pointed to a lab leak and instead of blowing the whistle may have attempted to cover it up."

He continued: "The American people deserve answers and accountability. We will continue to follow the facts to determine what, if anything, could have been done differently to guard against the harms Americans have endured during the pandemic. We will continue this oversight to hold US government officials accountable for any wrongdoing and ensure Americans’ tax dollars aren’t being used on risky research at unsecure labs."

The statement adds that letters have been sent to the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the US National Institute of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services, which request information "from several virologists who colluded with Dr. Fauci during the early days of the pandemic to downplay the lab leak theory and wrote a paper concluding with no evidence that COVID-19 is not a result from a lab leak or gain-of-function research.

"To date, these requests have either been ignored or the responses have been insufficient."

Jordan said that it is "our Constitutional duty to conduct oversight and thoroughly examine the facts so this type of gain-of-function research and bad behavior never happens again."

Ranking Members Comer and Jordan are again requesting documents, communications, and information pertinent to the investigation into COVID origination.