dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

'''Now in charge of House, Republicans expected to investigate Hunter Biden, Afghanistan withdrawal, more

By Ryan Chatelain Washington, D.C.'''

PUBLISHED 7:31 PM ET Nov. 16, 2022

Knowing history was on their side, Republicans in the House spent months vowing to turn their grievances about the Biden administration into investigations if they regained control of the chamber.

What You Need To Know

Knowing history was on their side, Republicans in the House spent months vowing to turn their grievances about the Biden administration into investigations if they regained control of the chamber

Conservatives, freshly equipped with subpoena power, can soon deliver on those promises after securing a narrow majority in the House

The investigations are likely to focus on Hunter Biden's business dealings, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origin of COVID-19, the alleged politicization of the Justice Department and the southern border

Some Republicans have signaled that they’re hoping their probes will lead to impeachments — namely of President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Although the GOP’s showing in last week's midterm elections fell short of their own expectations, conservatives, freshly equipped with subpoena power, can soon deliver on those promises after securing a narrow majority in the House.

“Oversight is a primary function of the Congress, and for the last few years, there has been no oversight of the Biden agenda and the Biden administration,” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News on Sunday.

Some Republicans have signaled that they hope their probes will lead to impeachments — namely of President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. While in the minority the past two years, House Republicans introduced 14 impeachment resolutions, more than three times the number Democrats did in the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

However, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the favorite to become the next House speaker, has tried to tamp down on such talk. He has said impeachment should not be used as a political weapon, although he’s left the door open for it “if anyone ever rises to that occasion.”

(cont…)

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/11/15/house-republicans-expected-to-investigate-hunter-bidenafghanistan-withdrawalmore

>>17784393

(cont…)

Here is a look at some investigations, GOP lawmakers have vowed to launch.

Hunter Biden’s business dealings

Asked by ABC News last week what the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s first hearing would address is if he’s elevated to chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said it could potentially be about the foreign business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

Republicans have spent the past three years accusing the younger Biden of profiting from his father’s roles as a U.S. senator and vice president.

Comer said the Oversight Committee likely would subpoena Hunter Biden and demand the Treasury Department turn over any suspicious bank records linked to the president’s son. Comer unsuccessfully sought the documents previously but believes the Treasury Department won’t be able to reject his request now that Republicans are in the majority.

Comer told CBS News last week he believes Hunter Biden’s overseas business affairs may have “compromised this White House” and “therefore, it’s a national security concern.”

"What Joe Biden said is, ‘Our son is innocent,’” Comer said. “If I were Hunter Biden, I'd want to come clear my name and make some Republicans look bad. So we're going to ask Hunter Biden to come before the committee. If he refuses, then I suspect that he would receive a subpoena.”

Republicans also will likely examine whether there were any direct links between Hunter Biden's work and his father.

Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation over potential tax violations related to his overseas work and allegedly making a false statement during a gun purchase. He has not been charged with any crimes.

Hunter Biden has insisted his business pursuits in China and Ukraine were legal, although he has acknowledged his career likely benefited from his family ties.

A Republican-led Senate investigation in 2020 found no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden involving the younger Biden’s work with Burisma Holdings, a private natural gas company in Ukraine whose board Hunter Biden served on. But the panel did conclude that Hunter “cashed in” on his name to close lucrative business deals and that Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma gave the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is poised to become the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has suggested the panel will investigate alleged political interference by the FBI and Justice Department in the Hunter Biden probe.

(cont…)

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/11/15/house-republicans-expected-to-investigate-hunter-bidenafghanistan-withdrawalmore

>>17784393

>>17784394

'''(cont…)

Afghanistan withdrawal

In an August op-ed for FoxNews.com, McCarthy, Rep. Michael McCaul and other Republicans said the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan one year earlier warrants greater scrutiny in a GOP-led House.

The op-ed coincided with an report issued by House Republicans on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which McCaul is likely to chair starting next year. The report accused the Biden administration of making decisions based on politics and lacking a solid exit strategy.

In August 2021, 13 service members were killed by a suicide bomber outside the Kabul airport, as they worked to evacuate Americans and Afghans from the country, which the Taliban had reclaimed.

“These strategic failures are too grave to ignore,” the Republicans wrote in the op-ed. “That is why House Republicans are committed to pursuing answers to Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

“[T]he report raises more key questions that require additional investigation, such as how decisions were made in the White House regarding the withdrawal timeline, the decision to pull out troops before civilians and diplomats, the absence of adequate plans for evacuating Americans and our Afghan allies who served alongside the U.S. military, the decision to abandon Bagram Air Base, the loss of Kabul, and this administration’s dealings with the Taliban,” they added.

Biden called the evacuation from Kabul an “extraordinary success,” arguing that if the U.S. had remained there longer, it would have resulted in another escalation of war.

'''(cont…)

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/11/15/house-republicans-expected-to-investigate-hunter-bidenafghanistan-withdrawalmore

>>17784393

>>17784394

>>17784395

(cont…)

COVID-19 origins and policies

McCarthy told Fox News last month that if Republicans took control of the House they would set up a committee to investigate how COVID-19 spread from China.

House Republicans will likely grill Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top medical adviser to both Biden and Trump during the pandemic, and they could also dig into federal guidance on masking, vaccine mandates and school closures.

Senate Republicans last month released a report that said “it appears reasonable to conclude” that COVID-19 escaped from a lab.

While the origin of COVID-19 has been debated for nearly three years, an expert panel concluded in a paper published in October in the journal Science, that “the evidence towards zoonosis” — the virus jumping from an animal to humans — “is overwhelming.”

The World Health Organization has concluded that a lab origin for COVID-19 is “extremely unlikely,” while the U.S. intelligence community, which was ordered by Biden to more closely examine the question, was unable to reach a consensus.

Fauci is retiring next month but has said he will testify if called upon.

“My records are an open book,” he told CNN in July. “They are talking about things that are really bizarre … like crimes against democracy by shutting down the government. All I have ever done — and go back and look at everything I've ever done — was to recommend common sense, good, CDC-recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives. If you want to investigate for me for that, go ahead.”

Justice Department

Within hours of FBI agents searching Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in search of government documents in August, McCarthy released a statement directed at Garland threatening to investigate the Justice Department.

“The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” McCarthy said then.

“Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear you calendar,” the Republican House leader added.

Garland, who signed off on the Mar-a-Lago warrant, defended the actions of the DOJ and FBI a few days after the search, saying in a news conference: "Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing."

President Biden has said he had no knowledge of or input into the decision to search Trump’s home.

Trump has argued the investigation is politically motivated, that he declassified documents the government says are classified and that he had the authority to declare the documents his personal possessions.

Some House Republicans contend the Justice Department has a double standard when it comes to Republicans, pointing to the Hillary Clinton email scandal and the protracted Hunter Biden investigation.

(cont…)

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/11/15/house-republicans-expected-to-investigate-hunter-bidenafghanistan-withdrawalmore

(cont…)

Also of interest to Republicans is a DOJ memo issued last year saying it would launch a series of efforts to address a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” aimed at school administrations, board members, teachers and staff. Republicans accused Garland of trying to suppress conservative critics of schools.

Jordan has asked the Justice Department to preserve its documents surrounding the memo.

Mayorkas and the southern border

Republicans’ have spent the past two years railing about the soaring number of encounters between law enforcement and migrants at the southern border.

In addition to blaming Biden for what they see as lax border policies, they also have repeatedly ripped Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, whom they argue has been derelict in his duties.

Jordan told CNN last month that Mayorkas deserves to be impeached “because we no longer have a border.” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has said impeaching Mayoraks should be a “priority.” At a House Judiciary Committee in April, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told Mayorkas many of his constituents want to see the DHS secretary impeached, adding, “They believe you committed treason.”

“We will give Secretary Mayorkas a reserved parking spot, he will be testifying so much about this,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said in September.

Mayorkas has insisted the U.S. turns back migrants who don’t claim to have a legal right to be in the country and follows laws passed by Congress regarding asylum seekers. He also has repeatedly blamed Trump administration policies for decimating the legal immigration system.

The Republicans’ inquiry into border issues is likely to include deaths of migrants at the border; the smuggling of illegal drugs, including fentanyl, into the U.S.; and the discontinuation of the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers."

(end)

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/11/15/house-republicans-expected-to-investigate-hunter-bidenafghanistan-withdrawalmore

>>17784393

Re: “Oversight is a primary function of the Congress, and for the last few years, there has been no oversight of the Biden agenda and the Biden administration,” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News on Sunday. from the article >>17784393

Rep. Jim Banks: Oversight would be 'major priority' of GOP-led House

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., discusses Republicans' lackluster midterm performance and how the GOP should take action in Congress to benefit the American people.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6315504679112

Fox hiding this video interview w/turd Jim Banks, as the link from the article brings a 404 result

>>17784393

'''Re Hunter Biden’s business dealings

Asked by ABC News last week what the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s first hearing would address is if he’s elevated to chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said it could potentially be about the foreign business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.''' from the article >>17784393

Hunter Biden’s business dealings

Asked by ABC News last week what the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s first hearing would address is if he’s elevated to chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said it could potentially be about the foreign business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

Republicans are laying the groundwork for dozens of investigations into the Biden administration and the president's family should they retake the House in Tuesday's midterm elections.

Already, GOP lawmakers have floated January hearings on Hunter Biden's business dealings as well as a major congressional probe of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and a new committee to investigate China's political and economic influence on the United States.

There is a burning desire by Republicans to provide some type of oversight to the Biden administration, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., his party's ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, told ABC News. "We're going to be under a lot of pressure to perform, but I think we will be up to the task."

That pressure could include calls from rank-and-file GOP lawmakers and conservative activists to impeach President Joe Biden and some Cabinet secretaries, rebut the findings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection and revisit former President Donald Trump's false claims about the results of the 2020 election all ahead of another consequential presidential election season.

Republicans have not made a secret of what they intend to do, Kurt Bardella, a former GOP operative-turned-Democratic strategist, told ABC News. "They see congressional oversight as the tip of the spear for the 2024 presidential election."

Here's a look at some of Republicans' potential moves and lines of investigation should they retake the House this week.

Hunter Biden and the president's family

Beginning when President Biden announced his third bid for the White House in 2019, Republicans have spent years raising questions about his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and accused the younger Biden of trading off his father's positions in the Senate and Obama White House for personal financial gain.

Hunter Biden has long insisted he did nothing wrong, ethically or criminally, but has acknowledged his family ties likely did boost his own career.

Comer, the ranking Republican on oversight, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is poised to lead the House Judiciary Committee, are planning to dig deeper into Hunter Biden in the majority by pursuing sensitive banking records and investigating the Justice Department's handling of investigations of Hunter Biden over potential tax and gun crimes.

Federal investigators have examined whether Hunter Biden paid adequate taxes on millions of dollars of personal income, including money he made during business pursuits in China and Ukraine. The Justice Department has also reviewed whether he lied on a gun-buying application about his drug use, ABC News previously reported. He has not been charged with any crimes.

Comer told ABC News that in a GOP majority which would bestow subpoena power the oversight committee may hold its first hearing next year on Hunter Biden and the Biden family's finances, which Senate Republicans have already spent years investigating.

I think you're gonna see some action on holding a hearing about the Biden family, Comer said. When asked if that would be the first GOP-led oversight hearing, he simply replied, "Potentially."

He told ABC News that the Treasury Department has refused to turn over to his committee financial reports related to the Biden family without Democrats joining the request.

That's bull crap, he said. "We won't be in the minority in January. So the Treasury Department is gonna have to give me those one way or the other. If they don't give them to us, we're gonna get them from the bank."

(article continues to cover the same bullet points in >>17784393)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/expect-republicans-house-midterms-investigations-impeachment/story?id=92799444

Story not found w/out the tag on link

>>17784393

Re Comer told CBS News last week he believes Hunter Biden’s overseas business affairs may have “compromised this White House” and “therefore, it’s a national security concern.” from article >>17784393

Top Republican on House Oversight Committee says he's ready to subpoena Hunter Biden

BY KATHRYN WATSON

NOVEMBER 11, 2022 / 8:31 PM / CBS NEWS

Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says Republicans are prepared to subpoena Hunter Biden and records of his business dealings if and when they take control of the House. Comer, who is likely to chair the committee, said Republicans are going to "press forward with an investigation of the president of the United States" related to his son's business dealings.

The Kentucky congressman made those remarks in an interview with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge Friday, as control of the House remains undecided but, CBS News estimates, leans Republican.

"We're prepared to subpoena Hunter Biden," Comer told Herridge. "We would certainly hope that he would want to come before the committee and clear his name."

"What Joe Biden said is, 'Our son is innocent.' If I were Hunter Biden, I'd want to come clear my name and make some Republicans look bad," Comer added. "So we're gonna ask Hunter Biden to come before the committee. If he refuses, then I suspect that he would receive a subpoena."

Comer said he believes the Biden son's business dealings abroad may have "compromised this White House."

"Therefore, it's a national security concern," Comer said. "And we take that very seriously, and we're going to press forward with a credible, formal investigation of the president of the United States." Comer said there will be public hearings as part of the probe.

The U.S. attorney's office in Delaware has been investigating Hunter Biden since at least 2019, as CBS News has reported. A federal subpoena from that year, obtained by CBS News, sought Hunter Biden's bank records dating back to 2014, when Joe Biden was vice president. Investigators have examined whether the younger Biden owes taxes on income from a controversial stint, during his father's vice presidency, as a board member for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, according to sources familiar with the matter.

It's long been expected that Republicans would make investigating Hunter Biden and the Biden family a key focus if they take control of the House. Comer insisted Republicans will also focus on kitchen table issues like addressing inflation and crime.

Not all Republicans are eager to pursue Hunter Biden investigations. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, of Utah, appeared to encourage the party to avoid such types of hearings, and instead, focus on things like inflation, the debt, spending, and entitlement and immigration reform.

"Two roads diverge before this potential GOP majority," Romney wrote Thursday. "The one 'less travelled by' would be to pass bills that would make things better for the American people. The more tempting and historically more frequented road would be to pursue pointless investigations, messaging bills, threats and government shutdowns."

Comer said he thinks Republicans will end up with "somewhere around 220" seats, which would only be two more seats than Republicans need to take the majority. Such a narrow GOP majority in the House would complicate Republicans' agenda, to put it one way. Still, Comer said, a win's a win.

If former President Donald Trump is going to announce a third presidential bid, Comer would "prefer" that he wait until after the Georgia runoff race Dec. 6, but said that "obviously," the former president is going to do as he pleases.

"I just think that the focus needs to be on trying to flip the Senate," Comer said. Besides Georgia, there are two more Senate races to be decided, and Republicans must win two out of the three to take control of the Senate. He added that getting "America on the right track" means "we need a Republican Senate, too."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/potential-next-house-oversight-chair-says-hes-ready-to-subpoena-hunter-biden/

>>17784393

Re Afghanistan withdrawal

In an August op-ed for FoxNews.com, McCarthy, Rep. Michael McCaul and other Republicans said the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan one year earlier warrants greater scrutiny in a GOP-led House.

The op-ed coincided with an report issued by House Republicans on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which McCaul is likely to chair starting next year. The report accused the Biden administration of making decisions based on politics and lacking a solid exit strategy. from article >>17784393

Published August 15, 2022 2:00am EDT

Biden's Afghanistan debacle began with the fall of Kabul a year ago and Americans deserve answers

House Republicans vow to get answers on Biden’s Afghanistan failure

Rep. James Comer By Rep. James Comer , Rep. Kevin McCarthy , Rep. Michael McCaul , Rep. Mike Rogers , Rep. Mike Turner | Fox News

The Biden administration spent the past 12 months misleading the American people to avoid accountability for its failed withdrawal in Afghanistan. The administration has stonewalled congressional requests for information and continues to deny the American public, and especially Afghanistan war veterans, much-needed answers on how the withdrawal unraveled into unmitigated chaos, and ultimately caused a reemergence of al-Qaeda in the heart of Afghanistan. This is a failure of leadership and an abdication of the responsibilities of the commander-in-chief.

During those chaotic weeks last August, the world witnessed horrific images coming out of Kabul. Hundreds of American citizens were abandoned by their own country behind enemy lines, relying on personal contacts to help get them out. Billions of dollars’ worth of U.S.-supplied military equipment and weapons, given to the Afghan government, is now unaccounted for and in the possession of the Taliban and other bad actors. The Taliban brutally beat and murdered innocent civilians. Desperate Afghans clung to departing C-17s only to fall to their deaths. The confusion and chaos caused by the Biden administration led to the tragic murder of 13 American service members – the single deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.

Attempting to justify his tumultuous exit, President Joe Biden claimed last year that al-Qaeda was ‘gone’ from Afghanistan. Yet less than one year later, the United States rightfully killed al-Qaeda’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, during a counterterrorism operation in Kabul. However, this not only underscores the extent of the Biden administration’s failures in Afghanistan, but is evidence that Afghanistan is once again becoming a haven for terrorists.

These strategic failures are too grave to ignore. That is why House Republicans are committed to pursuing answers to Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. As a part of those efforts, this week Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee will publish a comprehensive report that sheds light on the catastrophic flaws of Biden’s Afghanistan disaster.

'''(cont…)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-afghanistan-debacle-fall-kabul-year-americans-answers

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN McCARTHY

https://www.foxnews.com/person/m/kevin-mccarthy

>>17784406

'''(cont…)

The report details how the Biden administration made decisions based more on politics and panic rather than a sound plan. Moreover, it will highlight the numerous deficiencies regarding the withdrawal, including the arbitrary timeline, a refusal to heed the advice of military personnel, misleading statements made publicly by administration officials, the refusal to secure Kabul, the lack of a meaningful vetting process for individuals looking to leave Afghanistan, and the lack of an accounting of the U.S. military equipment left behind for Taliban use.

Furthermore, the report raises more key questions that require additional investigation, such as how decisions were made in the White House regarding the withdrawal timeline, the decision to pull out troops before civilians and diplomats, the absence of adequate plans for evacuating Americans and our Afghan allies who served alongside the U.S. military, the decision to abandon Bagram Air Base, the loss of Kabul, and this administration’s dealings with the Taliban.

To get answers to these important questions, House Republicans have sent dozens of letters requesting detailed answers on behalf of the American people. The Biden administration, however, continues to ignore these requests. The administration refuses to provide Congress with sufficient answers to why officials misled Congress and the American people on the dire situation in Afghanistan in the months leading up to, and during, the withdrawal, and why the Administration took so few steps to evacuate Americans and key Afghan allies leading up to the Taliban takeover. The Biden administration also owes answers on why certain decisions were made, such as outsourcing the security of Kabul to the Taliban at the expense of Americans’ safety.

The contradictions in the administration’s comments are too stark to ignore. We cannot allow partisan actors to continue to politicize our institutions by concealing information and manipulating the facts, especially when it comes to important national security decisions. We must restore trust with our citizens and allies by achieving transparency in the grave errors that led to the horrendous withdrawal. House Republicans, if given the opportunity to hold the majority next Congress, will demand answers, hold open hearings, and ultimately provide the American people with the transparency they deserve.

After 20 years of war, Americans – especially our service members – deserved to have a sound plan to draw down our military presence in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, rather than develop a coherent strategy that would have protected Americans and prevented the resurgence of al Qaeda, the Biden administration’s inept withdrawal a year ago was disgraceful, disastrous, and deadly. House Republicans will hold the Biden administration accountable on behalf of the American people, and we will honor the sacrifices made by so many American families during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul represents Texas's 10th congressional district and is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Republican Rep. Mike Rogers represents Alabama's 3rd congressional district. He is ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Republican Mike Turner represents Ohio's 10th congressional district. He is the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Republican James Comer represents Kentucky's 1st congressional district where he is ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

(end)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-afghanistan-debacle-fall-kabul-year-americans-answers

>>17784393

Re COVID-19 origins and policies

McCarthy told Fox News last month that if Republicans took control of the House they would set up a committee to investigate how COVID-19 spread from China.

House Republicans will likely grill Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top medical adviser to both Biden and Trump during the pandemic, and they could also dig into federal guidance on masking, vaccine mandates and school closures. from article >>17784393

Rep. Kevin McCarthy cites 'cost of living' as top priority for voters ahead of midterms

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined 'Sunday Morning Futures' to discuss GOP candidates nationwide and key issues motivating voters ahead of Election Day.

Video report w/Maria Bartiromo

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6314642620112

>>17784409

Evidence suggests pandemic came from nature, not a lab, panel says

New report takes sides in debate over COVID-19’s origins

10 OCT 2022 3:00 PMBYJON COHEN

The acrimonious debate over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic flared up again this week with a report from an expert panel concluding that SARS-CoV-2 likely spread naturally in a zoonotic jump from an animal to humans—without help from a lab.

“Our paper recognizes that there are different possible origins, but the evidence towards zoonosis is overwhelming,” says co-author Danielle Anderson, a virologist at the University of Melbourne. The report, which includes an analysis that found the peer-reviewed literature overwhelmingly supports the zoonotic hypotheses, appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on 10 October.

The panel’s own history reflects the intensity of the debate. Originally convened as a task force of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission, a wide-reaching effort to derive lessons from the pandemic, it was disbanded by Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, the commission’s chair. Sachs alleged that several members had conflicts of interest that would bias them against the lab-origin hypothesis.

achs and other researchers who contend the scientific community has too blithely dismissed the lab-leak possibility aren’t persuaded by the new analysis. The task force’s literature analysis was a good idea, says Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who has pushed for more investigations of the lab-leak hypothesis. But he says the zoonosis proponents haven’t provided much new data. “What we’ve seen is mostly reanalysis and reinterpretation of existing evidence.”

Sachs adds that the task force report does not “systematically address” the possible research-related origins of the pandemic. And he contends there was a “rush to judgment” by the National Institutes of Health and “a small group of virologists” to dismiss the possible research-related origins of the pandemic. In September, The Lancet published a report from his commission that gave equal weight to both hypotheses.

When Sachs launched the Lancet origin task force in December 2020, he tapped conservation biologist Peter Daszak to lead it. Daszak heads the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, which has funded work on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Because the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Wuhan, China, some scientists suspect research conducted at WIV led to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Sachs came to believe Daszak and other task force members who had links to WIV and the EcoHealth Alliance could not assess that possibility fairly and should step down. After fierce infighting over issues including transparency and access to information, Sachs pulled the plug on the task force in September 2021.

'''(cont…)

https://www.science.org/content/article/evidence-suggests-pandemic-came-nature-not-lab-panel-says

>>17784409

>>17784410

(cont…)

But the members continued to meet. “We had a distinguished, diverse group of experts across a whole range of disciplines, and we thought we had something to offer whether or not we were part of the commission,” says Gerald Keusch, an infectious disease specialist at Boston University.

In assembling its report, the task force interviewed researchers who have different perspectives on the pandemic’s origin. It also reviewed the history of RNA viruses, like SARS-CoV-2, that naturally have made zoonotic jumps and triggered outbreaks. And it combed through the scientific literature for papers addressing COVID-19’s origins.

The final product overlaps with the wider ranging Lancet commission report. Both stress the need to address how forces such as growing deforestation and the illicit trade of wild animals increase the risk of viral spillovers. Both emphasize the risk of lax safety measures in labs, as well as in field studies that hunt for pathogens.

But the two reports part ways when it comes to the origin of the pandemic.

The PNAS authors say their literature search revealed “considerable scientific peer-reviewed evidence” that SARS-CoV-2 moved from bats to other wildlife, then to people in the wildlife trade, finally causing an outbreak at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. In contrast, they say, relatively few peer-reviewed studies back the lab-leak idea, and Daszak notes much of the argument has been advanced through opinion pieces. “The most parsimonious hypothesis is that the pandemic emerged through the animal market system,” Daszak says. “And while the evidence could be a lot better, it’s fairly good.”

He also agrees, however, that the question of how the pandemic began has yet to be answered conclusively. No one has independently audited how viruses were handled at WIV, for example. And no reports exist of scientists testing mammals at animal farms in China that supplied the Huanan market or the humans who handled them. “Absent those two critical pieces of data, you’re left with what’s available,” Daszak says. “What we concluded is that the weight and quality of the evidence is far higher on the natural origins idea.”

The PNAS perspective also stands apart for its recommendations on how to improve warnings that a pandemic is brewing. In a section called “looking forward,” the authors promote “smart surveillance” that would concentrate on transmission hot spots where humans and wild animals frequently come in contact, using cutting-edge technologies to look for novel viruses. Assays now exist that can measure antibodies to an enormous range of viruses, offering evidence of infections that occurred in the past. Wastewater sampling could use new polymerase chain reaction techniques to fish for both known and novel pathogens. And researchers could sample the air on public transport and manure pits on farms.

“For nearly 3 years we’ve been running in circles about different lab-leak scenarios, and nothing has really added to this hypothesis,” says co-author Isabella Eckerle, a virologist at the University of Geneva. “We have missed the chance to say … what can we do better the next time?”

Co-author Linda Saif, a swine coronavirus researcher at Ohio State University, Wooster, says studies of human and animal viral infections remain too siloed and must be combined. “There’s no source of funding for those at this time.”

David Relman, a microbiome specialist at Stanford University who thinks the different origin scenarios are equally plausible, believes the PNAS and Lancet commission reports are “not at all contradictory or inconsistent with each other.” And Relman, who was interviewed by the task force, compliments it for highlighting the need to better prepare for a new pandemic. “At the end of the day,” he says, “this much is true: Spillovers, outbreaks, and pandemics are the result of human activities, for which much greater scrutiny, mindfulness, and insight are desperately needed.”

(end)

https://www.science.org/content/article/evidence-suggests-pandemic-came-nature-not-lab-panel-says

>>17784393

Re Fauci is retiring next month but has said he will testify if called upon.

“My records are an open book,” he told CNN in July. “They are talking about things that are really bizarre … like crimes against democracy by shutting down the government. All I have ever done — and go back and look at everything I've ever done — was to recommend common sense, good, CDC-recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives. If you want to investigate for me for that, go ahead.” from article >>17784393

Fauci is retiring next month but has said he will testify if called upon.

“My records are an open book,” he told CNN in July. “They are talking about things that are really bizarre … like crimes against democracy by shutting down the government. All I have ever done — and go back and look at everything I've ever done — was to recommend common sense, good, CDC-recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives. If you want to investigate for me for that, go ahead.”

Fauci to Paul: 'Go ahead' and investigate me over COVID-19

By Ryan Chatelain Nationwide

PUBLISHED 4:00 PM ET Jul. 26, 2022

As Sen. Rand Paul is reiterating his intention to investigate him if Republicans win back the Senate this fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, arguably the face of the federal government’s COVID-19 response, said Tuesday he has nothing to hide.

What You Need To Know

As Sen. Rand Paul is reiterating his intention to investigate him if Republicans win back the Senate this fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, arguably the face of the federal government’s COVID-19 response, said Tuesday he has nothing to hide

Paul, R-Ky., told The Hill this week, “One way or another, if we are in the majority, we will subpoena his records and he will testify in the Senate under oath.”

Paul says he believes COVID-19 escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, and that National Institutes of Health-funded “gain of function” research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential impact in the real world — was partly to blame

Fauci has denied the allegation and accused Paul and other Republican critics of distorting the facts

Paul, R-Ky., told The Hill this week, “One way or another, if we are in the majority, we will subpoena his records and he will testify in the Senate under oath.”

Fauci has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and last year added chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden to his job titles.

Early in the pandemic, Fauci, along with the CDC, called for Americans to socially distance and wear masks, but he also cautioned about the potential dangers of protracted lockdowns. He became a lightning rod for criticism from Republicans, especially from then-President Donald Trump.

Paul has been one of Fauci’s sharpest critics, and the two have repeatedly clashed in Senate hearings when Fauci testified.

Paul, who is running for a third term and is line to chair a committee if the GOP takes the Senate majority, says he believes COVID-19 escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, and that National Institutes of Health-funded “gain of function” research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential impact in the real world — was partly to blame. Fauci’s NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Fauci has denied the allegation and accused Paul and other Republican critics of distorting the facts. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are among Republicans who have called for investigations into Fauci.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Fauci said “there’s no reason” to investigate him and defended his guidance during the pandemic.

“But if they want to, go ahead,” he said. “My records are an open book. They are talking about things that are really bizarre … like crimes against democracy by shutting down the government. All I have ever done — and go back and look at everything I've ever done — was to recommend common sense, good, CDC-recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives. If you want to investigate for me for that, go ahead.”

The World Health Organization has concluded that a lab origin for COVID-19 is “extremely unlikely,” while the U.S. intelligence community has been unable to reach a consensus.

On Tuesday, the journal Science published a study that found the emergence of the virus “occurred via the live wildlife trade in China” and that “the Huanan market was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/07/26/anthony-fauci-to-rand-paul-go-aheadand-investigate-me-over-covid-19