House Republicans Are Pressing HHS And NIH For Information On The Origins Of Wuhan’s COVID

House Republicans have accused the Biden administration of obstructing their investigation into the origins of COVID-19, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is concealing evidence from them. “Rather than being open and honest with committee Republicans, HHS and NIH [National Institutes of Health] have chosen to conceal, distort, and protect the truth,” the letter stated on Wednesday. “This impediment is particularly concerning considering the NIH’s direct participation in responding to the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as the agency’s policy or practice of deleting potentially relevant data associated with grant-making decisions.”

18 House members signed the letter, including Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer, R-Ky. It was addressed to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Dr. Lawrence Tabak, acting Director of the National Institutes of Health. House Republicans had urged HHS to produce documents related to a 2014 NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth Alliance, which worked on research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In May 2021, a request was made, and in July 2021, a letter was sent.

“By refusing to cooperate with our request, HHS and NIH are choosing to conceal information that will help inform the origins of the ongoing pandemic, prevent future pandemics, strengthen the United States’ national security posture, and restore confidence in our public health experts and infrastructure,” the letter reads on Wednesday.” “The institutions continued defiance is likely to do lasting damage to their credibility. HHS and NIH will be able to aid our country in moving forward in a good and open manner following the COVID-19 pandemic by giving the required data and information.” HHS did not respond to requests to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.