Jordan and Kentucky Representative James Comer, both Republicans, are leading the charge to probe health experts and officials from the Biden administration about the virus. They’ll call for testimony from dozens of individuals about the matter in January, when Republicans formally take control of the House.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform announced the investigation in a statement on Wednesday. The Republican lawmakers have compiled a list of some 40 people, with Dr. Anthony Fauci expected to testify.
In addition, the representatives are looking to hear from a top-ranking official of EcoHealth Alliance, several virologists and other senior Biden administration officials.
Comer claimed in a statement that learning the origins of the virus is crucial to “providing accountability and protecting Americans in the future.
“Mounting evidence points to the virus originating from a leak at the Wuhan lab,” he continued. “EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. 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.”
Jordan also hit out at the way officials have responded to COVID-19, writing on social media that the virus had infringed upon Americans’ lives for too long.
“#COVID19 disrupted our lives and livelihoods for over two years: kids couldn’t go to school, small businesses and churches were closed, our economy tanked, and our freedoms were restricted,” the congressman wrote in a tweet on Wednesday evening. “Americans deserve the facts about its origins. And they deserve the facts on Fauci.”
Fauci has long pushed to dispel misinformation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. He told a Senate committee in June that COVID-19’s origin was likely due to a “natural occurrence,” rather than having stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
The leading health official revealed earlier this year that he will step down as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December.
On Wednesday, Fauci—who is also the outgoing White House medical adviser—clapped back at Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida who has demanded an investigation into supposed “crimes” tied to coronavirus vaccines.
“I don’t have a clue…what he’s asking for,” Fauci told CNN’s Kate Bolduc. “I mean, we have a vaccine that, unequivocally, is highly effective and safe and has saved literally millions of lives.”
Newsweek reached out to Jordan’s office and the White House for comment.
