Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Mike Braun (R-IN) demanded Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines declassify and send all information related to the origins of COVID-19 to Congress.
The lawmakers, in a letter sent on Tuesday, urged the top national security official to comply with federal law by turning over all the documents, dismissing the nine-page redacted report Haines's office released on Friday. The law was enacted by President Joe Biden to help Congress get the truth about the pandemic's origins.
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"That law required the Director of National Intelligence to ‘declassify any and all information’ relating to links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19," the senators wrote in the letter. "The report itself was a paltry five pages of information, plus a cover page and appendix. Obviously, the U.S. government is in possession of more information than that. This half-baked effort falls woefully short of the statutory requirements and undermines congressional intent."
The letter comes as the Biden administration faces increased scrutiny over its relationship with China. The senators accused Haines and the administration of attempting to downplay China's role in the pandemic and its origins to avoid upsetting the Chinese government.
"Your failure to comply with the law is especially worrisome in light of recent events," the senators wrote. "The Biden administration, including the [Office of the Director of National Intelligence], has exhibited a concerning level of deference towards China, including obfuscating the extent of China’s intelligence cooperation with Cuba and downplaying the seriousness of China’s intelligence collection over U.S. airspace."
The senators reminded Haines that the deadline to comply with their orders had been June 18, but her office did not produce the report until June 23. The lawmakers gave her an extension to supply the rest of the information on the origins, making the new deadline in seven business days.
"If you fail to do so, we would welcome your testimony before Congress on this matter so you may answer questions under oath," the Republican lawmakers wrote. "The American people deserve to know the truth about China’s role in the origins of COVID-19."
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The nine-page report centered on the intelligence community's understanding of how the virus could be linked to a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology but was not completely conclusive that the virus originated in the lab.
The report claimed instead that the lab leak theory, and the theory that the virus was transferred from an infected animal, were both still plausible to intelligence agencies.