Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Monday announced that his committee subpoenaed 14 federal agencies from the exiting Biden-Harris administration in a sweeping investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and U.S. funding of potentially dangerous viral research.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Paul chairs, issued the subpoenas on Jan. 13 as part of a bipartisan investigation into the national security threats posed by high-risk biological research and technology, which experts are increasingly linking to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again,” Paul said in a press statement.
Among the agencies subpoenaed by Paul’s committee are the National Institutes of Health, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, the CIA, and several other public health branches.
The subpoenas request information from the federal agencies regarding gain-of-function research, which involves the genetic manipulation of a pathogen by either making it more infectious to humans or giving it new capabilities to cause different symptoms.
Paul has been investigating the potential gain-of-function research connections to the COVID-19 pandemic for several years, culminating in a heated exchange between Paul and former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci over the technical definition of the scientific term.
A spokesperson confirmed for the Washington Examiner that the subpoenas use the technical terms of gain-of-function and “dual use research of concern,” which is defined as research that could pose a significant public health and national security threat if misapplied.
Congressional investigations in the House starting in 2023 brought to the forefront that the NIH had been funding potentially dangerous research projects on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China via grants to the non-profit research firm EcoHealth Alliance.
Earlier this month, EcoHealth Alliance was debarred, blocking it from receiving any U.S. government funding.
Before leaving office, former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci for any crimes that may have been committed since 2014. This aligns with the beginning of the three-year moratorium on gain-of-function research instituted by the Obama administration.
“In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered,” said Paul.
The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump will be issuing another moratorium on gain-of-function research within the coming weeks via executive order.
The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the impending executive order.
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On Saturday, nearly two weeks after the subpoenas were requested by Paul, a CIA spokesperson announced that it now “assesses with low confidence” that SARS-CoV-2 originated as a result of a lab accident at the WIV.
The update to the agency’s assessment came shortly after Trump’s pick for CIA director, Jon Ratcliffe, took office.