GOP lawmaker questions Dem inaction on COVID lab-leak theory: 'Do the Democrats know something we don't?

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., urged her Democratic colleagues on Monday to take a more aggressive approach in investigating the Wuhan lab-leak theory after a congressional report revealed that the Wuhan National Biosafety Lab requested bids for major renovations to air safety and waste treatment systems in research facilities just months before the COVID-19 outbreak began.

"Republicans in the subcommittee on COVID are going to continue to work with the Foreign Affairs committee to expose what we can find that make the connection that this is a leak from the lab and China is responsible," Malliotakis said on "The Story" Monday.

"What we do know is that this lab was genetically modifying coronaviruses and they were doing it in subpar conditions. We also know in September of 2019, there were a number of scientists from the lab that fell ill with symptoms that would be symptoms similar to COVID. and we also know on or before September 2019 is when we assume this leak occurred because on September 12 of 2019, that’s when they pulled their viral sequence database off the website," she explained.

WUHAN LAB REPORT RAISES MAJOR QUESTIONS SURROUNDING ORIGIN OF OUTBREAK

The latest congressional report adds another circumstantial element to the controversial argument that the pandemic began in a Wuhan lab, including suspicious behavior and obfuscation from China’s government and signs the pandemic began months before previously assumed. 

Democratic leaders have shown little interest in congressional investigations though, leaving Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs and Energy and Commerce Committees to conduct their own reviews.  

Malliotakis said the committee hopes to subpoena Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, who has emerged as a central figure in the investigation over his questionable ties to the Wuhan lab at the center of the debate. But with Democrats in control of Congress and its committees, Republicans have virtually no subpoena power.

"Many of our members on the Republican side would like to see him subpoenaed and have him brought to testify before our committee," she said. "The question is, why will the Democrats not join us in getting answers to these questions? You know, 4 million people died worldwide, 600,000 here in the United States of America. What is also very suspicious and leads to us think there was a massive cover-up between W.H.O. And the CCP, is that China has only reported 5,600 deaths," she asserted.

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"Yes, we do need sanctions, we need individuals like Peter Daszak to come testify under oath and that will help us get closer to the truth. The American people deserve the truth."

The inaction on the Democratic side has been "absolutely frustrating," Maliotakis said. "We want to know why. Do The Democrats know something that we don’t know?" she asked. "Perhaps they know about this funding that went from U.S. tax dollars to the Wuhan lab? These are all questions we’ll have and continue to pursue it until we get the answers that people deserve."