House Republicans sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra on Thursday evening, threatening to issue subpoenas if his department does not begin to provide requested information related to the congressional investigation into the origins of COVID-19 .
The House Oversight and Energy and Commerce Committees have been waiting on information and documents requested from the Department of Health and Human Services since February, with additional requests sent in July and August.
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“We have a Constitutional duty to conduct thorough oversight and evaluate legislative solutions to address deficiencies and engrain proficiencies within the federal government,” wrote the five representatives overseeing the investigation.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.
Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
The leadership of the congressional investigation includes Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), oversight subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and health subcommittee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY).
“The Committees will use this investigation to inform potential legislation to improve pandemic preparedness, strengthen grant processes and oversight, and enhance biosafety and biosecurity of laboratory and field research,” the representatives wrote.
The letter renews requests for communication documents between several key players at the National Institutes of Health , including former NIH Director Francis Collins , former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci , current acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak, and current acting Assistant Secretary for Legislation Melanie Egorin.
Several letters and grant documents between the NIH and the research organization EcoHealth Alliance have also been requested by the committees.
Lawrence Tabak, Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, hearing.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The NIH has granted significant research funds to EcoHealth Alliance, which has been touted in internal NIH documents as “among the biggest players in coronavirus work.” EcoHealth Alliance also funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which many suspect had a role in the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The committees also requested voluntary transcribed interviews with various research directors at NIAID, including acting Director Hugh Auchincloss, scheduled from late October through the remainder of 2023. Transcribed interviews for Tabak and Collins are scheduled for Dec. 5 and 12, respectively.
Further, the committees requested voluntary transcribed interviews with President of EcoHealth Alliance Peter Daszak and two retired NIAID officials, all three of which are scheduled in November.
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“If the Department fails to meet any of the prescribed deadlines, the Committees will be forced to consider the use of the compulsory process,” the representatives wrote. The deadlines for document delivery begin as soon as Sept. 21.
Neither the committee Democrats nor HHS responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment by the time of publication.