Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., warned Newsmax viewers that China was not just a foreign policy threat to Americans but also one "right here at home."
Appearing Monday on "The Record with Greta Van Susteren," the head of the House panel probing Beijing said the purpose of an illegal Chinese-owned laboratory found in California is unclear, as well as if more exist.
The medical facility in Reedley was shut down by inspectors last week after it was caught manufacturing COVID-19 rapid tests despite failing to get authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to do so.
Local officials also said they uncovered over 20 deadly viruses in the lab's refrigerators.
"What we are seeing across the board, though, from the Chinese Communist Party, is an all-out assault on American sovereignty," Gallagher contended. "And it's not just the discovery of this lab."
The lawmaker proceeded to explain that the committee has looked into other instances of potential CCP infiltration, including police stations in New York City's Chinese community and land purchases near military bases.
And in June, a United States intelligence official told The Associated Press that China had had a surveillance base in Cuba since at least 2019, capable of eavesdropping on Americans' electronic communications.
"The extent of Chinese spying ... is still poorly understood," Gallagher emphasized. "This should teach us one thing above all else: the China threat is not just a distant 'over there' threat. It's a right here-at-home threat."
Gallagher later pointed out that U.S. agencies are still split on how exactly COVID started, but the evidence for the virus leaking from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was "stacking up."
"We know that there were American taxpayer dollars being funneled through nonprofit organizations to do dangerous work on making naturally-occurring viruses more chimeric, more pathogenic," he argued.
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