Members of a House subcommittee on COVID-19 are investigating a whistleblower's claims that the CIA allegedly tried to pay six government analysts to change their positions on the origins of the virus, Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., told Newsmax.
The analysts initially determined the virus started in the Wuhan virology lab in China, but were encouraged to say it had transmitted from animals to humans, according to reports.
"Originally you had six of these scientists and experts basically agree that the lab leak was the most likely origin of this disease, and I agree," McCormick, the House subcommittee's chairman, said Tuesday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "We all studied science ... nothing else makes sense."
The New York Post reported Tuesday that a senior-level CIA officer told House committee leaders that his agency tried to pay off the analysts, according to a letter sent to CIA Director William Burns.
"All of a sudden, a couple of days later, they changed their minds," McCormick said of the analysts. "This CIA leak just came out, basically saying that six of those seven changed around because of basically a bribe, which is a bonus was offered to them if they would change their opinion publicly, and that's what we're hunting down right now."
Now, more than three years since the pandemic began, the coverup is happening because "we essentially funded" the Wuhan lab's research, as did other countries and the World Health Organization, said McCormick, a doctor.
McCormick said Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the pandemic response, "was embarrassed, even though he didn't authorize the kind of function we knew they were trying to do," but still, funding was going to a Chinese lab "that had ill intent."
"They want to make sure we're not associated with it whatsoever, but it's too late," McCormick added. "The cat's out of the bag. We did appropriate money to that facility that did gain-of-function research."
McCormick said the investigation isn't bipartisan because of politics and opposition to former President Donald Trump.
"The other side stopped having rational conversation," McCormick said. "It shouldn't be controversial at all. Even the Democrats are now saying, why does it matter? Because if you don't understand from your mistakes ... you will do the wrong thing again.
"That's why it's important to figure this out. You saw the lab out in California. There are bad people out there who want to do bad things to Americans. We've got to make sure we stop that."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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