Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, has no reason to doubt or call the "bluff" on Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat of potentially using nuclear weapons against Western powers.
The Ohio congressman also believes the Russians have likely improved their stockpile of chemical weapons in recent years.
"This is something they're always working on," Wenstrup told Newsmax Wednesday evening, while appearing on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
From Wenstrup's perspective, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has made the United States, along with countless other nations, more vulnerable to "bioweapons" warfare.
"Our preparedness" for the next bioweapon attack? "Would that inspire our enemies to increase their investment into bioweapons?" Wenstrup asked Van Susteren, before adding, "The technology's out there."
Gain-of-function research has unwittingly exacerbated the worldwide fears of bioweapons warfare, said Wenstrup. This process involves the manual or artificial manipulation of already-potent viruses.
This prompted Wenstrup to recall how, in 2014, Dr. Anthony Fauci — our nation's chief immunologist — initially told congressional members the benefits of gain-of-function research outweighed the risk.
And then a year later in 2015, according to Wenstrup, Chinese scientists apparently took the gain-of-function manipulation to a new level.
"You can create something very deadly. At the same time, do you also have the cure?" asked Wenstrup, who's up for reelection this November. "The bioweapon potential that's out there is now of great concern."
And unfortunately for global investigators, Wenstrup said, China has provided limited data on the COVID-19 origins.
The country has also "destroyed much of the evidence" related to that specific coronavirus, adds Wenstrup.
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