House GOP's next COVID target
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The House subcommittee probing the government's COVID response will hold a hearing in April about intelligence collected by the U.S. that could shed light on COVID's origins, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The committee plans a series of hearings that will build a narrative arc about COVID origins — including intelligence, science and use of the media, a source familiar with committee leaders' thinking tells us.
Two witnesses are expected at the April 18 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic:
- John Ratcliffe, who was former President Trump's last director of national intelligence.
- David Feith, who was deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under Trump.
Ratcliffe and Feith are expected to be asked about a State Department Fact Sheet — issued in the final days of the Trump administration — that included declassified intelligence related to COVID origins.
Between the lines: Part of the committee's investigation will focus on accusations the media downplayed the lab-leak theory.
- The committee also may look at Twitter's handling of skepticism of the CDC.
U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the virus. None have reached a conclusion with a high degree of confidence.
- Many scientists, meanwhile, say COVID most likely originated naturally.
The committee held its first hearing March 8. More will be held after the mid-April session on intelligence.
