Republican Senators Demand COVID-19 Origin Investigation

Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) and fellow Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, Ted Cruz, Dan Sullivan, and Mike Lee directed a letter to President Trump, asking him to “work with our allies and partners such as Japan, South Korea, and European nations to pursue an open and transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, as well as the WHO’s decision-making related to the crisis.”

The letter comes at a time when the President informed that he would be launching an investigation into the origin of COVID-19, stemming from a theory that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan.

In the letter, the Republican Senators express that “from the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19… the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have gone to great lengths to cover up, deflect, and even directly blame the United States for the outbreak.”

They assert that “there will need to be a thorough international investigation into the origins of the virus and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) abuse of international organization, including the World Health Organization (WHO).”

Specifically, for the investigation, the lawmakers urge the President “to appoint a high-level Presidential Envoy to lead international coordination efforts both for COVID-19 response and for related investigations.”

Tensions reached a peak this week when the President announced that funding for the World Health Organization would be halted.

In response, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said on Monday that “the United States is actually the largest contributor to WHO, and I have met President Trump a number of times before, starting from 2017.”

He added, “what I know is that he is supportive, and I hope the funding to WHO will continue,” concluding that “the relationships that we have is very good, and we hope this will continue.”