President Joe Biden is right to resume the Trump administration’s investigation into the possibility the novel coronavirus escaped from a Chinese laboratory. It is a welcome shift from his earlier partisanship-addled refusal, but the process it took to reach this decision is not one that inspires confidence.
Biden said he has asked the intelligence community to “redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion” on the origins of the coronavirus and report back to him in 90 days.
This is welcome news. The circumstantial evidence has long pointed to the possibility the virus behind our recent plague escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The theory has been reinforced by the Wall Street Journal report detailing previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence about researchers at the lab who became seriously ill in November 2019.
Pathetically, the Biden White House only decided to pursue this theory after being overwhelmed by the news cycle. On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed the idea of a U.S.-led investigation into the origins of the virus. Instead, she said they were hopeful that the World Health Organization could “move into a more transparent, independent phase two investigation.”
That would be laughable if it wasn’t so depressing. No reasonable human being who has been paying attention would rely on the WHO for a transparent investigation into something that might implicate China. The initial WHO investigation into the origins of the virus resulted in a 313-page report that dismissed the lab leak hypothesis in just four pages. The WHO lied and misled the world throughout the pandemic, often to China’s benefit.
The WHO uncritically repeated China’s claims about the virus, continued to dismiss Taiwan, and let China steer the initial investigation. When Psaki put implicit trust in the WHO, she showed the Biden administration to be either foolish or dishonest.
Then, on Tuesday, CNN broke the news that Biden spiked the State Department investigation into the origins of the virus started under former President Donald Trump.
Much like many media outlets did by quickly dismissing the lab leak hypothesis, it turns out Biden elevated opposing Trump over pursuit of the truth. But with momentum building toward an investigation into the possibility of a lab leak, Biden has now quickly reversed course.
That it took media and public pressure to push Biden forward is both promising and disheartening. Promising, because it shows that a media that holds Biden to the same standard as it did Trump is good and can get results. Disheartening, because Biden’s lack of commitment to getting to the bottom of this does not bode well even for a U.S. investigation.
Biden cannot be permitted to run a perfunctory investigation. Media outlets that allowed political interests to shape coverage of the pandemic last year must be able to overcome their Trump Derangement Syndrome now. Determining just how deep China’s lies go is crucial to our national and global response to the worst pandemic in a century.
Author: Washington Examiner
Source: Washington Examiner : Biden’s lack of interest in investigating the origins of COVID-19 is troubling
