Letter from Brad R. Wenstrup to Xavier Becerra on June 1, 2023

by Brad R. Wenstrup

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, D.P.M. CHAIRMAN	ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS Congress of the United States House of Representatives SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-6143 Majority (202) 225-5074 Minority (202) 225-5051	RAUL RUIZ, M.D. RANKING MEMBER

June 1, 2023

The Honorable Xavier Becerra
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Secretary Becerra:

As you know, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is investigating the origins of COVID-19, including the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) role in obscuring the truth regarding the initial outbreak and whether any U.S. taxpayer dollars funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s (WIV) dangerous gain-of-function research.^[1] The Select Subcommittee is now the only Committee in Congress with explicit jurisdiction to conduct this wide-ranging and important investigation.

While negotiating the upcoming testimony of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, the Select Subcommittee—at the request of the Department—had been engaged in negotiations regarding the production of certain documents in exchange for the Department’s desired date of testimony for that hearing. The Select Subcommittee’s last offer was for two discrete documents that are responsive to previous requests—the Select Subcommittee was even willing to view one of these documents in camera.^[2] The Department, however, refused without providing any explanation.

This stonewalling of legitimate Congressional oversight appears to be in line with the Department’s new stated position regarding Select Subcommittee requests. In case you were unaware, while negotiating Director Walensky’s upcoming testimony, the Department wrote that the negotiation was “counterproductive to the [S]elect [S]ubcommittee’s broader dealings with the Department.”^[3] This is unacceptable and continued obstruction will not be tolerated.

Considering this refusal and to further assist the Select Subcommittee in its investigation, we request the following two documents be produced, unredacted, as soon as possible but no later than June 8, 2023:

1. Any report, memo, or other document produced regarding Dr. Cliff Lane’s trip to China on or around February of 2020.
2. Any report, memo, or other document produced regarding Dr. Ping Chen’s trip to the Wuhan Institute of Virology on or around October of 2017.

Further, pursuant to our February 13, 2023, requests for testimony, the Select Subcommittee requests Dr. Ping Chen participate in a voluntary transcribed interview beginning at 10:00 a.m. on June 12, 2023. The Select Subcommittee reserves the right to conduct follow-up interviews or request testimony from other witnesses pertinent to our investigation.

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is authorized to investigate “the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic, including but not limited to the Federal Government’s funding of gain-of function research” and “executive branch policies, deliberations, decisions, activities, and internal and external communications related to the coronavirus pandemic” under H. Res. 5. Further, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability is authorized to investigate “any matter” at “any time” pursuant to House Rule X. To schedule the interviews or ask any follow-up or related questions please contact Committee staff at (202) 225-5074.

Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely, Brad R. Wenstrup, D.P.M. Chairman Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic

cc:	The Honorable Raul Ruiz, Ranking Member
	Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic

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1. Letter from Hon. Brad Wenstrup, et. al., Chairman, Select Subcomm. on the Coronavirus Pandemic, H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability, to Hon. Xavier Becerra, Sec’y, U.S. Dep’t of Health * Human Servs. (Feb. 13, 2023).
2. E-Mail from Select Subcomm. on the Coronavirus Pandemic Staff to U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Servs. Staff (May 24, 2023 11:18 a.m.).
3. Letter from Hon. Melanie Anne Egorin, Ass’t Sec’y for Legislation, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Servs., to Hon. Brad Wenstrup, Chairman, Select Subcomm. on the Coronavirus Pandemic, H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability (May 24, 2023).