[PJ] This week, House Democrats whose colleagues rushed to investigate President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response amid the ongoing pandemic once again refused to give the green light to an effort to investigate China’s lies and malfeasance regarding the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Democrats blocked the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis from investigating China’s malfeasance."Coronavirus Committee Dems won’t let us investigate China’s cover-up," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) tweeted. "Why? — China’s lies caused global suffering & economic devastation — China undermined our efforts to combat the virus — China is reportedly trying to steal our vaccine research They must be held accountable."
Republicans on the committee have repeatedly asked about opening an investigation into China. Lauren Fine, Scalise's communications director, told PJ Media that in a hearing on Thursday, Republicans on the committee again asked about looking into China, and Democrats again refused them.
"It's disappointing‐but not surprising‐that Congressional Democrats have harsher words for President Trump, rather than the Communist Chinese regime responsible for wreaking havoc against our citizens and the rest of the world," Fine told PJ Media. "Republicans on the Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis will continue to press for answers on the origins of this crisis and accountability from the Chinese government and World Health Organization for their deception, and would urge Democrats to put their personal vendetta against President Trump aside to join us in this effort."
Indeed, the effort to block a China investigation seems predicated on the rush to blame Trump for the crisis and ignore the horrific abuses of the Chinese Communist Party. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), perhaps the central figure in Democrats' impeachment of President Donald Trump, began circulating draft legislation to investigate Trump's response to the coronavirus. He claimed the investigation is "not an exercise in casting blame or scoring political points," but Republicans are naturally skeptical.
If Democrats are going to investigate President Trump's response to the coronavirus crisis, they should also investigate China's malfeasance. Just last week, Chinese officials threatened "serious consequences" for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, along with two state attorneys general. The officials named Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).
"The Chinese government is lashing out at those in the U.S. who are appropriately trying to hold them accountable for intentionally misleading us about the nature of the novel coronavirus, where it was spreading and how quickly things were getting out of control. I consider their threats a badge of honor," Banks replied.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) filed a lawsuit last month demanding tens of billions of dollars in damages due to China's coronavirus malfeasance, which allegedly violated Missouri law. Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) filed a lawsuit allowing Mississippians to bring claims against China.