Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Reuters
When the House Energy and Commerce Committee convened a hearing in February focused on the origins of COVID-19—and unproven theories about direct U.S. support for Chinese virus research—it seemed like a natural focus for Republicans on a panel with broad jurisdiction over public health and the medical world.
House Republicans had already acknowledged that Energy and Commerce would take the lead on this investigation. During a private talk to Hill staff and lobbyists in January, Rep. James Comer (R-KY)—chairman of the House Oversight Committee—said the COVID origins probe was Energy and Commerce’s domain, according to a source familiar with his remarks.
But it didn’t take long for Comer’s own powerful committee, with its mandate to investigate virtually anything, to begin barking up the same trees.