Wenstrup invites scientific journal editors to testify on possible inappropriate relationship with federal government 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman and Second District Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) this week invited the respective editors-in-chief of Science, Nature and The Lancet to testify before the Select Subcommittee on Tuesday, April 16. 

The hearing seeks to examine any potential inappropriate influence exerted by the federal government over research publications related to COVID-19 and ensure that the federal government is not granted undue access to the scientific review process during a future health crisis.

Science, Nature and The Lancet serve as critical information hubs for top scientific research across the world and individually publish articles that are cited millions of times each year. After the publication of the highly controversial, “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” (“Proximal Origin”) paper — which wrongly downplayed and vilified the lab leak hypothesis during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — concerns arose regarding the suppression of scientific discourse by federal health officials in the United States. The Select Subcommittee has obtained evidence that indicates Science, Nature and The Lancet were in communication with federal government officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins.

“Millions of people worldwide relied on Science, Nature and The Lancet to provide scientifically accurate and impartial research during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, documents show that the federal government may have censored and manipulated the sacred scientific review processes at these journals to progress their preferred narrative about the origins of COVID-19. Should these world-renowned scientific journals have done more to protect scientific discourse and ensure the peer review process was completed without outside influence? The Select Subcommittee expects the invited editors-in-chief to attend this hearing and address concerns that their research was inappropriately influenced by a political agenda,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

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