Joe Biden s team ended a State Department investigation into Wuhan lab
The investigation was begun by Mike Pompeo s allies in fall and ran until spring
One of those involved in probe said no evidence showed virus came from bats
David Asher was part of State Department arms control and verification bureau
He said his team found no evidence coronavirus came from animals
Biden s team in February or March decided to end their research
Critics of the effort said it was overtly political and designed to burnish Trump
Trump had long claimed that the Wuhan theory for COVID-19 was likely
Many scientists initially disregarded the theory but are now accepting it
A former State Department official who investigated the origins of the coronavirus said President Biden would need to back his new investigation with the threat of sanctions if China is to reveal the truth.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz criticized New York Times science reporter Apoorva Mandavilli on Thursday
Mandavilli had sparked outrage by tweeting: Someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots
The reporter, who mainly covers the coronavirus, swiftly deleted the tweet
In a second tweet she said the original was badly phrased and said her colleagues are investigating lab leak theory
Cruz joined the outcry, writing: She just isn t willing to investigate or report on anything that might hurt her tender feelings
The controversy came amid growing support for the theory that COVID-19 was developed in a Wuhan lab and the Chinese government covered up a leak
House Rep. Warren Davidson (right), a Republican from Ohio, on Tuesday proposed the FIRED Act - whose acronym stands for Fauci (inset) Incompetence Requires Early Dismissal.
Anthony Fauci on Tuesday appeared before a Congressional budget committee
Fauci defended the spending of $600,000 on the Wuhan laboratory
Scientists now believe it is possible that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan lab
Fauci said the money, to be spend over five years, was modest
He denied again that the cash was spent on gain of function research
The controversial experiments make viruses more deadly or transmissible
On May 11 Fauci and Rand Paul sparred over how the U.S. funding was spent
Fauci insisted it was not spent on gain of function ; Paul said it was
Trump on Tuesday reacted with delight at people now believing lab leak