Senior Republican Mike Gallagher criticizes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for promoting “hostile activities” in the United States after a China-connected lab exploded in California.
Local and federal officials raided a facility in Reedley, Calif., which turned out to be a Chinese-run illegal virus lab that genetically manipulated mice and experimented with HIV, herpes and malaria.
Photos obtained by DailyMail.com via court documents show thousands of dead mice stuffed into storage bins shoved haphazardly onto shelves and freezers filled to the brim with bottles of blood and plasma of unknown origin.
Gallagher, who is the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s House Select Committee, told DailyMail.com the lab discovery was “incredibly disturbing” and said his committee had already contacted various federal agencies for additional information.
Gallagher said that although this is at a very “early” stage and they are still seeking answers about what happened, this “could be another example of the CCP’s united front work where they have created all these organizations in order to provide cover for hostile activities taking place on American soil.’
“And if indeed this turned out to be some sort of bioweapons lab, it’s just another example that the CCP threat is not far out there, the threats are right here at home.”
The red biohazard bag was not marked or certified, according to court documents
Blood and plasma from unidentified sources were also found in some of the many freezers on site.
He said he did not understand why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had not yet commented on the situation.
“We’re hoping to get more information from the FBI and we’re working to untangle some of the connections between this lab and the nonprofits and some sort of tangled web of institutions to which it was linked.”
The CDC reportedly tested the substances in the lab and detected HIV, malaria and other diseases.
GOP Senator Joni Ernst also warns that China is “home” and calls for accountability.
The Iowa senator told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement following the bomb blast that “China is not just in our backyard, it is in our house, illegally carrying out risky research that poses a serious public health problem”.
“The world has already witnessed the impact of experiments at the Chinese state-run Wuhan Lab on coronaviruses in bats, and I have worked to end taxpayer funding for these dangerous projects. “, continued Ernst.
“We cannot allow what happened in Wuhan on our own shores. There must be a responsibility.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has confirmed that a leak from a lab in central China’s city of Wuhan likely caused the COVID pandemic.
A 10-page report, released June 23, showed how several US agencies in addition to the FBI — including the Department of Energy — now believe the lab leak is the most likely origin of the pandemic.
In March, investigators entered the warehouse operated by an organization called Prestige BioTech.
They discovered a small room containing nearly 1,000 white mice crammed into storage containers under bright lights 24/7 in an airless room on perpetually dirty bedding. When investigators found them, hundreds were already dead.
A wide range of vials have also been identified containing biomaterials, including blood and tissue, as well as many other unlabeled chemicals.
The mice were confined to a poorly ventilated room barely larger than a closet under constant bright lights shown in the photo above. Court documents also say they lacked sufficient food and water.
Some contained chlamydia, E. coli, streptococcal pneumonia, hepatitis B and C, herpes 1 and 5, rubella and malaria. And it appears that biowaste produced at the site was disposed of in a manner that violated safe disposal protocols required by the state’s medical waste management law.
To date, city officials have removed more than 5,000 gallons of biowaste from the site during three separate trips.
And while the precise origins of the lab remain unknown, county officials noted that other addresses provided were either empty offices in China or other addresses in that country that could not be verified.
Currently, the investigation of the provenance of the laboratory is underway.
