🦠 The Final Report

Pandemic origins unveiled—what’s the subcommittee’s final verdict?

December 04, 2024

The Flag


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Left: Pete Hegseth's Secret History, Jane Mayer, The New Yorker

Left: What Is the Democratic Party? David Dayen, American Prospect

Right: Patel Pick Making All the Right People Nervous, Andrea Widburg, American Thinker

Right: Joe Biden Cements His Legacy as Liar in Chief, Jonathan Turley, FOX News

Right: Joe and Hunter Biden and the Rule of Law, Gerard Baker, Wall Street Journal

COVID-19

The Final Report

Today’s Top Story: On Monday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released its final report, concluding the virus likely originated from a Wuhan lab, questioning the scientific basis for social distancing and masking, and offering recommendations for future pandemic preparedness.

Reporting from the Left: House Covid-19 panel releases final report criticizing public health response to the pandemic (CNN)

Reporting from the Right: COVID 'most likely' leaked from Wuhan lab, social distancing 'not based on science,' select committee finds (Fox News)

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Cuomo’s Response Blasted

The Top Argument From The Left: GOP-led House panel blasts Andrew Cuomo’s Covid response, Nick Reisman, Politico: “Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have tried to “inappropriately” influence the testimony of a former aide before speaking to a House panel investigating his administration’s Covid-19 policies, a Republican-backed report found. Cuomo, a Democrat who is weighing a bid for New York City mayor, contacted the former adviser, Jim Malatras, days before he was due to speak with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. … Malatras’ testimony to the House panel was considered especially key: Lawmakers at the time were reviewing Cuomo’s pandemic nursing home policies and the decision to require that the facilities not turn away patients who were Covid positive. The panel was also investigating how the Cuomo administration compiled a report on nursing home deaths — a report which Malatras played a key role in drafting — as well as whether state officials undercounted fatalities. … In his testimony, Malatras told the subcommittee that the nursing home report was reviewed and edited by top aides and Cuomo, with input from officials at the state Department of Health. Cuomo had claimed he played no role in editing or writing the report. Later assessments found the report undercounted the number of residents who died.”

Honorable Mention #1: COVID-19 likely came from a lab, US committee finds, Al Jazeera

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Came from a Chinese Lab

The Top Argument From The Right: DOJ secretly investigated nonprofit at center of Wuhan COVID lab leak questions, bombshell House report reveals, Diana Glebova, New York Post: “The Department of Justice secretly launched a grand jury investigation into a US nonprofit that steered American taxpayer funding to the Chinese lab suspected of leaking the COVID-19 virus and causing the global pandemic, according to a bombshell report released by a House committee on Monday. Scientific experts and former federal officials have suggested that EcoHealth Alliance’s grants to the China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) funded gain-of-function research that could have led to a lab leak — but records requests have repeatedly been blocked by the National Institutes of Health, according to the report. The details of the apparent federal investigation of EcoHealth Alliance remain secret — and members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which released the 520-page report on the origins of and response to the pandemic, have declined to talk about it, citing concerns about interfering in any potential DOJ investigation.”

Honorable Mention #2: Congressional Panel Concludes Covid Likely Came from Wuhan Lab, James Lynch, National Review

FLAG THIS

Partisan Views of COVID-19

According to the Pew Research Center, partisanship remains a key factor in COVID-19 attitudes, though partisan gaps have shifted over time. Key points:

  • Public health threat: The partisan gap in viewing COVID-19 as a major public health threat has narrowed from 37 points in May 2022 to 16 points today, reflecting declining concern across the board.

  • Vaccination rates: 42% of Democrats report receiving an updated vaccine, compared to 15% of Republicans—a 27-point gap, consistent with January 2022 levels (62% vs. 33%).

  • Age and partisanship: Older Democrats and Republicans now show significant differences in vaccine uptake, highlighting the intersection of age and political affiliation in shaping COVID-19 behaviors.

Public health leaders...

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WATERCOOLER

Barn Standoff, Rare Whale, Certified Pirate

On This Day in 1780, a force of Continental dragoons commanded by Colonel William Washington–General George Washington’s second cousin once removed–corners Loyalist Colonel Rowland Rugeley and his followers in Rugeley’s house and barn near Camden, South Carolina.

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