Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, issued letters to the editors of three major science journals on Tuesday, asking them to testify on the relationship between their publications and the federal government.
Wenstrup sent letters to the editors-in-chief of The Lancet, Science and Nature science journals requesting their testimony for a hearing on April 16. The hearing will be titled “Academic Malpractice: Examining the Relationship Between Scientific Journals, the Government, and Peer Review.”
In his letters, Wenstrup stated that the hearing would be to examine “whether these journals granted the federal government inappropriate access into the scientific review or publishing process.”
These journals were in contact with top White House health officials like Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins according to Freedom of Information Act requests, Wenstrup wrote. He did not cite any specific reports or studies in his letters to the editors-in-chief.
A search for research articles containing the term “COVID-19” on the websites of the three science journals results in turns up nearly 19,000 results.
The Hill has reached out to The Lancet, Science and Nature for comment.
The select subcommittee has continued to bring in officials and experts who were active during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the start of the year, Fauci to two days of closed-door interviews with the subcommittee.