WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three years into the coronavirus pandemic, a new congressional committee set up by Republicans is trying to answer whether the virus came from a lab, or from an animal in China.

“This question is fundamental to helping us predict and prevent future pandemics,” Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R, OH-2) said as he opened a hearing Wednesday.

Wenstrup, a former podiatrist who now represents southern Ohio as a Republican, is leading the effort as chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

“The truth is we don’t know the origins of COVID-19 yet, for sure. We don’t have a smoking gun,” he said.

So, Wenstrup called a series of medical experts in for an initial hearing to assess where things stand.

The top Democrat on the committee, former emergency physician Raul Ruiz of California, made a plea for bipartisanship before criticizing the GOP’s slate of witnesses, which included author and science journalist Nicholas Wade, who wrote a book years ago about human evolution that was denounced by scientists and embraced by white supremacists. Wade denies being a racist.

“Today’s hearing marks a concerning step down the path of letting extremism get in the way of an inquiry that should be led by science and facts,” Rep. Ruiz said. 

The overall takeaway from the hearing is that the world of science is still unsure how COVID-19 originated, though the FBI and U.S. Energy Department are slowly moving toward the idea that it leaked from a lab in China.

“There is no smoking gun proving a laboratory origin hypothesis, but the growing body of circumstantial evidence suggests a gun that is, at very least, warm to the touch,” said Dr. Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council who testified.

Lawmakers also heard from Paul Auwaerter from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

“We may never know the origin conclusively. Making claims that cannot be supported sufficiently by available data only fuels confusion and mistrust,” he said.

Dr. Robert Redfield, who operated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under former President Donald Trump, testified that he believes a Chinese lab is to blame. Republicans on the committee asked him to appear.

“COVID-19 more likely was the result of an accidental lab leak than a result of a natural spillover event,” Redfield said.

Republicans used it as a reason to criticize Dr. Anthony Fauci for not initially embracing the lab leak theory.  

“Three years ago, if you thought it came from a lab, if you raised that, you were called a nut job, you got censored on Twitter, you were blacklisted on Twitter, you were even called a crackpot,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R, OH-4) said.

Democrats countered by going after Trump.

“Whatever the origins of COVID-19, whether it is bats or bureaucrats, no finding will ever exonerate or rehabilitate Donald Trump for his lethal recklessness in mismanaging the crisis in America,” said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin (D, MD-8).

Wenstrup said the committee has already sent letters for information to at least seven government agencies.

What this committee can reach in terms of conclusions, and whether it will have bipartisan support, remains to be seen.