Dr. Mark Lowenthal accused Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of misleading the public about the origins of Covid-19.
During a House hearing on Covid-19 Tuesday, Greene complained that the government could track down alleged military leaker Jack Teixeira but couldn't determine the origins of the virus.
"So, the intelligence community is able to figure out immediately who was leaking classified information in a Discord chat, but yet still doesn't want to say whether it came from the lab or didn't come from the lab," Greene said. "The intelligence communities seem to release or not release information based on how the information will affect the government that it seems to protect."
Lowenthal, a former intelligence agent, responded to Greene.
"May I respond to something else that you said in your comments, Ms. Greene?" he began. "There is a vast, vast difference between tracking a leak on a social media site and determining the origins of this disease. And to compare the two is entirely fallacious, ma'am."
"Dr. Lowenthal, you've said that you keep your intelligence claims and information nonpartisan," Greene shot back. "In 2018, Mr. Lowenthal, you were quoted in the New York Times saying that President Trump is the best president that Russia ever had. That sounds pretty political to me."
"I was no longer an intelligence officer at the time, ma'am," Lowenthal replied. "I'm a private citizen."
"Well, I think you have a difficult time keeping your political opinions out of your political [analysis]," Greene quipped.
Watch the video from YouTube at this link.
