Press Release

Alaska Attorney General Joins 18-State Letter Asking Congress to Investigate China's Role in Pandemic

May 11, 2020

(Anchorage, AK) – Attorney General Kevin G. Clarkson joined an 18-state effort calling on Congress to investigate the communist Chinese government’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson led the effort, sending a letter Friday to the leadership of the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and other House and Senate leaders asking for a Congressional investigation (192K PDF).

Attorney General Kevin Clarkson states, "As chief legal officer of Alaska, I join other attorneys general around the nation in asking our congressional leaders to hold China accountable for its actions." The letter states, "Recent reports suggest that the communist Chinese government willfully and knowingly concealed information about the severity of the virus while simultaneously stockpiling personal protective equipment." The letter also says, "In what Secretary of State Pompeo has described as a 'classic communist disinformation effort,' the Chinese government, aided by the World Health Organization, appears to have intentionally misled the world over the last six months."

The current U.S. death toll from this coronavirus is nearly 80,000 and the pandemic's economic devastation has caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket from 3.5 percent in February to its current rate of 14.7 percent. The Chinese government's mishandling and deliberate deception has caused death and hardship for millions of Americans. Attorney General Clarkson adds, "Congressional hearings are critical to our understanding of the origins of COVID-19 and efforts by the Chinese government to hide facts from the international community."

In addition to Alaska, the following states' attorneys general signed onto the letter: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.