Indian-American politician Tulsi Gabbard lashed out at Republican senator Mitt Romney during a hearing at the US Congress. Romney accused Gabbard of treason in 2022 when she said that the US funded biolabs in Ukraine.
In the initial phase of the Ukraine war, claims were put forth by the Russian and Chinese government that the US funded biolabs who were involved in advanced research using deadly pathogens. The allegations arose when the US and embattled Ukraine said that Russia could get its hands on biolabs and use the pathogens stored in those labs to target Ukrainian cities.
A section of American media and some independent journalists pointed out at that time to a conversation between US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Republican senator Marco Rubio where the latter questioned the former in the US Congress regarding Ukraine’s access to bioweapons and chemical weapons.
Mitt Romney got put on blast by @TulsiGabbard for accusing her of treason 🔥 pic.twitter.com/faZ6kBOny7
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 9, 2023
“Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?” Rubio asked. To which Nuland replied, “Ukraine has biological research facilities.We are now in fact quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to gain control. We are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach,” Nuland said.
Journalists like Glenn Greenwald and few others said that this was an indication of deeper American involvement in deep biological research involving deadly pathogens - which now risked being exposed to the war and the Russian forces.
It must be noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked Ukraine government to destroy the pathogens stored in their labs.
In the US, this led to a political debate between the right and left. Mitt Romney (who is from the right-leaning Republican party but appears as a moderate) accused Gabbard of spreading treasonous lies.
On Thursday, Gabbard, while testifying in the Congress during the first House weaponization subcommittee hearing Thursday said there was no apology from the senior Republican.
“Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives,” Romney said at that time.
“I challenged him to back this serious allegation with evidence. What was this based on?. There was no response, no explanation, no evidence, and no apology. That may be easy for some but for somebody who wears the uniform, this is serious, and it is serious not only to me, but to my fellow service members and veterans,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard also served in the US military earlier and also was an elected representative from Hawaii. She was also the first Hindu member of the US Congress.
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