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Rep. Brad Wenstrup announces he won’t seek reelection

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who leads the House GOP’s investigation of the origins of COVID-19, says he won’t seek reelection next year.

Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, speaks during a House Select Subcommittee hearing on the Coronavirus pandemic investigation of the origins of COVID-19
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who leads the House GOP’s investigation of the origins of COVID-19, says he won’t seek reelection next year. [Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP, File]
Wenstrup represents Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District and was first elected to the House in 2012. He said in a video posted on X on Thursday that he would be stepping down to spend more time with his family.

A married father of two young children, the Cincinnati native is a doctor of podiatric medicine and colonel in the Army Reserve. As chair of the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, Wenstrup led an inquiry into the virus’ origins and the government’s response.

Wenstrup, who is also a longtime member of the House Intelligence Committee, has accused U.S. intelligence of withholding key facts about its investigation into the coronavirus. Republicans on the committee last year issued a staff report arguing that there are “indications” that the virus may have been developed as a bioweapon inside the China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

U.S. officials, however, released an intelligence report in June that rejected some points raised by those who argue COVID-19 leaked from a lab, instead reiterating that American spy agencies remain divided over how the pandemic began.

They are among nearly two dozen House members to announce they won’t be running again in 2024.