House Committee calls for FBI investigation into doping of Chinese swimmers

The House Special Committee on China has asked the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate reports that Chinese authorities covered up positive doping tests on nearly half of the swimming team sent to the last Olympics and that the global anti-doping regulator failed to take action.

In a letter sent late Tuesday, the committee called on authorities to use a law passed in 2020 after another doping scandal involving Russia that gives the Justice Department the power to prosecute those who aid athletes in international competitions doping, regardless of whether the crimes occur on American soil.

“This scandal raises serious legal, ethical and competition concerns and may represent a broader state-sponsored strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to compete unfairly at the Olympics, as Russia has previously done,” the panel’s chair said, Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, and his ranking Democrat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, in a letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray.

The letter could put additional political pressure on the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to tighten scrutiny of China’s sports program and the organization responsible for monitoring the use of banned performance enhancers, the World Anti-Doping Agency, just two months before the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

The New York Times reported last month that 23 top Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the same powerful drug months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but were allowed to compete after Chinese officials secretly cleared them of wrongdoing and anti-doping Agency, known as WADA, refused to take action.

The swimmers won medals in five events at the 2021 Games, including three gold medals. Several of the swimmers are considered favorites to win medals at the Paris Olympics in July.

The Times reported that the FBI learned of the positive results last year and that federal investigators took steps to learn more about the incident. China insisted that the substance that triggered the swimmers’ positive test results came from contaminated food, an explanation that some experts found unlikely if not implausible.

The House panel sent the letter four days after the Anti-Doping Agency held a meeting to reject claims that it turned a blind eye after learning of the positive drug tests. WADA’s top officials again defended their decision not to impose sanctions on Chinese swimmers, and the agency’s president attacked American athletes, saying 90 percent of them do not even compete under its code.

The bipartisan nature of the letter reflected the broad consensus in Washington about the growing threats posed by China on a range of issues, as well as the specific concerns of American athletes and coaches about what they see as doping patterns by Chinese athletes.

“It is important to assess whether these alleged doping practices were state-sponsored, which may warrant further diplomatic action by the United States and the international community,” Mr. Moolenaar and Mr. Krishnamoorthi said in the letter.

In a separate letter to the International Olympic Committee, the House committee called for an independent investigation into the handling of the positive tests, saying: “How the IOC responds to this scandal will have a direct impact on this summer’s Olympic Games and its promise of fair play .” brings together athletes from all over the world.”