Missouri wins $24 billion lawsuit when judge rules China was responsible for Covid-19 pandemic

On March 7, the Office of the Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that the State had secured a historic $24 billion judgment against the Chinese Communist Party for unleashing the COVID-19 pandemic — six times more than the previous largest judgment in Missouri history.

“This is a landmark victory for Missouri and the United States in the fight to hold China accountable for unleashing COVID-19 on the world,”said Attorney General Bailey. “China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation. We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”

It was a federal judge in Missouri that found the Chinese government responsible for covering up the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and hoarding protective equipment in a ruling on Friday.

In his ruling, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. wrote that “China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic” and had “engaged in monopolistic actions to hoard P.P.E.” Those actions, he said, hampered the early response to the pandemic in the United States and made it impossible to purchase enough equipment for medical providers responding to the virus, according to The New York Times.

The lawsuit was filed by the Missouri attorney general’s office in April 2020, during the early days of the pandemic

The Federal court ruled that Missouri “has established this claim of damages through evidence satisfactory to the court,” proving that China caused and exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic, harming Missourians. The ruling follows former Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s 2020 lawsuit against the Chinese Communist Party for obstructing the production, purchase, and export of critical medical equipment, including PPE, during the pandemic.

Missouri will now move to collect the $24 billion judgment and, if necessary, will work with the Trump Administration to identify and seize Chinese-owned assets — a critical step in protecting Missouri’s economy and national security.

A full copy of the judgment can be read here.

For more on this landmark ruling, see the video accompanying this article.

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(Source: Office of the Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey)
(Cover photo: Image credit: X)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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