Missouri won a $24 billion judgment against China in a coronavirus lawsuit on Friday after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Show Me State's case accusing the Chinese Communist Party of hoarding protective supplies during the Wuhan virus pandemic.
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Missouri won a $24 billion judgment against China in a coronavirus lawsuit on Friday after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Show Me State’s case accusing the Chinese Communist Party of hoarding protective supplies during the Wuhan virus pandemic.
Friday’s win comes five years after former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed the initial suit against China in 2020, accusing the communist regime of “obstructing the production, purchase, and export of critical medical equipment, including PPE, during the pandemic.”
“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,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement, according to a report by Fox News.
“China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation,” Bailey added. “We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”
The attorney general’s office also noted that Friday’s ruling makes for the largest judgment in Missouri’s history, and is six times larger than the state’s previous largest judgement.
The court found “that Missouri has provided evidence satisfactory to the Court to establish each Defendant’s liability to Missouri under Count IV of Plaintiff’s Complaint,” Judge Stephen Limbaugh reportedly said in his ruling.
“The Court therefore enters a judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $24,488,825,457.00, plus post judgment interest,” Judge Limbaugh added.
The following were named as defendants in Missouri’s lawsuit:
The People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Government of Hubei Province, the People’s Government of Wuhan City, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Hey China, You owe Missouri $24 BILLION. I just won a judgment in court. Pay up — or we start seizing assets and farmland,” Bailey declared in a Friday X post.
In January, a court of appeals ruled in Missouri’s favor, overturning a lower court ruling that had thrown out the initial lawsuit, Fox News noted.
While the original lawsuit previously accused China of hiding information about the origins of the pandemic, the appeals court reportedly ruled that the complaint must be limited to allegations of supply hoarding.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
