FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed on Wednesday that the Covid-19 pandemic was caused by a laboratory incident in Wuhan, China.
“FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China,” tweeted the FBI. This development comes after new intelligence had prompted the Energy Department to conclude that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely caused the novel coronavirus pandemic, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan… I will just make the observation that the Chinese government… has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our US government and close foreign partners are doing,” said FBI chief.
The Congress did not request the update, which is less than five pages long. However, lawmakers, particularly Republicans in the House and Senate, have been conducting their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic and have pressed the Biden administration and the intelligence community for more information.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Energy Department has joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in claiming that the virus was most likely spread by a mistake at a Chinese laboratory.
The conclusion reached by the Energy Department is the result of new intelligence, and it is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.
The insights provided by the Energy Department come from its network of national laboratories, some of which conduct biological research, rather than more traditional forms of intelligence such as spy networks or communications intercepts.
According to the US 2021 intelligence report, the novel coronavirus first circulated in Wuhan, China, no later than November 2019. The origins of the pandemic have sparked heated debate among academics, intelligence experts, and lawmakers.
