A U.S. federal agency has determined that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely began as a result of a lab leak in China, according to a new report.
Citing a classified intelligence report recently given to the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported that the “Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak.”
“The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory,” the outlet added. “The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.”
The Energy Department came to its conclusion with “low confidence,” according to the report. The FBI came to the same conclusion in 2021 with “moderate confidence” and still holds this view.
While a few other federal agencies have previously come to different conclusions as to the source of the pandemic, they did not have access to the same level of intelligence, according to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“President Biden specifically requested that the national labs, which are part of the Energy Department, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here,” Sullivan said.
There are a “variety of views in the intelligence community,” he added. “A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information.”
