The US Department of Energy believes that the coronavirus pandemic most likely arose as a result of a leak in a Chinese laboratory. This is evidenced by the data of a classified intelligence report that was recently presented to the White House and key members of Congress.
How writes The Wall Street Journal, a change in the position of the Department of Energy, which had previously not decided on the source of the virus, is noted in an updated document for 2021, which was prepared by the office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, Avril Haynes.
The new report claims that different sections of the intelligence community have come to different conclusions about the origin of the pandemic. The Department of Energy joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus was most likely spread by an accident in a Chinese lab. Four other agencies and a national intelligence team believe this is most likely the result of natural transmission of the virus, and two have not yet decided on an answer.
The WSJ notes that the Department of Energy’s finding is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the department has significant scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct cutting-edge biological research. According to people familiar with the classified report, the Ministry of Energy presented its decision with a “low degree of certainty.”
In 2021, the FBI concluded with “moderate certainty” that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak. Until now, the department adheres to this point of view.
US officials declined to provide details of the new intelligence and analysis that prompted the Department of Energy to change its position. They stated that while DOE and the FBI argue that an inadvertent leak of information from the lab is most likely, they came to that conclusion for different reasons.
The updated document highlights that intelligence officials are still collecting “bit by bit” information about the occurrence of Covid-19. The National Intelligence Council, which is conducting a long-term strategic analysis, and four agencies that officials declined to name, are still assessing with “low confidence” that the virus originated through natural transmission from an infected animal, according to an updated report.
The CIA and another unnamed agency are still undecided between the lab leak and natural transmission theories, people who read the classified report said. Despite differences in agency analysis, the updated report reaffirmed their consensus that Covid-19 is not the result of China’s biological weapons program.
An update of less than five pages was not requested by Congress. But lawmakers, especially House and Senate Republicans, are conducting their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic and are pressing for more information from the Joe Biden administration and the intelligence community. It is not yet known if an unclassified version of the update will be released.
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