The majority view among the U.S. intelligence community agencies is that COVID-19 is natural and accidentally leaked out of a laboratory in Wuhan, China, a senior intelligence official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
While not all of the 17 agencies that make up the IC are fully behind the idea that the novel coronavirus was an accidental laboratory leak, most believe that to be the case, according to the senior official. The official added that the holdouts are still open to the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory.
The unanimous view of the IC is that the virus was not the result of an intentional act, the senior official noted. (RELATED: WHO Says China Blocking It From Investigation Into Coronavirus Origin)
That official’s account confirms what Fox News White House reporter John Roberts reported Saturday, and matches with what President Donald Trump has said publicly.
An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Roberts cited a senior intelligence official in reporting that “there is agreement among most of the 17 Intelligence agencies that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan lab. The source stressed that the release is believed to be a MISTAKE, and was not intentional.”
“Sources say not all 17 intelligence agencies agree that the lab was the source of the virus because there is not yet a definitive ‘smoking gun’. But confidence is high among 70-75% of the agencies,” Roberts added.
A Senior Intelligence Source tells me there is agreement among most of the 17 Intelligence agencies that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan lab. The source stressed that the release is believed to be a MISTAKE, and was not intentional.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 2, 2020
Sources say not all 17 intelligence agencies agree that the lab was the source of the virus because there is not yet a definitive “smoking gun”. But confidence is high among 70-75% of the agencies.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 2, 2020
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed in a statement Thursday that the IC is “rigorously” investigating whether the virus was a result of a lab leak, while making clear that COVID-19 is not believed to be “manmade or genetically modified.”
Trump said during a press conference Thursday that he has seen information that indicates with a high degree of confidence that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan. (Johannes EISELE / AFP via Getty Images)
“Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of the virus?” Roberts asked Trump Thursday.
“Yes, I have,” Trump answered. “And I think the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they’re like the public relations agency for China.”
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