The U.S. Department of Energy in a recent classified intelligence report concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a leak in a Chinese laboratory, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Sunday.
The report was shared with the White House and select members of Congress, according to the WSJ. Significantly, the report represents a move away from the previously undecided stance of the Energy Department in relation to the origin of the virus.
Taking the form of an update to a 2021 document from the office of Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the revelation positions the Energy Department in relative alignment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over the laboratory leak conclusion, the WSJ reported.
Although the Energy Department reportedly views the laboratory leak conclusion with “low confidence,” their position is significant as it comes from newfound intelligence, according to the WSJ. The FBI maintains “moderate confidence” in the laboratory leak conclusion.
Now that the U.S. Department of Energy has joined FBI in concluding that the coronavirus likely leaked from a lab, it’s worth remembering that the media, en masse, condemned the lab leak theory as a “debunked conspiracy theory,” and Facebook censored people who dared suggest it pic.twitter.com/RuT0w0SgpV
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 26, 2023
Stanford University microbiologist David Relman, who encouraged impartial investigations into the origin of the pandemic, praised the updated report by congratulating “those who are willing to set aside their preconceptions and objectively re-examine what we know and don’t know about Covid origins,” the WSJ reported. (RELATED: Former CDC Director Says He Was ‘Sidelined’ And ‘Threatened’ For Taking Lab Leak Theory Seriously)
The Energy Department did not comment on the report but in a statement maintained that it “continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as the President directed,” according to the WSJ.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pushed back on World Health Organization (WHO) attempts to investigate the origins of the pandemic in the country. Republican members of the U.S. Congress have urged investigations into the potential role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the Chinese city of Wuhan, in the spread of COVID-19.