The US Department of Energy has changed its position on the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic and now assesses that the virus probably spread from an accidental leak in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The information is contained in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress.
Until then, the Department of Energy expressed doubts about the origin of the virus. The new position appears in an update to a 2021 document from the office of Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have come to disparate judgments about the origin of the pandemic. The Department of Energy now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in saying the virus was likely spread by an accident in a Chinese laboratory. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of natural transmission; two are undecided.
The US intelligence community is made up of 18 agencies, including offices in the Departments of Energy, State and Treasury. Eight of them participated in the review of the origins of Covid-19 together with the National Intelligence Council.
The Department of Energy’s conclusion is relevant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of laboratories US nationals. However, the department made its judgment with “low confidence” according to people who read the confidential report. The FBI, which reached the same conclusion earlier, has “moderate confidence” in this view.
US State Department cables written in 2018 and internal Chinese documents show that there were lingering concerns about China’s biosecurity procedures, which have been cited by proponents of the laboratory leak hypothesis. SARS-CoV-2 first circulated in Wuhan, China, until November 2019, according to the 2021 US intelligence report.
US officials declined to elaborate on the new information that prompted the Department of Energy to change its position. They added that while the Department of Energy and the FBI say an unintentional leak from the lab is more likely, they reached their conclusions for different reasons.
Despite the differing analyses, the update reaffirms a consensus that the pandemic was not the result of a Chinese biological weapons program, the sources said. A US intelligence official confirmed that the intelligence community conducted the update in light of new information, further study of academic literature, and consultation with experts outside the government.
The update, which is less than five pages long, was not requested by Congress. Lawmakers, mostly House and Senate Republicans, have been carrying out their own investigations and putting pressure on the president’s administration. Joe Biden and the intelligence community for more information.
Officials did not say whether a non-confidential version of the update will be presented.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy declined to discuss the details of the assessment. The FBI also declined to comment. China disputes that the virus may have leaked from one of its laboratories and suggests it originated outside the country. The Chinese government did not respond to requests for comment on whether there had been any changes to its assessment.
In May 2021, President Biden told the country’s intelligence community to step up investigations into the origins of the pandemic and ordered the review to build on the work of US national laboratories and agencies. The October 2021 report said there was consensus that Covid-19 was not the result of a Chinese biological weapons program. But it didn’t settle the debate over whether it resulted from a lab leak or whether it came from an animal, pointing out that more information was needed from Chinese authorities.
Sources: Dow Jones Newswires/Estadão Content
